Help WTF - How Could They Make This Any Poorer?

[crboone]

Was I pulling my hair out? Oh yeah, I had a self inflicted mohawk after that episode.

lol. Too funny. I can definitely relate to that. Your post was well-written, and I say that even though I feel similarly to droidx_fan, based on my personal experience with the X/Android. Droidx_fan probably picked that nickname because he was excited about the phone, but is now let down by it more than he anticipated.

I had higher expectations for the X/Android coming from my BB Storm, to be honest. I also expect my phone to "just work" for the most part, even though I understand there will be *some* issues. But I never imagined there would be so many, and so constant. I have to reboot to get the phone (the actual phone) to work again. Reboot 3-4 times to connect via USB. Reboot for this, lock up for that. All I did was play some music. Reboot. All I did was reconfigure my home screen. Lock up. I want to check my battery stats, repeatedly force close. I take pictures of my daughter's birthday inside, they turn out much worse than our 6-year old Sony digital. This is why people become angry and take it out on the forums (even though we shouldn't).

Why don't the vendors tell you that you may have to suffer through so much frustration instead of advertising such a "neat" phone? We all know the answer to that. People begin to feel they were sold a bill of goods because their expectations weren't properly managed. As for me, I'm telling people who are considering the X vs the iPhone about my experiences so they'll know what I'm going through. This isn't to be mean to X fans, but to be helpful to the others trying to make a decision.

Were my issues self-inflicted? Maybe. I've worked with computers and smart phones enough to at least get around, and I'm generally careful not to tread where I have no idea what I'm doing. But this has been an exercise in frustration beyond what I care to have for a smartphone device. If Android is really for the super-techies who thrive on working through a minefield of bugs, or for those who do nothing to their phones hardly at all, then that will be Android's clientele. Somehow the configuration that suited me just didn't work with the phone, and I never delved deeply into the system files to make changes to anything, other than downloading a few root apps like SetCPU, Titanium, AdFree, AutoKiller, etc. I even decided against overclocking because I just don't have the time to tweak my phone to that degree, testing every tweak over and over. After my first 1 or 2 attempts at the lowest OC settings having the phone freeze and boot, I decided to just leave it alone.

Again, it's not so easy to "just go get the iPhone." The iPhone isn't on Verizon yet, and even if it were starting today, I'm not up for another phone since I just got the X 2 months ago. Maybe I could sell my X (probably not here now), but it's expensive switching phones. So the reason people get so upset when their phones don't pan out as expected is because, 1) There were unrealistic expectations set concerning the user experience by the vendors' advertising, 2) The frustration that builds as the issues continue, and 3) The feeling of being taken and trapped because it's not so easy just to get another phone. I can't just get my 150 bucks back and apply it to an iPhone on Verizon.

All of that said, that's how I feel right now. I just did a factory reset and am giving the phone one more chance. Maybe I just messed something up. If I have the same problems, then I'll finally conclude this isn't the device for me. And it's perfectly fine that others continue to enjoy theirs. I truly am disappointed to be one of the dissenting voices on the forum, but it is what it is. It wasn't planned and I didn't set out to be "anti-Android" (and I've never been crazy about Apple's walled-garden). Otherwise, I would not have bought the phone with higher expectations.


~

 

[Deleted User]

I have to reboot to get the phone (the actual phone) to work again. Reboot 3-4 times to connect via USB. Reboot for this, lock up for that. All I did was play some music. Reboot. All I did was reconfigure my home screen. Lock up.

Here's the point. Most people aren't suffering from these issues. Therefore, your phone is either defective or you have done something to it to cause problems. In either situation, you aren't suffering from the problems because it's the nature of the phone. You're suffering from problems because your particular phone is problematic. See the difference?

Why would the vendor say, "well guys, if you have a problem phone, you can expect <this>"?

Again, it's not so easy to "just go get the iPhone." The iPhone isn't on Verizon yet, and even if it were starting today, I'm not up for another phone since I just got the X 2 months ago. Maybe I could sell my X (probably not here now), but it's expensive switching phones. So the reason people get so upset when their phones don't pan out as expected is because, 1) There were unrealistic expectations set concerning the user experience by the vendors' advertising, 2) The frustration that builds as the issues continue, and 3) The feeling of being taken and trapped because it's not so easy just to get another phone. I can't just get my 150 bucks back and apply it to an iPhone on Verizon.

