Database Develop

G1 hardware UPGRADE

Alright after reading that the G1 is basically outdated and old.. and won't really get any more updates.. (read it here http://home.leakdroid.com/2009/08/17/t-mobile-g1-wont-see-any-android-updates-beyond-1-5-faked/ )
I was wondering if it's worth me keeping it.. I mean I know it's a phone it'll get old eventually.. but it's happening to quick..
so my question is there a way to physically make more internal space? Hardware upgrade or something? Causing us to use upgraded roms in the future?

From what I understand....obviously you probably cant make hardware changes easily or effectively...but...
as for them "claiming" their will be no more updates for the G1...From what I understand as long as we have rooted G1s and apps2sd we should be able to run updates from other Android devices from ROMs here at XDA...

^ is that true? I mean, if we have a hard time getting a full Hero to work... I'm no Negative Nancy, I want it all, but it does seem the G1 is limited.

sell it buy and mytouch and then purchase the sense upgrade when it comes out.

gtrplr71 said:
sell it buy and mytouch and then purchase the sense upgrade when it comes out.
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Click to collapse
yea because that's what we want to do! My touch sucks!!!!!

Lol to each his own. I will have a hard time giving my baby up so easily. And u can't get the sense upgrade on the my touch as it is a google branded magic. Its hard for me to get excited about new android phones I dnt know why. Maybe I'm just hopelessly in love with my g1 lol

Through official channels I do not see updates past Cupcake coming. We might get a version of Donut but that would be the last. There likely will be some updates and security fixes but not a major release.
If Cyanogen keeps up his stellar work though I can not say that I particularly care. With apps2sd I think we can extend the life of the G1 for a while. I am still waiting for a better android handset with hardware keyboard before I abandon the G1.

True G1 has small amount of flash, but there aren't any other great alternative for Android fans either. Hero is a new approach on ui, but hardware is hardly an upgrade.
My g1 will keep on truckin until there is a major change in hardware being pushed out. Most likely until 3rd Q of 2010 until some snaps or tegra based phones come out to play. I hoping earlier tho.

JanetPanic said:
Through official channels I do not see updates past Cupcake coming. We might get a version of Donut but that would be the last. There likely will be some updates and security fixes but not a major release.
If Cyanogen keeps up his stellar work though I can not say that I particularly care. With apps2sd I think we can extend the life of the G1 for a while. I am still waiting for a better android handset with hardware keyboard before I abandon the G1.
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Click to collapse
I agree its gonna be hard to live with out a keyboard. The moto androids have keyboards but its 3 rows I think so u know what that means ladies and gents tiny crowded keyboards

I also agree, Keeping the G1 untell another TM android phone comes out with a hard keyboard

I'm thinking about the g1 as well, so I thought I'd just post in here before making a new thread .
I am a bit late to the party i guess, also looking for a new (and first..) smartphone. This far the G1 looks most appealing - capacitive touchscreen, nice keyboard and Android.. Also the price is appealing, as I can get it for around 250euros in Germany. For comparison, an iphone 3gs 16gigs will cost me like 750euros (omfg), a touchpro2 around 530.. Hero is around 420, and no keyboard.. The G1 has seemingly everything i need at a low price.
However all these rumours and claims that the RAM is too little do make me think twice.. I'm rather new to the whole idea of android and flashing roms, but I do think the memory should be ok, as I dont really want 100 apps.. If I flash the latest Cyanogen rom, how much free flash memory will I have left?
The only things I do need on the phone is the browser, gmail, googlemaps (not a hard need tho) and some VNC client so that I can hopefully access my home PC over it.
Do I need to look into another phone, or will the g1 have enough memory (and speed) to make me happy? Are there any other qwerty android phones coming out soon (even tho I dont cherish the idea of a 500eur phone..)?
Soz for the lenghty post ;D
Take care!
/nick

Right now... G1 is the best deal out there. Depending on how long you're planning to keep your phone of course. If you want it for more then couple of years... wait to see what comes out... you'll want something with more ram (256+). If you plan on swapping phones in a year or so - get the G1, it has everything what other phones have out there, just less ram.

personaly, if i were to be jumping on board, id realy look hard at picking up a used G1 on ebay or some thing, prob pick it up about the same or less than a new contract phone. that way you can have what is currently the best, but not be locked into contract yet. then when the latest/greatest snapdragon powerd monster finaly hits, you can jump on it at a subsidised price.
currently, with the " danger" spl i have 89megs avail internal... but i run a2sd so i still have 100+ apps + with the latest recovery, i have 20+ roms on the sd, and a ton of themes etc...
the only thing that go's on internal memory now is just misc data.... a couple megs at most...

personaly, if i were to be jumping on board, id realy look hard at picking up a used G1 on ebay or some thing, prob pick it up about the same or less than a new contract phone. that way you can have what is currently the best, but not be locked into contract yet. then when the latest/greatest snapdragon powerd monster finaly hits, you can jump on it at a subsidised price.
currently, with the " danger" spl i have 89megs avail internal... but i run a2sd so i still have 100+ apps + with the latest recovery, i have 20+ roms on the sd, and a ton of themes etc...
the only thing that go's on internal memory now is just misc data.... a couple megs at most...

According to a thread on the tmobile forum and reference to cyan's tweet....G1 will be getting future updates...so dont give up tht easy...KEYBOARD FTW !!!!!

i have a STRONG GUT FEELEING that by oficial updates all we will see out of tmoble is security patches, and updates to oficial apps etc...
its tmobles way of trying to hush a volitile issue by vaguely stating that they will publish upgrades and continue to suport the phone. if they didnt they'd be looking at a million + upset customers, many of wich are recent subscribers to a soon to be out of date phone..
hell, dont they still sell the dash? it came out like 4 years ago, and was a base model " smart phone" they still " suport" it... security patches... lol..
so, my take...
major updates will require root, and updates from here!
might as well get on the danger spl bandwagon, give the developers a little more breathing room to add stuff, and who cares if they pull apps off the rom like amazon mp3 etc... kill the fluff that we can ad back on ourselves..

t1h5ta3 said:
hell, dont they still sell the dash? it came out like 4 years ago, and was a base model " smart phone" they still " suport" it... security patches... lol..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good game
you win.

Danger SPL and More Internal Storage
First of all, G! FOREVER. I'l just keep letting Cyan and other stuff on more code. My question, though, is does the Danger SPL upgrade internal storage somehow? I just updated to the Danger SPL and noticed that I have more internal storage. Is this reading correct or is the Danger SPL causing an incorrect reading? I don't really care much because I use A2SD but I was just curious.

aaronratner said:
First of all, G! FOREVER. I'l just keep letting Cyan and other stuff on more code. My question, though, is does the Danger SPL upgrade internal storage somehow? I just updated to the Danger SPL and noticed that I have more internal storage. Is this reading correct or is the Danger SPL causing an incorrect reading? I don't really care much because I use A2SD but I was just curious.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats correct the whole point of it is that is smaller to allow for Hero

To elaborate, the /cache partition is shrunk (since it is mostly unused outside OTA updates) and the extra shared between /data (internal storage, where your apps go) and /system (more space for the OS).
type df at terminal to see partition sizes.

Is it worth

Is it worth me taking a new dream from Tmobile UK and rooting it to get a Hero ROM so I can have the new UI ??
Are there any problems with the ROM ?? that would stop it being used day to day ? also is it worth trading googlemail push for Microsoft Active Sync for Exchange which I used before on my WM device. ??

Hero is a port from a device with higher specs so to run on a g1, there will be a noticeble inherit slowness. I believe you will still have gmail on a hero rom though. For day to day use I would use a cyanogen rom. If you do want to run hero, you will need to partion your sd card into 3 partions, hero also has problems missing text, no bluetooth and no led notiifacations

Thankyou
Sounds pretty much like its not worth it then shame cause i love the dream QWERTy keyboard trying to type emails with on screen keyboard is a nightmare.
are there any screen shots of this ROM you mentioned ? What is good about this ROM ?
I just got the Dream yesterday it was supposed to be a Hero but they sent the wrong phone and offered me line rental discount if i kept it.
I just not sure if I should send it back and get hero.

skauk said:
Sounds pretty much like its not worth it then shame cause i love the dream QWERTy keyboard trying to type emails with on screen keyboard is a nightmare.
are there any screen shots of this ROM you mentioned ? What is good about this ROM ?
I just got the Dream yesterday it was supposed to be a Hero but they sent the wrong phone and offered me line rental discount if i kept it.
I just not sure if I should send it back and get hero.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it depends on how much you want the physical keyboard. personally i wouldn't be able to give it up. the cyanogen rom he mention looks like a stock rom unless you theme. sorry don't know where i can get stock screen shot right now. you can probably google it though.

