I'm new to the Captivate, and so, also, to this forum. I've had my Captivate for about seven weeks (at this writing). My wife has an identical phone... got 'em both at the same time, right around Halloween.
And I really want to say who from... an AT&T dealer, whom I think deserves the mention because of the nice way it's handling -- even as I write this -- that Mary-Anne's phone suffers from the infamous Captivate auto-shutoff problem (even though AT&T and Samsung claim it's been resolved); and how the dealer is exchanging the phone for a brand new one even after the expiration of the 30-day-day-after-purchase exchange period. But I don't want mods, here, to get mad at me for promoting a dealer, so I guess I'll have to stifle. But I must say that said dealer responded well to the situation, and is handling it very nicely... for which I'm grateful. That said, I
did have to get a little tough with the dealer at first; though it didn't take it long to figure out that it would just be easier to work with me... so maybe the dealer actuallly deserves little more mention than any other dealer... who knows. [sigh]
We actually wanted a pair of Galaxy S2's (or at least
she did... I actually wanted a slide-out keyboard so badly that I briefly (and, as it turns out, stupidly) considered the new Pantech Crossover; and I didn't know that AT&T was going to annouce a slide-out keyboard version of the Captivate (the new "Captivate Glide") a mere three weeks later... timing, then, is everything). Mary-Anne convinced me, however, to go with a phone wherein one types on the screen. I had pounded into her head, during the couple of weeks that I did my consultant-typical due diligence as to which phones we should get, that that was clearly the way of things; that slide-out keyboard phones were becoming fewer and further between, and so we might as well get used to typing on glass (ick). Of course she learned well, 'cause she reminded me of that as we were standing at the counter deciding what phones to get.
Plus, it would clearly be easier for me to support two identical phones in the family; so what the heck, we got two Samsung Captivates... partly, also, because they only cost a penny each with the two-year AT&T contract upgrade. (Alas, in the end, the pound of silver was the ultimate decider.)
I also rationalized that 4G's just not available in very many places yet; nor will it be in enough places before the contract expires in October of 2013 to make it worth the extra money for the Galaxy S2's...
...and so, wouldn't you know it, AT&T decided to make me eat
that rationalization by very recently turning-up 4G-LTE in San Francisco; and promising 4G ubiquity throughout the entire San Francisco Bay area very soon. Of course, if how quickly AT&T has been able to bring u-Verse up here to the north side of Napa (it's not here yet, at all) is any indication of what "soon" means to AT&T, it'll turn out, I'll bet, that my rationalization was more or less right, all things considered. If so, then our 3G phones will be perfect for us for the next couple of years, 'til the contract expires.
The truth is that these are great phones, all things considered. We have no regrets, and will likely still be using them for the foreseeable future (that is, assuming I can muster-up the self-discipline to stop myself from getting a new SAMSUNG NOTE when it's finally available in the US... check it out... pretty nice).
Anyway, I'm also new to Android... er... well... at least I'm a noob OWNER of an Android device. For my work as a management/high-tech consultant, I've obviously had to keep-up with the Android OS from its beginning; and have, in my work, recommended no end of Android devices. With all that, and 35 years in IT and telephony, you'd think I'd have finally bitten the bullet and gotten an Adroid smartphone long before now. But, honestly, for me, a phone is a phone; and the plain, ol' Motorola flip phone I've long had, plus the notebook computer I carry in my 30-year-old, time-worn Eddie Bauer shoulder bag (when I'm casual; I have a much nicer black leather case for when I'm in a suit), has been all the telephony and computerization I've needed. I'm a just keep it simple kind of guy, not quick to personally embrace the very technologies which I make sure my clients either embrace, or at least know about (unless, of course, so doing is just plain irresponsible).
But Mary-Anne's little (microscopic, actually) Pantech flip phone (pretty cool at the time, I must say) finally bit the dust; and so she used the occasion to drag me -- kicking and screaming a little bit -- into the world of Android smartphones...
