First impressions from an old iPhone user

[Captain19]

The following are just my opinions and findings in real life everyday use from someone that used a iPhone for 3 years and not a formal tech review.

Android Samsung Captivate vs iPhone

Screen = Much better than iPhone 4 in size and resolution. This is not base on specs on paper but me actually holding both phones in my hand.

Processor = Faster than iPhone 3GS

Operating system = Android 2.1 - A little more complicated than iPhone but does much more. Ver. 2.2 should add even more features

Battery life = Much better than iPhone

Battery = Replaceable unlike the iPhone

App store vs Android Market Place = About the same amount of apps but if you buy an app in Android, you can get a refund within 30 minutes. I've done that and it works.

Apps = Pretty much everything available for iPhone is available for Android

Email = About the same

Browser = A little better than the iPhone due to larger screen and sharper display.

Camera = Higher resolution than iPhone 3GS - 5mp vs 3mp but iPhone camera is a little easier to use. Neither have a flash.

Music = About the same as iPhone although there is a simulated surround sound mode and the Samsung.

Memory = Android has 16gb internal but can use Micro SD memory cards up to 32gb. The iPhone can't.

Voice recorder = Yes, like the iPhone but the iPhone seems to be better quality sound.

Keyboard = Better than iPhone. More choices for keyboards including handwriting recognition and "Swype". Haven't tried "Swype" yet.

Sync with Mac = No but it will sync with Google contacts and calendar. Phone and sd card can be accessed by the mac to transfer files.

Voice dialing = Only from the phone not the bluetooth headset. This should be resolved with Android 2.2 coming soon. There may be an app for this. I haven't looked.

Voice announcements = Yes. It will say out loud that you have a call, text or email and who it's from. iPhone does not do that.

Earbuds = Actually really nice unlike the useless buds that come with the iPhone

Cell signal - Better than the iPhone for some reason.

All in all I like the Samsung Captivate better than the iPhone. After 3 years it was time for a change and to me this was a nice upgrade.

 

[Sledutah]

Nice review. I had a 3GS for 1 year and a ip4 for 28 days before I tried the Samsung. Android is not as 'user friendly (out of the box)' as iOS, but that's what draws me to it. I'm running Froyo on mine now and love it.

 

[nomoiphone]

I'm in the same club as you....I used the iphone 3g for over 2 years and haven't looked back since I picked up my Captivate.

In fact my Dad (who's 66), Mom & Sister have all become Captivate addicts and I'm consently bringing them up to speed with all the tips & tricks I find. As soon as my wife's LG is out of contract she'll become an addict as well.

 

[s.m.knipe]

@Captain19 just as a point of fact, unless something has changed, you can get a refund on a purchased app on Android for 24 hours from the purchase... The 30 minute thing I think is more of a cancellation than a return/refund. I haven't had to use that in a while but it was a full 24 hours...

 

[Captain19]

Yes. I think you're exactly right. Thirty minutes to cancel, 24 hour refund.

@Captain19 just as a point of fact, unless something has changed, you can get a refund on a purchased app on Android for 24 hours from the purchase... The 30 minute thing I think is more of a cancellation than a return/refund. I haven't had to use that in a while but it was a full 24 hours...

 

[Captain19]

I actually went in to upgrade to an iPhone 4 but was really disappointed in the look and feel of the new iPhone. My 3GS was a nice looking phone. The 4 looks unfinished and when I played around with it in the store it didn't seem any different than my 3GS. Then I picked up the Samsung Captivate and started to check that out and I was sold. Don't get me wrong, the iPhone is a great smart phone but the Captivate with Android outshines it.

Nice review. I had a 3GS for 1 year and a ip4 for 28 days before I tried the Samsung. Android is not as 'user friendly (out of the box)' as iOS, but that's what draws me to it. I'm running Froyo on mine now and love it.

 

[Cuerbo]

Going from a Captivate to an iPhone4, here is what I found:

Display:

Although you have a bigger screen and saturated colors with the Captivate, the Retina display is much sharper when it comes to text. By the way, the iPhone4 has slightly higher resolution compared to the Captivate. iPhone4 is 960x640 and the Captivate is 800x400.

Processor:

The specs here are the same when you compare the processors of these two, iPhone4 and Captivate both run 1Ghz processors. You can't compare the 3Gs against a Captivate, that's a previous generation phone.


