Hey guys,
I am rocking the Galaxy S (Captivate) that I got two years ago on release day, so I am having some gunshy issues that I wanted someone's opinion on. Back when I got this phone, I immediately sacrificed the warranty and everything which, three months later, turned out to be a very bad idea since the "first edition" of my phone had broken GPS, a faulty speaker, and the world's worst antenna. This was fixed in the later batches of my phone.
Fast forward to today:
I really want an S3. I know that I am not going to ever use LTE here in the US, so I was thinking of getting the international version. However, after reading all these threads about so many problems (bluetooth, wifi, battery, and especially the screen), I'm a bit gunshy on buying it (especially since I don't have the "walk into store and exchange" convenience of buying it from AT&T.
So I just have a few questions:
If I bought the international version and, say, the screen had a bad tint (like many people here), do I have a manufacturer warranty that covers that? Is it exchangeable (do I have to pay shipping, etc)?
Is there a good company to buy an extended warranty from for the phone (for drops and such)? I have heard of "Square Trade", but I read somewhere that they won't cover imported/international phones.
What is a good company to buy phones through? (I've never purchased a cellphone online...)
Is it smart (READ: will it do anything) to wait a few months for the next "batch" of phones to be manufactured so that some of these problems may be fixed? If so, how long do you think?
Obviously, I understand "response bias", so people who post the threads on these forums are those who have problems (and millions don't).
If someone has posted a thread similar to this that I missed, feel free to yell (nicely) at me. I have searched for a while, and I have also lurked these forums for the last week but I didn't see anything with a culmination of people in my situation.
tl;dr:
On AT&T, I want international version. Answer numbered questions above.
Thanks guys.
Any ideas?
Bear in mind that people usually only post on here when they have problems.
Not many people post on forums to say "everything is hunky dory" , they post when they need help with a problem. It's like going into a hospital and saying wow the plague is back...
As far as I know the manufacturer warranty will still cover you so long as you ship it back to the uk if you have a problem.
I'm currently using the captivate also. I'm getting ready to upgrade between either the S3 or the One X. I leaning more towards the S3 simply because I prefer Samsung and TWiz. If I get the S3 though, I'm going to buy the AT&T version because 1. It won't cost me as much, just $200 instead of $600 or so dollars. 2. The snapdragon s4 cpu that is in the AT&T version is a newer CPU than that of the exynos, I love exynos as well but I hear this CPU is outperforming it. 3. More ram, the AT&T S3 has 2gb. 4. LTE. 5. The convenience of having a local store to be able to return the phone.
I'm not sure about manufacturer warranty's on phones without contracts since I've never bought one off contract. I would guess you get at least one year free from defects. And i would almost guarantee you pay the shipping costs to mail your phone back and probably for them to mail you a new one. Good luck with your purchase.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA
Related
I hop on craigslist.org this morning and found a lot of people selling HD2's, anywhere from $200 to $400, some brand new, others used but in "good" condition. Is everyone trying to sell their HD2 now for a reason?
phoney_stuff said:
I hop on craigslist.org this morning and found a lot of people selling HD2's, anywhere from $200 to $400, some brand new, others used but in "good" condition. Is everyone trying to sell their HD2 now for a reason?
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a batch of stolen items sold by fictitious different sellers?
Otherwise, 200USD sounds too low to me, way more than good enough to buy anoher one to be used as simple PDA since tmous hardware won't work with european carriers
yea cos its too much fone for a lot of people, and too much stress for the rest.
good enough to buy anoher one to be used as simple PDA since tmous hardware won't work with european carriers
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?? , only the 3g wont work, you can still make calls and use edge, , , ,
I just sold mine. I'm afraid the phone is just too high maintenance for someone with a wife, full-time job and part-time study. iPhone 4 here I come Plus the majority of apps don't work or are ugly as old school hell.
laserviking said:
I just sold mine. I'm afraid the phone is just too high maintenance for someone with a wife, full-time job and part-time study. iPhone 4 here I come Plus the majority of apps don't work or are ugly as old school hell.
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sorry the smartphone was too smart for you. jk!!!
Yeah, I think a lot of people are getting them cheap (we got 2 from wirefly for 70.00 a piece, then a 3rd from wal-mart for 50.00), then selling them and probably screwing over t-mobile in the process (will never pay their 200.00 etf). Probably already on another carrier and trying to make money. Since the phones are gsm, there is no esn to blacklist like sprint and verizon.
on a side note, that is why I was hesitant to add insurance on them (130.00 deductible), but decided it was the most hassle free way if something happens to one if the phones (considering I did give one to my 9 year old).