Maybe. Seems to me, though, that 30 days is quite a while to experiment with your phone and see if you like it. In any event, I just can't see suffering with something I didn't like for two years over the $200 or whatever it would cost me to switch. The phone is worth virtually the entire subsidized price + ETF if sold. You'll spend $2400 over two years on phone service charges but not than 10% of that to pick up a phone you're happy with?

 

[bigbadwulff]

I'd suggest a username change...

 

[crboone]

Here's the point. Most people aren't suffering from these issues. Therefore, your phone is either defective or you have done something to it to cause problems. In either situation, you aren't suffering from the problems because it's the nature of the phone. You're suffering from problems because your particular phone is problematic. See the difference?

Why would the vendor say, "well guys, if you have a problem phone, you can expect <this>"?


Maybe. Seems to me, though, that 30 days is quite a while to experiment with your phone and see if you like it. In any event, I just can't see suffering with something I didn't like for two years over the $200 or whatever it would cost me to switch. The phone is worth virtually the entire subsidized price + ETF if sold. You'll spend $2400 over two years on phone service charges but not than 10% of that to pick up a phone you're happy with?

But I keep seeing others with the same issues I am having. Maybe not everyone is having the same problems, but it's not just my particular phone that's problematic. If I didn't keep seeing others cropping up with the same frustrations, I would agree with you.


I've always upgraded my phone after a couple of years. My understanding is that I'm not up for another $150/$200 subsidized phone until my contract is close to running out, because that's how the phones are subsidized. If I were to sell my phone now for, say, 100 bucks (though who would buy it?), I'm not going to get another phone from Verizon for $200 when I just got this one 2 months ago. But I know people buy and sell these things all the time, so maybe I'm missing out on how that works. I'd be glad to know how I can switch phones if the factory reset doesn't resolve these issues.

The problems I'm having increased after the 2.2 OTA, which was after the 30-day trial period. Of course, I also continued to download apps ...

 

[Deleted User]

Why do you think your phone is worth a hundred bucks?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Motorola-Droid-...=Cell_Phones&hash=item3cb1b0244d#ht_532wt_941

I upgraded my iPhone 3G to a 3GS early, sold my 3G and was out almost no money.

The subsidized price of your phone has nothing to do with what you can sell it for. What a lot of people do is buy phones at full retail after selling their previous phone. So, say, for $500 I can get a phone at full retail, and I can get $400+ for my phone on eBay. That means I'm out $100 for a phone swap. If I bought a used phone, I might be out no money - interestingly, it looks like the Samsung Fascinate is going for less money than the DX on eBay. So there you go, I can do a phone swap and be out zero dollars.

In terms of the style of problems, there are always going to be problem patterns with anything. That doesn't make them normal, or make your device anything other than defective/problematic. It also doesn't mean you should live with the problems. You've got a warranty - take advantage.

 

[crboone]

Why do you think your phone is worth a hundred bucks?

Motorola Droid X (Verizon) Clean ESN - eBay (item 260679148621 end time Oct-22-10 02:59:26 PDT)

I upgraded my iPhone 3G to a 3GS early, sold my 3G and was out almost no money.

The subsidized price of your phone has nothing to do with what you can sell it for. What a lot of people do is buy phones at full retail after selling their previous phone. So, say, for $500 I can get a phone at full retail, and I can get $400+ for my phone on eBay. That means I'm out $100 for a phone swap. If I bought a used phone, I might be out no money - interestingly, it looks like the Samsung Fascinate is going for less money than the DX on eBay. So there you go, I can do a phone swap and be out zero dollars.

In terms of the style of problems, there are always going to be problem patterns with anything. That doesn't make them normal, or make your device anything other than defective/problematic. It also doesn't mean you should live with the problems. You've got a warranty - take advantage.

That's good info to know. I wouldn't get as much for mine, though, because it's 2 months old (not just 2 weeks), and I would have issues selling it if it's defective. So I may use the warranty if the factory reset doesn't fix the problem. If the constant freeze/reboots would stop then I would be satisfied enough. That's what has set me on the negative side with this phone more than the other things. 4-5 times in a row when all I've done is click "USB mass storage mode" is just too much.

I will be using the phone less aggressively for awhile so you'll know if that has helped.