Battery Life:

About the same, in some cases you get better results with the iPhone4. For example, if fire up the GPS on the Captiavte, it's guaranteed to drain your battery since it spends a lot of time trying to lock. I know this isn't the case for everyone but it was for me back when I owned it. Also, if you are comparing a 3Gs running IOS 4.0 or 4.1 against a Captivate, that's not a fair comparison. Known fact that the newer OS on older hardware is a poor performer and battery killer. The only plus in this category is that the battery, in the case of the Captivate, can be replaced without having to contact the vendor or a repair center.

Email/Apps/Browser:

Email is a lot better with the iPhone4, especially in a corporate environment. The browser is also slightly faster with the iPhone4 but I would say overall, give or take, they are even here and there. Apps, well, the AppStore is much better than the Android Market. Not all Apps you find in the AppStore are available for Android, Netflix for example is a huge plus with the iPhone. Also, the Android Market seems to have a lot of garbage Apps. Apple does a better job of controlling what gets placed in the market.

WiFi:

Connecting to corporate environments with Cisco gear is an issue. Even at home, after JH7, I had the occassional connectivity issue. With the iPhone4, have yet to experience any issues and the results are more constant.

Camera/Music/Memory:

Again, you are comparing an older phone to a next generation one. However, with the iPhone4 found the camera to be much better and the flash helps out a lot. The front facing camera is also a plus and if you add Facetime, it's pretty cool. The Captivate has a good camera but I still give the edge to the iPhone4. From the music perspective, about the same but I love the iTunes integration, buy and syncs automatically. I know a lot of people hate iTunes but I'm looking for simplicity. As for memory, here the Captivate takes the iPhone, you can expand without having to replace your phone.

Reception:

Comparing a 3Gs to the iPhone4, iPhone4 is much better and yes I do use a case. When compared to the Captivate is the same, I didn't see a difference in this department. I love the voicemail functionality of the iPhone, you can pick which voicemail you want to listen to and not have to hear them all like in the Captivate before getting to the one you want. The iPhone4 antennagate is overhyped, now that I own one, I realize it. I used to be one of those who would make fun of it but after owning it, it's not that big of a deal.

Final Words:

The iPhone is much more polished and smoother than a the Captivate. Apple is also more aggressive about updating the OS, unlike Samsung. Something you will soon realize is a big negative for this phone. Apple support is also better when compared to Samsung, another big negative I hope you never have to encounter. The Captivate has potential but the lack of support coming from Samsung leaves a lot to be desired. The fact that Froyo has not been pushed out and minor issues have not been addressed should be a concern for many. Compared to HTC or Motorola, Samsung is behind the times when it comes to maintaining their products. They are more worried about pumping out hardware than improving what's out there already or keeping their user base happy.

That leaves many with only one option to get the functionality they desire, root or load a different ROM. Something I never wanted to deal with but some don't mind. I paid $199 for the phone and felt I never got my money's worth when I had it. Didn't want to spend hours of my day looking for the perfect ROM or setting to be happy with my purchase. And what finally sunk the Titanic was the GPS issue, which some don't mind but drove me crazy.

Android has a couple of things on Apple. For example, the notification system on Android is superior and lets you work if one happens to come in. In the case of the iPhone, it pops up in the middle of the screen. The Widgets are also a huge plus with Android, instead of digging into apps to find what you are looking for. Google Nav, which is free, is also another plus that in the case of the iPhone you have to spend money on an App. Android can only get better with time but I think Samsung is the wrong company to make that happen. I would recommend going with a phone vendor who's more on the edge like HTC or Motorola. By that I mean, they stay on top of updates and push out newer versions of the OS in a timely manner.

 

[s.m.knipe]

I love the voicemail functionality of the iPhone, you can pick which voicemail you want to listen to and not have to hear them all like in the Captivate before getting to the one you want.

Just use Google Voice... It's free visual voicemail that transcribes your messages for you (it's funny to read some of the transcriptions versus what the people actually say). One super cool feature is that it sends the voicemail message to your Gmail inbox, there have been a couple of times when I have been on a plane and could check/listen to my voicemail via the plane's wifi connection (on a laptop or phone). Another awesome feature is that you can create specialized voicemail messages for the different contacts who call. My girlfriend hears something different from my sister, who hears something different from my parents, who hear something different from everyone else; I can tailor a special reception message for each of my contacts if I wanted to...

 

[Captain19]

You bring up the same thing I said and that what I wrote was just my views and opinions of what was in front of me.

I agree with a lot of what you said, however some of it depends on what's important to a person. GPS for example. I couldn't care less if the GPS worked on my phone or not. I have GPS in my car.

Signal strength is another variable. Where I live, the Captivate gets a better signal than the iPhone 3GS did. My daughter has an iPhone 4 and it wasn't any better than the 3GS getting a signal at my place.

Like I said, I wasn't basing anything I said by specs on paper but what I was seeing in front of me. Yes the iPhone 4 has a higher res screen but side by side the Captivate looked better to me. The retina thing is over hyped.

Apps...........this also is dependent on the person. ALL the apps I care about are available in the Android store. I don't play games on my cell phone so I can't comment on that.

I'm not in a corporate environment so anything there does not apply to me.

Music, camera, etc. - I don't listen to much music on my phone but if anyone wants iTunes functionality on a Captivate use Songbird. I installed it on my Mac. It syncd with my iTunes and the Captivate syncs with Songbird. The front facing camera is pretty much useless unless you do facetime with other iPhone 4 users. When they make it work with Skype then you might have something. If there is an app for that then I stand corrected.

Final words - Apple does stay up on OS upgrades and from what I've heard, better than Samsung however by the time I'm really hurting for an upgrade in OS I'll be ready for another phone. Going with another phone vendor is really not an option if your on ATT and want an Android phone. The only other one is the HTC Aria. It's a cool little phone but seems like a toy compared to the Captivate.

I guess we'll just agree to disagree on a few points.

What I always say...........your mileage may vary

Going from a Captivate to an iPhone4, here is what I found:

Display:

Although you have a bigger screen and saturated colors with the Captivate, the Retina display is much sharper when it comes to text. By the way, the iPhone4 has slightly higher resolution compared to the Captivate. iPhone4 is 960x640 and the Captivate is 800x400.

Processor:

The specs here are the same when you compare the processors of these two, iPhone4 and Captivate both run 1Ghz processors. You can't compare the 3Gs against a Captivate, that's a previous generation phone.


Battery Life:

About the same, in some cases you get better results with the iPhone4. For example, if fire up the GPS on the Captiavte, it's guaranteed to drain your battery since it spends a lot of time trying to lock. I know this isn't the case for everyone but it was for me back when I owned it. Also, if you are comparing a 3Gs running IOS 4.0 or 4.1 against a Captivate, that's not a fair comparison. Known fact that the newer OS on older hardware is a poor performer and battery killer. The only plus in this category is that the battery, in the case of the Captivate, can be replaced without having to contact the vendor or a repair center.

Email/Apps/Browser:

Email is a lot better with the iPhone4, especially in a corporate environment. The browser is also slightly faster with the iPhone4 but I would say overall, give or take, they are even here and there. Apps, well, the AppStore is much better than the Android Market. Not all Apps you find in the AppStore are available for Android, Netflix for example is a huge plus with the iPhone. Also, the Android Market seems to have a lot of garbage Apps. Apple does a better job of controlling what gets placed in the market.

WiFi:

Connecting to corporate environments with Cisco gear is an issue. Even at home, after JH7, I had the occassional connectivity issue. With the iPhone4, have yet to experience any issues and the results are more constant.

Camera/Music/Memory:

Again, you are comparing an older phone to a next generation one. However, with the iPhone4 found the camera to be much better and the flash helps out a lot. The front facing camera is also a plus and if you add Facetime, it's pretty cool. The Captivate has a good camera but I still give the edge to the iPhone4. From the music perspective, about the same but I love the iTunes integration, buy and syncs automatically. I know a lot of people hate iTunes but I'm looking for simplicity. As for memory, here the Captivate takes the iPhone, you can expand without having to replace your phone.

Reception:

Comparing a 3Gs to the iPhone4, iPhone4 is much better and yes I do use a case. When compared to the Captivate is the same, I didn't see a difference in this department. I love the voicemail functionality of the iPhone, you can pick which voicemail you want to listen to and not have to hear them all like in the Captivate before getting to the one you want. The iPhone4 antennagate is overhyped, now that I own one, I realize it. I used to be one of those who would make fun of it but after owning it, it's not that big of a deal.

