Sorting Apps - Other Wishlists - Few Gripes

[Cummins]

This is my first smartphone, 10 days now on Fascinate and its been good.

I'm an IT network admin, so I'm used to apps and new issues, tech savy person.

Using lookout for antivirus.  Seems ok.

I do wish I could organize my apps,  like a games folder, then custom make other folders etc.  You can't sort apps in icons, only list view.  ick

I wish I could sort my contact lists better,   why can't I add my FB/Gmail family members in the groups section either.

I don't feel like duplicating all my contacts just to get people better organized in groups. 

Had to buy a app to sync my yahoo contacts. ick

I can't syn my yahoo calender, so had to export to gmail instead.  (did I mention the yahoo app stinks)

Would love to rename some apps.   Like the corporate email icon for exchange.

Why can't there be seperate login profiles, so my family can use it also and have their own settings.

Can't video chat or stream live video, tried QIK app, no luck.

I've had several screen blackouts/lockups, especially when working it hard, let it sit for a min, it comes back, then I reboot cause things are so slow to respond, not sure whats going on.

The screen will get all screwed up once in a while, especially while doing a search, the search box jumbles up on top of things, can't read the text, have to turn left, then sideways etc, then go back button then reenter the search or app it was in.

Have you noticed that when you have it plugged in the charger/usb, then full power down, you can't power it back on without unplugging the usb cable/charger first.   Weird.

My big gripe, when searching,  I have to retype the entire search string if I want to append a previous search, cause if I hit the ones I searched prior it goes directly to those search results.  frustrating.

Oh, when I change passwords on my apps that sync to 3rd party sites,  ie. gmail/exchange corp email

I haven't figured out where to update the new password, its not under settings or account settings  etc.

I had to remove the app/account and reinstall.  The notification error just says server error, you would thing it would let you retype the password.  I think this is more of a app issue, not a phone, regardless, tad annoying.

If anyone has anything similiar, let me know.

ps. got my bill today, lovely

59.99 + 29.99 + 9.99 = $100 a month.    The salesman never mentioned the 9.99 a month data requirement.

If you go evo comparable plans  69.99 + 9.99 = $80 a month.

So I'm paying an extra $20 for nothing, could get the same Samsung AMOLED phone at that other place.   Has anyone else considered this?

Thanks,

John

[AZSALUKI]

WOW!!! lol....a lot on your mind. i don't have the fascinate (incredible) but i can help with a couple things.

try qik again in the future. it works GREAT on most androids, but i notived they developed a specific version for the htc evo so it's possible they update it to work better with the fascinate or even develop a specific app for it? i would also try it again just for the heck of it because i absolutely LOVE it. my most used app by far. you have to install the app, then go to their site and create your account and sync your other accounts (fb, twitter...whatever you want to stream to....just let them upload to the qik site only and other can view the vids there).

get the app called "apps organizer."  it contains 6 categories (android, games, internet, multimedia, tools, and others). you can assign apps to one of these 6 icons (for example, i have the "games" icon on my homescreen and when i opun it, it opens a window with all of my game apps). it's not as custom as i'd like, but it's a pretty nice app.

the yahoo app is fairly new (and long overdue). it's awful but i suspect they will constantly update and tweak it and hopefully get it right if given time.

they "binged out" the fascinate so i'm not sure if it's the phone or bing that is causing your problems with the search editing. also, not sure if it's available yet on the fascinate yet, but as soon as it is (supposed to be available when the fascinate gets android 2.2)....GET the google search widget. it's stock on all the other androids but for corporate reasons, vzn went with bing as the default on the fascinate (it was the deal breaker for me when i wanted to get the fascinate).

yes....you are paying more than tmobile, sprint, at&t, etc. we pay more for a VERY superior network. i'd love a $70-$80 plan for all that i get. but what i love more is lending my phone to my buddies with iphones when we are on the golf course in the desert and i have 3g, while they have a useless device that looks really pretty. there wives appreciate it too when we are runnig way late and they can't text or call until i've messed with them for an hour and finally give up my phone to them....lol.

nearly every carier has a version of the samsung galaxy S. you can defintely get a cheaper plan, and you be be in a city or area where tmobile or sprint or at&t will be just fine. i travel all over the mountains and desert though. vzn is the ONLY network that i don't lose coverage with...anywhere.

[SuzyQ]

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Cummins wrote:

ps. got my bill today, lovely

59.99 + 29.99 + 9.99 = $100 a month.    The salesman never mentioned the 9.99 a month data requirement.

If you go evo comparable plans  69.99 + 9.99 = $80 a month.

