anyone else having MASSIVE issues w/ droid M ?

[ddd1]

I was starting to dig my new Droid Razr M but ( a big but) on the 12 day had a major crash....  i was assured this MUST be a fluke . C.Service did a hard /reset/shutdown...  Seemed ok for 3 days then crash again. So after crash 2 these other issues got worse! that i hadn't loved : 1)  The wifi never picks up unless I am sitting on top of my router at home - rarely picks up at work (wifi everywhere -portable computers every where in our hosptial) 2) and the voice to txt voice to type function only works 50% time - searching for server the rest of the time!  I have been lied to by phone C.S. several times (made 16 phones calls to date), one girl trashed my photos of my 6y.old sons bday on one "technical assistance" call !!    Help - anyone else seeing these issues?  At first I was mad about the motorola phone - now I am FURIOUS with Verizon support doing NOTHING to help me!!  

[dimap52]

Methinks this first batch of M's is pretty flaky. Nice phone when and if it works, so far so good on my second one. First one flaked out after first full charge. Others have reported issues which sound like internal shorts cutting speaker out and short-circuiting the battery causing overheating and other thermal issues. Hardware failures can and do cause software crashes which "factory resets" can't and won't fix. Now that the HD and HD Maxx are out I kinda wish I'd waited, but I wanted a smaller phone and the M fit the bill pretty good. Oh, I do remember also that on my first M, the Wi-Fi was lousy. Could hardly pick up signal anywhere and would drop often. Again, so far, much better performance on my second one.

Since you've lost your son's pix anyway, my suggestion is to demand a replacement at this point and pray for the best. It's a crap shoot, some people go through 5-6 phones and keep winding up with issues, others have had rock solid samples of the same model.

I guess this what what you have to expect when Chinese sweat shops hire little kids at 0.50 an hour. If Motorola made A1 quality phones here in the USofA, (like they once used to), these issues would be minimized and the manufacturing jobs would help the economy.

[B33]

With these new Units just coming out there can be issues that can pop up) we can always hope they've caught them all but some times it does sometime it Doesn't.. 

[BadExperienceSoFar]

Add me to the list. Just got mine yesterday and everything worked great in the store (Costco). Leave the store, wait, one bar, that’s funny, wait, 4G, 3G, no G, (repeat in any order) that’s funny. I have never seen full signal strength and the best signal I ever saw was at the store. One bar is most common, but occasionally there are up to three depending on where I am. I have not gotten around to checking WiFi. My wife and son both have basic free smart phones on Verizon and have good signal strength. Where I have one bar, they have full bars.

Went back to the store that evening and they were shocked that I would even question the functionality of the phone since it had only been activated for 8 hours. According to them it takes a while for the phone to, well, I am not sure, get used to its surroundings. I guess a new smart phone is like a new puppy or kitten, you just need to be patient. After persisting they did give me a new sim card to try, and I agreed to give it some more time.

Sit down before reading further if you are easily startled, because another 18 hours and a new sim card made no difference.

By now I have had enough with this phone and decided to just take it back. Maybe I got a lemon, maybe there is a problem with the model, maybe it’s me, I don't know, but I just don't want to mess with it any more. I still had my other phone from a different account that fortunately I didn't cancel. My plan is just to stick with it for a while longer until I can figure out what I want to try next, because, well, you know, the old piece of junk actually works.

Back to the store. They really, really, really, didn't want to take the phone back. Not so much that they wouldn't take that phone back, but they were very motivated to see me leave with a phone. It didn't seem to matter what phone, even to the point they were offering up some old style flip phone for some reason. Eventually I wore them down and they conceded to allow me to return it.

But wait, I went to a different store location, same store chain, just a different location. After all the time in the pressure cooker they then tell me that I can't return it there, that I have to go back to the store location that I bought it from.

So here I am now, just returning from my third trip to the store, and sharing my story. The phone is off and in the box, waiting for the return back to the store location where I purchased it. I don't feel like driving across town today, maybe I will try again tomorrow or Monday.

Hopefully, my experience is an isolated case.

