I used to have this T-mobile Samsung Galaxy S it had a different bootloader then i9000 but same hardware and stuff (That was my first branded phone and i will not be buying any branded carrier locked phone again). Debranding these phones is always a mess, Unlocking and all i got a brick once when in the process so it's better to get Factory Unlocked ones.
Talking about Vibrant eh?
So where was this statement when i shared the cons of this phone with you? When you were just not ready to accept it?
you wont get any updates AFAIK because only carriers release updates on their phones.
Who the hell needs official updates anymore? Everyone knows they dont release updates that often, and even if they do, they seem pretty outdated because Custom Updates are always come up first, by Android community.
More or less same problem was there with Samsung's T-Mobile Vibrant (Galaxy S). At first for a long time, it wasnt supported by Andoird Community, which means not much support for this phone.
But now, there are as many as the Original i9000.
Unless the phone is some sort of
US version, it wont be much problem for people.