...specifically, a pair of brand, spanking new (manufactured in September 2011, lot 1109, Rev 0.4) AT&T Samsung Captivate SGH-i897's, bearing Froyo 2.2, kernel 2.6.32.9, build FROYO.UCKB2
Mine's fine, but, as the second paragraph, herein, describes, Mary-Anne's, after about three weeks, was doing the infamous Captivate auto-shutoff thing. So I did a factory reset (the big one... the one wherein one dials a certain string of numbers, with pound signs and asterisks in it, from the phone's dialer keypad, which also does a GSM reset, as well as not only wipes, but re-formats all flash-type memory, and reinstalls EVERYTHING, as if the phone were new, right from the factory), and then I tied her GMAIL account to the phone again... only this time I didn't configure anything, or install anything... I just wanted to test the phone vanilla, naked, to see if it would start doing it again. And, sure enough, like clockwork, it did again at about the three-week mark. Actually, it did it once after only a few days, but then didn't really start up again for another week or so after that. It was very interesting. I also ran some other tests... tried different batteries, different charging patterns... even tried having her never touch the power button except to turn-on the phone and/or wake-up the screen, but never to sleep it (just in case the button was bad)... looked at logs, did research, danced around counter-clockwise in my skivvies imploring the Samsung gods to look favorably on the phone... the whole enchalata...
...and the bottom line was that the phone needed to be replaced. And so that's happening, even as I write this. And the dealer's sending a NEW phone, not a refurb like AT&T sends when one does longer-than-30-days-from-purchase warranty exchanges. So I'm hopeful that this new one will be fine. Needless to say, I'll be testing the bejesus out of it!
Anyway, consultants -- at least those like me -- tend, after a while (and I've been doing it for over three decades) to get pretty darned good at quick-learning, and becoming narrowly both focused and expert in something in a big hurry when they need to. After a while, it just becomes second nature, and next thing one knows, one's what they call a "really quick study" in life. Trust me, though, it's got less to do with smarts, and more to do with practice. I've got, if nothing else, 35 years of practice.
And so, my point is that in the only seven weeks that I've owned this phone, I've actually become quite expert about it. Er... I mean... don't get me wrong, I still have lots to learn; and there are people here who can put me to shame. I get that. I'm simply saying that in these seven weeks, I've already gotten to the point that there are darned few questions in any of these forums, anymore, that I can't answer.
And so I suppose that at least
part of the reason I'm signing-up, here, is almost more to see if I can help a few folks than it is to get questions answered (although, trust me, I'm planning on getting a little of that done around here, too). I look forward to learning stuff I didn't even know I was supposed to know; and I've figured out that this place is one of the three forums on the web to learn it!
Plus, my ministry (which is mostly agency/advocacy to/for the homeless, disabled vets, the elderly, the prostituted, recent parolees, and others similarly in need) now includes using my over-three-decades of high-tech and management experience to give a little back; to help both non-profit organizations, and people, with stuff as I can, for free, whenever and however I can. So why I've signed-up here, today... to maybe help somebody with something now and then. But, again, I'm quite certain I'll learn far more around here than I'll teach. There are some scary-smart people here who, in my weeks of lurking around here so far, have provided no end of useful information!
I read, somewhere around here as I signed-up, a warning not to publish personal info; but I assume that's just safety advice. Who I am, and how to reach me, has long been
very public on the Internet; and I have more-than-adequate measures in place to keep myself safe in all ways, on- or off-line, regardless. Plus, I'm not selling anything, or tryin' to talk anyone
into anything...
...so, then, just in case anyone wants it (and I'm under no illusion anyone will), here's my complete contact info:
Gregg L. DesElms
895 Jackson St., #319
Napa CA 94559-1321
1-877-383-5148 (toll-free voice, from the US, Canada and Puerto Rico)
(206) 984-1288 (regular-dialed fax)
gregg at greggdeselms dot com (email)
http://tinyurl.com/deselms-card (my card)
Never hesitate to write or call, and to say anything from "hello," to "you're an idiot," and/or anything and everything in between. Don't worry... I can take it. [grin]
Er... well... okay... I sometimes cry a
little. But I have tissue.