Go over the devolpment sub-forum and go into cyanogenmod thread, you can see screnshots there, go witht the stable version which is 4.04, basiclly the feel and look of a stock rom but optimize for performance, it is the top rom for speed and stabilty at the moment. You can also download the cm updater from the market to stay on top of updates and a easy way to flash for now on. But make sure you make a nandroid backup for a just in case cause every once in a while you can get a bad download. Highly suggest also flashing cyanogen's pimped out recovery 1.4

Thanks for the info I might just hold off for a while and see how I go with stock ROM although I suspect I need to do something cause i am struggling to find any widgets that I want to use on the phone as standard

skauk said:
Thanks for the info I might just hold off for a while and see how I go with stock ROM although I suspect I need to do something cause i am struggling to find any widgets that I want to use on the phone as standard
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im pretty sure you could find a g1/dream on ebay or somewhere fairly cheap so if you can i would get the hero and have the g1 i mean i am buying a practically brand new g1 from a friend that is rooted with the 1.33.2005 spl for $100 maybe i just got really lucky.

You got lucky, I just got mine from t-mobile for 150 with a new 2 year contract, so hopefully my g1 won't be extremely out of date and unsupported by then. At least by then there should be a new android phone with a snapdragon or tegra processor with 500mb ram and a pyshical keyboard which will blow away the g1 and even hero. Who knows by then we might have full graphic support with some cool ass games. Just hope we can get some better battery life by then

skauk said:
Thanks for the info I might just hold off for a while and see how I go with stock ROM although I suspect I need to do something cause i am struggling to find any widgets that I want to use on the phone as standard
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
actually gridlock is pretty much wrong.
bluetooth doesnt work but i dont need it so i can live without it. LEDs dont fully work. it shines green whenever i get something new,but it doesnt blink.
missing text only exist is some hero roms... in JACs 1.6r2a , sms works fine. there is a slowness when compared to other cupcake builds, but hero runs pretty fast in my opinion. just cyanogens cupcake builds run faster.
i really like the sense ui and included widgets. multitouch is nice. and watching youtube in High quality over a 3g network is wonderful.
i love using the twitter widget. its soo useful. i only use twitter to follow devs,android news,tmonews, and new ROM news. so its easy to keep track of what the devs are doing and releasing
also i enjoy using my phone as a wifi access point, so i can use my laptop anywhere i go.
there is lag at times,but its not like SUPER SLOW. and you cant open the keyboard while at the homescreen. u just cant yet. but in apps u can.

isn't there hero free from tmobile uk with a contract? or was that only for a while back? i remember seeing it when it was released. i would definitely get the hero then just buy a g1 off ebay or something. then just alternate between the 2. also it would take a large discount for me to keep the g1.
don't get me wrong i love my g1 but it would be easier to buy a g1 that it would be to buy a hero, just my opinion.

Ok so how do you figure I am wrong, you just backed up what I said, ok so you get your led to shine but it is still not correctly working, you backed up what I said about it being slower, I was saying hardware wise, and you backed up saying that some hero roms miss texts. Can you run your hero without swap or compchace without having a significant difference, I don't think so. Yes hero roms are getting better but in all reality how was I pretty much wrong when you said the same thing in nicer terms. Just out of curiosity. I think it just comes down to a matter of opinion

gridlock32404 said:
Ok so how do you figure I am wrong, you just backed up what I said, ok so you get your led to shine but it is still not correctly working, you backed up what I said about it being slower, I was saying hardware wise, and you backed up saying that some hero roms miss texts. Can you run your hero without swap or compchace without having a significant difference, I don't think so. Yes hero roms are getting better but in all reality how was I pretty much wrong when you said the same thing in nicer terms. Just out of curiosity. I think it just comes down to a matter of opinion
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"hero also has problems missing text, no bluetooth and no led notiifacations"
jacs hero 1.6r2a has no sms issues. the ones that have sms issues are the one thats older and outdated, or the new hero roms that hasnt been optimized.
LED notifications exist. just not as good as cupcake, but they are there.
its late and i dont feel like arguing with u. hero does have lag compared to cupcakes builds,but its not major

i say get the hero and than get a g1 i got one from craigslist practically new without contract for 130=D

Just been looking down the specs
The Dream and Hero are pratically the same apart from the memory and camera.
Not really to bothered by the camera anyways I got a 12mp camera if i want a photo. The video on the Hero is poor anyways. The only thing id be paying for is widgets at the expense of a full keyboard of the dream.
I suspect the increase in ROM and RAM is only to allow the Hero to run the Sense UI interface.
I think im going to stick with the dream.....

skauk said:
The Dream and Hero are pratically the same apart from the memory and camera.
Not really to bothered by the camera anyways I got a 12mp camera if i want a photo. The video on the Hero is poor anyways. The only thing id be paying for is widgets at the expense of a full keyboard of the dream.
I suspect the increase in ROM and RAM is only to allow the Hero to run the Sense UI interface.
I think im going to stick with the dream.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i would trade you a dream rooted with 1.33.2005 spl and like 150 or 200 dollars for the hero lol

ROM for a new root user

Hey guys, I am rooting a dream for someone I know. I was wondering what Rom I should flash for him as his first taste of the rooted life?

perhaps just the cm4.2 ?

