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Incredible and unresponsive

Is anyone else having a problem with an unresponsive touch screen ?

I notice that when I put my phone in a car mount cradle that the touch screen becomes unresponsive.

I thought that it maybe the cradle putting to much pressure on side of phone, thus effecting the touch screen, so I released the pressure and still had the same response issue.

I then noticed that when I touched the side of the phone or remove it and held it in my hand, everything works as expected.

I have the same exact issue with my iGrip bike cradle. (Note:Both of my cradles have sponge type grips and backers.)

I have tried to narrow down the problem.

As a test I rested the phone onto the following:

baby's mattress, regular mattress, living room chair pad and an empty canvas laptop bag, that has a foam liner. In all cases the phone was unresponsive.

A plastic top utility table – unresponsive
Polyester Filled chair pad – unresponsive
Polyester Throw pillow – Unresponsive
Leather Office chair - foam pad - Unresponsive
GUND teddy bear - Unresponsive.

Then I tried:

a mouse pad - OK
Wacom Tablet - OK
Wooden desk top - OK
Floor - OK
Metal table - OK
Corian counter top - OK

To rule out my phone, I tried my wife's Incredible in my car cradle and bike cradle....baby mattress etc . Same unresponsive touch screen.

Visited the local Verizon Store and was told that this is a "feature" of the phone and part of the construction, either there was a language issue or he thought I was **bleep**. Suggested I call Verizon customer service and request a new phone.

Decided to call HTC instead and was told that it is a known issue to effect some people due to the "person's" grounding relative to the phone. ...... " In fact a person at HTC office cannot wake their screen on a hard surface."

The HTC rep suggested that I contact Verizon and get another phone to see if another phone maybe a better fit with me “electrically”.

Since my wife should be “electrically” different than me, I had her attached her phone to my car cradle and then use her finger to swipe screen - Unresponsive. Touch side of phone and repeat - OK

So based on conversation with HTC , apparently my wife must have the same body ground and contact issue or my just being around the phone is a problem.

Should I get into the trial and error of finding another phone(s) that is matched to mine and my wife electrical characterisics ?

If this is the case, than Verizon and HTC should clearly mark on advertisements and packaging that "this phone may not work properly with certain human bodies"

These web links demonstrates the problem better than my words - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQRgT3gtmsI&feature=player_embedded

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsKc1_wG0zg&feature=related

Other than this issue, we love the phone.

Anyone else with this experience ? If so any resolution from HTC or Verizon ?

Comments

stealingapples

I believe that some of the early builds of the Incredible hardware had an issue with screen not being grounded. If you hold the edge of the screen it would work, but if you laid it flat on a non-conductive surface, the screen would not respond.

I haven't really noticed the problem so much, but from time to time I see something similar.

pam1966

Yes, my Incredible touchscreen is giving me problems.

Frequently when I am getting an incoming call, the screen is unresponsive and I have missed many calls. I am holding the phone in my hand too, it's not in a car holder or on a flat surface.

Unfortunately, incoming calls aren't the only problem, other times it is unresponsive and I have to turn it "off" and back on to get it to respond.

I have had my Incredible about 3 weeks, heading to the Verizon store in the next day or so to see what they will do about it.

FramCire

The EVO had a similar issue and HTC knows it is a problem. If you are using a car dock, you wont have the problem when it is plugged in.

The update coming may or may not include the software fix for this problem. So call and call but hopefully it will be fixed.

Note: Mine has this problem. Call HTC and let them know if you do too. Make sure they update the phone like they were doing/did for EVO.

ld31

yep! I have the problem and it's quite annoying because everyone I talk to denies it as an issue - they are 'shocked' to hear this both on my trip to verizon (altho very nice, never heard of this) and my correspondance with HTC.

I'm on my 2nd Dinc and each one has the grounding issue.

I emailed HTC the first time and they essentially blamed it on the user - their reply is pretty ridiculous:

i understand that you are having issues with the touch screen on your new Verizon Incredible. The screen is a capacitive touchscreen, which means that the screen works off the static electricity from the human body, in this instance, your finger. The screen is coated with a transparent conductor. Since the human body is also a conductor, touching the screen causes a distortion of the body's electrostatic field. This change in capacitance causes the screen to react. When you are only touch the screen, the current is not complete. This is why the phone reacts strangely while it is in a case or sitting on a flat surface. To correct this behavior, you will need to hold it in your other hand as you move about the screen. Other customers have also been able to rub their hands together befor touching the screen in order to build up the charge.

So it's REQUIRED that you hold it or rub your hands together to work?! :smileytongue: LOL. I replied that if I clicked my heels together which I touched it would that bring me home? Her second reply was to try a hard reset which also did not work.

Replacement Dinc and same issue. Debating whether to just give up and return it because nobody has a definite fix. If they said a cover would work, fine... tin foil in cover, fine. But no answers. I called HTC this round and at first the rep didn't know what i was talking about. Again, shocked. Put me on hold and came back (with i think someone feeding him answers in the back) to say that yes, others are experiencing this problem but it's environmental so if I'm in a room with A/C that would effect the humidity and electrical conductivity. All well and good but that doesn't explain why I'm paying $ for this phone and it doesn't work in certain situations. & not being 'hands free' in the car is a big issue.

He mentioned that the new update MAY fix the problem but couldn't guarantee it. If they could guarantee it, I'd definitely keep the phone. So here i am, still deciding .... if anyone has a fix or hears that HTC is providing one, please chime in. thanks!

AZSALUKI

anyone try changing the type of screen protector? just a thought? i have a plastic case on mine with the screen protector from vzn and it works fine no matter what surface it's laying on?

ld31

It's a valid suggestion but I've read around and I don't think it will help for those who have the issue. Nothing works other than physically holding the phone because apparently it needs the static electricity from your body to properly ground . I would think that the screen protector or cover may even make it worse by adding an extra layer between your hand and the phone.

I have until the 26th to send this 2nd one back within my 30 days. I think I may hold it for a week and see if they update comes out. If not, I'm probably going to return it and give up. I really like this phone so far but the grounding issues are just driving me mad and HTC doesn't see it as a real issue.

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