New Captivate Owner - Hello and my first impressions.

[rob6188#AC]

Hello fellow forum members!

I've been a crackberry member for almost 2 years and really enjoyed reading and participating with the members there.

I look forward to getting to know some of you and learn as much as I can about android and my new captivate.

I previously owned a bb bold 9000. Loved the phone and wouldn't have switched except for the fact that my eyes are what they were 2 years ago and I need a bigger screen.

Finally att has a phone on par with the moto droid. So here I am.

My first day impressions were mixed. I really missed the feel of pushing buttons, the blinking notification light, and the ruggedness of the bb. After 2 days, I'm finally accustomed to the touch screen and don't really miss the keyboard for texting.

However, I do miss the feel of the physical home, back, call, and end call buttons. One click and I can make a call, or pull up any number of things using the shortcut keys. I also miss the blinking led notification.

The big plus is the browser experience, beautiful large screen, and awesome video and sound quality (over headphones). Using the touch screen is so much more intuitive and I can setup any number of shortcuts.

The only other thing I'm a little uneasy about is the consistency of using bluetooth and the pc connection. Everything worked with the bb and plugging into the pc was very reliable.

However, I'm getting mixed results when using the bluetooth and pc (kies software). For bluetooth, the speakerphone I bought for it won't connect to the captivate - it does connect with my bb and my boss's iphone. For the usb connection, sometimes I have to reboot either the pc or power off the phone and restart before the pc detects the phone. I'm hoping an update to 2.2 will resolve these issues.

Overall I'm very excited and happy with my new phone. I can't wait to explore some of the fun stuff you all are doing with your phones like "rooting". Also look forward to discovering some really cool apps.

All I need right now is a rugged rubberized hard case with a screen cover to give my new phone durability. Maybe a wallet style bodyglove or leather. For now all I have is the $5 monthly insurance.

Thanks for reading

-Rob

 

[rumur#AC]

I just ditched my BB 9000 for the Captivate on Saturday and so far am LOVING this phone.

 

[RobertInCypress]

Add me to the list of former Bold users that made the switch to the Captivate. Couldn't be happier.
As far as cases go the only thing I've been able to find is the rubber-ish Body Glove cases that comes from AT&T, which I use, and a clear plastic one that I haven't heard anything good about. In Houston its not very easy to find a screen protector either.
I've been off the Crackberry for about two weeks now, but withdrawals are easier when I have the Samsung to play with.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk

 

[rob6188#AC]

I'll have to goto the att store and see if they have that body glove case until one comes out that I really like.

I just used a generic scratch protector that you can buy in packs of 5 sheets. Only cost $6 at walmart. Easy to cut, simply a straight line since the screen is square.

But a real screen protector like a hard plastic that flips open would be sweet.

 

[gspeed]

great. Is there a question in here somewhere?

 

[Griffspen]

great. Is there a question in here somewhere?

I only see your question. And I guess I took care of answering it for you.
You're welcome.

 

[BetaRoc]

great. Is there a question in here somewhere?

Was there supposed to be a question in his post?

 

[valueman]

For a case, look at your local T-mobile store. Here is a Vibrant case i picked up that I really like.

I was a BB user before as well (2 curves, both Bolds). After a couple of weeks with the Captivate I find that I prefer NOT having the blinking light. I really, really missed it at first, but now I think that blinking lght is part of the "crack" in crackberry. Light blinks - I jump to phone.

With the Captivate I check notifications when its convenient. I am probably a more polite user now

 

[tnfan]

For a case, look at your local T-mobile store. Here is a Vibrant case i picked up that I really like.

I was a BB user before as well (2 curves, both Bolds). After a couple of weeks with the Captivate I find that I prefer NOT having the blinking light. I really, really missed it at first, but now I think that blinking lght is part of the "crack" in crackberry. Light blinks - I jump to phone.

With the Captivate I check notifications when its convenient. I am probably a more polite user now

Nice case! I have the same one and it works great!

Also ditched the Bold 9000 for the Captivate and have not looked back. I am not missing any of the BB functions. Blinking light drove me batty!

 

[flashman03]

You will come to love the Sammy. What I like is the almost sheer impossibility of bricking the phone. What I was doing last night on a BB would have killed it because of my lack of knowledge, but with this I was able to restore at the expense of losing all data. Oh wellI can always put it back on the phone lol.

 

[RobertInCypress]

I think that blinking lght is part of the "crack" in crackberry. Light blinks - I jump to phone.

hmm... now that you put it that way, maybe you're right!

 

[Joeybear23]

Yeah, I was a crackberry guy... so far the hacks/fixes on this phone haven't made me blush. I used a Storm1 on AT&T for about a year, after moving from a Curve, and I used to have to blow that thing away, restore it, re-flash it, etc on almost a weekly basis because I couldn't stop messing with the OS.

Now I look forward to playing around with this much more sophisticated (and faster) piece of hardware... and so far I love android compared to BlackBerry OS 5.

 

[gspeed]

has no idea why people with bb's feel they might not like Android.

Glad to see you guys take the leap and experiment on the Android side of things.

 

[dmnall]

has no idea why people with bb's feel they might not like Android.

Glad to see you guys take the leap and experiment on the Android side of things.

