DROID 3 problems

[pattip]

Hello Everyone,

I have been having various problems with my 2.5 year old Droid 3. My goal is to nurse it along for another month or so until I can replace it.

This droid 3 still has the old gingerbread which has been fine until about six months ago. I noticed that the overall responsiveness of the phone was getting slow, so I installed a cache cleaner. This helped for a while but the phone is getting unresponsive yet again.

In the past week, the phone has shut itself off several times a day. I notice when I get a call on an office line that my phone went straight to voicemail, or I pick up the phone and see that it has turned off again.

Today I had a child in the doctor's office and was trying to text my spouse when the texting function went completely flaky. A period.was.placed.after.every.word.entry. Annoying. This happened while using the touchscreen keypad. The slider keypad has too many dead keys to be useful any longer.

Overall the phone has performed somewhat satisfactory in the past, the main things that bug me are the amount of bloatware and lack of updates. I only have a few apps that are not factory installed so I doubt the source of the problems is a wonky app. The keyboard has been a major disappointment with dead keys appearing just after the one year mark, and I do fewer than 200 short texts per month. What bugs me the most is that due to the slow speeds I am underutlizing this device, and this was not a cheap phone when it was new, ticked that Verizon/Motorola "retired" the device shortly after purchase with ZERO updates. I am preparing to switch carriers so for now I really need my number for another month.

Any thoughts?? thanks!!

 

[dezymond]

Not really much to say, the phone is well past its life cycle and support for it has been gone for quite awhile now. Sounds like you got great use out of it, but phones aren't really made for the long haul anymore (seems like nothing else is either).

The best thing I can recommend to you is a FDR. That should help for a bit, but not sure how long it'll help for. Considering you're switching carriers as well, it doesn't make much sense for you to buy a used phone to work on Verizon either in such a short amount of time.

 

[pattip]

Not really much to say, the phone is well past its life cycle and support for it has been gone for quite awhile now. Sounds like you got great use out of it, but phones aren't really made for the long haul anymore (seems like nothing else is either).

The best thing I can recommend to you is a FDR. That should help for a bit, but not sure how long it'll help for. Considering you're switching carriers as well, it doesn't make much sense for you to buy a used phone to work on Verizon either in such a short amount of time.

"FDR"??? I am not familiar with that term.

Have you had problems with a Motorola Droid freezing, shutting off, touchscreen very jumpy, slow internet on wifi, horrible keyboard? Is this an android issue or specific to the D3 or specific to Motorola phones???

Yes I have had the phone a while, but when you pay nearly $600 for a device I think asking it to work properly for 2 years is reasonable. Verizon had recommended some basic habits for android when the phone was new, which I found odd, but I had switched from a Blackberry. The D3 has 16 GB storage, but all that space is not available for apps, more in line with 5GB. I was also told it is "not recommended" to have a large number of photos or too much music on your device. Considering Droids were supposedly competing with iphones, I found this ridiculous, but complied.

While I have been less than impressed with its overall performance being far inferior to what was hyped by the carrier, the telephone function has worked properly. I may not like the keyboard, but texts were sent and received.

This phone never lived up to its expectations so I apologize for sounding jaded. I am glad to have discovered forums and cnet reviews before my next purchase.

 

[dezymond]

FDR = factory data reset.

Basically the symptoms of your phone are of a phone on its last legs. A FDR would help, but who knows for how long. I still have my OG Droid and that thing can't even get the most basics of tasks done anymore.

I agree that with the prices of these devices they should last more than 2yrs, but it is what it is. And just as with any other device, the more things you load onto the phone the more you risk performance. Throw in the fact that these phones are pretty much on 24/7 and used majority of the day, their lifespan isn't expected to be very long. Technology today is based more around performance rather than longevity and everything from our phones to our fridges, this is true.

 

[steverinnm]

Check the Battery!

Your Droid 3 is 2.5 years old. Have you ever replaced the battery?

If the answer is "no" or "more than 6 months ago", my first suggestion would be to check the battery voltage to verify that it is higher than 4 volts after it has been fully charged and the charger disconnected (typically around 4.1 Volts). If your battery indicates fewer than 4.0 Volts (4000mV) when fully charged, suspect the battery may be the culprit, under 3.7 Volts it is definitely a problem!

LI-Ion batteries age over time and recharge cycles, resulting in decreased voltage and capacity, requiring more frequent recharging.

You should also check the voltage when the phone is displaying erratic behavior. While it is best to check the battery out of the phone and under "load" with a voltmeter, there are several Android apps that will display the in-circuit battery voltage right on your phone. Select an app that displays actual voltage.

The Droid 3 will begin to experience operating problems, lock-ups and reboots if the battery voltage drops below 3.3 Volts (3300mV). In some cases, the battery may indicate above 3.3 Volts, however, executing an app or function on the phone will increase the battery demand and can temporarily dip the voltage below 3.3 Volts, causing a "brownout" and unwanted results in phone or app functions.

If the voltage drops rapidly toward 3.3 Volts after a full charge, either you are using too many power draining apps (GPS on + Video streaming + display brightness maxed out), or the battery capacity (amperage) of the battery is depleted and it is time to replace the battery.

Good luck! :biggrin: