Any former Captivate users have the Note?

[DaddyWhale]

I've searched the forum and have not seen this comparison yet. Apologies if this thread is redundant.

I currently have an almost 2 year old Samsung Captivate (Galaxy S), which I absolutely HATE. Nevertheless, I'm considering the Note because I love the form factor. Do you think the Note fixes the issues with the Captivate? Is it worth considering a new Samsung Android phone when you really hate a two year old Samsung Android phone? Has Samsung software/firmware improved

The things I hate about the Captivate are
-Lousy GPS (from reading around it seems the Note's GPS is great)
-Loses wifi connection all the time
-Wakes up in my pocket for no apparent reason
-Laggy on two year old apps
-Poor OS upgrade support (I could never get Kies to work)
-Awful battery life

How does the Note compare?

Thank you!

DW

 

[ryandelman]

My Captivate is sitting at home in a drawer, but I happened to love the old girl myself. lol

I don't know, a lot of what you mention below are subjective things; may be problematic to some while non-issues to others, but anyway here goes:

-Lousy GPS (from reading around it seems the Note's GPS is great) this was a hardware issue, such that the antenna itself was not properly positioned in the phone, so it was gonna suck no matter what you did in monkeying with the firmware or software. This hardware flaw does not exist with the Note. As such, your GPs will lock on multiple satellites within 5 seconds, every single time; period, end of story.
-Loses wifi connection all the time - this was more likely due to either the quality of WiFi connection you were connecting to, or possibly firmware tweaks to specific system files if you were rooted and had a custom ROM running
-Wakes up in my pocket for no apparent reason I don't know how to address this one.... need more details
-Laggy on two year old apps it's 2-year old technology so you're really answering your own question here. You can't expect an old lady to run a 4min mile you know?
-Poor OS upgrade support (I could never get Kies to work) not sure why you'd be using Kies to get software updates anyway unless you weren't rooted so we'll need a bit more clarity on this point too
-Awful battery life ok, two year old device, likely straining to grab a signal (inferring from the WiFI issue and assuming that you may not have the best network signal where you regularly use the phone either), etc. See my "old lady running the 4min mile" comment above- it's applicable for the most part here too.

In short, if you're looking for a better user experience across the board, the answer is yes. Better phone, better internals, better features and functionality, higher level of capability and much more forward-development-related potential. The physical list of things is just too long to document especially since this post is already "War and Peace" length.

Hope that helped somewhat...

-Ryan

 

[DaddyWhale]

-Loses wifi connection all the time - this was more likely due to either the quality of WiFi connection you were connecting to, or possibly firmware tweaks to specific system files if you were rooted and had a custom ROM running
-Wakes up in my pocket for no apparent reason I don't know how to address this one.... need more details
-Poor OS upgrade support (I could never get Kies to work) not sure why you'd be using Kies to get software updates anyway unless you weren't rooted so we'll need a bit more clarity on this point too

-Ryan

Thanks for the input! Just as background, my Captivate is rooted, but not running a custom ROM.

To clarify on some of my points:

-Wifi: I don't think my problems were with the wifi networks I was joining. For example, the Captivate consistently had problems identifying available networks, regardless of where I was. For instance, at home after work the phone would continue to try to connect to my office wifi even though it was clearly not in range. I could not even manually connect to my home network because the phone indicated that that network was not in range. The solution was to manually turn the phone's wifi off then on again. On doing this the phone usually reset and was able to find my home network.
-Screen lock. When the screen was put to sleep so that functions (eg calling) were not accidentally activated, it often would unlock, as though I had pressed the screen button on the side and then swiped my finger across the screen. This did not happen when I installed custom ROMs that ran a generic Android OS. With these generic OSs you woke the phone using a swipe on a specific place on the screen, much like on an iPhone or iPad.
-Poor upgrade support. First of all, it took forever for Samsung to release Froyo for the phone. Second, the US version of the Kies program that Samsung provided for connecting to a PC simply would not work on my PC. I had to use non-US versions of Kies to get the program to work and recognize my phone when connect via USB. Also, as I remember it, you could not update to Froyo over the air. You had to upgrade via a USB connected PC.

The overall impression I got from using the Captivate was that it had great hardware (for its time), but that the software overlay that Samsung developed had some serious problems.

I'm hoping that Samsung has substantially improved its software development for Android in the two years since the Captivate came out.

 

[jblaze5779]

I had the captivate. The note is 10x better in every way. especially gps

 

[blazeplacid]

I had the captivate when it first came out and it was just a terrible phone.

tons of lag and the gps just didnt work

the worst was the auto music player. Perfect when your in a meeting and dubstep comes out of no where.

The note is tons better. Its everything you wanted the captivate to be plus more.
You will not regret choosing the Note

 

[DaddyWhale]

I went ahead and bought the Note. The first one I got had some kind of firmware problem. The home button was flaky. It would take you to the alarm clock display once the phone was plugged in. The only way to get the button to work correctly at that point was to do a factory reset.

The second phone has been solid as a rock! I've suffered none of the problems that I had with my Captivate. More than that, the phone is a great, well integrated, communications tool. The jump from the Captivate to the Note reminds me of my feelings when I switched from my Sony Ericsson P900 to the original iPhone.

 

[ryandelman]

FWIW, I really don't get all the Captivate hate. lol

The phone had some clear shortcomings and problematic hardware issues, but it was the first phone of its kind (a legit Android competitor to the most current iphone of the day; the Iphone4, I believe it was) which it took to task in most ways not related to GPS or speaker quality.

Obviously, the Note is LIGHT YEARS beyond the Captivate in both form and function, but what else is to be expected, with over 2 years and roughly 3 or 4 iterations of new Samsung Galaxy-line phones having come along since the original Captivate came to market?