Final Words:

The iPhone is much more polished and smoother than a the Captivate. Apple is also more aggressive about updating the OS, unlike Samsung. Something you will soon realize is a big negative for this phone. Apple support is also better when compared to Samsung, another big negative I hope you never have to encounter. The Captivate has potential but the lack of support coming from Samsung leaves a lot to be desired. The fact that Froyo has not been pushed out and minor issues have not been addressed should be a concern for many. Compared to HTC or Motorola, Samsung is behind the times when it comes to maintaining their products. They are more worried about pumping out hardware than improving what's out there already or keeping their user base happy.

That leaves many with only one option to get the functionality they desire, root or load a different ROM. Something I never wanted to deal with but some don't mind. I paid $199 for the phone and felt I never got my money's worth when I had it. Didn't want to spend hours of my day looking for the perfect ROM or setting to be happy with my purchase. And what finally sunk the Titanic was the GPS issue, which some don't mind but drove me crazy.

Android has a couple of things on Apple. For example, the notification system on Android is superior and lets you work if one happens to come in. In the case of the iPhone, it pops up in the middle of the screen. The Widgets are also a huge plus with Android, instead of digging into apps to find what you are looking for. Google Nav, which is free, is also another plus that in the case of the iPhone you have to spend money on an App. Android can only get better with time but I think Samsung is the wrong company to make that happen. I would recommend going with a phone vendor who's more on the edge like HTC or Motorola. By that I mean, they stay on top of updates and push out newer versions of the OS in a timely manner.

 

[Endoran]

Going from a Captivate to an iPhone4, here is what I found:

Display:

Although you have a bigger screen and saturated colors with the Captivate, the Retina display is much sharper when it comes to text. By the way, the iPhone4 has slightly higher resolution compared to the Captivate. iPhone4 is 960x640 and the Captivate is 800x400.

Processor:

The specs here are the same when you compare the processors of these two, iPhone4 and Captivate both run 1Ghz processors. You can't compare the 3Gs against a Captivate, that's a previous generation phone.


Battery Life:

About the same, in some cases you get better results with the iPhone4. For example, if fire up the GPS on the Captiavte, it's guaranteed to drain your battery since it spends a lot of time trying to lock. I know this isn't the case for everyone but it was for me back when I owned it. Also, if you are comparing a 3Gs running IOS 4.0 or 4.1 against a Captivate, that's not a fair comparison. Known fact that the newer OS on older hardware is a poor performer and battery killer. The only plus in this category is that the battery, in the case of the Captivate, can be replaced without having to contact the vendor or a repair center.

Email/Apps/Browser:

Email is a lot better with the iPhone4, especially in a corporate environment. The browser is also slightly faster with the iPhone4 but I would say overall, give or take, they are even here and there. Apps, well, the AppStore is much better than the Android Market. Not all Apps you find in the AppStore are available for Android, Netflix for example is a huge plus with the iPhone. Also, the Android Market seems to have a lot of garbage Apps. Apple does a better job of controlling what gets placed in the market.

WiFi:

Connecting to corporate environments with Cisco gear is an issue. Even at home, after JH7, I had the occassional connectivity issue. With the iPhone4, have yet to experience any issues and the results are more constant.

Camera/Music/Memory:

Again, you are comparing an older phone to a next generation one. However, with the iPhone4 found the camera to be much better and the flash helps out a lot. The front facing camera is also a plus and if you add Facetime, it's pretty cool. The Captivate has a good camera but I still give the edge to the iPhone4. From the music perspective, about the same but I love the iTunes integration, buy and syncs automatically. I know a lot of people hate iTunes but I'm looking for simplicity. As for memory, here the Captivate takes the iPhone, you can expand without having to replace your phone.

Reception:

Comparing a 3Gs to the iPhone4, iPhone4 is much better and yes I do use a case. When compared to the Captivate is the same, I didn't see a difference in this department. I love the voicemail functionality of the iPhone, you can pick which voicemail you want to listen to and not have to hear them all like in the Captivate before getting to the one you want. The iPhone4 antennagate is overhyped, now that I own one, I realize it. I used to be one of those who would make fun of it but after owning it, it's not that big of a deal.

