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Help PLEASE HELP!! Desperate non-techhie Grandpa fed-up with his Charge

I am a middle-age guy who is one of the most non tech-savvy people you will ever meet. I have had my Samsung Charge - my first smartphone - for around a year now and I beat myself up DAILY for choosing it over the iPhone. The Verizon sales rep spent probably a total of an hour over three visits demo-ing both phones to me and what tipped the scales for me was the Charge's super-bright screen.

I have grown to LOATHE this phone:

*batteries overheat and phone locks-up
*battery life stinks - I have three batteries and drain all three over the course of about 5-6 hours use even with one - or no - apps open
*camera locks-up and I have to take battery out, reinsert it and power the phone back up to continue shooting
*speaking of powering up - from the time I turn the phone on until all the media scanning stuff happens and it is ready to use, it is literally like 3-4 minutes. Is this NORMAL?
*installed an app called Juice Defender to help with battery life - doesn't help
*installed an app to keep my screen from going black (also selected 30 minutes under the settings - doesn't 'take') screen stills goes black during calls, checking VM etc
* I set my brightness to MAX - the bright screen after all was what tipped the scales for me away from iPhone - but everytime I have to switch batteries or power the phone back up it defaults back to a very dim setting even though the auto box is un-checked

I could go on & on & on.....

I FINALLY said 'enough' yesterday and went back to my store and asked to have phone replaced under guarantee/warranty. They were nice about it and over-nighted one to me. Imagine my disappointment when it arrived today and I noticed it is not brand new, but apparently used or refurbished. Is THIS normal?

So I'm sitting here trying to decide - should I transfer the sim card chip thingy over to the refurbished phone and go through the headaches of re-installing apps, configuring settings etc - or should I stay with existing phone and try some of the fixes I have been reading about on this forum over the last hour - rooting phone, installing something called a ROM like Eclipse 1.4 or 2.0?

I have searched for 'how to' instructions to accomplish these tasks - which I know NOTHING about - but I seem to just keep going around in circles in several forums and can only find hard-core tech talk, which unfortunately, is a total foreign language to me.

ANY help anyone can provide would be appreciated more than I can express. It's like I need a 'Smartphones For Dummies' book or something.
 
WHOA.. Okay.. I'm sorry to tell you this but this seems like an extreme hardware problem with your phone.. Or you have something way out of my league going on. I think you should call Samsung and discuss a replacement phone for you. They are usually very helpful, if not more helpful than the regular sales guy at Verizon.

All you do is call Samsung's warranty number. Let them know your phone number. The MEID number which is behind your battery and tell them what is going on. Detail for detail. They will tell you what they can and will do for you. Hopefully you are still under warranty and will get a replacement.

I hope this helps and I truly am sorry about your inconvenience. I do know the frustration, but if you have any questions just let me know with a private message.
 
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I am a middle-age guy who is one of the most non tech-savvy people you will ever meet. I have had my Samsung Charge - my first smartphone - for around a year now and I beat myself up DAILY for choosing it over the iPhone. The Verizon sales rep spent probably a total of an hour over three visits demo-ing both phones to me and what tipped the scales for me was the Charge's super-bright screen.

I have grown to LOATHE this phone:

*batteries overheat and phone locks-up
*battery life stinks - I have three batteries and drain all three over the course of about 5-6 hours use even with one - or no - apps open
*camera locks-up and I have to take battery out, reinsert it and power the phone back up to continue shooting
*speaking of powering up - from the time I turn the phone on until all the media scanning stuff happens and it is ready to use, it is literally like 3-4 minutes. Is this NORMAL?
*installed an app called Juice Defender to help with battery life - doesn't help
*installed an app to keep my screen from going black (also selected 30 minutes under the settings - doesn't 'take') screen stills goes black during calls, checking VM etc
* I set my brightness to MAX - the bright screen after all was what tipped the scales for me away from iPhone - but everytime I have to switch batteries or power the phone back up it defaults back to a very dim setting even though the auto box is un-checked

I could go on & on & on.....

I FINALLY said 'enough' yesterday and went back to my store and asked to have phone replaced under guarantee/warranty. They were nice about it and over-nighted one to me. Imagine my disappointment when it arrived today and I noticed it is not brand new, but apparently used or refurbished. Is THIS normal?

So I'm sitting here trying to decide - should I transfer the sim card chip thingy over to the refurbished phone and go through the headaches of re-installing apps, configuring settings etc - or should I stay with existing phone and try some of the fixes I have been reading about on this forum over the last hour - rooting phone, installing something called a ROM like Eclipse 1.4 or 2.0?

I have searched for 'how to' instructions to accomplish these tasks - which I know NOTHING about - but I seem to just keep going around in circles in several forums and can only find hard-core tech talk, which unfortunately, is a total foreign language to me.

ANY help anyone can provide would be appreciated more than I can express. It's like I need a 'Smartphones For Dummies' book or something.

Read through all my posts that I have posted in this forum. All of them are about the same problems you faced. I am happy with my droid charge now(read my last post to find out what I did).

1. With regards to battery life, Juice Defender is the best. Make sure it is enabled. I used Juice Defender and it extends battery life by 1.5 easy and after proper configuration over 2 times.
2. Your camera is probably locked because of you hitting the power button. Hit the power button again to unlock it. This is actually a feature.
3. Media scanning does happen but shouldn't take 3-4 minutes. Yes but my phone used to get very slow after boot or unlocking. Read my last post and follow steps.
4. If your screen is on for 30 minutes under maximum brightness of course your battery will drain. Why do you need your screen to be on during phone calls. If you do just hit the power button and the screen comes back on. I have mine to turn off in 1 minute.
 
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That's not very nice. Everyone starts somewhere. I knew nothing about androids when I first came here a year ago. I have since rooted 4 of my personal phones and flashed too many roms and mods and themes to count.
I'm not trying to slam anyone; I don't think people should feel obligated to become tech geeks just because they want a smartphone. But iPhones are just easier to use in every way, though they're a lot more limited.

BTW, I agree with Grammie - I really like my Charge; the display is the best around, and the phone functions I need work just fine. But it has a learning curve associated with it, no question.
 
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That's not very nice. Everyone starts somewhere. I knew nothing about androids when I first came here a year ago. I have since rooted 4 of my personal phones and flashed too many roms and mods and themes to count.

That is all well and good for you, and I don't think anyone is trying to be mean here. But a struggling grandpa who is "one of the most non-tech savvy people" you will meet probably should not have an Android as his first smartphone. I own the Charge and I love it. I personally would not buy an iphone or any i-device for reasons of principle. But you can not deny that right out of the box they are much easier to use than droids or blackberries especially for novices who often times need the features and capabilities of smart phones spoon fed to them. Any worthwhile salesperson should have realized that from the beginning, especially when it sounds like he was swaying back and forth between the iphone and the Charge.
 
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