Well...get a screen protector, yes our screens are tough, but that extra protection is nice. A long with a case. Amzer makes a great gel case for 10 bucks, Otterbox just came out with their Impact series(just gel) which I just purchased)

Just in case you ever drop your baby...it is protected...

Rooting nowadays is one click and done. These phone are very bullet proof. I had to go back to stock 2 or 3 times(Using Odin which is also one click flash) and rerooted, lagfixed and all.

Read up, once you read a bit, you gain knowledge quickly, took me about a week or two to catch up to what most people know, and there is just some CRAZY things people do with the phones that are too much for me to do,haha.

Hope your enjoy your Cappy!

 

Don't worry about rooting, lag fixes, roms or anything otherwise unofficial. They may work (and may not), but if this is your first time with Android and you just want to have a phone and not be hacking around then just ignore those options (for now).

The first thing you need to do is figure out the primary function of this device in your world. Phone? Navigation? Web? Social Networking? Texting? Media? Gaming? Music?

Once you've figured out the primary function, ie the one that's most important to you, then you can start getting advice from us as to which direction may best suit you.

 

Very well put..a week into my captivate and I learn something every time I have a few mintues to spare. But I have no desire to root..or do anything out of the ordinary...at least not yet

 

First thing I did was get a screen protector, the ones at the at&t store are nice and and there only $10 bucks. The second thing I did was buy the body glove case for $12 on eBay. Then get to cuthstomizing! First thing I did there was to get launcherpro and handsent SMS. Then dolphin browser whitch I'm still not sure I like yet.

 

first thing i would do would be launcher pro and froyo. i dont use a body glove or screen protector

 

I got it 2 weeks ago. Just enjoy the fun ride. every day u will find new apps and new features. Get launcher pro and some cool social networking apps.

Don't worry about rooting and lag fixes. You won't notice any lag for some time. once you are used to your phone than go for hacking stuff or your might brick it or something.

 

The first thing you should do is get a Garmin or Tom Tom. Then learn to install Cognition because the phone is laggy as hell without a custom ROM.

 

cognition made my phone worse. if you dont want any lag at all get oclf. but there isnt really much lag to begin with

 

Well after you get the phone I'd start with getting a good case(never hurts to use protection).

After that I'd go to samsung's website and get the usb drivers for the phone. That way you can put all your music, and any videos you'll want to be able to watch on the go.

Finally I'd get launcherpro. This is far from required, but I just wasn't a fan of the touchwiz layout. Launcherpro is really easy to use and so far its worked without a hitch for me. Oh! if you switch to a different launcher, make sure to download homeswitcher. That app makes it easier to swap which launcher you are using. Its really good when you want to test out different ones.

Drivers: http://www.samsung.com/us/support/downloads/SGH-I897ZKAATT click the software tab and download the usb driver.

 

...where might that be???

 

Attached a screenshot

 

Actually this is some good advice, I found it a lot easier to get my contacts in order on Gmail instead of having some partially listed in the phone, and then others partially in the sim card etc.

You can export them to a V-Card file from your phone and then import them into gmail from your computer. Then you can display only the gmail contacts so that you don't see too many duplicates. That way my contacts are always synchronized to my gmail account and it's easy to change them from either the phone or the computer.

 

First thing I'd do is read the Captivate FAQ:
FAQ - CapFAQ

 

Once I decided to keep my Captivate...

First thing I did was get a case (I got two, a silicone case and a rubberized hard case -- the cheapies from Amazon work GREAT!); screen protectors, more because I like to clean the screen often as well as prevent inadvertent scratches PLUS you can use wipes on protectors and not worry while you have to be exra-super careful if you clean a "naked" screen.

I also wanted to dock it at my desk at work, and found this awesome, "dock/sound amplifying sphere" that does double duty for me as dock and speakers: Clingo Universal Parabolic Sound Amplifying Sphere for iPhone 4,3G/3GS, and All Cell Phones and Mobile Devices -- Just be aware that it doesn't work with silicone cases.

Finally, I got a car mount for it, as I need it for when I use the phone for GPS. Knock on wood in that I've had great luck with my Captivate. It doesn't have any of the GPS issues that have been reported.

Then I just spent days and days in the app store to find all the apps that I thought I would find useful or fun

 

These are just some basic apps you might want to look into getting then. You probably already have them but just to make sure....get launcher pro paid version which has some good facebook and texting widgets, and get handcent which is the best way to text on android. Also, I prefer the default browser, but you might want to check out dolphin browser and the firefox beta which you can sideload with android central's sideloading wonder machine so you don't have to root and enable sideloading.

 

I'd argue Google Voice is the best way to text, as it's totally free so you can remove your texting plan and save a lot of money.

Google Voice - CapFAQ

 

I actually wanted to do that...but found that many online verifications for mobile #s (e.g., if you want to add a mobile number for alerts for your bank account or a credit card) -- the verification sms from the CC or bank doesn't get to my GV number. I think that's because they are sending SMS via an email gateway, and GV doesn't support SMS from email gateways.

Usually in AIM, I can send texts to any mobile number. I tried many times sending test messages to my GV # from AIM, but they never get through. Probably the same email gateway prob as above.

So I'm "stucK" with my 200 msg plan until GV can accommodate SMS from email gateways.

 

Also worth mentioning is that Google Voice still does not support MMS, so if that's important to you, you're better off with a texting plan.

 

Agreed.

But MMS has size limitations (~600kb) -- so if you can train your friends to send MMS to your email account, that is better for a variety of reasons.

1) No size limitations of the attachment (although since it's restricted by their provider, this point is a non-issue).
2) Automatic backup in your email accout
3) If sent to your gmail account, it will probably get pushed to your phone faster than via your provider's MMS gateway, which can sometimes lag. VZW and AT&T don't always play nice and the result is that sometimes MMS sent from one provider to the other doesn't get to the recipient. Having your friends send to your email precludes this from happening.

 

Agreed. In this age of smartphones, using MMS to share pics is like using a carrier pigeon to send messages.

 

I've seen alot of the advice has to do with LauncherPro. What is the advantage of this over TWLauncher?

 

LauncherPro - CapFAQ

 

Capfaq is great, so definitely read that.

Personally, I used TW Launcher for about a 2 weeks before got LauncherPro...and it was for a silly reason: I didn't like the use of space in TWLauncher homescreens, whch is 4x4. I like my homescreens a little more compact, so LauncherPro was great as I could change to 5x5, which is more aesthetically pleasing to me.

Then I found out it had a scrolling dock, which I love because I could load all my must have apps down at the bottom and not have to use a homescreen to house them.

But for me, it was really an aesthetic thing...then I found some nice features that I really liked...then went LP Plus because I finally decided to start a FB account and wanted to use LP+'s FB widget.