Final Words:

The iPhone is much more polished and smoother than a the Captivate. Apple is also more aggressive about updating the OS, unlike Samsung. Something you will soon realize is a big negative for this phone. Apple support is also better when compared to Samsung, another big negative I hope you never have to encounter. The Captivate has potential but the lack of support coming from Samsung leaves a lot to be desired. The fact that Froyo has not been pushed out and minor issues have not been addressed should be a concern for many. Compared to HTC or Motorola, Samsung is behind the times when it comes to maintaining their products. They are more worried about pumping out hardware than improving what's out there already or keeping their user base happy.

That leaves many with only one option to get the functionality they desire, root or load a different ROM. Something I never wanted to deal with but some don't mind. I paid $199 for the phone and felt I never got my money's worth when I had it. Didn't want to spend hours of my day looking for the perfect ROM or setting to be happy with my purchase. And what finally sunk the Titanic was the GPS issue, which some don't mind but drove me crazy.

Android has a couple of things on Apple. For example, the notification system on Android is superior and lets you work if one happens to come in. In the case of the iPhone, it pops up in the middle of the screen. The Widgets are also a huge plus with Android, instead of digging into apps to find what you are looking for. Google Nav, which is free, is also another plus that in the case of the iPhone you have to spend money on an App. Android can only get better with time but I think Samsung is the wrong company to make that happen. I would recommend going with a phone vendor who's more on the edge like HTC or Motorola. By that I mean, they stay on top of updates and push out newer versions of the OS in a timely manner.

Cool story bro

 

[Cuerbo]

You bring up the same thing I said and that what I wrote was just my views and opinions of what was in front of me.

I agree with a lot of what you said, however some of it depends on what's important to a person. GPS for example. I couldn't care less if the GPS worked on my phone or not. I have GPS in my car.

Signal strength is another variable. Where I live, the Captivate gets a better signal than the iPhone 3GS did. My daughter has an iPhone 4 and it wasn't any better than the 3GS getting a signal at my place.

Like I said, I wasn't basing anything I said by specs on paper but what I was seeing in front of me. Yes the iPhone 4 has a higher res screen but side by side the Captivate looked better to me. The retina thing is over hyped.

Apps...........this also is dependent on the person. ALL the apps I care about are available in the Android store. I don't play games on my cell phone so I can't comment on that.

I'm not in a corporate environment so anything there does not apply to me.

Music, camera, etc. - I don't listen to much music on my phone but if anyone wants iTunes functionality on a Captivate use Songbird. I installed it on my Mac. It syncd with my iTunes and the Captivate syncs with Songbird. The front facing camera is pretty much useless unless you do facetime with other iPhone 4 users. When they make it work with Skype then you might have something. If there is an app for that then I stand corrected.

Final words - Apple does stay up on OS upgrades and from what I've heard, better than Samsung however by the time I'm really hurting for an upgrade in OS I'll be ready for another phone. Going with another phone vendor is really not an option if your on ATT and want an Android phone. The only other one is the HTC Aria. It's a cool little phone but seems like a toy compared to the Captivate.

I guess we'll just agree to disagree on a few points.

What I always say...........your mileage may vary

The retina display is not overhyped, it is higher resolution, compare the fonts on both phones and you'll notice the difference. Same with videos, they'll look slight better. What's probably throwing you off is the color saturation with the Captivate.

Trust me, there are a lot of good Apps for the iPhone that are not available for Android. You might not be a power user in this area but some of us are and tend to use many of the Apps out there.

The GPS should be a concern to you, you paid for a phone that's not working as designed. Not only that, GPS is not just for driving, there are Apps that use it for functionality as well.

I agree that AT&T at the moment doesn't offer a nice Android experience, very limited in fact. If I was in your shoes, reading what's being said here about the phone, I would have looked at WP7 as well.

As for updates, it should matter to you. This is how you get new functionality into your phone and how bug fixes are delivered. I can tell you that the Captivate can use a couple of these right now, you might not be aware yet but you'll soon realize that. Your old iPhone, for example, is able to run with the latest IOS. Apple developed the OS for older and newer platforms, therefore, you can use that phone for years at a time and not recycle it every 1.5 to 2 yrs. Yes, the hardware will be outdate and not all functionality will work but you can at least use some of it. You won't see this with the Captivate, at most I say, Samsung will deliver Froyo.

 

[u0berdev]

The worst thing for me is the poor exchange support. My old iPhone 3G was rock solid when it came to email and calenders being sync'd up. But I swear I'm going to go back to an iPhone if Samsung can't get their default mail client to stop lagging my phone after I open it up. I hope all this time we are waiting for Samsung/AT&T to bloat Android 2.2 Froyo that some of it was spent making Email/Calender/Exchange work good.