Install him Froyo, it's mostly nice and fast, but what is most important it really gives you pleasure to have software that owners of more expensive phones pray for everyday .

raven_raven said:
Install him Froyo, it's mostly nice and fast, but what is most important it really gives you pleasure to have software that owners of more expensive phones pray for everyday .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would not recommend flashing a release candidate for someone elses phone.
Unless you want to update the phone for your friend when the stable release is out. Keep in mind that you will need the DangerSPL and latest radio or else you will break your friends phone and that's just rude.
So I suggest CM5.0.8 (2.1) rom.
It still requires the Danger SPL but at least it's stable.
If you don't want to risk bricking the phone then 4.2.15.1 which is the final Donut (1.6) rom.
Be sure to have your friends permission before starting.
And know that you do not want or need swap on CM5 or CM6 roms.
And finally, stay away from Hero/SenseUI roms. Avoid them! I know that it's tempting because it looks neat and cool but they have their drawbacks. No bluetooth, require an ext partition, require swap enabled, some don't even have working video capture.

As for me, I recommend 1.6 and only 1.6. Everything above 2.0 is nice, pretty, etc, but it really just doesn't run fast or smoothly enough to call it a 100% reliable ROM. The G1's hardware is simply limited to only run ROMs up to 1.6 efficiently and well.
(Hahahaha I have no idea how many times I have said this in the past 2 weeks)

SolemnWishing said:
As for me, I recommend 1.6 and only 1.6. Everything above 2.0 is nice, pretty, etc, but it really just doesn't run fast or smoothly enough to call it a 100% reliable ROM. The G1's hardware is simply limited to only run ROMs up to 1.6 efficiently and well.
(Hahahaha I have no idea how many times I have said this in the past 2 weeks)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I completely, completely agree. If you want your friend to have a phone he can use and not have to call you to support every week, use a 1.6 ROM. If you want your friend to have a poor Android experience and want to run kicking and screaming to Apple, install 2.1/2,2 on their G1.

Android 2.2

Someone who knows when Android 2.2 will to Wildfire?

Plantronics said:
Someone who knows when Android 2.2 will to Wildfire?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The rumor is within the next 2 weeks but we'll see.

LLL
Okey Tank`s

waiting for 2.2 for wildfire...

checking http://twitter.com/#search?q=wildfire froyo
I hope, it will be soon...

I have bad news from HTC them self, If your a 3 Pay or Virgin Customer you WILL NOT get the over the air update, also if you have disabled virgins home screen you might see why if it was 3pay config why the update does not work HTC send out the wildfires to virgin still load with 3pays programs just hidden with virgins home screen, but HTC told me to day.
HTC said:
At this moment in time we are still releasing the 2.2 upgrade for the HTC Desire. It is more than likely that the HTC Wildfire will get this upgrade, but we need to finish sending it to the HTC Desires first. Unfortunately I cannot give you a time scale on this. It will be posted on our webpage, www.htc.com, when there is more information available. 2.2 is currently the highest ROM version out. This upgrade itself is only available over the air, it is not located on our website. Providing you are not branded to the 3 or Virgin networks, you will receive this upgrade. The upgrade is having to be released in batches as the servers will not ba able to send out the upgrade to everyone at once. Your phone automatically searches for upgrades every 14 days, there will be a notification pop up on your phone when this is available for downloading.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can only HOPE that they will let the 3pay and virgin handests have the stock update, virgin contact HTC and was told there devices would have the update but HTC tell me no live update whats strange when virgin uses the t-mobile nextwork so I can only think this has something to do with under the hud its still a 3pay device.
I will update you on any other replys the company as to say as I replyed to them with what virgin have told me and virgin have also seen that they are 3pay device under the hud I told them how to do it to view it also look in your programs list the 3 pay apps are listed there without a problem for people that like larncher pro or panda home will also see the icons come back so you might need to re hid them.