So I'm paying an extra $20 for nothing, could get the same Samsung AMOLED phone at that other place.   Has anyone else considered this?

Thanks,

John

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The $59.99 is your voice plan, the $29.99 is your unlimited data plan, the $9.99 is an optional 25 mb data plan - you should have one or the other, but not both.  If you are being charged for both, then call customer service or bringyour bill in to a store and get it straightened out.....unless the $9.99 is for something else??  What does your bill say next to each of the charges?

[Cummins]

Heres the details of my first bill:

Nationwide Talk & Text 450 09/12 - 09/12 1.94
Nationwide Talk & Text 450 09/13 - 10/12 59.99
Email & Web for SMARTPHONE 09/12 - 09/12 .97
Email & Web for SMARTPHONE 09/13 - 10/12 29.99
TEC Advanced Devices - Asurion 09/12 - 09/12 .26
TEC Advanced Devices - Asurion 09/13 - 10/12 7.99

Voice Usage 
The "Voice" section of your bill Includes charges for voice calls, including calls that exceed your Plan's minute allowances, 411 Search, Long Distance and other calls.    Allowance Used Billable Charge
Night/Weekend  minutes unlimited 6 -- --
Total Voice Charges         $.00
Data Usage 
The "Data" section of your bill includes charges for:
1.Messages (text, picture and video) sent and received
2.Downloads (charges related to downloading applications, e.g. games or ringtones)
3.MB usage (megabytes used for other data services, e.g. web browsing, alerts, emails)

Learn More about managing your data usage.    Allowance Used Billable Charge
TXT Messaging  messages unlimited 3 -- --
(09/11 - 09/12)      
Other Charges  minutes -- 1 1 9.99
Kilobyte Usage  kilobytes unlimited 44,808 -- --

Fed Universal Service Charge 2.13
Regulatory Charge .26
Administrative Charge 1.66
Cellular Service - Activation 35.00

--- State Sales Tax 4.36
---- Cnty Sales Tax 1.54
--- City Sales Tax 1.54
---- Ambulance District Tax .51

[SuzyQ]

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Cummins wrote:

Heres the details of my first bill:

Nationwide Talk & Text 450 09/12 - 09/12 1.94
Nationwide Talk & Text 450 09/13 - 10/12 59.99
Email & Web for SMARTPHONE 09/12 - 09/12 .97
Email & Web for SMARTPHONE 09/13 - 10/12 29.99
TEC Advanced Devices - Asurion 09/12 - 09/12 .26
TEC Advanced Devices - Asurion 09/13 - 10/12 7.99  Total $101.14

This  is billing for one day of the current cycle you signed up, then the month ahead (through October 12) - your next bill will only have 59.99 + 29.99 + 7.99 (TEC is insurance, which is optional)  These charges and the other taxes and fees in red below are the only charges on your bill.  The rest is all explanation and does not add anything to the charges listed here.

Voice Usage 
The "Voice" section of your bill Includes charges for voice calls, including calls that exceed your Plan's minute allowances, 411 Search, Long Distance and other calls.    Allowance Used Billable Charge
Night/Weekend  minutes unlimited 6 -- --
Total Voice Charges         $.00
Data Usage 
The "Data" section of your bill includes charges for:
1.Messages (text, picture and video) sent and received
2.Downloads (charges related to downloading applications, e.g. games or ringtones)
3.MB usage (megabytes used for other data services, e.g. web browsing, alerts, emails)

Learn More about managing your data usage.    Allowance Used Billable Charge
TXT Messaging  messages unlimited 3 -- --
(09/11 - 09/12)      
Other Charges  minutes -- 1 1 9.99 Is this the "extra" $9.99 you were asking about?  I'm not sure what it means in this context, but the details are above, and I don't see this amount.  Add up the numbers (I have calculated what the bottom line should be) and see if this is indeed added in...I don't think it is.
Kilobyte Usage  kilobytes unlimited 44,808 -- --

These are merely explanatory; $ amounts are NOT added to the charges above or below.

Fed Universal Service Charge 2.13
Regulatory Charge .26
Administrative Charge 1.66
Cellular Service - Activation 35.00 One time activation fee - will not be on your future bills unless you add another line of service - then there will be another one time fee to activate that line.

--- State Sales Tax 4.36
---- Cnty Sales Tax 1.54
--- City Sales Tax 1.54
---- Ambulance District Tax .51  Total taxes and fees - $12 and one time activation $35

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So, by my calculation, your bill this month, including the activation fee and the one day of service for the month you signed up, would be $148.14.  Future month's billing should be about $110, give or take a dollar or two on the taxes and fees.  This is $60 for the Talk & Text, $30 for the data, $8 for the insurance, and $12 in taxes and fees.