Other than that, yeah its a nice phone. I still feel like every phone out there is a 'pick your poison' kinda deal. Each phone has their pros and cons. But make no mistake, they all have cons.


Wow I'm pessimistic today...

 

[Cuerbo]

From what I've read, I don't think Froyo improves on what's there much more. Unless Samsung comes up with something of their own, I would plan to encounter some more disappointment in this department.

 

[BookLover]

Techie-ness needs to be in your blood for one to enjoy an Android. I would probably dislike the iPhone as much as Cuerbo loves it. Precisely because I can't customize it. I'd rather spend hours finessing my phone to my needs than to walk around with one that I can't customize.

I remember when the original iPhone went on the Market WITHOUT MMS. Apple never addressed that. Only addressed it with 2nd model of the iPhone. So, if one works at it, we can say Apple is just as unresponsive as Samsung, more so, because it took 2yrs and the NEXT GEN of the iPhone before MMS was *fixed*. At least Samsung is working on a fix now. Whether they succeed is another matter.

I actually stayed away from Samsung until the Captivate because my original dumphone was a Samsung and it's reception was crappy. Never wanted anything to do with Samsung ever again.

But now I have the Captivate and have no regrets.

Just saying that it's silly to be loyal to a brand when it comes to phones or any techology. Buy what you like because of how you want to use it. You can't go wrong. And know thyself. If you're not a techie don't go Android. If you are a techie, don't go iPhone. Simple!

 

[u0berdev]

I will say that I'm a true geek, and I'm a software engineer at work all day, but I think my "Techie-ness" is gone when it comes to my phone. Maybe I'm the exception to the Android crowd, but I really just use the basic functions and expect them to work flawlessly. I don't jailbreak/root/hack my phone apart like a lot of people here. Nothing wrong with those that do! But for me, default/built-in apps - yeah I want those to work. It's nice to be able to download Winamp for a change of pace when it comes to music and what not, but being *forced* to download another mail client when the standard one is subpar irks me. Some call it choice, others call it customization, I just call it bad/unfinished development from vendors.

Sry to rant here. Just felt like voicing my feelings, in case someone else feels the same. At least they know they are not alone!

 

[northernale1]

i dont care as long as i dont have to use itunes to load my music,, that is such a big plus to me,,, time for apple to drop that relic,,,,

 

[BookLover]

I will say that I'm a true geek, and I'm a software engineer at work all day, but I think my "Techie-ness" is gone when it comes to my phone. Maybe I'm the exception to the Android crowd, but I really just use the basic functions and expect them to work flawlessly. I don't jailbreak/root/hack my phone apart like a lot of people here. Nothing wrong with those that do! But for me, default/built-in apps - yeah I want those to work. It's nice to be able to download Winamp for a change of pace when it comes to music and what not, but being *forced* to download another mail client when the standard one is subpar irks me. Some call it choice, others call it customization, I just call it bad/unfinished development from vendors.

Sry to rant here. Just felt like voicing my feelings, in case someone else feels the same. At least they know they are not alone!

Agreed that the stock *email* client is crap. It should work better than it does. I just use gmail, so that never was an issue.

And being a software engineer, I don't blame you for being techied-out!

I spent 2 wks trying to sync my work Outlook contacts and Calendar with my Android, which my WinMo phone did flawlessly. I tried 3 different apps and only one of them worked, but still has a quirk that I have to live with. Contacts I had to export and import into gmail. I went through a lot of work to make this phone usable to me for work. This is a personal phone.

I've had my frustrations, too. But in the end, once I figured out my work arounds and tradeoffs, I was willing to live with them. The phone was worth it. I guess my patience has a longer fuse than most.

BTW, My phone isn't rooted. And no sideloading of apps. All my work arounds come from the Market or Google.

 

[u0berdev]

I tried 3 different apps and only one of them worked

So which one worked?

 

[Captain19]

I do understand that the retina display is a higher resolution. I really don't care. It's not a contest. What is important is what actually looks better to me.

I had about 30 apps on my iPhone and used probably 5 or 6. I guess I'm not a power user. The things that the Captivate does that the iPhone didn't do make it worth it. For one thing, the iPhone never showed up on my Mac laptop when plugged in. It only showed up in iPhoto and iTunes. The Captivate pops an icon on my screen when I plug it in and I can drag and drop files to the phone and the SD card. Real nice. Again, something I couldn't do with the iPhone unless I jailbroke it or some other hack.