In the end, it's clear the Note is a superphone when the Captivate was not, but without the old Cappy, it's doubtful the Skyrocket and Note would be so far beyond any of the marketplace competition as they are right now ;-)

-Ryan

 

[RavenFox]

Yeah I have a captivate also but I'm using the Nexus S [AT&T] and looking at the Note. I'm suppose to get ICS shortly according to Google's latest announcement so that might deter me for a bit.
Yeah I gave up using GPS on the Captivate back then it just would not work at all.

 

[DaddyWhale]

FWIW, I really don't get all the Captivate hate. lol

The phone had some clear shortcomings and problematic hardware issues, but it was the first phone of its kind (a legit Android competitor to the most current iphone of the day; the Iphone4, I believe it was) which it took to task in most ways not related to GPS or speaker quality.

-Ryan

Some people - like me - had problems with the Captivate. Others did not. I'm talking purely about my own experiences.

On specifications on paper it was a great phone. But the phone was a problem for me every single day I had it. And this is apart from the GPS issues. Why did I keep with it? Because I'm cheap... I just found myself using it less and less.

Perhaps there would not now be a Note if it were not for the Galaxy S. But I think equally there would not be a Note if it weren't for the iPhone and iPad and relentless competition, including from other Android devices.

 

[jomamma1]

I am a current Captivate user and have been very happy with it. i wouldn't be concidered a power user, but have had it for over a year and half with no problems, no complaints. I will be upgrading to the note in May.

My main reason for looking at the Note is that I do a lot of reading and currently have an older Sony ereader. I have tried ebooks on Captivate but it is just a little too small. I'm hoping the Note will be better and I will not have to carry 2 devices.

Joe in Modesto

 

[ryandelman]

I am a current Captivate user and have been very happy with it. i wouldn't be concidered a power user, but have had it for over a year and half with no problems, no complaints. I will be upgrading to the note in May.

My main reason for looking at the Note is that I do a lot of reading and currently have an older Sony ereader. I have tried ebooks on Captivate but it is just a little too small. I'm hoping the Note will be better and I will not have to carry 2 devices.

Joe in Modesto

Joe,

welcome.

you're coming from my vantage point exactly (a relatively pleased Captivate user going to the Note).

I too made the move because I thought the 5.3" screen would make a good ereader and I have not been disappointed.

Although I had no major issues with the Captivate, this has still been a huge upgrade for me and I think you'll be similarly pleased.

-Ryan

 

[Reggie3]

I had the Captivate and was one of the people who did not have any problems with it. It was my first android phone - coming from a history of Windows based devices.
It was great at the time - and till I saw newer phones out there and saw how fast they were I was pleased. When the Skyrocket came out I got one - loved the LTE and speed and the larger size screen. I was really wanting a Razr but not willing to go V. When the Note came out it addressed the issue I had with the Skyrocket - battery life and a want/need for a larger still screen. My Captivate is still in use by my son-in-law and working great.

 

[Daniel1957]

I too had the Captivate, loved the Captivate! Gps never worked (hardware) Kies never worked, then I found I never needed Kies! LOL Anyway, swore I wouldn't trade in the Captivate until something AWESOME came out!

That WOULD be the Note! No regrets, the Note is 10 times the phone! Great GPS, BETTER wifi reception, better battery life, better phone all around!

 

[DynaBlue]

I gave up my Cappy yesterday for a Note and just...wow! Okay, so I actually liked the Cappy except for the horrid GPS performance, something that I consider an essential feature. So yesterday we gave the Note a bit of a torture test. An hour long drive on mountain roads, switchbacks, narrow canyons and areas with lots of overhanging trees. Not once did I get to hear "GPS signal lost", the theme song of Cappy navigation. At one point the GPS icon did flash (ie, lost signal) for five or so seconds but then it picked right back up and kept going. YAY!

 

[CASUAL]

The things I hate about the Captivate are
-Lousy GPS (from reading around it seems the Note's GPS is great)
-Loses wifi connection all the time
-Wakes up in my pocket for no apparent reason
-Laggy on two year old apps
-Poor OS upgrade support (I could never get Kies to work)
-Awful battery life

How does the Note compare?

Thank you!

DW

When it comes to your captivate you had a LEMON...
the GPS on my cappy worked great, as well as the wifi. The screen never did wake up randomly in my pocket and i did manage to put a legit version of gingerbread on it....

i do agree on the awfule battery life though

 

[ryandelman]

When it comes to your captivate you had a LEMON...
the GPS on my cappy worked great, as well as the wifi. The screen never did wake up randomly in my pocket and i did manage to put a legit version of gingerbread on it....

i do agree on the awfule battery life though

Yea, I'm not so much "Rainbows and butterflies" nostalgic about my old Cappy like you seem to be, but I agree that it was a formidable device for its time, and not the "universal lemon" that some others earlier in this thread would have you believe.

Matter of fact, I still break out the old Cappy every now and then and other than the shoddy battery life and SOMETIMES hit-or-miss GPS, it's still better than a lot of other non-Samsung phones that came after it.

-Ryan

 

[cribbage]

When it comes to your captivate you had a LEMON...
the GPS on my cappy worked great, as well as the wifi. The screen never did wake up randomly in my pocket and i did manage to put a legit version of gingerbread on it....

i do agree on the awfule battery life though

There must have been a LOT of lemons then. I had several of the above issues, most notably the GPS uselessness, and pretty much everyone I know who had one had those same issues as well. My 8 year old uses it to play games now, without a SIM card in it. For that, it's still useful.