Phone going back

[PJnc284]

ha. It's not going to bother Verizon any as I'm sure there are a lot more people who aren't whining about Bing than the ones that are returning them or holding out.

 

[egg_head]

ha. It's not going to bother Verizon any as I'm sure there are a lot more people who aren't whining about Bing than the ones that are returning them or holding out.

Verizon won't care, but his sales rep will!
Nothing like commission deceleration with every return or exchange..
Ahhh well, that's the breaks.

 

[PJnc284]

I doubt it'll bother the rep that much either. I don't know what their commission structure is, but I'm guessing the percentage returning due to Bing is fairly small. I'm sure the rep doesn't mind losing one here or there.

If I'm not mistaken, stores get a charge back when someone does an upgrade and ditch where they upgrade to a smartphone, sell it and add a non-smartphone to the line dropping the data package. That's been going on forever and there haven't been any corporate policy changes made to get rid of that yet.

 

[SeatownGST]

There is no way I can go back to the Storm 1 after this. Even though the storm 1 did things better, and out of the box, I have faith the community will be as motivated and focused as the blackberry folks.

I left so much on the table that Verizon was makin money from me in terms of the data plan, and the storm 1 could barely access anything. Now the data plan actually means something and I can do things.

I listed a bunch of oversights and problems with this phone, and I agree there is a LOT left to be fixed... but in my opinion 2.2 has been amazing for the other phones and I think the galaxy S will have a very robust aftermarket/expert community since it's released on 3 carriers.

so, I'm sticking with mine. I'm used to full OS replacements and picking out bloatware, so it doesn't bother me THAT much... but still, I do agree this brand new phone has a lot of software issues and oversights.

 

[GetOnMahLevel]

although i removed it.. Bing is not terrible.. to me.. it's pretty much right on par with google.. *shrugs*

 

[PJnc284]

Some people are just looking for any little thing to complain about. Aside from the icon in the app drawer, I don't even notice it's there as I don't use the search button or stock browser to search. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a perfect phone and those looking for one will likely never be happy.

 

[emptycube]

I think it says a lot when a company compromises the quality of their product to this degree (referring entirely to the bing bs, I don't expect it to be perfect). They might get a sale today but will turn customers sour in the long run. Gives the company a bad name. IMO.

 

[Chris3D]

Some people are just looking for any little thing to complain about.

I wasn't just looking for something to complain about, and I'm perfectly willing to live with a few issues (hey, I lived with an iPhone for 2 years! )

It was the overall combination of the many software problems, the few hardware problems (buzzy earpiece, short battery life, etc.) and Verizon's total unwillingness to show even minimal concern for any of them.

In responding to weak signal strength, I was told to stand by a window or go outside to make a call - yea, on America's supposedly best network. I was then reminded that I always have the option to return the phone, and that option was repeated with every issue - battery life, GPS, Bing, etc.

The phone is great, but what Verizon did to it and how they're responding to it totally blows.

 

[Kurolover35]

why is it always the newb who has a major problem with this phone, but all of us Android veterans don't seem to appear to have any problems?

If you can solve the weak signal strength problem I have because you are experienced I am all ears.
Also, can you make my google nav. not take 2-4 minutes to lock in?
If so sounds good, if not I believe your post is unfounded.

Just my novice $0.02.

 

[DroidDev]

GPS issue will come in a software update. My friend has the captivate and he said the software update fixed his GPS. Quick lock each and every time with no extra apps. Just be patient.

Weak signal strength, is not an issue for me. Mine is just fine. Call *611 and tell them you are having weak signals. Then will go in and make sure your phone is pointing to the correct towers. My Eris was like that until they did this for me.

 

[thetaylor310]

why is it always the newb who has a major problem with this phone, but all of us Android veterans don't seem to appear to have any problems?

i'm quite a noob myself (this is my first Android phone), but i don't have any significant problems

 

[gspeed]

Glad to hear thetaylor310. The phone is really a great phone. May require a few tweaks here and there but it gets the job done for most of us.

The point I was trying to make is not that all newbs are complaining. It's that I have yet to hear a large amount of experienced Android users complain over this phone. I only see complaints coming from users with less then 20 posts or a sep '10 join date.

