Should I Buy the Fascinate, or Something Else?

[Douglerful]

K I have an odd situation on my hands here, I'm a die hard android fan ready to buy my first one (I just became 19) which isn't much of a problem unless you live in canada. The cellphone market here sucks and our choices are extremely limited. So i've decided to buy an unlocked android smartphone that is compatible with WindMobile (the canadian t-mobile) however there are only three high end phones there as well so my choices are the Samsung T959 Vibrant AWS or the T-Mobile g2. Help anyone?

 

[blooper]

just by looking at the specs of the phone, theyre not too different on paper

heres the american tmo site comparing them side to side. as you can see, theres not a whole lot different.

you can probably pick up a few pointers and tips here, as well.

 

[Douglerful]

Yah on paper there nearly identical, but what bugs me is the murky issue of there specific bugs. The g2 may have an odd keyboard(breaking) keyboard and crappy battery life and impossible to root (dealbreaker) while the vibrant feels plasticky and may have gps/lag issues that may or may not have been fixed

 

[Douglerful]

so basically I'd like to know the state of these issues, if there true or not etc

 

[blooper]

yea, its "plasticky" but its very light in weight, which i see as a benefit more than a con. i, personally, dont use the GPS feature that much so i cant complain about it. but from observations, the 3G triangulation is pretty accurate without the GPS on. the OTA update that was recently released for the vibrant didnt really do much for the issues, that ive noticed anyway.

as far as battery life goes, every phone on these forums have complaints about battery life. i used to think the battery on the vibrant was particularly horrible, but after a few adjustments in the settings and getting over the habit of staring at the screen for no reason, i can go a whole day without worrying about battery.

the vibrant is supposed to get froyo 2.2 sometime...
but the G2 already has it. so...

 

[Douglerful]

and the issue of lag what about that?

 

[Alakar]

I bought the Vibrant on launch day and can say that I love the phone.

It is very light weight and I guess that does give it a plasticky feel, but it is light. Compared to my 1st Gen iPhone it's like a feather. For me, with large hands, I always felt like I was going to drop it. The rubber case from T-Mobile works perfect for me though, adding some heft to it and making it feel more secure in my hand.

The GPS issues have been ironed out with the JI6 update. Prior to the update, the GPS would see 10 to 12 satellites, but only lock on to two or three after a extended period of time. Now it see's 10 to 12, and locks onto at least 8 almost immediately. The compass also is much smoother and more accurate.

I personally have never experienced the lag issues that some people complain about. I can't really comment on that but I don't think it is as large of an issue as the GPS issue was.

Then you have the OS and rooting comparison. The G2 is running 2.2 out of the box, but the Vibrant should have 2.2 before the end of the year. I base this on the fact that 2.2 for the international version was posted up, but pulled back because of issues. It shows it is being worked on and hopefully we get it soon. Rooting the Vibrant is simple and painless. The G2 loses root as soon as you reboot the phone.

If you prefer a physical keyboard, the G2 is the one for you. I prefer soft keyboards, so the Vibrant has it there for me.

Overall the Vibrant is a great phone. Call quality is excellent, speaker phone is loud enough to be useful for me, the screen is the best I've seen on any phone, video is smooth as silk, photo quality is great (check out the low light mode), tons of storage space (16GB, and I added a 32GB SDCard), and 3G speeds are great (I average 5.5Mb down, 1Mb up).

 

[Douglerful]

@Alakar you make a very compelling argument, I personally believe its a design flaw if your device is better with an aftermarket case but to each his own. You make some very great points and sway me a great deal however I'm not sold on either, the deciding factor will probably be if Cyanogen 6.1 will support the vibrant or if the g2 can be rooted. I still need to get the funds together to make my purchase but if the G2 isn't rooted by then (a month or so) then I'm sold on the Vibrant. Thanks for the great advice!

 

[caliskimmer]

I played with the Vibrant and I absolutely loved it at first touch. Unfortunately, I'm on Sprint, so we had to part. I HIGHLY recommend the Vibrant.

 

[Alakar]

@Alakar you make a very compelling argument, I personally believe its a design flaw if your device is better with an aftermarket case but to each his own. You make some very great points and sway me a great deal however I'm not sold on either, the deciding factor will probably be if Cyanogen 6.1 will support the vibrant or if the g2 can be rooted. I still need to get the funds together to make my purchase but if the G2 isn't rooted by then (a month or so) then I'm sold on the Vibrant. Thanks for the great advice!

Cyanogen has a 6.1 RC 0 for the Vibrant, so hopefully we will have a ROM from them in the next couple months.

Info here:

Cynagen Mod Forum - The State of the Galaxy

 

[aksoutherland]

Cyanogen will definitely have a ROM for the Vibrant. (probably very soon) I have the Vibrant and love my phone. It is by far the greatest gadget I have owned since the G1.

As of today, I am seeing rumors that root has been achieved on the G2. I have however heard of several people with keyboard issues on the G2.

I am running a Leaked Froyo build on my Vibrant and must say that everything is working great. Even the GPS. My preference is by far the Vibrant, but, each to his own.

 

[egginator]

I'm in the same boat. Should I wait for the fabled Nexus S or just get the Vibrant? I want to be on the cutting edge of things but I don't want to wait so long. 6 months of waiting has made me extremely impatient and I'm DEFINITELY not waiting for dual core phones.

 

[Daedalus]

Ok 2 weeks ago I would have said get something other then the Vibrant... But after the replacement came if all my issues are gone. The GPS is working great and I get a lock with in 30 seconds. I am not one of the guys that Have to have froyo right this second now that it is working for once I am cool.

 

[Ravynmagi]

I just bought my Samsung Vibrant from T-Mobile two days ago.

I spent an hour in the store walking back and forth between the T-Mobile G2, MyTouch 4G, and the Samsung Vibrant. Kinda weird how they had their 3 best Android phones in opposite areas of the store, haha.

I like having a physical keyboard. But I didn't like how loose the keyboard was on the G2. It was a display model, so I'm sure it was abused somewhat. But in the closed position it had a very noticeable gap between the phone and keyboard, it didn't seem to close completely. Also the phone was heavier and thicker than the other two.

The MyTouch 4G I was attracted to because it has 4G support (or at least what T-Mobile is calling 4G) and 768MB of RAM (instead of the 512MB in the Vibrant). It also included Android 2.2.

But I chose the Vibrant because of the Super AMOLED screen. It just looks so much better, and very usable in direct sunlight. Also I noticed the GPU on this seems beefier than the other phones. And it is surprisingly light.

I don't mind the plastic. But I kinda wished there was a textured surface on the back. However I just order a cover for my phone, so that'll solve that problem for $10.

I'm really happy with the Vibrant so far. I'll be happier once Android 2.2 shows up for it.

 

[proV1kenobi]

I just purchased the Vibrant (previously a Blackberry user), and it;s like night and day. Love the Vibrant, and as far as the battery life, it lasts me a whole day on one charge. Highly recommend.