Well let's see since I was a BB user for 3 years, I jumped over to Android after playing with 2.1 and I was blown away on it. I first encountered Android a year and a half ago with Android 1.0 on the htc dream my boss picked up because he wanted to program from Android. At that time I was not impressed but playing with an Aria in store, I waited because I was not a fan of the size but Android has come a long way since 1.0! A lot of BB Users will says they cannot deal with a touch screen and they need a physical full qwerty keyboard. I thought this way but after playing with the Captivate, I changed my mind.

On 7/18/2010 I rooted, enabled non market apps and removed the bloatware. Battery life was horrible but it is pretty good so far for me.. Over 18+ hours since my last charge and still going with at least 30% battery!

The reason why I love android is I feel more at home since it is based on my all time favorite operating systems BSD/Linux *more at home with these then iPhone OS or even BB*...

HTH,
Charlie

 

[rob6188#AC]

Thanks for all the replies so far. Maybe this weekend I'll try rooting the phone and other fun stuff. I feel a little better now that I see so many bb converts comfortable with messing around with the os.

I mean these phones are really just mini computers. They should call them pocket pc's again.

 

[flashman03]

Thanks for all the replies so far. Maybe this weekend I'll try rooting the phone and other fun stuff. I feel a little better now that I see so many bb converts comfortable with messing around with the os.

I mean these phones are really just mini computers. They should call them pocket pc's again.

If you go to xda forum you will find a one click root installer, takes all the work out of doing it and is virtually error free. Find the thread and just go from there. Works like a champ. Just make sure you read up on everything to be sure you know what to do, its a walk in the park.

 

[gspeed]

Well let's see since I was a BB user for 3 years, I jumped over to Android after playing with 2.1 and I was blown away on it. I first encountered Android a year and a half ago with Android 1.0 on the htc dream my boss picked up because he wanted to program from Android. At that time I was not impressed but playing with an Aria in store, I waited because I was not a fan of the size but Android has come a long way since 1.0! A lot of BB Users will says they cannot deal with a touch screen and they need a physical full qwerty keyboard. I thought this way but after playing with the Captivate, I changed my mind.

On 7/18/2010 I rooted, enabled non market apps and removed the bloatware. Battery life was horrible but it is pretty good so far for me.. Over 18+ hours since my last charge and still going with at least 30% battery!

The reason why I love android is I feel more at home since it is based on my all time favorite operating systems BSD/Linux *more at home with these then iPhone OS or even BB*...

HTH,
Charlie

ya most of us came from bb or another smartphone device. I've seen it countless times where friends or family who swore by their bb switched to Android and haven't looked back. Most of them only miss the bbm. Well Google has Gtalk. Granted Android 1.0 was archaic to what it is now, but Android's popularity is at a fever pitch right now.

i think the op is leaning towards this device and looking for some reassurement. I appreciate you taking the more civil approach of gently encouraging him. i apologize for taking the brash route of "just go buy it already and if you don't like you have 30 days to return". He found this website for a reason. He knows Android's capabilities and features. He just needs to take that final plunge and just buy the device.

It's just I've seen this repeated countless times. The bb at its current state can't really compare to high end Android devices. It's just a completely different league.

 

[Joeybear23]

...

I mean these phones are really just mini computers. They should call them pocket pc's again.

Funny you should say that.
I have been playing around with Remote RDP programs, and I must say it is amazing how easy it is to control a desktop/server remotely from the phone... and the 4" screen makes it manageable.

 

[rob6188#AC]

For a case, look at your local T-mobile store. Here is a Vibrant case i picked up that I really like.

I was a BB user before as well (2 curves, both Bolds). After a couple of weeks with the Captivate I find that I prefer NOT having the blinking light. I really, really missed it at first, but now I think that blinking lght is part of the "crack" in crackberry. Light blinks - I jump to phone.

With the Captivate I check notifications when its convenient. I am probably a more polite user now

Nice case. Have to check out the t-mobile store. ATT had nothing for captivate yet.

I think you've hit the nail on the head with you comment on the blinking light. I guess it's kind of a distraction more than helpful. Only advantage might be the you save a hair bit of battery since you don't have to turn on the screen unless the light is blinking.

If you go to xda forum you will find a one click root installer, takes all the work out of doing it and is virtually error free. Find the thread and just go from there. Works like a champ. Just make sure you read up on everything to be sure you know what to do, its a walk in the park.

Thanks for the tip, will look into that when I have a few hours free this weekend.

Funny you should say that.
I have been playing around with Remote RDP programs, and I must say it is amazing how easy it is to control a desktop/server remotely from the phone... and the 4" screen makes it manageable.

That's pretty cool. Didn't even think of using a phone like that! Definitely on my list of things to try. That would definitely make some other smartphone os users jealous!

 

[mbranscum]

I was a BB 9700 user. Like others, my 47 year old eyes just got tired of reading the micro print. Got a Nexus One and really didnt like several thing about it, like the screen in sunlight and other little things. Went to an iphone 4 for 3 weeks and gave it to my daughter who is an iphone fan. Too many dropped and missed calls. THEN I picked up a new BB Tourch 9800 with touch screen. I wa so excited....for about 1 hour....I realized I hated that phone! Keyboard way too small to be accurate. Overall the phone was just too busy!

Went in and exchanged the Tourch for the Captivate. This phone is a dream compared to other phones Ive been through lately!

Mike