 

[NEKRO]

I have had, the droid, droid incredible, DX, and now the fascinate...
Fascinate has been one of the most bitter sweet experiences so far.

1 - No Notification light. And yeah i know i can get NoLED and I do have that, but its not the same and does have some response issues.

2 - Horrible reception, my IPOD gets better reception - without WIFI.

3 - Soft keyes are horrible - major lagFEST.

4 - I do like the lay a bit, but that can be accomplished with LauncherPRO - and they have better widgets as well.

5 - The power button??? Why put it on the exact opposite side as the volume? Bad design I think...

6 - Speaker needs help.

7 - I do like the little slide door for the USB cord, thats nice.

Overall, I think if you are new to android, this phone will blow your mind. If you have been around awhile...well hopefully you can swing back and pick up a DX or Dinc.

I am taking my phone back to get the DX again.

 

[Tari]

Figured I'd give a few thoughts, too, mostly in response to NEKRO (definitely curious about the laggy softkeys).

1 - LEDs are personal preferences, I suppose. I personally don't see any need for them, so it doesn't bother me, but I can understand why people want them.

2 - I don't have reception problems on my phone at all. The only place I've got bad reception is inside my house, and that's because of where I live. None of the carriers have decent service in my house, hah.

3 - I get basically no lag from my softkeys. I certainly hope it won't show up later or something.

4 - TWlauncher's layout is nice, definitely, but in the end, LauncherPRO still beats it in overall tweakability, so there's not much to say about it.

5 - Don't have an issue with this, personally. It's probably another personal preference thing, but I will admit that the de facto standard at the moment is to have the power button on top.

6 - Speaker needs help. Especially in GPS usage. :/

7 - I think this is my favourite bit of design on the phone's casing. The sliding door is awesome.

8 - On the other hand, the loose volume rocker is a bit annoying at times, though it's largely ignorable.

 

[NEKRO]

Sounds like all the issues with the phone are personal to me based on your response.

RIM, MOTO, HTC all have indicator lights on their recent and previous phone models. I think this is actually a standard, not a preference like a sliding USB door.

 

[Tari]

Sounds like all the issues with the phone are personal to me based on your response.

RIM, MOTO, HTC all have indicator lights on their recent and previous phone models. I think this is actually a standard, not a preference like a sliding USB door.

Ah, didn't mean it like that, no offense intended.

The LED notifications would actually bother me to no end, so I'm pretty happy without them. It would have been nice for there to be an LED and the option to use/not use it, though.


The rest of the stuff I mentioned wasn't really based on personal preference. I really don't have issues with carrier signal (I've got an older phone with me, my family's using iphones, etc., and I get better signal on my Fascinate in many places) and my softkeys don't lag at all.

I'm still really curious about what you mean when you say they're lagging, though. I honestly don't want to run into lag with those keys on my phone at a later date.

 

[ottscay]

Kudos to everyone who likes the phone, or who is simply happy to mod it to their liking, but I'm personally glad the OP is returning his, and I hope he lets them know exactly why it's going back. And I frankly hope more people do so. Verizon needs to get the message that it's fine and dandy for them to take cash to make something an initial default, but hard coding it in to their phones is ludicrous. I don't care that you can hack your way around it, you shouldn't have to (and I'm more than happy to spend money on the market, have LPP, etc). Make it the stock default until a customer changes it, offer CityID until it's declined, etc. Don't permanently f#@K up our phones as part of their business deal.

I don't want Android to get hurt by it, but I believe strongly that Verizon needs to feel a little heat on the issue.

 

[skipper2]

I have only had mine for about a week now and have been able to resolve ALL issues except:

1. GPS takes a couple minutes to lock on. I have found that if you turn on the GPS before you go out to the car it is faster to acquire.

2. Checking email at the SPECIFIED intervals. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. Hopefully Froyo will fix this.

Everything else I have been able to fix with a free app or setting changes.

I agree with Chris that Bing should not be the default search engine since if I wanted MS products I would have purchased a windows mobile phone, but that is part of the greatness of the Android OS. It is open source and you and the manufacturers and the phone companies can do what they want with it. I was able to get around Bing within 10 minutes of taking the phone out of the box thanks to you all and this site.