Dont worry about the update.
I mean, its gonna be great when it comes, BUT i'd suggest NOT TO download the over the air (OTA) update when it becomes available on your wildfire!
Reason:
it will probably be the same as with the HTC Desire: the OTA update will not be able to root anymore! PROBABLY.. well most most most likely.
So i suggest you guys wait up for some developers to show up here, and make a root and recovery image for your device, so you can start making custom roms based on official 2.2 when it becomes available.
Custom roms will have all that official has, PLUS extra goodies and optimization, so it will be worth waiting. If you will flash an official 2.2 over your phone, you might not be able to get a custom rom... EVER!
Its up for you guys to decide. Patience is the key!

roomkokos said:
Dont worry about the update.
I mean, its gonna be great when it comes, BUT i'd suggest NOT TO download the over the air (OTA) update when it becomes available on your wildfire!
Reason:
it will probably be the same as with the HTC Desire: the OTA update will not be able to root anymore! PROBABLY.. well most most most likely.
So i suggest you guys wait up for some developers to show up here, and make a root and recovery image for your device, so you can start making custom roms based on official 2.2 when it becomes available.
Custom roms will have all that official has, PLUS extra goodies and optimization, so it will be worth waiting. If you will flash an official 2.2 over your phone, you might not be able to get a custom rom... EVER!
Its up for you guys to decide. Patience is the key!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't get that options I have to keep it official for at lest 2 years thats how long the phone is supported for on my contact if I just got the phone from ebay or htc them self I would already have a cocked version but i don't get that option this this case lol.

Im sorry, i really tried to get it right, read your post 6 times but cant figure it out can u try in diferent words?
Flashing a rom voids your waranty - if u take a custom flashed rom to your phone service. if u unroot ur phone and flash original rom before u take ur phone to the service to fix it, your waranty becomes alive again as if nothing ever happened.
But
If you update your phone with htc official ota froyo, you wont be able to loose waranty because u wont be able to root ur phone, ever (or at least not for a long time, until some dev finds a way).
I didnt get the ebay part. If u bought the phone on ebay you wouldnt have waranty for 2 years because the seller wouldnt offer u one, like the official phone company that has to give u 2 years waranty. And u haveto keep it official only if u want to have a valid waranty, if not you fflash a custom rom and you are in sameel position if u bought the phone on ebay.
Thats what i could read from ur post, if u meant anything diferent, please tell, i stand corrected.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

OK a rom installing will void your worranty the defailt virgin rom is not avable for download so how can you refalsh it back? I was talking about Virgin devices NOT all others, HTC are not doing a Over the air update for virgin or 3 pay users any time soon this was from HTC them selfs, I never said I got mine from ebay I said if you did get it from ebay then yes adding a new rom is all kool but my is with virgin on contact there for unable to change the rom as I can't get my hands on this rom.
am i going to root it? no why, cos not seen a stable root yet so dumbing my own rom is out of the question.
I can't really see what I am typing so sorry if this is is harder to read, I am dislexic so spelling not my fortay lol I am happy to explain things again
Peace.

Oooh right makes sense now so virgin is like a mobile provider like orange or O2. And u asked if i bought it on ebay i dunno how i missed that part lol
Right to explain a bit, i got my desire on a 2 year contract as well however rules in our country demand our providers not to lock the phones down, means we buy a phone on contract.with one provider and u can freely use any providers sim card and their networkas long as u are.still paying the monthly fee of the contract.
Its same thing with desire - branded.phones will get froyo later. But when u rootbur phone to flash a custom rom, the brand doesnt matter anymore as it becomes unlocked. As well as voids waranty.
But its aall a lot easier for the desire coz the support is so much better, wildfire is well... really limited when it comes to custom roms as its a lot slower and diferent procesor as.well as less ram and that all causes devs problems in cooking a good rom. So it might take a while to get a better rom.
Besides not so many new things on froyo that eclair doesnt have. Ok there are some goodies of course, but kany people dont use it on a daily baisis so its really nothing you guys are missing. U will loose more by flasing an ota froyo than waiting for a good custom rom to he made based on froyo after a while.
But, if any of u have a chance to give some extra money, go buy a.desire instead. Seriously, my friend bought a wildfire and when i saw it... its just not a quarter of a desire. Maybe u dont see it when u never held a desire before,but when u get used of desires amoled u just can stand an hour with wildfire. Not to mention the speed and xda support and custom roms.
Desire in my country costs 300 eur on 2 year contract for 15eur per month, its worth every cent, i would never buy a wildfire that costs 130 eur on same contract. I would feel i wasted at least 100eur for a bad cause.
If u get a chance buy a desire u will love it i guarantee u. Lol i think i will cuarge the htc for advertisuing their phone, but its just an insane device and i think im good with phones for couple of years since this is my laptom ib 3.7 inch version
Sent from my HTC Desire

I have used side by side the wildfire and desire yes the screen and gaming is better on the desire but using the default HTC home screen and all the HTC bulk my wild fire was faster and better to handle the same HTC Sences takes, and your right the wild fire is half the size but does not make it less of a device, my phone is not a gaming system so I don't care in the game speed, in my tests the wildfire as been tweeked where the desire fell, and well HTC had time to do this with the wildfire, but just cos its a slower profess and less ram is like saying my P4 dual ore is not as good as my P4 Core 2 duo, my systems both have tasks that one is better then the other at.
The desire is wast of money in my eyes, my htc hd2 is way better phone so since i don't need it for gaming I jumped for the wildfire.
I wont be adding a cooked rom to my device this is what I am stating and virgin mobile users wont be getting the update far as HTC care right now, they say there not sure there still might release a stock version but in there words the desire they have had a problem with the update on that handset HTC stated this not me.
The desire is not a bad handset before you have a go at me but that does not make it a better hand set over the wildfire.

How reliable is this phone?

I found one on Craig's List and my girlfriend desperately needs a new phone. I plan on sticking to stock OS and not rooting or customizing it because it's for her and I don't want to risk bricking her.
I just want to know, how reliable is this phone?

Personally, this is my last Samsung phone. So... I wouldn't recommend it.

Essenar said:
I found one on Craig's List and my girlfriend desperately needs a new phone. I plan on sticking to stock OS and not rooting or customizing it because it's for her and I don't want to risk bricking her.
I just want to know, how reliable is this phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got a Captivate for my gf and she loves it, but the stock OS pissed her off due to lagging and bloatware.
We installed Cognition 2.3b8 which was very easy and now she really loves it as her daily driver. All you do is put an update.zip for Clockwork on the root of SD. Reboot into oem recovery, reinstall packages twice to get to Clockwork, then wipe data and flash Cognition. Couldn't be easier.
Honestly, if you can find a Nexus One for AT&T (if you have AT&T the T-mobile version will be Edge only!! You need an AT&T Nexus One) I think that's your best bet, but with a little bit of modding and care the Captivate is a great phone. My gf LOVES the giant screen and beautiful display.
That said, the more I learn about it the more pissed off I am with Samsung. Different revisions, ODIN, Kies, Download Mode, etc. Rooting this thing is way more complicated than it needs to be. I'm running a MT4G and SOOOO glad I didn't buy the Vibrant. Shudder...

The only problem I've ever had with my cappy is the GPS, which, after reading the GPS fixes thread has been absolutely perfect.
To me this is the perfect phone. Fast, reliable, pretty. I don't even want anything faster anymore. If phones peaked in speed right now and started focusing strictly on battery life (I get about 1.5-2 days right now, I'd like to get 3-5), I'd be perfectly happy with that.

Craig's List? Buyer beware!

Here is where I am at:
This phone is probably not the best choice if you are planning on giving it to your wife without a custom ROM. If you plan on giving it to you wife with a ROM it is a good choice regardless of what ROM you choose however it is better if you use one that is as close to stock as possible: cognition, perception, or Andromeda (1.00).

cappysw10 said:
Craig's List? Buyer beware!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've got several great phones off CL. Do your due diligence as a buyer and you'll be just fine.

If you can get it for a decent price, then go for it.
Here's a simple pro & con list:
Pros
-Super AMOLED screen makes pictures and videos gorgeous
-1 GHz Processor that can be overclocked to 1.28GHz (stable) and undervolted to improve battery performance
-The xda devs are constantly providing the Captivate support that Samsung has failed to give us.
-Did i mention the Super AMOLED screen? Yes, yes I did.
-Swype makes texting a lot more fun to type on the phone once you get past the 1-minute learning curve
Cons
-Developed by Samsung and so the customer support for the phone is terrible
(see: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=913045)
-The stock AT&T Rom is filled with bloatware that takes up space and attempts to get you to spend more money on AT&T services.
-AT&T has disabled the ability to sideload apps (install apps from outside of the market) on the stock ROM, and so you won't be able to install third-party apps if/when you come across them.
-No official 2.2 froyo release from Samsung, despite promises from them as well as AT&T to have it released by the end of 2010 (this is when the store rep told me to expect the update when i bought my phone. derp).
-Some GPS Issues
Conclusion based on my personal opinion.
Overall, I love this phone and I'm glad I chose it over the iPhone 4 due to the ridiculous customization available. However, if not for the xda devs creating amazing custom ROMs, I would have probably returned it for the original Jesus phone.
My advice? Get the phone, pick out a launcher from the market (LauncherPro, ADW Launcher, or for the minimalist: Zeam) and grab handcent while you're at it. Then give her the phone and she should be happy with it.
More advice? Sure. Root the phone, flash Cog 3.02 onto it with the firebird 2/Glitterball kernel and JK4 modem.
Sorry if this post seems a bit jumbled and scattered. I'm currently doing about 4 different things at once and posting from my Computer Class at the local community college haha