Thanks again for your helpful comments.

~

 

[Roze]

So I may use the warranty if the factory reset doesn't fix the problem.

Yeah, try using your phone for a couple of days and see how it performs without any 3rd party apps. If you still notice FCs, then your phone has issues, if not, then it was a 3rd party app you installed. If you find that you don't have any issues after the factory reset, I'd recommend that you SLOWLY install each app you have and check to see if they aren't the one that's causing you grief. If it's a 3rd party app and you 'reinstall all'...you'll have the same issue again.

 

[aximtreo]

But I keep seeing others with the same issues I am having. Maybe not everyone is having the same problems, but it's not just my particular phone that's problematic. If I didn't keep seeing others cropping up with the same frustrations, I would agree with you.


I've always upgraded my phone after a couple of years. My understanding is that I'm not up for another $150/$200 subsidized phone until my contract is close to running out, because that's how the phones are subsidized. If I were to sell my phone now for, say, 100 bucks (though who would buy it?), I'm not going to get another phone from Verizon for $200 when I just got this one 2 months ago. But I know people buy and sell these things all the time, so maybe I'm missing out on how that works. I'd be glad to know how I can switch phones if the factory reset doesn't resolve these issues.

The problems I'm having increased after the 2.2 OTA, which was after the 30-day trial period. Of course, I also continued to download apps ...

If you want out of the X and am willing to sell for $100; I'll take it.

 

[dhoffman1421]

Sounds like you are a good candidate for an iPhone and I don't mean that as an insult. If you can wait it out VZW is supposed to get the iPhone too so you aren't stuck on AT&T.

What's odd to me is that I am not having any of the issues others describe, this indicates to me how different individual phones can be. Maybe even return your DX for a refurb...worth a shot.
Good luck.

 

[crboone]

In an ironic twist, since I've reset to factory, now my phone will *only* connect in mass storage mode via USB. It won't go into charge only mode. But it's not freezing and rebooting, and it's still charging ... so I'd rather have this problem. At least there's some paradoxical humor in all of this. "You need mass storage mode, you've GOT it!"

Battery Manager seems to be working again, too.


~

 

[sund0wn]

Sounds like you are a good candidate for an iPhone and I don't mean that as an insult. If you can wait it out VZW is supposed to get the iPhone too so you aren't stuck on AT&T.

What's odd to me is that I am not having any of the issues others describe, this indicates to me how different individual phones can be. Maybe even return your DX for a refurb...worth a shot.
Good luck.

+1. i think sometimes people expect too much out of their phones. if you need to wipe your PC, windows doesnt natively back up all of your programs. yet, people expect android to do that just because apple does.
android is in its infancy, and it is going to experience some bugs.

try mybackup pro. it is a great program for non rooted users. sure, it's $5, but how much is it worth to avoid some of the above mentioned inconveniences?

on another note, verizon has been tracking, and only about 10% of the x's returned are true warranty issues. the other 90% are user error, application caused problems, or problems caused by corrupt filesystems on the SD.
and, verizon does not benefit by lying about this. motorola pays for the true warranty issues, and verizon has to eat the others, because their reps should be catching the others.
we need to keep in mind, google doesnt approve every application. just like a PC, if you go download some crappy program, it can mess your stuff up.

that isnt to say that some people havent had a string of bad phones. it has happened. and, i know the x isnt without its bugs. but i think it's funny that some of the people i see complaining about the bugs the most, are some of the ones that were complaining about the wait for 2.2 the loudest.

 

[crboone]

+1. i think sometimes people expect too much out of their phones. if you need to wipe your PC, windows doesnt natively back up all of your programs. yet, people expect android to do that just because apple does.
android is in its infancy, and it is going to experience some bugs.

try mybackup pro. it is a great program for non rooted users. sure, it's $5, but how much is it worth to avoid some of the above mentioned inconveniences?

on another note, verizon has been tracking, and only about 10% of the x's returned are true warranty issues. the other 90% are user error, application caused problems, or problems caused by corrupt filesystems on the SD.
and, verizon does not benefit by lying about this. motorola pays for the true warranty issues, and verizon has to eat the others, because their reps should be catching the others.
we need to keep in mind, google doesnt approve every application. just like a PC, if you go download some crappy program, it can mess your stuff up.

that isnt to say that some people havent had a string of bad phones. it has happened. and, i know the x isnt without its bugs. but i think it's funny that some of the people i see complaining about the bugs the most, are some of the ones that were complaining about the wait for 2.2 the loudest.

