samsung captivate vs BB 9700
 

I have the option to move to the Samsung Captivate from a Bold 9700 -- the Bold has been giving me issues, so I'm doing a warranty exchange and device swap.

Any opinions? Only thing keeping me on RIM is BBM. Otherwise I'm kinda intrigued by Android.

Thanks!

Re: samsung captivate vs BB 9700
 

Been there, done that. 10 years with BlackBerrys, then I moved to Android. First I got the Samsung Epic 4G because I thought I HAD to have a physical keyboard. Didn't like the Epic's keyboard so I went with an Evo. No keyboard, but the monstrous screen (4.3") made a virtual keyboard not only usable but enjoyable.

There are a ton of things I like about the Evo, but I learned they were not Android things so much as HTC Evo things. What made me switch back after several months of Evo use was missing the email handling of the BlackBerry. Nothing does messaging like a RIM device. I found I was trying to make the Evo do email like my Bold 9650, and I was also not taking advantage of the Android strong points like multimedia and web browsing. That giant screen is addictive, but in the end I found that for my usage it wasn't so useful. So I re-activated my Bold and I'm happy as a clam (clams are VERY happy).

If you have a hankering to try Android, by all means give it a shot. The Captivate is a Galaxy S family member and is highly rated. It's basically the Epic without the keyboard. You won't believe how gorgeous the Super AMOLED screen is. Your biggest problem is likely to be battery life. It takes a lot of juice to power that 4" screen with such vibrant colors, in spite of the efficiency of the AMOLED technology. There has been some griping about Samsung being slow to get newer versions of Android out to their devices. Honestly, I find that's a tempest in a teapot. Froyo, Gingerbread, whatever. Android 2.x is fine no matter what the flavor. My Epic has 2.1 and my Evo has 2.2. I don't see any big difference.

Re: samsung captivate vs BB 9700
 

Moved to more appropriate section.

Re: samsung captivate vs BB 9700
 

Thanks rambo, great feedback! I've gone through about five 9700's through warranty. I'm VERY picky about functionality/quality of my phones and have decided I'm borderline fed up with RIM. I think I may just need a cooling off period. I love the email/text/BBM on Blackberries, but have also noticed an itch to want to try out all the apps hitting the droid marketplace, with no hint of them coming to the Blackberry. Not to mention my BBM contact list has been dwindling since iPhone hit VZW.

Worst comes to worst -- I have a Bold 9000 lying around that I can always switch back to. Or can even sell the Captivate on ebay and get myself another 9700 or 9780.

Re: samsung captivate vs BB 9700
 

Sometimes you get an itch you just have to scratch. That's what happened (more than once!) with me. There are things about either platform you'll miss when you go to the other. But that's when you find out what's really important to you.

Re: samsung captivate vs BB 9700
 

Samsung makes me nervous... and this is coming from an Android fan...

Re: samsung captivate vs BB 9700
 

Two cans and a string would be better and more reliable then the Craptivate. Worst phone I've ever owned.

Re: samsung captivate vs BB 9700
 

Rambo,

This is the whole reason why I have been hanging onto my Blackberry. Really, nothing does e-mail like BB. You would know better because you actually used the device. I am planning to take a look at my co-worker's iPhone 4 to see how it does exchange to get an idea, but I am thinking that I can never do without a physical keyboard.

The e-mail is so fast and with full of keyboard shortcuts, it is a no-brainer.

Did you check if they have keyboard shortcuts? Like I for filing, F for forward, U for next unread or P for previous, etc.. Some people may take these for granted but it is just excellent. Space or Alt+Space.. Or selecting text, I would never try to select data using a touch screen, it is just like a joke. Was there a cursor on screen that you could use with keyboard or something else? I think there is another Android device with an additional Touchpad, right?

Which Android phone users choose really comes down to the manufacturer selection and hardware features nowadays. After all they all run the same OS (or same one you can probably root to get)

I would really like to hear more about your Android experience.