Hiya gregbridwell - I sympathise, greatly. To illustrate the other end of the commitment spectrum, so to speak, I have the 'full monty' situation over here in the UK i.e. a proper (& well negotiated) Orange UK contract, which provided me with the i8910 'free' so to speak - it is really the services I believe I am paying for, the handset is almost irrelevant (but not quite!). This is my business situation, which may be very different from yours, of course, but ultimately, if the handset and/or accompanying software is at fault, then I agree, they should really make more of an effort.
From the above, I am suffering the same, as you may see from my posts on this forum. Quite a substantial amount of the technology underlying this handset, which, let's face it, is the reason why you may choose it rather than an older, more mature handset, is beta, at best, or just plain faulty or impractical (see other postings). I have spoken to Samsung UK customer services on, let's say, 'some' occasions, and their current line still is 'wait for the firmware updates'. And on top of that, I have to pay (admittedly no more than 8p/minute), to talk to them.
The most serious problem for me is the potential for sudden overnight battery drain on my i8910, for a reason(s) I still have not figured out (see the 'battery' thread in this forum). This may, or may not, be ruled by Samsung UK as an exchange situation. I will see. At the moment, I am starting to rely more and more on my old handset. When that threshold is crossed and I use it more than 50% of my time, then I conclude the i8910, as I write, is too much of a beta-product to recommend.
In the UK, this is part of the UK's operator business model i.e. for Orange, T-mobile, 3, etc., much different from the, may I say, terrible, USA operator business model, which, I believe, means you are likely on long contracts and also have to pay for your handsets on top of that! In the UK, operators are pushing very hard to replicate this and I disagree with it completely. In the end, consumers are king, and they always should be. But, the majority controls the market... all I can say is, don't buy another Samsung handset until they get a new model right - but here is the rub, how do you know if a handset is right until you actually own it? Y'see, they are clever, eh? So it is up to us to report as much as we can for everyone else to make an informed decision.
The reason I am making these posts is that Samsung UK customer services had the gall to ask me, yes me, to report back to them the problems I was having. I think everyone has a right to know when such a poorly, more importantly, expensive, final version product hits the shelves
I only 'buy' a handset every 3 years. I thought that after the problems I read re: the innov8 and i8510 handsets, then the i8910 might have been ok, a 3rd generation so to speak, and I took the i8910 as my first Symbian handset as a challenge. I am on the cusp of being regretful over this decision, as I did think very hard about it (2 weeks) and researched the internet substantially, before choosing it over the HTC magic, HTC touch HD, and iPhone 3G. If I didn't have the iPod touch already, I think I would have waited for the iPhone 3Gs. But all these are my humble opinions and personal situation.
Oh! Samsung PC studio 7, on the UK Samsung download center, has just been updated to v7.2.24.9 !
In one month, this software has changed from v7.2.18.9, then 7.2.20.9. As it covers many handsets, this progression may or may not have anything to do with any possible firmware updates (boy, there is a lot to fix on this handset!) that may/may not happen, as reported here. I will add a thread on this in a moment.
Conclusion:
Wait for the firmwares, then decide if it goes back... e.g. mid-July. Assume that Samsung consumer support is poor, and make future purchasing decisions as appropriate.
Otherwise, enjoy the screen and the 8MP camera! plus the usual handset features we love. PS the internet browsing experience is also awful, I use my iPod touch for that & music duties.