Thanks for the post. Actually, my phone is rooted and I have everything backed up via Titanium. But being the noob that I am, I assumed doing a factory reset would unroot my phone, so I reinstalled some of my apps via AppBrain instead (major V8 moment when I discovered I was still rooted -- that probably dates me). And I wasn't planning to root again until I knew the phone was stable. I left quite a number of apps that I didn't really use off the phone, though. So far it seems to be working better, except once this morning my phone completely blacked out and I had to pull the battery. And, as I mentioned above, I can only connect in mass storage mode now (which is a far better problem to have). I haven't tried going into PC mode or debug to see if that might fix it yet, though.

You're right that I had different expectations about how the phone should work, and some issues provided a discouraging learning experience. I didn't have the choice of the iPhone on Verizon to even consider it as an option. All I had was my old Storm I (which was fairly reliable), but no leaks or word on a Storm III when it was time to upgrade. That said, the positive responses are why I'm sticking it out a little longer. Sometimes it helps just to understand the situation.

~

 

[Outlaw71]

Crboone... I genuinly sympathize for you and your situation. Having to deal with all of those problems really must suck. You however are much easier to feel sorry for because you come on here in a civilized manner and complain about your issues instead of ranting rudely and throwing insults around at people. It's no secret when you go on the offensive, other people will go on the defensive. So when you jump on here and go on the offensive, slamming the phone, forcing others who have also chosen to live with this phone to go on the defensive about that choice, don't be surprised when they don't act sympathetic.

I can honestly say that I would also sympathize with DroidX-Fan (perhaps he should just shorten it to 'Ex-Fan) if he'd just take it down a notch. I really have been in his shoes. My Motorola Q... I threw it up as high in the air as I could, and when it landed I drove over it with a forklift.... true story. It really made me that angry. That was the fate of my third, and last Q. I was pretty much convinced at that point that there was nothing good about that phone. However, I have no doubts that there were those who owned the Q and enjoyed hassle free usage out of it. I just wasn't one of those people.

It's going to happen with every single device available on the market. No matter how great a product it is, there will be some people that have the worst experience of their life with it. It could be because they got a bum device, or it could be because they just don't jive well with it. I will say this much, right out of the box, if you simply turn an Android device on and try to call somebody... sure, it should 'just work' well enough to do the basic functions it comes with. If it can't even do that then I agree something is wrong. What I meant when I said the Android OS isn't a system that 'just works', I meant when you start to tinker with the different apps you can get off the market, mess around with the settings in the phone, and just generally change it up as it was designed to be changed up with the customization characteristics inherent with the phone, there is a learning curve to it. It's not like a Blackberry or iPhone that are super fluid, intuitive, and basically 'just work' 99% of the time.

I liken Androids OS to America. Here in America people enjoy living in a free society. But that doesn't mean it's all cupcakes and lollipops all day everyday, there are downsides to a free society as well. For instance you might wish sometimes that your next door neighbor wasn't free to run around in assless chaps and no shirt... baring the tattoo on his back that says, "God hates ***s", and the Nazi Swastika on his chest with the inscription, "R.I.P. Hitler, honorary leader of our Arian Nation"... nor his 80's mullet and the fact that his b.o. travels right through your bedroom window if you leave it open because he refuses to bath more than once a year...

Alrighty then, so which app on the Android market is this metaphor refering to some of you might be asking yourselves? Yeah that wasn't where I was going with that. It was more just an example that freedom can have unintended, unwelcome and just plain inevitable drawbacks that are built into the concept itself. Is everyone living in America happy? Hardly. But you don't see Mexico or Canada putting up fences to keep out all the people fleeing out of her either. For the most part, people realize the system isn't perfect, but they put up with it anyhow and make due the best they can because they realize the opportunities open to them if they make the effort.

But that still doesn't mean I disagree with anyone who tries it, and decides it's not for them. Expecially those of you who've had the bad experiences you've had. I would probably bail if my DX was treating me the way yours have been treating you as well. Not that mine's been perfect, but it certainly hasn't thrown the curve balls at me that I've read on here that some peoples have been throwing them.

 

[crboone]

Crboone... I genuinly sympathize for you and your situation. Having to deal with all of those problems really must suck. You however are much easier to feel sorry for because you come on here in a civilized manner and complain about your issues instead of ranting rudely and throwing insults around at people. It's no secret when you go on the offensive, other people will go on the defensive. So when you jump on here and go on the offensive, slamming the phone, forcing others who have also chosen to live with this phone to go on the defensive about that choice, don't be surprised when they don't act sympathetic.

I can honestly say that I would also sympathize with DroidX-Fan (perhaps he should just shorten it to 'Ex-Fan) if he'd just take it down a notch. I really have been in his shoes. My Motorola Q... I threw it up as high in the air as I could, and when it landed I drove over it with a forklift.... true story. It really made me that angry. That was the fate of my third, and last Q. I was pretty much convinced at that point that there was nothing good about that phone. However, I have no doubts that there were those who owned the Q and enjoyed hassle free usage out of it. I just wasn't one of those people.

It's going to happen with every single device available on the market. No matter how great a product it is, there will be some people that have the worst experience of their life with it. It could be because they got a bum device, or it could be because they just don't jive well with it. I will say this much, right out of the box, if you simply turn an Android device on and try to call somebody... sure, it should 'just work' well enough to do the basic functions it comes with. If it can't even do that then I agree something is wrong. What I meant when I said the Android OS isn't a system that 'just works', I meant when you start to tinker with the different apps you can get off the market, mess around with the settings in the phone, and just generally change it up as it was designed to be changed up with the customization characteristics inherent with the phone, there is a learning curve to it. It's not like a Blackberry or iPhone that are super fluid, intuitive, and basically 'just work' 99% of the time.

I liken Androids OS to America. Here in America people enjoy living in a free society. But that doesn't mean it's all cupcakes and lollipops all day everyday, there are downsides to a free society as well. For instance you might wish sometimes that your next door neighbor wasn't free to run around in assless chaps and no shirt... baring the tattoo on his back that says, "God hates ***s", and the Nazi Swastika on his chest with the inscription, "R.I.P. Hitler, honorary leader of our Arian Nation"... nor his 80's mullet and the fact that his b.o. travels right through your bedroom window if you leave it open because he refuses to bath more than once a year...

Alrighty then, so which app on the Android market is this metaphor refering to some of you might be asking yourselves? Yeah that wasn't where I was going with that. It was more just an example that freedom can have unintended, unwelcome and just plain inevitable drawbacks that are built into the concept itself. Is everyone living in America happy? Hardly. But you don't see Mexico or Canada putting up fences to keep out all the people fleeing out of her either. For the most part, people realize the system isn't perfect, but they put up with it anyhow and make due the best they can because they realize the opportunities open to them if they make the effort.

But that still doesn't mean I disagree with anyone who tries it, and decides it's not for them. Expecially those of you who've had the bad experiences you've had. I would probably bail if my DX was treating me the way yours have been treating you as well. Not that mine's been perfect, but it certainly hasn't thrown the curve balls at me that I've read on here that some peoples have been throwing them.

You are exactly right. The thing with me was that I could really relate to droidx_fan's aggravation -- and it was at the moment I had just experienced my "last straw senseless reboot." It's easier still to complain when you've spent a good deal of time and money on something. Keeping a sober mind is tough under pressure, and AndroidForums is probably the first place a member goes when they're bent out of shape about the phone. By the time someone's posts become offensive, they are, in effect, throwing the phone in the air and running it under the forklift. Maybe there needs to be a special rant section where people can unload their grievances and the more level-headed members can respond to calm things down. lol At least it would be a place to move these posts out of the main thread areas.

Now I believe my issues resulted from a combination of things. I had misplaced expectations. Android isn't as mature, albeit feature-rich. Some apps are pretty buggy. And my choice of custom configuration turned out to be destabilizing (disappointing, but it is what it is). Over time the problems increased in frequency. And then, my evening was interrupted for hours having to deal with the phone rather than what was originally planned...for the xth time. I just need to have more patience with this, and if it just doesn't work, then make a decision one way or another. Easier said than done at times. Sometimes the best experiences come from working through the difficulties when you really want to give up.


~

 

[crboone]

If you want out of the X and am willing to sell for $100; I'll take it.

lol. I didn't realize I could sell it for more. I hope I remember that the next time I want to break it.


~

 

[sund0wn]

You are exactly right. The thing with me was that I could really relate to droidx_fan's aggravation -- and it was at the moment I had just experienced my "last straw senseless reboot." It's easier still to complain when you've spent a good deal of time and money on something. Keeping a sober mind is tough under pressure, and AndroidForums is probably the first place a member goes when they're bent out of shape about the phone. By the time someone's posts become offensive, they are, in effect, throwing the phone in the air and running it under the forklift. Maybe there needs to be a special rant section where people can unload their grievances and the more level-headed members can respond to calm things down. lol At least it would be a place to move these posts out of the main thread areas.

Now I believe my issues resulted from a combination of things. I had misplaced expectations. Android isn't as mature, albeit feature-rich. Some apps are pretty buggy. And my choice of custom configuration turned out to be destabilizing (disappointing, but it is what it is). Over time the problems increased in frequency. And then, my evening was interrupted for hours having to deal with the phone rather than what was originally planned...for the xth time. I just need to have more patience with this, and if it just doesn't work, then make a decision one way or another. Easier said than done at times. Sometimes the best experiences come from working through the difficulties when you really want to give up.


~

i definitely see where you are coming from. i think the reps in the stores need to set expectations a little better. you hear so much of them comparing it to the iPhone, but they are slow to admit Android has shortcomings. that, i certainly cant blame you for.
i think verizon reps can just do a better job of letting people know the OS is still young, and while it's a fantastic OS, it does have it's shortcomings. the biggest expectation they should set is that you simply cannot rely on this phone to never need a hard reset, and that it may not be possible to back everything up. it may take a little work to get it back to the way it was. they may end up selling a few less androids, but i do think people appreciate honesty, which is better for everyone in the long run.
or, it's simply an education issue. verizon reps really do have to have a broad knowledge of phones. they consistently troubleshoot phones that are up to 4 or 5 years old, and not every rep has really specialized knowledge of any one OS. i think the company needs to do a better job of letting the reps know some of the shortcomings, instead of just asking everyone to drink the Kool-Aid. that way, we dont have people feeling like they were lied to, or like they didnt get what they expected.

 

[droidx_fan]

+1.

on another note, verizon has been tracking, and only about 10% of the x's returned are true warranty issues. the other 90% are user error, application caused problems, or problems caused by corrupt filesystems on the SD.
and, verizon does not benefit by lying about this. motorola pays for the true warranty issues, and verizon has to eat the others, because their reps should be catching the others.
we need to keep in mind, google doesnt approve every application. just like a PC, if you go download some crappy program, it can mess your stuff up.

that isnt to say that some people havent had a string of bad phones. it has happened. and, i know the x isnt without its bugs. but i think it's funny that some of the people i see complaining about the bugs the most, are some of the ones that were complaining about the wait for 2.2 the loudest.

This also doesn't cover the people who are having problems, even minor ones, that haven't returned their phones at all and just tolerate it. Bottom line, I'd bet a fairly reasonable amount of money that even the 10% is a much higher % of the whole than what you see with other mass produced consumer electronic items such as computers, DVD players, TV's, etc..

You say Google doesn't approve every application? Well, perhaps they should if they wish to do it right. Further, why is there a check button for allowing applications from unknown sources? I guess you can download an app from a known poor code writer and that is okay.

You talk about 10%, I would also bet big $ that way, way less than 10% of the people purchasing this kind of product visit websites such as this and are geeks that even have a clue of what rooting your phone is all about.

Here's the bottom line, IMHO. Android will always suck hind tit to the iPhone until the time the Android based phones simply "just work" like an iPhone does. Despite being limited by being by AT&T and their rancid network, iPhone still is the dominant player in terms of market share. Jobs is doing a great job of repeating his grievous mistakes with the Mac when he allowed Windows to take over by limiting Apple's market.

 

[Outlaw71]

Here's the bottom line, IMHO. Android will always suck hind tit to the iPhone until the time the Android based phones simply "just work" like an iPhone does. Despite being limited by being by AT&T and their rancid network, iPhone still is the dominant player in terms of market share...

