Thursday, November 06, 2008

Two Weeks With the Samsung Epix

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This was an honest first for me. I don't think I've ever managed to own a brand new device just as some of the leading sites are starting to post reviews, but two weeks ago I took my BlackJack II back to AT&T to get the Epix. So far I do like the phone. The BlackJack II was nice, but I'm happy to have a touch screen again.

As I said, I do like it, but of course no new device would be completely without problems. One of the biggest problems that I have with the Epix is that the screen keeps turning on randomly. This drives me nuts and kills my battery life. I've compensated by setting the backlight to turn off after 30 seconds. I had a hard time living like that with my BlackJack II, but the optical mouse on the Epix counts as activity and keeps the screen on while I'm reading.

The battery life is not very good at all, and the Epix will only achieve a full charge when connected to a wall outlet. I've been using it with my Celio Redfly, which provides power. I've also left it connected to my laptop at work for a charge. It seems like I left the Epix connected to power all day long but when I left work, the battery was only at 40%.

I love the capabilities, I love the optical mouse, I love being able to tether a laptop to a 3G device, but the battery that seems to drain itself too fast is getting to be a real cause for concern. I'm tempted to see if I can trade it in for an iPhone.

Does anybody else out there have an Epix with the same problems?

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