Good luck finding a phone that has no apps on it that require you to pay. Does Verizon even offer a phone that doesn't have VZ Navigator, Blockbuster, Vcast and others that require premium plans or extra cost?

The fact is that the Fascinate is a great phone (as compared to my previous Storm 1) which has a few things that could be changed. But because it is an Android you CAN make those changes.

Please let us know what phone you decided on that was perfect out of the box and had no apps on it that required you to pay for use of. I may just have to trade my phone in for that.

 

[bigwil029]

Hell i actually thought about sending the big "F" back myself...but after looking around at other treads about other droids i find this one is still ahead of the curve in its first month than any other droid was in it's.....3 months from now this droid will be hands down on top!!!

 

[douggyfern]

I have had, the droid, droid incredible, DX, and now the fascinate...
Fascinate has been one of the most bitter sweet experiences so far.

1 - No Notification light. And yeah i know i can get NoLED and I do have that, but its not the same and does have some response issues.

2 - Horrible reception, my IPOD gets better reception - without WIFI.

3 - Soft keyes are horrible - major lagFEST.

4 - I do like the lay a bit, but that can be accomplished with LauncherPRO - and they have better widgets as well.

5 - The power button??? Why put it on the exact opposite side as the volume? Bad design I think...

6 - Speaker needs help.

7 - I do like the little slide door for the USB cord, thats nice.

Overall, I think if you are new to android, this phone will blow your mind. If you have been around awhile...well hopefully you can swing back and pick up a DX or Dinc.

I am taking my phone back to get the DX again.

With the LEDs, that is of ZERO issue to me because I can just press the power button and it times back out in 2 seconds (or whatever it is). I actually like the way this phone is set up better because if there is a message, voicemail, whatever, I can just slide down that individual puzzle piece without fumbling around unlocking the phone and digging through the task bar.

With the reception I don't go off of the "bars". I look at where the dBm ACTUALLY is. I have had about every Droid in the Verizon market (Nearly all the Motorolas, Incredible) and the ONLY one that got slightly better reception was the incredible from what I noticed - there doesn't seem to be much if any difference in signal strength. I actually think the Fascinate "holds" reception better somehow. And I HEARD (I don't know if it's a myth) that Froyo actually strengthens the signal, but it isn't even available yet for the Fascinate.

I don't know if a Firmware update can correct the Softkeys timing out or not, but, the Softkeys are so far apart once I got the "layout" down, I didn't mind at all.

With the layout of the "Widgets" and "launches" in the apps it took me a little getting used to scrolling right to left after transferring over from a Motorola. Then once I finally got used to it, I found out the layout can be changed so the Fascinate can scroll up and down too as opposed to side to side LOL. I didn't know about the "change grid view" setting till recently.

Once I got used to the power button I thought it was in a much better place then on top. I personally think it's a brilliant design because I mostly start using the phone sideways (landscape mode) so powering it on is easier IMO. I still try to turn the power on the phone on the top occasionally though because I am still used to a Motorola LOL.

The sliding USB/power door is a huge bonus IMO too. Most of the Droids just have a jack sitting there which is probably the largest most unprotected area of the phone.

I thought the X was way to big and even with the hard silicone case on my Fascinate the Droid X is still much larger I think. There's a reason the X sells so well, but I just like the functionality, size, weight, screen, operation, speed and features of the Fascinate A LOT more.

I never really got the "bloatware" thing. Don't most droids have a bunch of apps that people would want to get rid of? After Froyo it seemed my Droid1 had several apps that did the same thing LOL.

As for the Google/Bing situation, I never really used the Google search bar anyways. What is the deal with that? Why do people care that Bing is being used on the Fascinate over Google? I just set my homepage to Google and it seems like most of the "voice search/GPS" applications are relatively the same. I like the addition of ThinkOffice and how it seems to be able to function with most Microsoft applications.

The ONE application I don't care for on the Fascinate is the "City ID" thing. It has asked me if I want to subscribe several times now and I keep saying no. When's it going to delete itself? LOL.

With calls also the teenie-tiny hole on the bottom left of the phone where the sound actually goes in, is pretty sensitive. Holding the phone at a slightly different angle seems to stop any "wind" from blowing into that hole and a good phone cover seems to stop the "crackling" noise as well.