And the verdict is?

[Redbird1]

It sounds like the Fascinate is well liked so far, even though it hasn't been out for a day yet.

Tell me, do you:

1. Love the Fascinate and have no regrets?
2. Wish you would have waited 2 weeks for the DX?
3. Wish you would have waited for the HTC Incredible HD that's supposedly coming out in December?

Just curious.......I'm leaning toward getting the Fascinate. I checked it out earlier today. I was very impressed.

 

[hanano17]

1. Don't have regrets. Even bought a desktop cradle, which I didn't do for any of the other phones i've had (though I wanted the Droid 1 cradle, I liked that phone a lot...but not as much as the Fascinate so far!)
2. DX? You mean R2D2? Either way, no.
3. Heck no...I never fell in love with my Dinc. In fact, I breathed an internal sigh of relief to wipe it and shut it down and pack it up to be sold.

 

[maj]

NUMBER 1: This phone is everything I want and need in a phone. Screen is amazing and it is so snappy. Great phone all-around. The GPS is working great for me(just had to make sure to have all the options on for it). And seriously all the Bing hate was over-exaggerated, I mean its obviously on the phone but it and the rest of the bloatware aren't ruining my android experience. I dont even plan on rooting it anymore.

Just want a car dock, really helps me use the GPS when driving.

I highly recommend this phone.

 

[wonkman]

I went to Verizon to buy one. I was very impressed with everything about the phone. Some reviews said it had a cheap feel but I disagree. Light does not equal cheap.

The only problem was the GPS. No sat locks with GPS Test while 2 DInc and 1 DX were getting 9 sats. I tried a second Fascinate and got the exact same results.

I couldn't bring myself to buy it as this is an important feature to me. Everything else met or exceeded my expectations.

If Samsung issues that "optimization" they tweeted about, I would most definitely reconsider. It not, I will wait for that HTC.

 

[hanano17]

I went to Verizon to buy one. I was very impressed with everything about the phone. Some reviews said it had a cheap feel but I disagree. Light does not equal cheap.

The only problem was the GPS. No sat locks with GPS Test while 2 DInc and 1 DX were getting 9 sats. I tried a second Fascinate and got the exact same results.

I couldn't bring myself to buy it as this is an important feature to me. Everything else met or exceeded my expectations.

If Samsung issues that "optimization" they tweeted about, I would most definitely reconsider. It not, I will wait for that HTC.

Did you make sure all GPS and Location services were checked? Seems like the majority of us aren't having a problem getting a GPS lock (though some are experiencing accuracy issues while indoors).

 

[wonkman]

Did you make sure all GPS and Location services were checked? Seems like the majority of us aren't having a problem getting a GPS lock (though some are experiencing accuracy issues while indoors).

Yeah, checked them all and set up the DInc and DX the same It does seem to vary from phone to phone (or maybe area to area). But I was discouraged that the other phones were getting very strong signals in the exact same circumstances where Fascinates were getting no usable signals. I really wanted this phone and the current Droids don't appeal to me (Incredible is nice. But a bit too small for me).

 

[SirKronan]

You guys using the VZ navigator or the Google Nav?

 

[eleazar]

Have no regrets. I love this phone already.

I came from the Incredible which is another great phone. In my opinion, this one blows it out of the water.

 

[Vihzel]

Honestly, it's too soon to call right now. I've only had it for a few hours. lol For the next few days and weeks, I'm going to really be pushing it to see how it fares to my current phone, the DX.

 

[rushmore]

I have tested the Fascinate enough to agree it is a sweet device, but the Inc kicks its butt with 2.2. Whenever this puppy gets 2.2, IMO the Inc will be second place.

I am happy to wait a few months and see how things pan out for several issues:

1. When will there actually be a rooted rom? A lot of talk about the device being rooted, but no stable Galaxy S rom that works for the other versions I have seen. The leaked 2.2 that people touted a while back only works for a few versions and mainly the international models. Even then it is problematic. A generic 2.2 rom would be more bad than good. Even the Incredible has problems and same chipset as those roms.

2. In regards to root, has anyone rooted the Fascinate and applied any root-only apps and see if they work? The key litmus test would be Titanium Backup. If it works- it is gold.

3. When will 2.2 be released? Samsung is dealing with a bunch of different models to roll out and THEN they have to be augmented with carrier specific content.

Folks, you will probably be lucky to see an official OTA in December. If you do not mind not having Flash or 2.2 until then- cool. I would rather wait and see what happens with the three items above.

Fact is, I would pick a 2.2 version of the Fascinate over the Inc in a NY minute, but the Inc with 2.2 is a better device than the Facinate with 2.1.

I predict that once the luster of a new device wears off, a lot of the folks that buy this device will become impatient for 2.2. The stigma Samsung has for updates will not help this perception.

 

[SirKronan]

I have tested the Fascinate enough to agree it is a sweet device, but the Inc kicks its butt with 2.2. Whenever this puppy gets 2.2, IMO the Inc will be second place.

I am happy to wait a few months and see how things pan out for several issues:

1. When will there actually be a rooted rom? A lot of talk about the device being rooted, but no stable Galaxy S rom that works for the other versions I have seen. The leaked 2.2 that people touted a while back only works for a few versions and mainly the international models. Even then it is problematic. A generic 2.2 rom would be more bad than good. Even the Incredible has problems and same chipset as those roms.

2. In regards to root, has anyone rooted the Fascinate and applied any root-only apps and see if they work? The key litmus test would be Titanium Backup. If it works- it is gold.

3. When will 2.2 be released? Samsung is dealing with a bunch of different models to roll out and THEN they have to be augmented with carrier specific content.

