Moto. Droid - Headphone Jack - Anyone else on phone #3 or #4?

[JFDroid]

I've got the Motorola Droid and I'm on my third Droid due to headphone jack issues. Over time, the jack wears out from daily/constant use and starts to crackle, and eventually fails to recognize that I've got something plugged into it and will play on speaker phone or pause play altogether. I've had my phone swapped out twice already for the same issue (I've had the Droid since November) as I just said and I'm about to call Verizon AGAIN to ask for another new unit due to these issues.

I go running with my Droid with headphones plugged in, but I don't play with the headphone jack plug or anything, and I use the Droid daily in my car (plugged in via headphone jack) - it seems that repeated use wears out the jack really fast. I NEVER had this problem with my Blackberry Storm, with my iPod Touch, or any other device. EVER!

I'm just looking to see if anyone else has had a similar experience... I'm on an employee account through VZW and though I feel bad for costing the company $$$ due to swapping out my phone all the time, I think it's only fair I get a fully functional and working device for the $200 I paid to buy the phone in the first place.

By no means am I upset at Verizon - they pay a lot of the bills in my household and have amazing service (customer service and reception/coverage), plus I recognize that Motorola's the one who came up with the Droid's faulty headphone jack design obviously, but it's just so frustrating.

My family member told me since this is my 3rd device to ask for the Incredible - and that would be cool - but would any of you do that? I feel like they're going to think I'm scamming them. But honestly, I really just want a Droid (Moto. or Incredible) that has a working and sturdy headphone jack that won't break after 2 months of daily use. If my phone that has mp3 capabilities (as all Droids do) can't actually be used as an mp3 player would be (daily use), then why offer that function at all?

Does anyone agree with me on this? Has anyone had a similar experience they would be willing to share? Does anyone have an Eris they've used for months (daily or most days on average) and haven't had any headphone jack issues? I'm due for upgrade in July (4th and 10th) and would take an Eris from now until then if the headphone jack worked better.

 

[Zippster]

I agree with you completely, its not like your abusing your phone and asking them to replace it then, your USING it as it is intended to be used.

I use my jack for plugging into my trucks aux port to listen to pandora, droid live etc, I have read many threads in the past with the same issues you describe ( wearing out, breaking ) and makes me leary on how much I plug and unplug mine. :icon_evil:

 

[JFDroid]

I agree with you completely, its not like your abusing your phone and asking them to replace it then, your USING it as it is intended to be used.

I use my jack for plugging into my trucks aux port to listen to pandora, droid live etc, I have read many threads in the past with the same issues you describe ( wearing out, breaking ) and makes me leary on how much I plug and unplug mine. :icon_evil:

Yeah. I actually wanted to just get a bluetooth stereo for my car, that way I was only using the headphone jack when running or listening to music on my headphones. It would have helped since I plug it in the most when I'm in my car (I make many trips around town each day - so I'm always plugging/unplugging). But I can't get a Bluetooth Radio for my car because I have GM's DIC (Driver Information Center) with steering-wheel controls, and all of that will break if I use a different headunit, and of course my stock headunit on my 2006 Solstice (manufactured back in 2005 - before BT got popular in factory radios) doesn't have any BT support.

So I've been stuck plugging it in all the time, which is fine, but I knew it would break again. And here we are.

 

[cplus]

Yes,

I agree completely. I use mine all the time for music in the truck and through headphones. The jack has ALWAYS crackled when touched. Sometimes I wiggle it to get the right speaker to start working again.This is truly sad to me. I just love the thing so much otherwise.. I did read a thread at one point saying that this problem can be fixed by wedging a little something somewhere around the jack but I havn't tried. Perhaps I will look it up and try it finally. oh, and I wouldn't want an Inc. or Eris.

 

[cplus]

I fixed mine with the straw trick!!!!! No more crackle. No more speaker out. No more jiggle the cord. I fixed my $500 phone with a tiny piece of drinking straw. I couldn't be happier- glad I finally tried it. It took 3 minutes. I suggest everyone with this problem should stop posting complaints and start posting success stories.

EDIT: here are instructions and pictures. start at post #10.

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/tech-issues-bug-reports-suggestions/43173-phones-jack.html