lunatic59 - thanks so much for the advice ... I just tried that ... and total no love. Epic fail. This is REALLY disappointing as I LOVED the phone JUST the way it WAS. I have NO need or use for Google Talk ... I just assumed (stupid I know) that 2.3.4 would provide me with only good new things ... and not break things that already worked great.
I just got off the phone with Samsung Tech Support ... and they are saying my last option is to do a hard factory reset (I did a soft reset already) ... which is VERY disappointing as I've just re-installed everything back to the way I wanted it from BEFORE (except for the FB contact not syncing thang of course) and I don't wanna have to do that another several times really. Plus I'll have to copy everything OFF the storage area of the phone that I painstakingly copied TO the phone before ....
Is rooting the phone particularly difficult? Will I void the warranty or something? I'm fairly technical capable ... I'm a tech support person for a switching, routing and wireless company ...
If you're sure going back to 2.3.1 or 2.3.2 will get me back "where I belong" and it's not too difficult ... I can do that.
Why on EARTH would they take AWAY the option to sync with FB?