I can certainly see how the phone wouldn't mesh well with many buyers, who are initially attracted by the cheap contract pricing and specifications. Windows Mobile is certainly not for everyone, and I wouldn't blame them for jumping ship. I've wanted to a few times, when things were acting up. It's never fun to be hard resetting and flashing your phone every few weeks.
guess i've just been lucky with my smartphones. only had to hard reset a couple of times in the last few years. Of course, I've hard reset to flash new ROMs lots of times!!!
winmo is a dying breed.
HOPE YOU HAVE GOT ONE, CUS I WANT TO SELL MINE BUT NOTHING LESS THAN $400
[email protected]
Quick question guys,
I just rang my local T-Mobile store to see what their pricing is going to be on the SGS2 and i was told they still have no idea... I have a contract with them that i'm using in my SGS2 i picked up from Phones 4 u last week. I wanted it sooner rather than later so i could get a good idea of the phones performance and still have the option to return within the 14 days if i wasn't happy or if T-Mobile can do me a better deal.
the guy on the phone said that he'd heard a lot of Phones 4 u's SGS2's have been returned due to issues with the device shutting down after a couple of days usage, becoming near inopperable... When i told him i'd had no such issues, he told me that it was because i'd only had mine since the 27th.... i told him that as far as i was aware it was only available from the 26th at the earliest...
Anyways, this seems like dirty tactics to me, has anyone else heard of such reports?? As far as my device is concerned its been flawless, and i'm certain that if this was happening we'd have heard of it on here, if not from bloggers and reviewers...
the phone call really p*ssed me off, almost to the point where i'm thinking of telling t-mobile to stick it and switching to the new Orange sim i have...
dickie2007 said:
Quick question guys,
I just rang my local T-Mobile store to see what their pricing is going to be on the SGS2 and i was told they still have no idea... I have a contract with them that i'm using in my SGS2 i picked up from Phones 4 u last week. I wanted it sooner rather than later so i could get a good idea of the phones performance and still have the option to return within the 14 days if i wasn't happy or if T-Mobile can do me a better deal.
the guy on the phone said that he'd heard a lot of Phones 4 u's SGS2's have been returned due to issues with the device shutting down after a couple of days usage, becoming near inopperable... When i told him i'd had no such issues, he told me that it was because i'd only had mine since the 27th.... i told him that as far as i was aware it was only available from the 26th at the earliest...
Anyways, this seems like dirty tactics to me, has anyone else heard of such reports?? As far as my device is concerned its been flawless, and i'm certain that if this was happening we'd have heard of it on here, if not from bloggers and reviewers...
the phone call really p*ssed me off, almost to the point where i'm thinking of telling t-mobile to stick it and switching to the new Orange sim i have...
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Sales tactics never cease to amaze me.
The majority of early adopters are on here, and there has not been a single report of malfunction
Jumping from t-mobile to orange, is like choosing between 6 and half a dozen (same company)
Move over to 3 or vodafone and enjoy high speed data (instead of the t-mobile 300 kbps limit)
No issue with mine and I got it on the 26th from p4u.
yeah i couldn't find anything of it, and as i said to him, most early adopters are going to be people like me, who actively use forums and follow pre/reviews etc...
i realise they have/are merging, but i really wanted to get a better deal upgrading, but tbh it was the guys cocky know-it-all attitude that really got me, i'm a huge believer in quality customer service, and when i originally questioned Phones 4 U as to why i should choose them over T-Mobile direct, i actually got a good 'honest' sales pitch, not a cheap-ass shot at the competition...
The T-Mobile guy even tried to tell me that the reason they aren't stocking it yet, and still not for at least a week, is due to the device having faulty software and told me to expect problems with my device over the comming few days...
Hope everyone else is loving their soon to be faulty SGS2's as much as i am!!!
Typical sales bull****. If there really is a common issue, its sure going to get noticed and logged onto forums. Unless its Apple, in which case the laws of fashion step in.
Ok so I have been wanting to buy this phone since launch. My HD2 works fine with WP Rom but USB is faulty so cannot sync or charge. External charger for battery required.
Anyway, the price of sim free titan is now £285. I really want to buy this but worried about these issues:
1. WiFi cellular network allocation
2. Muffled voice during call
3. Antenna issue
4. If new and better phone launched at end of year.
what shall I do? Buy now or wait?
Thank you!
1. I had problems with wifi in the past, but since the last update it improved a lot in my opinion
2. The voice quality is not the best on this phone,but it isn't horrible either.
3. Never had any issues. When Im in college or at the cinema I have some signal loss, but so do m friends
4. There will always be a better phone
Hope you find this useful!
Sent from my TITAN X310e using Board Express
tboy2000 said:
Ok so I have been wanting to buy this phone since launch. My HD2 works fine with WP Rom but USB is faulty so cannot sync or charge. External charger for battery required.
Anyway, the price of sim free titan is now £285. I really want to buy this but worried about these issues:
1. WiFi cellular network allocation
2. Muffled voice during call
3. Antenna issue
4. If new and better phone launched at end of year.
what shall I do? Buy now or wait?