Folks, you will probably be lucky to see an official OTA in December. If you do not mind not having Flash or 2.2 until then- cool. I would rather wait and see what happens with the three items above.

Fact is, I would pick a 2.2 version of the Fascinate over the Inc in a NY minute, but the Inc with 2.2 is a better device than the Facinate with 2.1.

I predict that once the luster of a new device wears off, a lot of the folks that buy this device will become impatient for 2.2. The stigma Samsung has for updates will not help this perception.

SuperAMOLED > AMOLED, and the Fascinate is plenty strong to run 2.1 smoothly, but I can certainly understand if you're used to 2.2 and don't want to go back in time. I tried a Droid 1 out that had 2.2 on it. The thing flies. It's a relatively old phone compared to others, but 2.2 certainly makes a difference.

I still think that when Froyo officially hits, I'd rather "suffer" 2.1 for a while with superior hardware and then get a nice upgrade to 2.2. I just need to know we can root it, run root explorer, and run launcher pro on it. And we are getting dangerously close to that point already with this phone.

 

[uncle_Felty]

coming from a Droid 1 I love it. The overall performance is outstanding, screen is unbelievable and once you tweak the settings, all the issues people cried about are non existant.
My only complaint is the lack of an LED notification. I have tried NoLED with no luck but other than that, definately much better than what the reviewers had to say.

 

[ckochinsky125]

Love it this phone is awesome and its still on 2.1

 

[tystevens]

Verdict is its a great phone.

Now, it's my first Android, so I can't say its better than any other. But the form and screen are perfect, the UI seems quite straightforward, and I'm pretty happy.

And the GPS seems to work great. As I mentioned on other threads, it seems to have a hard time locking right on to me when I first turn it on inside a building. But one I start moving, it locks right on. I used Google Nav on the way to work this morning, it worked great. Very quick to reroute, and had my position very specific -- it knew when I got on the "wrong" offramp immediately and re-routed me very quickly.

Once I figure out how to navigate thru Google's services (calendars, contacts, etc), I'll be doing great. I've not used gmail in the past, so it is a bit of a learning experience, but I'll get there.

 

[ConceptVBS]

Froyo 2.2 update will include some new Touch wiz features.

 

[Don S]

.. As I mentioned on other threads, it seems to have a hard time locking right on to me when I first turn it on inside a building. But one I start moving, it locks right on. ..

Yup, my results too. I love mine as well so far.

 

[maj]

You guys using the VZ navigator or the Google Nav?

Using Google Nav, and it is working perfectly for me. But it only works if all the options are checked on.

I'm really happy with this phone, even if its only running 2.1. I can't wait until 2.2 but right now everything is nice a smooth. I absolutely love this phone. Can't even imagine what it'll be like once its running 2.2, can it get any better?

 

[d1c1ple]

1st android phone for me; picked up a few hours ago. Great so far! Have to read up on recommended apps and the varying launchers, etc.

 

[tonyb81]

Folks, you will probably be lucky to see an official OTA in December. If you do not mind not having Flash or 2.2 until then- cool. I would rather wait and see what happens with the three items above.

Fact is, I would pick a 2.2 version of the Fascinate over the Inc in a NY minute, but the Inc with 2.2 is a better device than the Facinate with 2.1.

I predict that once the luster of a new device wears off, a lot of the folks that buy this device will become impatient for 2.2. The stigma Samsung has for updates will not help this perception.

I understand Samsung has been crappy in the past, but they are going balls deep with the Galaxy S line of phones. This is their biggest Android lineup, and I believe that they are going to do things differently now when it comes to support. Other than the HTC with the Hero, no other company has a specific line of phones running Android on all the major carriers in the US. They have the most powerful phone out there right now and they brag about this in their ads. They never marketed an Android phone like they are doing with Galaxy S.

 

[SirKronan]

Using Google Nav, and it is working perfectly for me. But it only works if all the options are checked on.

I'm really happy with this phone, even if its only running 2.1. I can't wait until 2.2 but right now everything is nice a smooth. I absolutely love this phone. Can't even imagine what it'll be like once its running 2.2, can it get any better?

Is the drain low enough that you can just leave them on all day? Or do you have to turn all the services on every time, and then turn them back off again to save your battery?

 

[JuneNYC]

Coming from the captivate. I love the fascinate even more. Why? BOGA!
Gps fix is coming soonl

 

[SirKronan]

coming from the captivate. I love the fascinate even more. Why? Boga!
Gps fix is coming soonl

boga?

 

[Bearly]

Wow, GPS will not lock on

EDIT: Really interesting. I put in another address, and it locked on...

 

[substring]

Much better than I expected. The more I use it, the more I love it. This is the BEST Android phone in the Verizon camp, and arguably the BEST Android phone across the board as of today!

I don't have any GPS problem. I got lock on by using Google Map, by VZ Navigator, and by several other app that use GPS.

Use the Voice Search app and I can launch Google Search WITHOUT rooting or custom launcher. No problem at all.

Bought the silicon cover and the screen protector from Verizon store yesterday, and now the phone is not that slippery. The cover looks great.

I can reuse my Aquapac pouch (bought that for my BlackBerry) so that the phone is protected from water when I am doing water sport.

In my humble opinion, this IS the iPhone killer.

 

[terriblephonema]

Well the phone is more or less awesome. I just tested my GPS again to make sure it's still working, and I'm sitting in my bedroom, got a lock right away but its about a mile or so off.

I have google search and voice search working through launcher pro.

My two biggest problems with the phone right now are:

1) Bloatware - I have tons of apps on here already and I've only actually downloaded 5 I want. I can't wait to get rid of all this crap.

2) The back just feels slippery in my hand. I just want someone to come out with a new back case with a different finish.

Otherwise, I love it.