Epic #1 vs. Epic #2

[wynand32]

I have 5 days left on my 30-day return at Radio Shack, and I swapped out the first Epic I bought for another due to a wobbly slider mechanism. I'm wondering if I didn't make a mistake (since Radio Shack only allows one swap during the 30 days), because I seem to be having some issues with the replacement. My choice then comes down to keeping this Epic or returning it (obviously), and then running the risk of problems in getting my upgrade back, contract reset, and all that.

Before I do anything, I want to make sure I'm not making an issue where none exists. That is, is it possible that this unit has hardware faults that are causing my issues, or am I just noticing these issues more this time around, did I install some app that I didn't install on the first unit, etc.?

So, I thought I'd list what I'm experiencing and see if anyone can provide any input as to whether these are common enough that I shouldn't bother returning the thing, or whether they could indeed be hardware-related:

1. The unit has locked up and rebooted a few times. I don't remember that happening with the first unit, or at least not as many times.

2. The unit has some lagginess in general, and then over time. This happens in games like NFS Shift that I don't remember with the first unit (which, of course, doesn't mean it wasn't there), with email, and then in scrolling through certain lists like in the Market.

3. The capacitive buttons don't seem to work as well. The vibration is less consistent, and it seems like I need to push the buttons a few times (particularly the back button) to get them to engage. This is an intermittent problem, however--sometimes the buttons and haptic feedback are great, sometimes less so.

4. Battery life doesn't seem to be as good. Where with the other unit I think I remember going from about 7:30am to about 6:30pm on a single charge, I'm now getting warnings starting at around 3:30pm. Of course, I could be using the thing more lately, although we do tend to play with them more when they're new.

So, are these common enough, or obviously related to a hardware issue? If the latter, then I could also fight a bit with Radio Shack to see if they'd make an exception and let me swap again. I don't think anything new will hit Sprint until June or so, and so I'm not thinking to just return the Epic and wait for the next generation of whatever (Android or webOS).

Any input would be much appreciated.

 

[Devtodi]

these dont sound like big problems and may be helped if ever an update was made available. I heard a rumor that there was something called 2.2? Bah, it'll never happen. But seriously folks, what would you use till June? Are you using the 4G? that would steer my decision.

 

[|-KGB-|CaptHowdy]

they will swap more than once, i was a manager there until recently and if they say no then that is wrong. Talk to the manager/district manager/different store

 

[wynand32]

these dont sound like big problems and may be helped if ever an update was made available. I heard a rumor that there was something called 2.2? Bah, it'll never happen. But seriously folks, what would you use till June? Are you using the 4G? that would steer my decision.

I hear you, but my fundamental question is: could there be something wrong with this unit?

 

[wynand32]

they will swap more than once, i was a manager there until recently and if they say no then that is wrong. Talk to the manager/district manager/different store

Ah, okay, that's good news. If they will, then that certainly makes things easier for me.

I still, though, have the question of whether or not this unit could be a lemon. I don't want to swap and end up with something worse (which, if this one IS a lemon, is precisely what I've already done once).

 

[Atlienzz]

I've never had my phone lock up and I've owned this phone since day 1 of launch.

Lag has been experienced, but seriously few and far between as far as occurrences of lag.

The capactive buttons are known to have issues. Others have solved this by replacing the phone.

Battery use is completely up in the air. There are some common reasons you get batter drain though. Some apps can have a process that gets out of hand and turns on GPS all the time or something of the like. There is a bug that will force your phone to look for a signal like a bat out of hell and is fixed by cycling airplane mode on and off.

Overall from what you've said the only thing that I think can't be fixed without replacement is the capacitive buttons non-responsiveness.

 

[wynand32]

Overall from what you've said the only thing that I think can't be fixed without replacement is the capacitive buttons non-responsiveness.

Thanks for your input. So are you saying that the lockups and lag are more likely software problems that can be resolved than hardware problems?

And, if my issue is mainly with the inconsistent haptic feedback on the capacitive buttons and not the actual responsiveness of them, is this more likely hardware than software?

 

[Atlienzz]

Thanks for your input. So are you saying that the lockups and lag are more likely software problems that can be resolved than hardware problems?

And, if my issue is mainly with the inconsistent haptic feedback on the capacitive buttons and not the actual responsiveness of them, is this more likely hardware than software?

I'm not savvy enough with these phones to give you an answer I'd feel comfortable with you relying on.

Lockups and lag have been reported by many users, I personally have yet to experience them to any large degree. The only lag I've experienced is every once in a while when I hit my home button it will take a second or two to actually load whereas normally it is instant. Not enough for me to worry. From what I understand lockups and lag are more than likely software related and not hardware issues.