[dimap52]

Stores shouldn't jerk you around like that. Lots of passing the buck there. The phone is nice when it works though, I'd say you got a lemon, but there appear to be many out there. I hope mine holds up, because I really like it. I don't have any signal issues on this one. Battery life is good. Lasts me 2 days of web surfing and moderate amount of calls.  So I REALLY REALLY hope it doesn't croak like my first one did.

[B33]

Give this a Try if you want to) i know you said you got a Second Sim Card but let me ask you this did they install it or did you install it.. When i got my Razr's i did the installing my self the reason for this i figured if i screw it up it's on me. And i had one Rep tell me that when they install Sim cards if we touch the gold area of it won't Mess em He's wrong.

Static Electricity plus the Oils in our fingers and Bending the Sim when removing it out of it's Holder if not done properly is 3 things that can cause issues when a sim is installed in our phones) it might operate fine one time and the next time fall to floor like a Drunk,

So this is what i would do Go to a corporate store have them Look over your Account get a Manger if possible Tell them of the Issue ask for another Sim if they ask to install it tell them you'd rather do it your Self.

Now here is how i removed and then installed my Sim Cards not every is into doing it like this but i'm not everybody!  And if have a little skill in ya it can be done Easy just like riding a Bicycle.. Here we Go you'l need a No.11 or you can use the No.16 X ACTO knife blade & the Holder you can get them at any Hobby or Hardware store in your Town they'l set you back about $6.00)  you Take the Knife and cut Just the Tabs next to the Sim so it has a Clean Edge to it. It doesn't take much pressure to Cut through the Tabs) from there Lift the Card holder up and a way from the Sim.)  And then Grab the Sim by Edges only !!!!  then carefully install it into you Razr M Make sure it's fully seated with the Sim Tool it will Catch in there just like a SD card does you feel the Spring Mechanism.. and that should be it.

One other to NOTE when removing and or installing the Sim Make sure the Device is off.)  if what i suggested Does Not work then i would Return the Device to the Store for Either something else or Return your Money. If you have the Receipt they really can't refuse the Return..  Especially if the time you've had it is less than there return policy on Electronics and Phones... Good luck b33

This is the Hobby knife i used to cut the Tabs on my Sim Cards the other blades that can be used are the No.16 and the 17, These knives are Safe to use i have used them since my early Teen Years on my Hobbies one of them being Remote Control Cars and i'v used them on my Trains in the Past)  You just need little skill and Patients When handling the Knife..

[BadExperienceSoFar]

Follow up –

So the next day I took the phone back, again. This time I decided to try a replacement phone. I did some more research and found that all phones seem to have a small percentage of problem units, even the best and most popular (but why does it always have to be the one I get, wwwaaaaahh). No big surprise I suppose, but it doesn’t seem out of line to expect things to work either. They must test them before they leave the factory, don’t they?

In the two days since I got the M, they now had the HD in stock, so I decided to give that a try. I didn’t really want a bigger phone but it looked nice, and by now I was a little soured on the M.

Experience with the HD so far:

First and foremost: it works, consistently. I have not had any problems, it just works when and where I need it to. I don’t have a lot of experience with other smart phones but it is intuitive and easy to use. The interface seems pretty much like the M, but with all the problems I was having I never got around to trying the different features.

Signal strength is nothing to brag about though. Where I was getting one bar with the M, I now get two. I get fewer bars than my wife and son get at just about any location, but I get 4g in places that they get 3g or less. I occasionally see full bars, but it is usually in the middle to lower end. Wi Fi is the same way, if I stand right next to the antenna I will see full strength, but a couple feet away it is half.

There is a menu that you can drill down to and see a signal strength reading and bar indicator. This doesn’t really help answer any questions though. I have seen the signal strength reading stay steady and the bars fluctuate, and vice versa. The bars and numbers really never seem to match up the way you think they should. This could have something to do with the way the dBm scale works though.

I have begun to think that the bars don’t mean much. If the phone works when and where you need it to, do the bars really even matter? It just leaves some doubt about whether the phone is working the way it should or not.

Other than that the signal strength readings bug me, the phone is working great. Unless something comes up it should be a keeper. The M I had didn’t work out for me but that was my experience with a single unit.

Now I just need to figure out how to change my screen name.