New BrightSide Questions and Comments

Question

I just got my BrightSide.  I was eligible to upgrade about 4 years ago, but haven’t because of Verizon’s selection of basic phones.  I looked into upgrading because I read on a news website that Verizon was going to start charging a $30 fee for upgrading.  I did not see anything about this anywhere else.  Also, I found out after I opened the box the box (which would cause a $35 restocking fee if sent back) that Best Buy and Radio Shack are selling the phone for $70 less.  That’s $70 after my Verizon “discount”.  I never thought to check elsewhere because I figured that Verizon would have the best price.
Overall, I really like my new BrightSide.  It’s almost like a smart phone without having to get a data plan.  I have some questions and some comments for those who are interested below.  I tried to get answers from Samsung, but their support sucks.  One person would tell me one thing.  I would reply, get another person, and they would tell me something different.
Questions:
1) Is there a way to take pictures in “portrait” mode?
2) When a picture is taken in “send message mode”, it saves it at a lesser resolution as if I would use the camera (I have the camera set at 3.2 MP), take a picture, save the picture, then attach it to a message.  Is there a way to keep the higher resolution of a saved picture?  With both ways, the picture is “reduced” to send, but the saved picture resolution is still higher.
3) When I open my picture gallery and the picture has the arrows on the side, I can “slide” through my different pictures if I touch the current picture.  By touching the current picture, it also zooms it.  If I pick the zoom option when a picture has the arrow to the sides, the picture zooms, but does not let me “slide” through my other pictures.  Is there a way to slide through my other pictures if I pick the zoom option?
4) The phone has a display and phone lock.  Is there a way to do a phone lock quickly without having to go to the security settings and entering the security code?  I do a phone lock because the display lock button is in a poor location.  If I do a display lock, I usually hit the display unlock button when putting it in my case.
5) How do I know when the phone is fully charged?  When I check the screen, all I see is something saying to unplug the charger to save power.  My old Motorola phone had a message saying that it was completely charged.
6) Does anyone know which Samsung software can be used to sync Outlook to the BrightSide?  Samsung has Kies, Mini Kies, and New PC Studio.  As mentioned earlier, Samsung was not very helpful.
7) I have the text mode set to “Abc”.  I usually double space between sentences when texting.  If I go one space, it stays “Abc”.  If I go two spaces, it goes to “abc”.  Is there a way to double space and keep “Abc”?  That’s the way that it worked with my old Motorola phone.
8) Can I use a microphone that is included with a wired headset?
9) There is a place for a strap attachment.  Does anyone know what would work here?  I think that the phone would be easy to drop.
Comments:
1) The charging cable is also a data cable.  I figured that I would mention this because I did not see it anywhere in the documentation.
2) I don’t like the “limited” video resolution.
3) I don’t like that the camera does not have a flash.  I also would have liked a little better camera resolution.
4) The manual and Samsung says that you can only use a microSD memory card, but you can use a microSDHC card.  These are also cheaper if you don’t buy them from Verizon.
5) I sent myself a text message with some phone numbers in it from an email address.  When I opened the text message, the phone recognized the numbers as phone numbers.  I touched a phone number and I was asked if I wanted to call the number.
6) I have big hands, but have no problem using the QWERTY keyboard.  The keyboard is one of the reasons that I bought the phone.
7) I like how the Brightside can “read” text messages.
8) I like Notepad.  It comes in handy saving info sometimes.
9) I don’t like the plastic battery cover.
10) The voice recognition works well for me.

Answer 1

I have the Bright Side as well.....while I like the large screen (makes it easy to read @ night), I feel my "old" LG flip phone had more to offer than this one.   A person needs more than 14 days to really work w/ this phone.
I was very unhappy that I couldn't change the color, style & put colored icons in my texts.  Also, my phone shuts its self off whenever it wants which is a pain !
The salesperson that, more than happily,  helped me with this phone, said "he didn't know anything about it and would I let him know how it worked".   When I tried to reach this person again, he never returned my call.  Not a good thing.
The camera is pretty good and I find mine does have a flash, nothing you can turn on or off, it just happens if it's dark enough.  I would, however, like to be able to zoom in for a closer, clearer picture.
I would NOT recommend this phone to ANYONE!  Oh yes, it's supposed to be Blue tooth "compatible" , that's a farce.  You'd be better off buying a head set/ear buds to use...of course it's not a convenient as the Bluetooth would be, you'd be tethered to the phone BUT, hopefully it would work better.
A sales person from one of the Verizon call centers said I could replace this phone with a different one, nothing said about having to pay extra.  You can bet i'll be going back to LG phones!
I know this doesn't address any of your concerns but just wanted you to know your not alone in disliking the Samsung Bright Side.