Multiple issues...

[bravozero]

So... here's the deal. I love the Droid, hands down the neatest phone I've owned. However, this phone has many problems. I have been through FIVE phones now, and about to move onto my sixth soon. This is getting ridiculous. Here are all the issues I've had:

1. Couldn't even connect to activate service. Fail.
2. Random shutdowns and I had a couple minor mishaps including the dog biting it. Fail.
3. Bottom of phone was deformed out of the box, couldn't even put a case on it. Fail.
4. Kept dropping out of 3G and was slow. Calls sucked. Fail.
5. Current phone, now having signal issues. In downtown Reston, Sterling, and Leesburg (all have towers) and phone drops out of 3G into 1x and signal strength goes haywire. Watched the strength go from 60 dBm to 100 dBm even at a stop light. Goes from two bars to three, to one, to zero, to four. I even stopped by the Verizon store in Reston and one of the display models had the same problem, other two there had full signal. About to... Fail.

I will admit, I don't miss my Blackberry, but the two things I could take from it are the push email and signal strength. My Storm had all five bars of signal almost everywhere I went.

I hate going into the store and saying "Here I am again, back for another," even though my thirty day warranty ends early February. But as of right now there's no other good phone that keeps up with the Droid. I was going to get the Omnia II but that was a disappointment.

What should I do? Should I keep going back within my thirty days until I get a working model, if I do? Or should I go back to my Storm for now and wait for the Nexus One? I'm lost...

[Sam]

1: agreed, fail.
2: yup, fail.
3: lol really??
4: meh..
5: perhaps verizon is not for you.. as much as i hate to say it. are other people with verizon phones in your area having the same trouble? can you find another droid user there with the same issue?

i will say this about the "going back to the storm and waiting on the nexus 1" plan.. MAKE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that they will then let you upgrade to the N1.. i did something similar about a year ago and they TOLD me i would be good to go, more or less going back to as if nothing had happened.. but.. BUT... they resigned me for another 2yr contract without telling me (or something) and i wasn't available for an upgrade until next feb. i'm just saying.. get that crap in writing.

[irishdroid]

I am on my second Droid, first one failed due to a faulty screen after 12 hours, have not had a problem since. How can you be on a fifth possibly sixth Droid already, seems odd to me. I would call VZW direct and have one sent to you from them. I cannot belive the problems you are having, hell, I work in a town in Northern Indiana that has no tower and is 80 percent Amish and I have NEVER had a call dropped nor have I ever lacked 3G service in said area. Sorry to hear about your problems, I am at a loss here.

[bravozero]

I'm not dropping Verizon. I've been with them for years and any issues I've had were not their fault, it was the phone manufacturers' faults. Verizon has been excellent for me, so I will continue to use their service.

And I was told by a sales rep I personally know (female... bow chicka wow wow...) that since I am still in my thirty days, if I am unsatisfied I can return it for a refund and my NE2 would reset back to where it was before I bought the Droid. So technically I could return the Droid, the next day I could get another phone at the two year price.

[crspang]

Your issues are hard to relate to. I got my Droid in Dec. and haven't any consistent problems. That doesn't mean I haven't had the occasional glitch but by no means has there been any consistent issues with my Droid.
I'm not referring to you personally, but I think a lot of people's problems with the Droid is their lack of familiarity with it (meaning that its a totally different cell phone experience).
Re. #3 = Very strange.....

[bravozero]

I don't think my issues are due to lack of familiarity. It only took me a few days to get used to how the Droid works. Wasn't that hard actually. I think my Storm was more complicated to learn believe it or not.

[KZIWarrior]

With the exception of #3 (which is just odd, sounds like you got a used/returned phone) the rest are trouble(s) with the network coverage. The odds of you getting 5 phones all with the same inability to connect (consistently) to the network is so low it's dismissible. This can be determined by comparing your device side-by-side with another one. At the very least someone at the store should have one. If they don't than that's your answer in itself (and take a look at the stores Demo unit, it may be worn but it should still be active and have signal, if they are using dummy/dead demo phones then you again have your answer). I would not, personally waste my time getting another unit until you can do a comparison. Just my $.02.

[bravozero]

Well, I have determined that I will go back one more time. I will sit with the technician and go through a few new phones until I am satisfied. If not, the Droid will go back permanently for now, and I will wait until other Android phones come out on VZW.

[pstpolamalu43]

Why am I not surprised that the storm was more complicated to learn...

I as well am on my second Droid. On the first one, the "N" key wouldn't always work. It started doing that as soon as they took it out of the box and put the battery in. Second one has been perfect. maybe you got a ton of lemons in a row. unlikely as it may be, all the issues do seem to be different. i would try a different store.

[JohnnyDepth]

So... here's the deal. I love the Droid, hands down the neatest phone I've owned. However, this phone has many problems. I have been through FIVE phones now, and about to move onto my sixth soon. This is getting ridiculous. Here are all the issues I've had:

1. Couldn't even connect to activate service. Fail.
2. Random shutdowns and I had a couple minor mishaps including the dog biting it. Fail.
3. Bottom of phone was deformed out of the box, couldn't even put a case on it. Fail.
4. Kept dropping out of 3G and was slow. Calls sucked. Fail.
5. Current phone, now having signal issues. In downtown Reston, Sterling, and Leesburg (all have towers) and phone drops out of 3G into 1x and signal strength goes haywire. Watched the strength go from 60 dBm to 100 dBm even at a stop light. Goes from two bars to three, to one, to zero, to four. I even stopped by the Verizon store in Reston and one of the display models had the same problem, other two there had full signal. About to... Fail.

I will admit, I don't miss my Blackberry, but the two things I could take from it are the push email and signal strength. My Storm had all five bars of signal almost everywhere I went.

I hate going into the store and saying "Here I am again, back for another," even though my thirty day warranty ends early February. But as of right now there's no other good phone that keeps up with the Droid. I was going to get the Omnia II but that was a disappointment.

What should I do? Should I keep going back within my thirty days until I get a working model, if I do? Or should I go back to my Storm for now and wait for the Nexus One? I'm lost...

From one obsessive Droid owner to the next:
If you purchased through the retailer (or not)
Have the corporate Verizon retailer to spread out all or most of the Droid stock like a deck of cards and have you *choose* the one you want.

Asking the manager will be key, and if you bought through Verzion online/or over the phone...have them request an exchange through a retailer.