Unresponsive screen when not grounded (car dock, certain surfaces, not holding it)

[palomosan]

I think this guy is a troll, I had mine since the launch and I've never had any issues, on the contrary the phones flies through everything.

I work with electronics, so I'm always putting it on top of different machines, surfaces, weird though.

 

[tahoerob]

I have had the Incredible since day #1. This was the first thing I found was a problem. Only a problem in car dock. It is intermittent but fairly reproducible daily. At first I was not sure if pressure on buttons from dock holder was causing it. Then when I touched back of the phone with a finger (thus grounding) & used thumb to touch screen there was no problem. I had Eris prior w/o same issue. Maybe as article contends that it is a grounding issue for capacitive screen with OLED tech.

 

[MikeJones]

I'm in Albuquerque, NM & I just did a bunch of the same tests as in the video & didn't have any problems with my Incredible. I tested on the Styrofoam, laying on the passenger seat of my truck, on my pillow & on my table, it worked perfect everytime.

 

[drfundy]

I did not watch the videos but I did try testing mine in the car dock without it plugged in to the charger and definitely noticed the scrolling stuttering. This is probably why I sometimes have trouble unlocking via the pattern unlock. Just never made the connection to it jot being plugged in.

Edit - watched the video of it in the car dock. Haven't tried the same exact test but the issue looks similar to what I experienced. Will try the same test he performed tomorrow some time.

 

[Teeceman]

@igl007
Good luck in solving the issue, I would ignore those who shout troll because they do not have the same issue.

The incredible seems like a great phone so I hope they fix the issue.

 

[waremaster]

My phone works fine as well. Mine has been in a Body Glove case since day one. I can put the phone on any surface and it works fine. Depending on the plastic the case is made out of the phone basically is being operated one handed all the time since I am holding the case and not the phone. I know some plastics do conduct electicity to a degree but this case is felt lined then plastic body and then rubber coated.

 

[Kyle Gibb]

I just tested this out, no problems I could detect. I have a case so thought that might be helping, so I removed it and tried out the naked Inc on various surfaces around the house with no issues. I pre-ordered mine so maybe this is an issue with phones that have come out since then? Then again, if you pre-ordered as well that would shoot a hole in that theory.

 

[mclarryjr]

I have tried on many different surfaces and don't seem to have any problems. I'm glad because I tend to use my phone a lot in the car dock so that would be a bummer if it wouldn't work.

 

[rinnr1]

Weird grounding issues for sure.. Hopefully they can fix that on the next ones in production... I'm waiting till August when my contract is up and get the Incredible or whatever next awesome DROID comes out.

 

[Qazme]

By August, at the rate Android devices are coming out there will probably be several more phones out lol.

 

[rinnr1]

we will see what's coming down the road for VZW!!

 

[igl007]

Hello everyone,
I just wanted to thank the entire community for taking a honest look at this. I really appreciate 'most' of the comments on the different forums. A lot of them have led to valid work-arounds. On the flip side it's been interesting seeing the comments that refer to me as a zombie, troll, Apple fan boy and retard. Oh well, I guess I asked for it. However I can honestly say that stirring up trouble was the last thing I wanted to do. For the record, I absolutely LOVE this phone. For some reason people see the video and think I hate the phone or hate android. I did not do these tests because I could or could not "live with the problem". The scale and scope of this problem, and how it might or might not effect each person seemed totally irrelevant. I simply did the tests to point out the flaw and thus find a fix, either through HTC or through the community, hence giving everyone a better phone. I sincerely apologize if this has upset some people. That was not my intention.
-Igl007

 

[heavensblade23]

No problem, thanks for bringing it to everyone's attention.

 

[rinnr1]

I found out last night my Storm does the same thing it was sitting on my couch and the screen would not work at all when I was trying to check a text message unless I touched the side or picked up the phone.

It worked on my coffee table, pack of gum, napkin but not my couch.. Maybe I should try all those while they are my couch too because when I was placing it on different surfaces those surfaces were on my coffee table.

 

[jdazzr]

i was noticing tonight that my phone did this. tryin to use it on the couch. its done it before but i thought nothin of it. after reading this thread pointed out by Night Train (thank you) i got to thinkin if this problem and the qiuck sharp decline in battery life are connected? a "grounding issue" , right away i think of the flow of power. maybe its having trouble charging and not reaching full charge? the hot battery thing? idk. im new to all this smartphone stuff. im probably way off

but i have a sharp decline in battery life (100%-90%) within 20-30min of unplugging from a full charge (while not using it) & i have an unresponsive (not grounded) screen. anybody else have both....?

 

[TBolt]

but i have a sharp decline in battery life (100%-90%) within 20-30min of unplugging from a full charge (while not using it) & i have an unresponsive (not grounded) screen. anybody else have both....?

Both my Incs (original & new replacement) have the sharp drop in battery. I go through the first 10% of battery in no time - just a symptom of the bigger battery issue, I guess.

I have to ground both devices in certain situations. Not worried about it.

 

[Jascias]

Ok gave this a shot myself, an I didn't have the issue. It did get me to thinking tho. I have a Samsung 5271 TV, that the only way you can turn it on is by touch. Whats funny is that I can turn it on fine, but the touch won't recognize my cousin's input for whatever reason.

So I did the styrofoam issue with him.........touch input work's fine for me......but for him, his input is not recognized. He thought I was playing a trick on him. I just laughed at him and told him it was cause I eat HolyGrain cereal. I highly doubt its a phone issue after the OP's video shows he has 2 replacement phones with the same issue.


My theory: Styrofoam can carry static electricity an I believe this may have something to do with it. Some touch screens recognize electric impulses, and someone with a high resistance to static electricity could be the cause. Positive and negative static charges can be in a lot of materials.

For my next experiment, I'm going to pour water into a plate, place my Incredible in it. and see if it responds .

 

[rpfarrah]

...snip!
....For my next experiment, I'm going to pour water into a plate, place my Incredible in it. and see if it responds .

OMG!

 

[VZWBB]

I hope you mean under it, and not into it...lol.

If not, you might as well just give it to one of those waiting for thier phone in the shipping thread, so they can stop posting! lol

 

[Lexus One]

Yes, mine behaves like the videos also. But should I go through the hassles of getting a replacement? If there is a fair chance that I will get another one that does the same thing...hmm...tough call.

It does make me wonder what's going on with these phones that act up. There are apparently a large quantity of phones that don't do this - according to the polling.

Are they really defective? I hope we hear back from VZW or HTC on this... But I'm sure we'll only hear what they want us to hear.