Droid Poll, Manufacturing Satisfaction

[brettlewis]

I am on my second Droid and have now ran into my second manufacturing issue/defect with the phone.

First defect 39/09: broken cell antenna (free replacement given)
Second defect 42/09: Cracked keyboard keys/peeling keyboard (before use)

I love Android, But was weary when Verizons inaugural phone was being made by Motorola. However, I dove in and have been very happy (mostly software satisfaction)

I have always preferred LG/HTC manufacturing and final products but didn't get the eris cause I needed the keyboard.

I don't want any bashing, Just want to hear opinions on your experience with the hardware itself. If you have had issues, I would like to hear about them to see if there are any dots to connect. Sure you can keep saying return it, but there are only so many times you can deal with the frustration.

 

[Fabolous]

My first Droid had a loose headphone jack. Only noticed it after my 30 days, it would cut out one of the channels while it was in my pocket.

My replacement is very good though. The headphone jack is tight, as is the sliding mechanism. I'm quite happy with it. My last Moto phone was a RAZR, so I haven't experienced any of Moto's really bad phones.

And just for clarification, Android's inaugural phone was made by HTC in 2008. It's called the Dream (G1).

 

[teschoen]

I've had it since release weekend and not a single hardware problem. But I'm very easy on equipment. I do use this phone a bit, lots of plugging and unplugging the headphone jack, making calls, getting emails etc, I've been more than satisfied. I've got a 41/09.

 

[Psychokitty]

I've got a 39/09. I'm very happy with the build quality, but concerned by what I've read here on this forum; loose jacks, easily dented or peeling speaker grill, peeling camera buttons, and my own trouble, dust under the screen.
But I do treat my phones, cameras & laptops like they are priceless artifacts.

-My previous phone was a Krazr, and I've rebuilt several of them. They were made withreally fragile & thin plastic & glass components, but they were so well engineered and put together that they feel like little tanks. Good and solid. I like that feel about the Droid. But all of these things are fragile and need to be treated a bit delicately, so how tough should they need to be made? It's a hard call. The compromise is easy to illustrate; Slap a plastic cover on it, and the phone can take a lot more abuse, but now it's stupid ugly. ...*shrug*

 

[brettlewis]

And just for clarification, Android's inaugural phone was made by HTC in 2008. It's called the Dream (G1).

Whoops, meant Verizon, not android.

 

[johnlgalt]

I've had it since release weekend and not a single hardware problem. But I'm very easy on equipment. I do use this phone a bit, lots of plugging and unplugging the headphone jack, making calls, getting emails etc, I've been more than satisfied. I've got a 41/09.

I've got a 39/09. I'm very happy with the build quality, but concerned by what I've read here on this forum; loose jacks, easily dented or peeling speaker grill, peeling camera buttons, and my own trouble, dust under the screen.
But I do treat my phones, cameras & laptops like they are priceless artifacts.

-My previous phone was a Krazr, and I've rebuilt several of them. They were made withreally fragile & thin plastic & glass components, but they were so well engineered and put together that they feel like little tanks. Good and solid. I like that feel about the Droid. But all of these things are fragile and need to be treated a bit delicately, so how tough should they need to be made? It's a hard call. The compromise is easy to illustrate; Slap a plastic cover on it, and the phone can take a lot more abuse, but now it's stupid ugly. ...*shrug*

I am very nice to my phones as well, with the exception of my Alias - the magnetic clasp for the holster I had slipped out of place, an it had a nasty habit of coming out when I least wanted it to - sliding across the floor / pavement when I was running full tilt.

Thus far, my 4209 is doing well - the biggest complaint I suppose I can have is that it is limited to 256 MB onboard for use with the OS....since I have ha mine since opening weekend as well, and I've even gotten used to not having to kill apps all the time (After I stopped being an app whore) it has done me well.

Right not my biggest issue (seriously) is the blinding nav screen at night time, even with Satellite layers enabled.

 

[brettlewis]

Right not my biggest issue (seriously) is the blinding nav screen at night time, even with Satellite layers enabled.

Turn down screen brightness maybe? Im surprised at the amount of complaint I have seen about this. I haven't really used the nav, since a few months before my droid I got a garmin. Now ive spent the money on it, im not going to stop using it, It has a nice night mode that im sure google nav will get soon enough.

edit: 12 votes and 75 views? you can vote and not have to post. Just want some stats on it.

 

[YankeeDudeL]

The only issue's I've encountered have been operator error from the learning curve of going from a "dumb" phone to a smartphone.

 

[brettlewis]

The only issue's I've encountered have been operator error from the learning curve of going from a "dumb" phone to a smartphone.

are you saying, you personally are having issues due to learning curve, or others are? haha.