Dont' buy it. GPS problems, shutdown issues, and, based on the general lack of reliability so far, probably more issues to come as the phone ages. If it weren't for the beautiful display and the custom ROMs here on xda I'd have little good to say about my phone. Since you don't plan on modifications the screen is really all you'd get. Does that screen outweigh the hardware problems I've noted?

Phateless said:
Rooting this thing is way more complicated than it needs to be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SuperOneClick -- The program is called "SuperOneClick". That is literally all it takes to gain root on a SGS phone. So, personally, I think rooting is not nearly as complicated as it could be!

yourname146 said:
SuperOneClick -- The program is called "SuperOneClick". That is literally all it takes to gain root on a SGS phone. So, personally, I think rooting is not nearly as complicated as it could be!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let me rephrase that. Custom ROMs are more complicated than they need to be. I've used SOC on my MT3G, works well. It's ODIN, Kies and manually flashing modems and kernels that annoys me. I've flashed radios and roms on my mt3g and I'm comfortable with fastboot and adb so I'm not a total noob. HTC just seems simpler to me, but maybe that's because I'm used to it.

The only beef I have had with this phone is the GPS issue. otherwise it's a great phone. Beautiful screen, sleek design and fast with a good ROM such as Cognition.

I've decided I'm either going to get her a Nokia N900 or an iPhone (some variation). I can't put a phone in her hands with such a gamble on the GPS (There's no guarantee the fix works and no way to identify which Captivates will work and won't work). Especially since this phone is purchased used and won't have a warranty on it.
I wish her sister would make up her mind about AT&T. If she decided to stay with AT&T I could just buy her something new. If she decided to leave AT&T, I could buy her a new Android device with another carrier.

Essenar said:
I've decided I'm either going to get her a Nokia N900 or an iPhone (some variation). I can't put a phone in her hands with such a gamble on the GPS (There's no guarantee the fix works and no way to identify which Captivates will work and won't work). Especially since this phone is purchased used and won't have a warranty on it.
I wish her sister would make up her mind about AT&T. If she decided to stay with AT&T I could just buy her something new. If she decided to leave AT&T, I could buy her a new Android device with another carrier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can tell you from experience, **** AT&T! T-mobile has buy one get one free for MT4G right now, I have no clue why on earth you would want to stay with AT&T.
Seriously, I have been with T-mobile for 5 years and I'm in love with their service. Every time I call I get an AMERICAN rep on the phone in 5 mins tops.

pizz0wn3d said:
If you can get it for a decent price, then go for it.
Here's a simple pro & con list:
Pros
-Super AMOLED screen makes pictures and videos gorgeous
-1 GHz Processor that can be overclocked to 1.28GHz (stable) and undervolted to improve battery performance
-The xda devs are constantly providing the Captivate support that Samsung has failed to give us.
-Did i mention the Super AMOLED screen? Yes, yes I did.
-Swype makes texting a lot more fun to type on the phone once you get past the 1-minute learning curve
Cons
-Developed by Samsung and so the customer support for the phone is terrible
(see: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=913045)
-The stock AT&T Rom is filled with bloatware that takes up space and attempts to get you to spend more money on AT&T services.
-AT&T has disabled the ability to sideload apps (install apps from outside of the market) on the stock ROM, and so you won't be able to install third-party apps if/when you come across them.
-No official 2.2 froyo release from Samsung, despite promises from them as well as AT&T to have it released by the end of 2010 (this is when the store rep told me to expect the update when i bought my phone. derp).
-Some GPS Issues
Conclusion based on my personal opinion.
Overall, I love this phone and I'm glad I chose it over the iPhone 4 due to the ridiculous customization available. However, if not for the xda devs creating amazing custom ROMs, I would have probably returned it for the original Jesus phone.
My advice? Get the phone, pick out a launcher from the market (LauncherPro, ADW Launcher, or for the minimalist: Zeam) and grab handcent while you're at it. Then give her the phone and she should be happy with it.
More advice? Sure. Root the phone, flash Cog 3.02 onto it with the firebird 2/Glitterball kernel and JK4 modem.
Sorry if this post seems a bit jumbled and scattered. I'm currently doing about 4 different things at once and posting from my Computer Class at the local community college haha
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a very fair and accurate assessment.
Absolutely get this phone if you're comfortable rooting the phone and installing custom ROMs, launchers, etc. The phone will run markedly better than stock and will be a dream to use.
If you're not technically inclined, and need rely on $am$ung and AT$T for your firmware updates, get a different android phone. Updates are either never coming or will be over half a year behind and quite possibly bugged and broken even if you do get them.