Thank you for the, "IMHO" preface. I can live with that statement since that is your opinion and you are welcone to hold whatever opinion you so choose to have about Android, Apple & everything in-between.

When Verizon starts carrying the iPhone I genuinely hope it fits yours needs.

 

[xlch59]

I read these threads like this here and on the Moto site and just have to wonder is it a bad phone or software. I know that some people have had multiple phones and still have problems. I bought my on the 15 of July and have never removed the battery. I put the leaked Froyo on it the day it came out and have been rooted since it was first figure out. I have had 2 random reboots and Pandora has force closed on me once. I reboot my phone maybe once a week when I change ROMs. So I know Droid X can run without any problems.

My 72 year old Mom got hers a few weeks ago and it came with 2.2 on it. She loves the phone and is having blast with it. I have only needed to give technical support a few times. She has not had a force close or reboot at all. I know this does not help anyone on fixing there phone but they can just work.

 

[sund0wn]

This also doesn't cover the people who are having problems, even minor ones, that haven't returned their phones at all and just tolerate it. Bottom line, I'd bet a fairly reasonable amount of money that even the 10% is a much higher % of the whole than what you see with other mass produced consumer electronic items such as computers, DVD players, TV's, etc..

You say Google doesn't approve every application? Well, perhaps they should if they wish to do it right. Further, why is there a check button for allowing applications from unknown sources? I guess you can download an app from a known poor code writer and that is okay.

You talk about 10%, I would also bet big $ that way, way less than 10% of the people purchasing this kind of product visit websites such as this and are geeks that even have a clue of what rooting your phone is all about.

Here's the bottom line, IMHO. Android will always suck hind tit to the iPhone until the time the Android based phones simply "just work" like an iPhone does. Despite being limited by being by AT&T and their rancid network, iPhone still is the dominant player in terms of market share. Jobs is doing a great job of repeating his grievous mistakes with the Mac when he allowed Windows to take over by limiting Apple's market.

i dont think you understood my statistic.

about 10% of the phones that are exchanged out for a "warranty" issue are actually defective. they are most often screwed up from an app, or victims of user error.
i wasnt commenting on the % of x's that are defective, or anything along those lines. my point is, very few phones are actually defective. the amount of these that are actually defective is under 1%.

and no, google SHOULD NOT require applications be approved for the phone. this would defeat the purpose of open source.
that would be like saying microsoft should have to approve every program that can be loaded on windows. i personally think people should be more responsible with what they put on their phones. read comments, research reputable developers, and dont get click-happy and download every single app you think is neat (unless you're prepared to flash an .sbf). if people went around downloading every no-name .exe on the internet, i promise they'd have the same problems with their computers.
this isnt to say there arent issues with the x. there are. but no more than almost every other smartphone out there.

and, having owned both iphones and androids, i'd take android over iphone any day of the week. imo, android offers so much more than android. more customization, more choice of types of apps, more open to developers, choice of hardware, better provider support, etc. but again, this is just my opinion. android is better for me. iphone is a better choice for a lot of users, but i think android is better for tech savvy users. and this is, after all, a tech product.
it's like arguing whether mac or PC is better. one is better for some, but not others. for my needs, a PC blows mac out of the water. the same goes for android vs. iPhone.

for those that have owned both iPhone and Android (i am one of those people), i wonder what % would pick one or the other. i dont know the answer, but i am sure curious.

 

[droidx_fan]

I owned an iPhone and now an Android, so I can intelligently comment.

I don't know what you consider a defect but when the phone fails to function properly, it is defective. You can't have things both ways. On one hand, the Droid Koolaid drinkers speak of the open platform, all the free apps, etc.. On the other, they don't want to hold the Droid Phone supplier accountable when the damn phone locks up, lags, freezes and simply pukes running all those crappy apps.

I'd say up to Windows Vista, the Mac was far and away the superior OS. Frankly, dependent upon how you measure it, the Mac is still the superior, more efficient OS. The popularity in the market is what makes the PC the winner. Now that may well end up being the result with Android as Jobs is being just as stupid with the iPhone as he was with the Mac.

And BTW, there is at least some attempt at quality control by the Windows folks. There is definitely a better link between the developers and Windows. Haven't you ever attempted to load a Windows app and see the pop up "blah, blah, blah ... unknown source"?

I've been using Windows since the very first release and it has never been as crappy as Android.