Help Hello everyone. (also ? about HTC Evo)

[Shane-o]

Greetings. I am the owner of a Motorola Droid (previously rooted and running CM) and as of yesterday an HTC Evo. I decided to jump on Sprint because I work at RadioShack and employee plans are dirt cheap. Sprint gave me $150 bill credit for buying the phone full price as well.

I was originally deciding between the HTC Evo and the MyTouch 4g on T-Mobile. One thing that turned me off about T-Mo was coverage (I knew Sprint worked great at my apartment and around town). Also, I've heard T-Mo is having some financial trouble and could possibly be filing bankruptcy in the future. Anyway...

The issue at hand is that after purchasing the Evo I'm now feeling some buyers remorse as I've been doing some research and I've found out that there seems to be widespread defects with the Evo, most fatally the defective charging port. After reading up about this I examine the charging port on mine and to my surprise it looks as if this port has already been through some wear and tear. On the right side corner of the connector (the flat plastic piece with the pins on it) it looks as if it is being smashed in and is causing a lump on the front of the connector. Also, the pin nearest the corner is not easily visible as this lump is covering the front of it.

Wow...really? This was day 1, plugged into the charger once. So it was out of box this way. Who knows if this will get worse until the port breaks or the contact is covered and wont charge the phone. So my dilemma is whether to just swap it out and pray that I don't have problems in the future (or even out of box) or possibly just get the MyTouch 4g as I haven't heard of any issues with that phone and it wasn't as massively produced and marketed as the Evo.

Also, I have a friend who works at a Sprint store. He said he has heard of the Evo micro ports being cheaply made and that if it breaks (even under normal wear) that Sprint isn't repairing it but I'd have to go through HTC (and of course get a refurb). I don't feel too great about getting a refurb when I pay $500 for a phone that may of been defective to begin with. So is the charging issue (or other defects for that matter) that widespread that perhaps I should drop the Evo and try something else? Was HTC just trying to push these out for Sprint to keep up with demand and cutting corners on quality and assembly? I've also noticed funky vertical lines on my screen that I've heard could be because of the Epson screens, however I've looked at 3 other Evos at work that didn't have them.

Thanks for those who make it through this post. I tend to ramble and be a little over detailed.

 

[Steven58]

Hi, I'll move this to the evo section for ya.

 

[Drew5150]

I would exchange it for sure. You work there and you should still be able to return it if you still have issues. What version do you have? I have a 002 bought on june 4th and it still works great. I didn't even know there was a charging port issue. I think the 003's, from what I have read, have the most issues.

Do you have sprint insurance? Either way any thing you turn it in for you're going to get a refurbished in return. Hell that refurb may be better as its had any initial issues fixed.

The only way to keep your same phone would be to have 3rd party insurance. Bestbuy or something on the net, not sure I would want some insurance company over the net fixing my phone over a refurb from htc.

I had best buy replace my LCD last month for a white spot. Other then that I have had no issues. Best phone I have ever bought.

If you are a new sprint customer why did you pay 500$?

 

[Shane-o]

Hardware version is actually 0004. I didn't even know there was such. But it's the white one (which I've heard have more issues still). I payed $500 because I can't be on the employee plan if I signed a contract. I would have to get the contract and after so many months I could switch it. It was cheaper for me to buy it full price, get the $150 credit, and just pay $30 a month after they take out of the $150 credit.

Don't get me wrong, this phone is awesome, I've just already had 4 Droids and all have had some sort of defect. First time it was freezing every hour, second there was dust under the screen NIB, third the headphone jack no longer works for music, fourth the keyboard didn't work. The fourth was the only refurb though, the others were within 30 days and swapped.

 

[Drew5150]

ahh, I see. yeah the evo has its fair share of quirks. haven't looked into the charging port issue as I haven't had an issue. I would at least exchange it then before you give up on it. I say get a black one.. haha.

and welcome to the forums

 

[ovrrdrive]

FWIW, I noticed that the cord that comes with the evo fits pretty tightly in the charging port when you plug it in. I use the charger from my moment and it goes in and out easier. It *might* help to preserve the charging port...

 

[Rigmaster]

We have two original Evos with no build issues. I have heard of the charging port issue, but I've also seen quite a few people using cords that don't quite fit - close but not exact. That causes wear and breakage. That said, return it for a new one since you just bought it. I've never even seen a white Evo in person, but I wouldn't get a white phone under any circumstances. Stands out too much.