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Eris worth the trouble???

S

styleguy

Newbie
I received an Eris I purchased on ebay today for $90. Works fine, no water damage.

I went to my local verizon retailer today, and the salesmen strongly urged me to resell the phone because it is "nothing but trouble". Battery life, reception, freezes, slow, etc.

He started recommending other phones, Droid X, Incredible, etc. I told him I wasn't interested in signing a contract, and I got a good deal on this phone, and that's why I got it. I really only need to talk,text - I just want a current style phone.

Then I asked him about the $15 data plan and he said I will definitely go over it and be charged for doing so. Told me because of background processes, it is virtually impossible to stay under the 150mb limit. I told him at the current time I can't justify paying $30. He guaranteed I would go over it.

I ended up not activating the phone. I want some true advice about how the Eris works and its reliability. Also, I want to know if it is possible to get by on the $15 data. I personally think he was just trying to get me to sign into a contract or upgrade to make commission.

Any opinions appreciated. I really like the phone as well.
 
If you root your Eris and install xtrRom or one of the other overclocked roms, you should have a reasonably capable device. It won't be as fast as an X, Incredible or even a Droid 1, but it is usable.

As far as data usage goes I'm up around 600M/month, but I have WiFi turned off and make heavy use of browsing and emailing photos. If I turned WiFi on I could probably cut that number by 80% as I primarily use is at home and the office, both of which have good wireless service.
 
I don't know to do any of that stuff, or know anyone who does. So it's not an option for me.

As is, is the Eris ok? And is it possible to get by on $15 data plan?
 
styleguy said:
I don't know to do any of that stuff, or know anyone who does. So it's not an option for me.

As is, is the Eris ok? And is it possible to get by on $15 data plan?
Click to expand...

Rooting your phone definitely helps. With the 2.1 software, its definitely usable for just texting and stuff. The only default is the dialer lag, but as long as you keep it clear you should be fine. I rooted my phone and installed Nonsensikal 16.1 (a custom rom found over at xda). My phone isn't lag free, but its certainly faster and easier to use.

As for the 15 dollar plan...well. Yeah, you probably will go over it. There's no way around it with Android, not just the Eris, but all devices. The internet usage is just too tightly integrated, especially with the Eris. The clock/weather widget definitely will eat up your data usage, among other things.

If you can't afford the data right now, I'd probably sell the Eris, and get a better phone when you can afford it though. The Eris is a good phone, but not the best.
 
The Eris is ok in stock form.

I turn off background data to help the battery, but it will help you keep your data down.

Turning off background data stops Gmail and weather (and any other apps that update) from accessing the web throughout the day. You will have to turn background data back on to use the marketplace, but once youve downloaded the apps you want just turn it back off.

Limiting your web browsing to text based sites while on the network and using the app market while on wifi only should keep you under 150mb if you are careful.
 
How do I turn off the background data? Anything else I can do to minimize self-data usage on a stock Eris?

I plan to only use wifi when going online. I can't use it right now for some reason, I think because I haven't activated the phone.
 
You should be able to use wifi, it doesn't go through the data connection or anything. At least I always thought you could, I'm pretty sure I've heard of it before.
 
styleguy said:
How do I turn off the background data? Anything else I can do to minimize self-data usage on a stock Eris?

I plan to only use wifi when going online. I can't use it right now for some reason, I think because I haven't activated the phone.
Click to expand...

There is a homescreen widget than can turn off mobile data, or you can go into settings->wireless & networks and there is a checkmark for mobile data.

The Eris is not a fantastic phone, but that salesman is wrong. I use WiFi data at home - also, whenever WiFi is active, the phone will use that for data.

And my 3G data use over the last 3 months:

Dec: 33.5 MB
Nov: 79.8 MB
Oct: 202 MB

I use data quite often. Oct was higher because I was traveling; November I was away for Thanksgiving. Anyway, it is very possible to keep data under 150 if you really want to.

I wouldn't watch movies or listen to music on Pandora or anything if I were you. Push gmail? Browsing? You should be ok.
 
You can sell that eris back to verizon for $132 to make a profit! I got one on release day and believe the hardware was a bit outdated even then. However, good platform to learn android....
 
I've got the wifi to work. So far I like the phone, at first, I was very slow typing on it, but I've quickly improved.

I think they really wanted me to upgrade to something, he also tried telling me there was a special $20 "everything-data" for new smartphone owners, how it's a great deal for $5 extra, then I asked him if there was a contract, and he went to check with his manager, and there was.

I have "Mobile Network" unchecked. I turned off all the data options and made it "home only". Not sure what Automatic A or B mean.

How is it for basic functions...Calling? Texting? Do they usually send, or they often get lost?
 
Diggit said:
You can sell that eris back to verizon for $132 to make a profit! I got one on release day and believe the hardware was a bit outdated even then. However, good platform to learn android....
Click to expand...

Not much of a profit...and I don't want any "verizon dollars".

How do you make sure it's on the most current android? Does it update itself or you have to do it?
 
styleguy said:
I've got the wifi to work. So far I like the phone, at first, I was very slow typing on it, but I've quickly improved.

I think they really wanted me to upgrade to something, he also tried telling me there was a special $20 "everything-data" for new smartphone owners, how it's a great deal for $5 extra, then I asked him if there was a contract, and he went to check with his manager, and there was.