As far as the GPS being a concern to me, you're right in one respect. If it's a feature of the phone then it should work. I'm aware of plenty of uses for GPS but when you're not geocaching, looking for a place to eat near you or want people to know where you are via social networking, the GPS becomes less useful. I have it turned off on the Captivate and would have turned it off on the iPhone if I took the time to figure out how. How many years did I go through life with a cell phone that just made phone calls?

When you only keep a phone for a year or two the updates aren't all that important. Sure Apple put out new OS updates that you can install on older iPhones but would you want to? A friend of mine put the latest iPhone OS on his 3G and it made it so slow he now wants to upgrade to a newer iPhone. Good way to get people to buy the new phones is to mess up the old ones with OS upgrade. I told everyone I knew with the 3G to NOT upgrade. Some listened and some didn't.

The Samsung Captivate has been a joy to use and to me has been a BIG upgrade. Next year I'll be ready for something else. Maybe an iPhone 5 when they make it a real upgrade instead of just a downgraded design change. They're doing the same thing with the iPad. There is no camera forward facing or rear. I heard that the next iPad will have a camera. Where do that leave the people that spent $500 - $800?

Anyway, I'm not against Apple. I wouldn't give up my Macbook for anything and will never go back to Windows. What was I thinking all those years?

The retina display is not overhyped, it is higher resolution, compare the fonts on both phones and you'll notice the difference. Same with videos, they'll look slight better. What's probably throwing you off is the color saturation with the Captivate.

Trust me, there are a lot of good Apps for the iPhone that are not available for Android. You might not be a power user in this area but some of us are and tend to use many of the Apps out there.

The GPS should be a concern to you, you paid for a phone that's not working as designed. Not only that, GPS is not just for driving, there are Apps that use it for functionality as well.

I agree that AT&T at the moment doesn't offer a nice Android experience, very limited in fact. If I was in your shoes, reading what's being said here about the phone, I would have looked at WP7 as well.

As for updates, it should matter to you. This is how you get new functionality into your phone and how bug fixes are delivered. I can tell you that the Captivate can use a couple of these right now, you might not be aware yet but you'll soon realize that. Your old iPhone, for example, is able to run with the latest IOS. Apple developed the OS for older and newer platforms, therefore, you can use that phone for years at a time and not recycle it every 1.5 to 2 yrs. Yes, the hardware will be outdate and not all functionality will work but you can at least use some of it. You won't see this with the Captivate, at most I say, Samsung will deliver Froyo.

 

[BookLover]

Google Calendar Sync. But damn quirky.

1) If you create a solo event (eg., doctor's appt, where you don't invite anyone) -- you need to create it in gCal online or on your phone. DON'T create "solo" events it in Outlook. Won't sync.

2) If someone invites you to an Outlook event, and you accept, it WILL show up during a sync. (Good!) -- but if you don't add your gmail account to events you invite others to in Outlook, it may or may not sync. (PITA)

3) Not sure if the prob is gCal or Android Cal, but if you delete or modify one event in a repeating series, you end up with duplicates and/or the event you delete repopulates. Just happend that there was an event that was deleted on Veteran's day, but repopulated on my phone calendar. I was the only one who showed up. PITA!

Other than that, Google Calendar Sync works ok.

Since this is a personal phone, my IT dept won't authorize exchange on it, which is why I had to do the work arounds above.

Tried to use Touchdown, but that needs Exchange. No good for me.

Tried another one, can't remember it's name...never sync'd anything properly and took forever to not do it. Uninstalled.

That left me Google Calendar Sync.

 

[DT]

I really don't care. It's not a contest.

Hahaha, outstanding.

1) If you create a solo event (eg., doctor's appt, where you don't invite anyone) -- you need to create it in gCal online or on your phone. DON'T create "solo" events it in Outlook. Won't sync.

I was curious about this as I was _sure_ I had done it successfully. So just now, I created a new Outlook event/item with just a title/location for today, blocked off 6p-11p.

Then I clicked the Google sync control in my system tray.

Finally I picked up my phone, and clicked refresh on my Launcher Pro agenda widget and *bam*, there it is! (Of course, that loads from the calender so it's there as well).

