I don't know, maybe I am just lucky, but I've had my phone about a month now and it has never frozen on me, stuttered a couple times like it was going to, but never completely locked up.
I have noticed the youtube app will not play half the videos I try to watch for some reason, not real sure why right yet, just recently really started playing with that app.
As for signal loss, well I ahve had problems in the past with verizons service in my area and I don't live exactly in the sticks either, but it has been that way on several phones, not just the Eris. So far my Eris has decent signal strength in the areas I roam.
Is palm still alive? lol with Apple, Microsoft and now Google, I doubt they will be for much longer in all honesty.
Anyway, G'luck with your new phone, just keep in mind, all phones have some kind of glitches, just like all software for your home computer does. There will never be a perfect phone, or perfect OS, or perfect any type of software. At least not in my lifetime, hehe