What was the bottom line on your bill?

[Cummins]

Thanks Suzy.

158.13 was the total first bill.

yes, 101.14 says monthly access charges.

I'm ok with everything else, just would like to know what the 9.99 comes from.

I emailed support this morning, no response yet.

Their are no details on the website under my bill to explain what it is.

At first I figured its the same thing that Spr--t is doing, 9.99 premium data regardless if you have unlimited web/data.

[Cummins]

disregard, I found the details of that 9.99 charge, I had to go to my printer friendly page.

assuming a family member bought that "need for speed" game accidently on the home pages. 

glad to know its not re-occuring!  doh  (feeling like a idiot)

[muppetkiller]

Thanks for bringing up the 9.99 charge. I've had one on my bill that gripes me, since I got my new phone. After some detective work, realized it was a fraudulent premium charge from a battery improvement app on the Android Market.

Quick call to customer service and all premium texts will be blocked. YEA!

[M91-30]

I know this is a little old, but there are some things on here I can clarify.

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Cummins wrote:

This is my first smartphone, 10 days now on Fascinate and its been good.

I'm an IT network admin, so I'm used to apps and new issues, tech savy person.

Using lookout for antivirus.  Seems ok.

you don't need an antivirus, android has few viri out there, and just like the computer world, most of them are obvious

I do wish I could organize my apps,  like a games folder, then custom make other folders etc.  You can't sort apps in icons, only list view.  ick

you can add folders to your homw screen as a function of touchwiz, long press on your home screen, then touch folders, then create folder. you can rename it by long pressing on the title bar while the folder is open

I wish I could sort my contact lists better,   why can't I add my FB/Gmail family members in the groups section either.

I don't feel like duplicating all my contacts just to get people better organized in groups. 

I'm not certain, since IMO, it's pointless to have my facebook friends in my contacts list, but playing with the contacts app might fix this. also, just try getting the facebook app, it might better sort things for you.

Had to buy a app to sync my yahoo contacts. ick

I can't syn my yahoo calender, so had to export to gmail instead.  (did I mention the yahoo app stinks)

Would love to rename some apps.   Like the corporate email icon for exchange.

this is not possible currently, that I know of. there might be an app that lets you, but I doubt it.

Why can't there be seperate login profiles, so my family can use it also and have their own settings. 

it's not a computer, it's a phone. phones don't do multiple profiles. not in windows mobile, and not in linux (aka android)

Can't video chat or stream live video, tried QIK app, no luck.

I've had several screen blackouts/lockups, especially when working it hard, let it sit for a min, it comes back, then I reboot cause things are so slow to respond, not sure whats going on.

try a hard reset, if that doesn't work, try a factory reset. also, check your settings, all of them, and look for anything out of the ordinary.

The screen will get all screwed up once in a while, especially while doing a search, the search box jumbles up on top of things, can't read the text, have to turn left, then sideways etc, then go back button then reenter the search or app it was in.

don't use bing. it's a crap app. use google search. you can use everything google on your phone, it just won't call it up using the search button.

Have you noticed that when you have it plugged in the charger/usb, then full power down, you can't power it back on without unplugging the usb cable/charger first.   Weird.

no, I haven't noticed this, though I have noticed while it's plugged in, it's picky about when it lets you power on the phone. for example, if it's plugged in, and you shut off the phone, you have to wait until it's been charging for a couple seconds before it will let you start it up. maybe this is what you are seeing?

My big gripe, when searching,  I have to retype the entire search string if I want to append a previous search, cause if I hit the ones I searched prior it goes directly to those search results.  frustrating.

this is the way the code is written. it also frustrates me, but  there's no way to change it, and it's an android thing.

Oh, when I change passwords on my apps that sync to 3rd party sites,  ie. gmail/exchange corp email

I haven't figured out where to update the new password, its not under settings or account settings  etc.

I had to remove the app/account and reinstall.  The notification error just says server error, you would thing it would let you retype the password.  I think this is more of a app issue, not a phone, regardless, tad annoying.

If anyone has anything similiar, let me know.

ps. got my bill today, lovely

59.99 + 29.99 + 9.99 = $100 a month.    The salesman never mentioned the 9.99 a month data requirement.

If you go evo comparable plans  69.99 + 9.99 = $80 a month.

So I'm paying an extra $20 for nothing, could get the same Samsung AMOLED phone at that other place.   Has anyone else considered this?

Thanks,

John

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