Thank you!
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I am so jealous that your SIM free is just £285. I got it in November last year and paid £480!
I would say it's a steal at that price. There will be only one top-notch, well two, handsets till Oct this year - Titan 2 and Nokia Lumia 900. They won't be here till May-June.
Titan can be upgraded to Apollo. My plan is sell Titan in Oct and use that money to invest in a native Apollo handset instead of Titan2/Lumia900. I think you've got to get it and enjoy it. Then go for the next phone! There will be a better phone every 3 months. If you wait for it, you will never dive into the enjoyment
Nothing wrong with this handset at least not the UK ones. Get it from Carphone Warehouse if you can. The problems you are reading about are generally in the US handsets especially the AT&T ones.
Thanks mate for your reply
Yes the handset is now 299.99 plus 5% quidco bringing it to 285.00. I posted the deal here http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/htc-titan-windows-phone-sim-free-285-after-quidco-expansys-1186159
Did you buy your handset sim free? I always do and dont do contracts. Am on simplicity deal for years. I bought my hd2 for £500 on launch day. Am tempted to buy Titan now.
Also are you positive Titan 2 will launch in UK? Where did you hear that? I thought it was for AT&T only.
PS ignore the rant i had with one guy in the HUKD thread
tboy2000 said:
Thanks mate for your reply
Yes the handset is now 299.99 plus 5% quidco bringing it to 285.00. I posted the deal here http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/htc-titan-windows-phone-sim-free-285-after-quidco-expansys-1186159
Did you buy your handset sim free? I always do and dont do contracts. Am on simplicity deal for years. I bought my hd2 for £500 on launch day. Am tempted to buy Titan now.
Also are you positive Titan 2 will launch in UK? Where did you hear that? I thought it was for AT&T only.
PS ignore the rant i had with one guy in the HUKD thread
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Haha, I think Titan is good for UK as Titan 2 comes with LTE in the USA. However, the rumour has it that it will follow the Nokia Lumia 900 (which comes here in May). But instead of LTE version UK will get the 3.5G version - which still I don't think any other network but O2 will benefit from here in the UK. So both the new phones are pretty pointless for the UK. Plus Titan 2 comes with a plastic back to make up the heavy weight of the 16 MP camera. I got Titan only because it felt sturdy. I am sure Titan 2 with plastic won't be the same thing to hold! I already have issues with 3G in the UK, I don't think 3.5G (Dont know the technical word they used) will help my battery or usage!
Yes always best sim free, The UK handsets seem to be more stable than the AT&T, Bought mine second hand and it had to go for repair at HTC but probably because the previous owner dropped it lol, Not suffered from any Voice problems or any Wi Fi issues and to be honest at that price you can't really go wrong, Antenna is all down to good contacts on the rear casing and never had any problems, As mentioned by Drupad you will have the option of the Apollo Update later in the year which should be interesting.
Is it written anywhere that the Titan will be upgradeable to Apollo? Any link?
Also if new handsets or native Apollo handsets will be out at the end of the year, would it be worth it to buy Titan now if I am only going to get 6-8 months use out of it before a better phone comes out?
What I DO know is I want a 4.7" screen and i guess there is no promise that the new handsets will be around 4.7" screen wise.
My final question is the HD7's 16gb sd card could be exchanged for a 32gb card with careful surgery Can this be done to the Titan too?
My only problem with Titan is : there is no Custon Rom or Interop-Unlock Yet.
but in the future it will be out.
you wont regret it, jut buy it.
I am SO close to buying it. Can do it in 10 seconds. I bet I buy it and one week later leaks of better handsets get out.
I ended up buying it and love the phone although family angry with me saying I spent a lot of money on a brand new phone and my voice sounds muffled
Temptation got the better of you then lol, Good choice, Great phone, not had any problems with voice being muffled, Only suggestion is to move the mic nearer to ya mouth, Looks as though we may not be getting the full Apollo going by the latest posts on ere but we should definitely get Tango and hopefully some form of update which maybe a form of Apollo, Its all guessing at the moment, Enjoy your Titan as most of us are doing for now, There will always be a better newer handset on the Horizon.
I think I'd prefer the International version instead of the S4 processor. I'm mostly if not always on Wi-Fi so I don't think 4G LTE will matter much to me.
I'm wondering what others have done in the past and am curious about your experience on buying international phones? Did you guys wait a few months for the price to go down? Where did you purchase your international version of your phone? Etc.
Any advice would be great. Thank you.
SlimJ87D said:
I think I'd prefer the International version instead of the S4 processor. I'm mostly if not always on Wi-Fi so I don't think 4G LTE will matter much to me.
I'm wondering what others have done in the past and am curious about your experience on buying international phones? Did you guys wait a few months for the price to go down? Where did you purchase your international version of your phone? Etc.
Any advice would be great. Thank you.
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I have purchased two SGS IIs and my Note USED from US buyers after they had been around a few months. I would not be considered an"early adopter" by any stretch. More of a "wait and see" who is unhappy with their device and wants to sell. I usually buy when the price hits $150 - $200 below retail new.
I don;t worry about warranties because I am going to void it anyway if I purchased new.
Seems this one will have a few more available. LOL I like it and will lilkely get one later this Spring or early Summer. Development will be in full force and the ROMS should stabilize and the major issues will be resolved .
Not until a device gets in the MAS market do the warts show up. Samsung cannot possibly beta test like thousands of early adopters.
My advice would be WAIT....and see how the people who LIKE it now will feel about it after a few months and What developers develop for it. .
Don't be swayed by those who hate the "design" Use your phone from the inside out not the outside in. I ended up with a White Note because it was available and priced right and hated how attention getting it was and skinned it with a dark decal. Made it look less obtrusive.
Personally I think its better to wait a couple of months for the price to go down. Money isn't something we should spend so lightly, especially on a phone that will be as capable as others.
$1 gets you a reply
Also wait for people to start posting problems with their screens like the Note which was a huge headache.
sent from a 96gb N7000
In my experience, eBay is overpriced for international version. Craigslist is cheaper but unlikely you find an international version. I never tried buying from overseas websites.
I'm lucky enough to visit Hong Kong every summer. Probably pick up s3 there. Though the prices are high I might have to wait... (expecting $600 s2 was about that when I went last year) Annoyed it might not work with T-Mobile though.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk 2
How in the Holy Hellz is Samsung getting a free pass on the Note 7 debacle?? I even see mainstream Android pundits saying they did about the best they could. That's horseradish. Does anyone else notice how this is being kind of swept under the rug...and quickly too, so they can move on to the Next Big Thing???
Samsung is only offering 100 dollars to people who buy another Samsung phone. The only Samsung phone that is even remotely close to the Note 7 is the S7. So Samsung is trying to entice its customers to buy a phone that is about to iterate in 2-3 months.
What of customers that traded their phones? Many did so comfortable in the knowledge they had a new, functioning phone. Now they have nothing if they choose a straight up refund. Nobody can really "refund the transaction," because to truly redo the transaction they would need the traded phone back...(I was okay with giving up my Note-4 for 40 dollars as long as it was going toward a brand new Note 7. I am not okay with just giving up my phone for 40 bucks and now having nothing but crappy choices).
At best, users came in looking for an upgrade, only to loose everything. Many had to go back to their original phones (if they still have them), and eat the costs of any accessories over 25 dollars.
At a minimum, Samsung should give users a substantial credit toward the next new Samsung phone that is coming very soon.
You're lucky. Here in the UK we've been offered sweet FA.
Well not strictly true, we've been offered a S7 or S7 Edge and a refund on the difference or a chance to cancel the contract free of charge.
Can't really complain. Already got full refund. Also got 2 gear fit2 out of this. They said they'd refund note7 specific accessories, too.
It's going to cost Samsung $30-50 billion dollars - that's BILLION WITH A B - before all this is finally resolved. It will probably hurt them drastically for the next 12 to 18 months so, no, they're not getting a free pass over this.
They're paying for it, substantially.
I really don't care what it's costing them, as a consumer who feels pretty burned (sorry) I don't see why I should. They wasted a lot of our time and in some cases money for a product they apparently didn't test enough.
Sent from my iPad using a walled garden.
There's no reward without risk - in today's world, everything is a risk, absolute consumer safety is 100% impossible and they do the best they can given the situation at hand. iPhones have caught on fire and exploded also, lest people keep forgetting that. Other brands and manufacturers have had issues with their products of various kinds as well.
You can't test for the random events that happen, the world is just too damned complex for that and small compact incredibly complicated electronics technology just takes that to levels magnitudes greater further making it effectively impossible to be able to predict what will actually happen in any given situation.
Two Note 7 devices rolling off the assembly line one right after the other are not identical, none of them are to be honest, when you really break it down.
pinetreehater said:
At a minimum, Samsung should give users a substantial credit toward the next new Samsung phone that is coming very soon.
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There's a tone in the past few posts I've read where people sound like they're still negotiating. The Note7's over. Talking about what Samsung should have or could have done is pointless. They've lost billions and trashed their brand image. Some people will stay with them (I did) some people won't. It would be a good idea to do something special for previous Note7 owners when the next generation of Galaxy's are released but I wouldn't count on it. Just like I wouldn't count on getting anything anyone hasn't gotten in the mean time. In the U.S. they had always been offering a $25 carrier credit for people that exchanged or returned their Note7's. They upped it by another $75 if the phone people exchanged in to was a Samsung phone. And that as they say is that.