I have "Mobile Network" unchecked. I turned off all the data options and made it "home only". Not sure what Automatic A or B mean.

How is it for basic functions...Calling? Texting? Do they usually send, or they often get lost?
Click to expand...

This $20 plan, I'm not sure what this is? I honestly have never heard of this before and am curious.

And calling and texting work okay on the phone. I've never had a problem with lost text messages, and other than the dialer lagging a bit and some blurry contact pictures, I really like the phone feature.

styleguy said:
Not much of a profit...and I don't want any "verizon dollars".

How do you make sure it's on the most current android? Does it update itself or you have to do it?
Click to expand...

2.1 is the last official software update that Verizon pushed out. Press Home>Menu>Settings>About Phone and you'll find your software version there.
 
I think it's the only smartphone that will work with PagePlus. For $30/month (no tax or fees) you get 1200 minutes, 1200 texts, and 50MB data. For us it's 5 phones at $150/month - terrific service on the Verizon network.

Ours are rooted (trivial), using Nonsensikal 16.1. Lovely!
 
cmajpwc said:
This $20 plan, I'm not sure what this is? I honestly have never heard of this before and am curious.

And calling and texting work okay on the phone. I've never had a problem with lost text messages, and other than the dialer lagging a bit and some blurry contact pictures, I really like the phone feature.



2.1 is the last official software update that Verizon pushed out. Press Home>Menu>Settings>About Phone and you'll find your software version there.
Click to expand...

Some promotion with new smartphone users. I didn't get the details because I wasn't interested in it.

I have 2.1....does this mean the previous user never factory-reset the phone?
 
styleguy said:
I have 2.1....does this mean the previous user never factory-reset the phone?
Click to expand...

No, once Android is updated (either over-the-air delivered by the carrier, or by using a process with your PC that updates Android on the phone) a factory reset will continue to reset to a blank 2.1 install. It does not bring you back to 1.5 and then deliver the update again (in fact, I believe that Google is no longer hosting the Eris's update, for some reason.)

In fact, I believe that there would have been a few users who would have paid to have a factory reset go back to 1.5 when 2.1 first came out ...
 
doogald said:
In fact, I believe that there would have been a few users who would have paid to have a factory reset go back to 1.5 when 2.1 first came out ...
Click to expand...

Yeah, I remember that. There is even an update utility to put you back on 1.5 floating somewhere around here. I never had a real problem with 2.1, though. I suppose I am one of the lucky ones with a decent Eris lol
 
styleguy said:
How do I turn off the background data? Anything else I can do to minimize self-data usage on a stock Eris?

I plan to only use wifi when going online. I can't use it right now for some reason, I think because I haven't activated the phone.
Click to expand...

Menu
Settings
Accounts and Sync

uncheck the Background Data box
 
If you have wifi available at home you can stay under. Install the VZW widget and watch usage, I could get by with it if I had too. Read up on root, not hard lots of help available and can make the phone way more usable.
 
My wife and I got new phones last week and the sales rep actually suggested that my wife lower her data plan down to the $15 per month plan because she rarely goes over 100mb per month in data, and I just barely get across it some months (she doesn't use her phone for internet much, I'm generally on wifi at either work or home). We were told that if she did go over 150mb that we'd just be charged another $15 for another 150mb, so it's not like they start charging you a huge amount per mb or anything like that.
I'd say you'll be fine on the $15 plan for how you've stated you'll be using your phone.
 
No, the Eris is terrible. Even if you don't think it's terrible, it will become terrible, and you'll notice that it is as soon as you look at another phone (like the Incredible). This is the most frustrating phone I've ever used. Ever.

Do the Verizon Trade-In via their website, get a $132 gift card (profit, see), and buy a good phone ;)
 
DDustiNN said:
No, the Eris is terrible. Even if you don't think it's terrible, it will become terrible, and you'll notice that it is as soon as you look at another phone (like the Incredible). This is the most frustrating phone I've ever used. Ever.
Click to expand...
You must be really bad at using it then.

Mine has had little to no problems. Of course, I actually care about how my phone runs so I rooted it.
 
Mine is rooted too. Take your phone and scroll through your contacts and/or text messages, while doing the same thing side-by-side on an Incredible, and tell me you don't see any difference ;)

Also let me know how Angry Birds works out for you, since it's available in the Market now for this device.
 
There is no doubt that the Eris is slower than the DInc. And it's true that Angry Birds is VERY slow (non-playable??), however that doesn't make the Eris a 'terrible' phone. For the OP's stated use it will work just fine.
 
DDustiNN said:
Mine is rooted too. Take your phone and scroll through your contacts and/or text messages, while doing the same thing side-by-side on an Incredible, and tell me you don't see any difference ;)

Also let me know how Angry Birds works out for you, since it's available in the Market now for this device.
Click to expand...
My Pentium II also can't play Youtube videos either or run Crysis like my quad-core Athlon PC can. It doesn't mean its terrible. It runs perfectly fine as a server or torrent box running the latest version of Ubuntu.
 
Well, I suppose the term "terrible" is subjective. But then again, so is the term "perfectly fine". The OP asked for true advice about how the Eris works and its reliability, so that's what I'm giving... my opinion, that's all. I would not want to rely on this phone for anything. It is way too slow and laggy for what it's supposed to be.
 
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