kingtz said:
This is a very fair and accurate assessment.
Absolutely get this phone if you're comfortable rooting the phone and installing custom ROMs, launchers, etc. The phone will run markedly better than stock and will be a dream to use.
If you're not technically inclined, and need rely on $am$ung and AT$T for your firmware updates, get a different android phone. Updates are either never coming or will be over half a year behind and quite possibly bugged and broken even if you do get them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks
I feel like I should mention that I'm now using Exists Suckerpunch kernel and it's... Well... Amazing. OC/UV support with speedmod's battery battery tweaks is pretty much the best thing ever. And exists (pretty cool guy, eh made my favorite kernel ever and doesn't afraid of anything) updates so often I barely have time to find and complain about any bugs that happen to slip past.
This phone is quite captivating indeed.
Herp derp Captivate XDA App

Phateless said:
I've got several great phones off CL. Do your due diligence as a buyer and you'll be just fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Me too. That said out of the box the Captivate is a very frustrating phone to use. The GPS is spotty and You won't have full access to it's super fast Gee Bees unless you install a custom ROM.

I ended up getting her an iPhone. I know guys, I know.
To be honest, I didn't feel comfortable giving her a phone with spotty GPS as this will be her primary GPS unit.
Reading the custom rod and GPS thread gave me no assurance that doing the fix and rooting with a custom rom would fix the issue.
I have enough problems dealing with my MyTouch 4g that you may see me on a Bionic or iPhone with Verizon anyway.
But thanks for the advice. I may root and mod her sisters Captivate to score points because I heard she has had for warranty replacements lol.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

gunnyman said:
Me too. That said out of the box the Captivate is a very frustrating phone to use. The GPS is spotty and You won't have full access to it's super fast Gee Bees unless you install a custom ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Totally agree.
Essenar said:
I ended up getting her an iPhone. I know guys, I know.
To be honest, I didn't feel comfortable giving her a phone with spotty GPS as this will be her primary GPS unit.
Reading the custom rod and GPS thread gave me no assurance that doing the fix and rooting with a custom rom would fix the issue.
I have enough problems dealing with my MyTouch 4g that you may see me on a Bionic or iPhone with Verizon anyway.
But thanks for the advice. I may root and mod her sisters Captivate to score points because I heard she has had for warranty replacements lol.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been keeping my eyes open for an iPhone4 for my gf as well for the same reasons you mentioned. There's also an AT&T iteration of the Evo coming soon. That might be a good device for her.

Phateless said:
I got a Captivate for my gf and she loves it, but the stock OS pissed her off due to lagging and bloatware.
We installed Cognition 2.3b8 which was very easy and now she really loves it as her daily driver. All you do is put an update.zip for Clockwork on the root of SD. Reboot into oem recovery, reinstall packages twice to get to Clockwork, then wipe data and flash Cognition. Couldn't be easier.
Honestly, if you can find a Nexus One for AT&T (if you have AT&T the T-mobile version will be Edge only!! You need an AT&T Nexus One) I think that's your best bet, but with a little bit of modding and care the Captivate is a great phone. My gf LOVES the giant screen and beautiful display.
That said, the more I learn about it the more pissed off I am with Samsung. Different revisions, ODIN, Kies, Download Mode, etc. Rooting this thing is way more complicated than it needs to be. I'm running a MT4G and SOOOO glad I didn't buy the Vibrant. Shudder...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really??? Rooting this is as easy as switching off your phone and rebooting. With all the easy stuff available right here in this forum and tons on the net... it is a breeze to root and flash a custom ROM.