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Review: Samsung Instinct

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Holy Crap People!!!

thatguy_overthere

Jun 17, 2008, 9:30 PM
Wow. Some of you are acting like this is the end of the world because one website didn't give the phone a glowing review. Get a grip.

Constantly griping about the software "maybe" not being up to date it just making you look stupid.

To the rest of you that are calling it crap: Have you really, actually used it AND tested it out? Comparing this to the Glyde is not a fair comparison.

Now, the phone is being compared to the iphone for a reason. Have any of you looked at the videos on nowisgood.com? I have and they DIRECTLY compare the Instinct to the first iphone. Thats one of many reasons why comparing the Instinct and the iphone is a totally fair comparison. What sucks for Sprint is that the iphone 2 was announced earli...
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monkeyracer

Jun 17, 2008, 10:41 PM
they didn't get a bad one. it was user error with was blamed on the device.

You should know as a technician. How many people have come in with something so simple that they thought was a bad phone, but turned out to be user error. Watch the video review close. You'll see where they missed and why.

If they review it correctly, and still give it a bad review, then I will shut up about it. They failed to review it properly. that's what I persist about.
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thatguy_overthere

Jun 18, 2008, 12:24 AM
I saw the video too. I also saw there they missed the press-able area. It happens.

Should they have recognized that when they made the video and review? I think so.

While i may not agree with their review, we did only see 8 minutes of use. What about the rest of the time that they had it?

I have yet to have any errors with the touch screen on our demo Instinct that weren't my fault.

Part of my point was that you were getting heated with your comments, and that makes people come across poorly online. Just look at the trolls roaming these forums and the flaming that goes on.

Yes, as a tech i do see a TON of user error that people think is a device problem. Those are sometimes very hard to explain. Try to tell the...
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monkeyracer

Jun 18, 2008, 12:46 AM
You have a good point.

I got heated because if we were all playing fair, then the best phone would win. But when respected sources don't give it the same kind of review as the phone it's supposed to compete or not compete with, then it weighs the odds unfairly.

I'm not expecting the instinct to outsell the iPhone, really I'm not even expecting it to come close. It's a phone for a specific kind of user. I just want the average consumer to have the right information, and to make a decision based on that. If they don't have credible places to get that info, then they have been wronged.

Obviously the best place to get the info is in the store with their own experiences. But before they even get their, a lot of them check places like ...
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thatguy_overthere

Jun 18, 2008, 12:58 AM
I agree. It was not the best review. What i have been noticing is that slowly the average consumer is at least starting to become more informed about what they buy.

I understand getting heated, there are some major a-holes on this site that love to start crap whenever possible. They really need to get a life.

I wish we were playing fair too, but were not. It's an uphill battle when going against the iphone. But it makes it harder when you have fan boys distracting people from the topic at hand, mediocre reviews of a very nice phone, and having to deal with Sprint's bad image. But it's a good fight to fight.

I'll keep fighting it, but i also try to keep out of the BS and try to get good info out there when i can.

Wh...
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Rich Brome

Jun 18, 2008, 10:40 AM
Both Eric and I experienced the same exact issues with the touch screen being unreliable. If it was "user error" than this phone is very prone to "user error", which would actually be an engineering issue.
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monkeyracer

Jun 18, 2008, 10:44 AM
but its not. If you had spent a few minutes with an Instinct Advocate at the sprint store. (Which most customers buying the phone will be able to do.) You would have been able to see how the phone works and would have posted a better review of the phone.

This is exactly why there are advocates at every single corporate owned store. To filter out "engineering issues" (read as user error) like this.

You really just can't admit that you messed up hunh?
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Rich Brome

Jun 18, 2008, 10:53 AM
I consider it a legitimate knock against a phone if you have to read the user manual to figure it out.

You're saying the Instinct requires a hands-on training session?! 😳

The Instinct is competing against a number of phones (not just the iPhone) that are intuitive enough to not require so much as a glance as a user manual, much less a training session. The competition ALSO has touch screens that seem to work more reliably for more people, without the dexterity and attention to precise finger pressure that the Instinct requires.
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monkeyracer

Jun 18, 2008, 11:00 AM
Hands on training session? What does apple have every week at their stores? exactly that.

What is posted all over the apple site? videos of hands on training sessions. Nobody could have guessed that to zoom in and out you would pinch the screen, they had to tell you, the had to train you.

If you didn't see that video, didn't talk to a store rep, and didn't read the book, you would have never figured that out.
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ojdidit84

Jun 18, 2008, 11:30 AM
I find it funny that you guys did a review in you home and not out in your daily life. I have a friend that works at Sanyo in LA and when they test a phone, they use it in their daily lives and not just home on their couch in an area that doesn't get good reception for that carrier in that area. I also find it very funny that you guys didn't mention any of the features that are marketed for this phone such as OTA downloads, the GPS, Sprint TV and the other multimedia features that this phone is about but instead all you choose to do is compare it to an iphone. Was this even a final model? My roommate works at the sprint store and I got to use the phone in their backroom and its nothing like what you guys described in your review. I had ...
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Rich Brome

Jun 18, 2008, 11:37 AM
We absolutely did use it out and about in daily life. We test each phone in real-world scenarios for at least one week before writing a review.

Most Sprint phones support standard Sprint services like Sprint TV and Sprint Navigation. We'd rather spend our time (and yours) going into detail on the things that are unique about this phone, rather than the carrier services that are standard to most of their phone lineup.

Most competing phones CAN be used right out of the box without instruction. When that's the case, then this phone does compare poorly if it requires special instruction.
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ojdidit84

Jun 18, 2008, 4:27 PM
well its good that you guys do test the phones out in the real world. I still find it funny that you guys didn't touch on any of the other features like the voice activation which isn't a Sprint feature and whether they be Sprint features or not, we, the readers, still want to know about all of the features that the phone has because they are still the big selling points of the phone. And the whole touch screen issue... honestly, like I've said, I've used the phone and had no issues like you guys did in the video not being able to figure out that you needed to slide the speakerphone button. And for any software issues, its just like people had hardware and software issues with the iphone. No electronic device is perfect. I do expect the...
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monkeyracer

Jun 18, 2008, 10:57 AM
I've studied a lot of user interface design. What you are experiencing is called "false-expected-outcome" This means that you expected the phone to guess what you wanted, rather than doing what the phone was designed to do.

Example: It's pretty standard for the command "Bold" to be performed with [CTRL]+[B]. On this website (or anywhere in Internet Explorer) using that key combo actually brings up the "Organize Favorites." That's not what I expected to have happen. But since IE is designed to do more than just edit text, [CTRL]+[B] does something different becuase it's more convient that way.

So when you tapped on the word "on" you expected the speakerphone to come on. It was designed to have the icon "slide" over the word to prevent ...
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Rich Brome

Jun 18, 2008, 10:36 AM
I'm going to acknowledge right now that there is always some variation in hardware quality and other units may perform slightly better.

I doubt that we received a "bum" unit, though, since this one acted just like the other ones we tried previously at trade shows and hands-on briefings. Those were prototypes, yes, but if multiple prototypes and then this final unit all exhibit the same behavior, then I have to believe it's an issue with the engineering.
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monkeyracer

Jun 18, 2008, 10:39 AM
Or user error, like I've posted many times.
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scorpio

Jun 18, 2008, 11:11 AM
If it acted just like the ones from the trade show what does that tell you? In my thread I listed 9 features you guys did not test of which the iphone only has "1". Myself and many others find that very strange. By the way, folks who have been able to purchase the Instinct as of Monday posted pictures taken with the Instincts camera and they came out great!
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