Do you reboot your phone when that occurs? These phones have acted like destop pc's in that regard, if I ever have an issue a reboot fixes it. But if you are experiencing this issue a lot constantly rebooting is not a good fix for you.

Your haptic feedback issue almost sounds like lag to me as well. But I do know many users posted about the capactive buttons not working well and I'm fairly sure that was hardware related and a replacement phone was the only way around that.

Another thing that you may be interested in doing is finding out if it is an app causing your issues. Did the phone work great right out of the box? If so an app may be causing the majority of your issues. Start uninstalling lesser known apps one by one and see if you can track it to an app. Also if you are using a task killer many people will say that causes many issues, however I use Advanced Task Killer and have loved it.

 

[Devtodi]

the haptic feedback tends to be sketchy when it is turned down low- turn uit up and see if you still have problems.

 

[wynand32]

@Atlienzz, thanks, that's all great input. I'll definitely check it out before making my decision. Unfortunately, I wasn't careful enough right before and after I made the swap, and so much of this might just be my faulty memory.

Sounds a lot like it might be more software-related than hardware. If anyone else has any additional input, I'd love to hear it, though.

 

[wynand32]

the haptic feedback tends to be sketchy when it is turned down low- turn uit up and see if you still have problems.

I have it turned up all the way, actually. As Atlienzz said, though, it does seem to be related to lag, particularly since it's sometimes stronger and sometimes weaker. It's as if it delays just enough and then cuts out right on time, so that the feedback is just shorter, rather than necessarily weaker.

 

[Skunkape60]

Here are my opinions for you. I was getting multiple random re-boots in a day sometimes requiring battery pulls. I went so far as doing a factory reset and went a week without loading a single app or using my phone for anything other than calls, text's and email. My phone continued to re-boot on it's own and lock up. Replacement of the phone fixed it when factory reset didn't. So yes it was hardware driven.

My capacitive buttons were fairly unresponsive and of course the factory reset did nothing for this issue. The replacement phone 's capacitive buttons while not perfect are MUCH more responsive than the original phone. So yes again... Hardware related.

My phone never really lagged and I don't play games on it so I can't say. I also turn the hepatic feedback off as I don't like it on. So I can't say for sure if my phone had these issues.

But I can say the top two issues were definitely hardware related on my phone.

 

[wynand32]

Well, looks like I need to do something. I could do another swap at Radio Shack, or I could even return at Radio Shack and then repurchase at a Sprint store. Not sure if there are any limitations in the system for that, but I really don't want to be stuck with a phone that's going to have issues like this...

 

[nmoreman]

I would swap it, there should be no need for reboots.

As far as battery goes, search for battery fixes. There are several programs that cause this, Media Hub in particular, that can be resolved through Closes in the Running Programs Menu under settings. Research under battery issues, mine did that, now goes all day with normal usage and has lots of battery left at night when I charge.

 

[coolqf]

Swap it out. If the 3rd unit still gives you problems then just return it and choose a different phone/brand.

 

[wynand32]

I returned at Radio Shack last night (long story, but I didn't want to deal with that particular store any longer). So, I'll be going in today to buy a new one at the Sprint store. We'll see how that goes.

 

[Atlienzz]

Good luck, post the results of your new phone.

 

[wynand32]

Good luck, post the results of your new phone.

Yep, will do. Have it now, and it seems solid physically. I'll report back in a few days on the software and performance aspects.

Only issue I'm having now is that it won't actually pull down emails from my company's Exchange account. It just sits and spins when I open it it email. Worked perfectly with the previous units, so we'll see what's up with that...

 

[wynand32]

As a quick report, this new Epic is solid as a rock. Physically, it just feels better than the other two--no wobble, slider has a nice spring to it, keyboard feels better, no creaking when pressing on the screen. In terms of performance, it's been great--much less lag than the last one (with, I believe, the same apps installed and configured the same), no reboots/lockups. I was getting lag playing NFS Shift on the second one, and there's none on this one.

So, I'm now much more impressed with the Epic than I was from the other two. I don't believe that Sprint gets different units than Radio Shack, but this one I got from Sprint is certainly far superior to the two I got from RS.

 

[rogeratm]

It appears that Samsung is dragging their feet on updating the Epic to Froyo. I have a feeling that they don't want to do this upgrade so they can promote features of other newer phones. In my humble opinion, we should all be giving our Epics back and moving to another more upstanding company. Perhaps, HTC is better with their customers. I know the EVO was quickly updated to Froyo, even though they were coming out with the slider. Unless Sprint do something to move this update ahead (pressure on Samsung would work) I would also change carriers. This dragging of feet has gone on way to long. Do I sound angry? I AM!!!!