Maybe a bug specific to your environment?

FYI, this solution has gotten pretty positive reviews, it's $20:

http://www.daveswebsite.com/software/gsync/

Here's a little from the wesite:

Features

Supports Google Apps accounts and multiple Outlook profiles.

One-Way and Two-Way Synchronization of Calendars, Contacts, Notes and Tasks between Outlook and Google services.

Automatically matches entries between Outlook/Google items to reduce duplicates entries during the sync process.

Supports Outlook 2002, 2003, 2007 and Outlook 2010 32/64 bit running on Windows XP, Vista 32/64, and Windows 7 32/64

Automatically sync items on a regular interval, between certain hours of the day, and/or when Outlook starts/exits.

Manage configurations for different Outlook profiles.

Filter items using Outlook categories and many other options.

Product Summary

gSyncit is a Microsoft Outlook add-in that allows for synchronization of calendars, contacts, notes, and tasks between Google and Outlook.

Sync Outlook calendars with Google calendars

Sync Outlook contacts with Gmail contacts

Sync Outlook notes with Google documents

Sync Outlook tasks with Google calendars or Google's native task list

 

[BookLover]

DT,

I think that app only works for business accounts that use google. My company doesn't, unfortunately. That would have been ideal.

 

[DT]

DT,

I think that app only works for business accounts that use google. My company doesn't, unfortunately. That would have been ideal.

I think it works with just regular ol' non-business accounts! The only Google required item is listed as Google Calendar Account.

I actually installed the demo version, but I already had my contacts sync'ed via an upload and was using the Google calendar sync, so I wound up uninstalling it because I didn't want any conflicts (and it limits the number of sync items).

To be totally honest, once I did my bulk contact upload, 95% of my sync requirements are my calendar, so the other items aren't a huge deal.

Still, they'd be nice to have, so for $20, I'm super tempted to just go ahead and buy it. If I do, I'll definitely post back and let everyone know how it's working.

 

[sremick]

The specs here are the same when you compare the processors of these two, iPhone4 and Captivate both run 1Ghz processors. You can't compare the 3Gs against a Captivate, that's a previous generation phone.

The CPU on the iPhone will feel faster because it doesn't multitask.

Email is a lot better with the iPhone4, especially in a corporate environment.

Did you use the stock email client (which is notably limited), or one of the several superior options, such as K-9?

The browser is also slightly faster with the iPhone4 but I would say overall, give or take, they are even here and there.

Nice thing about Android is there's no barrier for people to come up with better browsers. We already have a Firefox beta.

Not all Apps you find in the AppStore are available for Android, Netflix for example is a huge plus with the iPhone.

Well, the reason you don't have a Netflix app for Android yet is because they can't sort out a DRM solution that works. In this case, it's a good thing.

Apple does a better job of controlling what gets placed in the market.

I would argue this is a bad thing.

From the music perspective, about the same but I love the iTunes integration, buy and syncs automatically. I know a lot of people hate iTunes but I'm looking for simplicity.

I find "drag and drop" to be vastly simpler than the iTunes convoluted nightmare. If you can copy a file, you can get it onto your Captivate. iTunes is ridiculously picky and obstinate about what it'll let you do, and often refuses to sync for no explicable reason.

Oh, and on Android you can use the Amazon MP3 app to buy music directly from your device and download it directly, without needing a PC involved. Try doing that with the iPhone.

Trust me, there are a lot of good Apps for the iPhone that are not available for Android. You might not be a power user in this area but some of us are and tend to use many of the Apps out there.

And there are a lot of cool apps available on Android that control-freak Apple will never let on the App Store. I'd much rather ignore junk for the sake of being able to access good stuff than lose the junk AND access to the good stuff. I don't need a nanny.

The worst thing for me is the poor exchange support. My old iPhone 3G was rock solid when it came to email and calenders being sync'd up. But I swear I'm going to go back to an iPhone if Samsung can't get their default mail client to stop lagging my phone after I open it up.

If you want a better email client and better Exchange support, why are you limiting yourself to the stock client? This is Android... part of the reason you got an Android phone was the availability of apps. Go get a better app. There's K-9 and Touchdown.

 

[masterz13]

I don't see why you guys like the Captivate over the iPhone so much. I've had my Captivate for about a week and it's pretty laggy. Not sure if it's because of the random bloatware AT&T preinstalled or what.