Im not really bothered with software issues because most of them are user issues, or app conflicts. Im just irked from all the hardware issues im having. Defective parts, broken parts and so on...

 

[johnlgalt]

Turn down screen brightness maybe? Im surprised at the amount of complaint I have seen about this. I haven't really used the nav, since a few months before my droid I got a garmin. Now ive spent the money on it, im not going to stop using it, It has a nice night mode that im sure google nav will get soon enough.

edit: 12 votes and 75 views? you can vote and not have to post. Just want some stats on it.

That doesn't cut it, and especially not if the brightness is set to auto (which is the way I like it). Even manually cutting down the brightness leaves it fairly bright at night...

The only issue's I've encountered have been operator error from the learning curve of going from a "dumb" phone to a smartphone.

I had some of that too, but I feel as if I have caught up easily.

Next step may to start playing with rooted ROMs for me....

What can I say, I like living on the edge....

 

[monsterpt]

39/09 here. With less than 30 days on the Droid I couldn't be happier that I made the jump from WM 6.5 to Android.

I have had only one small issue, the back panel (not the battery door but the plastic panel above it) is a little loose in the corner. More of an esthetic issue than anything else. May take it back. Hate to drive all the way to BB, 1.5 hours away.

All said, awesome piece of hardware. (I have not dropped it ...yet)

 

[Hegemony]

I voted "one defect" because I'm still not sure about my current unit. Overall, I'm very happy with the phone. My first unit had the issue with the headphone jack getting crackly and cutting in and out. I had it replaced within my first 30 days. New one was fine for a few weeks, then it started cutting in and out as well. It's not nearly as bad as the first one, but still a little annoying.

I submitted a support request and asked for a new phone to be shipped. We'll see what they say. If they send me a unit with an old manufacture date like 40/09 or something, I might just send it back. Seems like the older one's had more problems.

Long and short of it is that the issue with the headphone jack seems fairly common on older units. My original 39/09 had it, my friend's 40/09 had it, and my current 40/09 has it. Many people might not know they have the problem. If you don't listen to a lot of audio, you may never know until you have some reason to use headphones for an extended period.

I don't know... if Verizon puts up a fuss about it I can always dump the contract. I got in before the ETF was raised. While I'd like to keep using the Droid, I won't deal with the weird audio problems for the next year.

 

[chippy]

A few issues that are annoying, but that's normal with any phone, overall very good build quality.

 

[MicroNix]

My first Droid had a loose headphone jack. Only noticed it after my 30 days, it would cut out one of the channels while it was in my pocket.

My replacement is very good though. The headphone jack is tight, as is the sliding mechanism. I'm quite happy with it. My last Moto phone was a RAZR, so I haven't experienced any of Moto's really bad phones.

You are I share the same exact experience. I came from a RAZR and had my Droid replaced once because the headphone jack was loose and causing the right channel to cut in and out. Replacement phone is great.

Seems that Moto has phones on both sides of the spectrum. The RAZR (and the Droid) have unsurpassed reception. My son however has a Moto dumb phone with the slide out keyboard and the reception on them are horrible. But the newer Moto dumb phones which look similar to the old RAZRs are killer for reception. Much better than any Samsung I've had.

 

[Shadowtech]

The only issue I have been having with mine is not getting any kind of phone call notification a lot of the time. I dunno if this is an antenna issue or what, but people will call me and the damn thing won't even ring. Only way I find out I got a call is if they leave a voicemail. I am tempted to take it back but dunno if it would make a difference or not.

 

[mully]

41/09......bought 11/29/09.....This phone is fantastic! I am almost completely satisfied with it. Only problems so far is I have dust under the screen in the lower left and upper righ corner. You can only notice it when the phone is off, and sunlight is shining on it....so not really an issue. I'm only worried that it might (probably will) get worse in the future. And I get green and purple spots in EVERY picture I take. This didn't happen before the update, so I'm hoping the next update will fix it. Definately a software issue.

Overall I rate this phone a SOLID 9 out of 10.

 

[YankeeDudeL]

are you saying, you personally are having issues due to learning curve, or others are? haha.

Im not really bothered with software issues because most of them are user issues, or app conflicts. Im just irked from all the hardware issues im having. Defective parts, broken parts and so on...

That doesn't cut it, and especially not if the brightness is set to auto (which is the way I like it). Even manually cutting down the brightness leaves it fairly bright at night...



I had some of that too, but I feel as if I have caught up easily.

Next step may to start playing with rooted ROMs for me....

What can I say, I like living on the edge....

Much the Dog Whisperer trains the owners and not the dogs, I needed a Droid Whisperer. We're good to go.