If your Pre has too much play in the slider, exchange it
 

I've had two Pres so far and am going in today to exchange for a third one. My first one had a bad mic (which apparently is pretty rare) but the slider was pretty good. The second pre I got however has 2-3 mm of play between the top and bottom of the slider, so it's scraping the sides of the keyboard when I use the slider. I brought it into a sprint store and they let me know that this is a sign of a defective unit and they'd exchange it as soon as they got one in. Just a heads up for those who are wondering how much play is normal. The twisting play in the slider is pretty normal and not necessarily a sign of a defective unit, space between the top and bottom of the unit is however (at least according to the repair technician I saw at the downtown seattle sprint store)

Re: If your Pre has too much play in the slider, exchange it
 

Just picked up my third Pre and it is one of the updated models in the yellow box and pic of the ocean on the phone image. Quality of this one is night and day from the one I had before that was in a black box and flower on the phone image. New third one has almost no play in the slider mechanism. However after playing with it for a few hours today, I noticed a bit more play developing.

I have read on sprintusers.com that tightening one of the T5 screws beneath the battery cover will get rid of the play, but haven't seen anyone confirm this.. problem is the screw that I need to access to tighten is covered by a tiny Palm sticker - I'm assuming clue in technicians whether the Pre has been tampered with before.

Re: If your Pre has too much play in the slider, exchange it
 

Next time you're at a Sprint store ask one of the techs if tightening the battery via the screw works....then have them do it for you!

late,
Coz

Re: If your Pre has too much play in the slider, exchange it
 

Just talked to one of the repair technicians at the downtown seattle sprint corporate location. I guess they have not received corporate authorization to tighten the screws, so they will not perform this fix or even verify that it will in fact get rid of the play in the slider. They also let me know that if there is evidence of tampering, it will void the warranty.. Thing is both times I've exchanged my pre for a new one that's not defective, they haven't checked.. so maybe I just need to make the gamble..

They also gave me the BS line that the play is normal - and to a certain extent I agree, but the second pre I had had so much play in the slider that the top portion was scraping the sides of the keyboard (and leaving scrape marks!) when I opened and closed it, so there seems to be quite a bit of QC variance in these phones. The third one I have that was the later model yellow box version is the best so far, but I'm noticing scrape marks on the mirror from the slider mechanism after only a day.. I'm thinking that I'll just bring it back in towards the end of my 30 days and try to exchange it again and hopefully they'll have ironed out the kinks in the design with a newer release.

Re: If your Pre has too much play in the slider, exchange it
 

ok I tracked down a T5 bit and used a needle to very very carefully remove the "palm" sticker over the top right screw. If you carefully work the edges before just going all the way across, you can keep the sticker from ripping - it rips easily. I loosened the screws first on both sides of the top portion of the phone to see how it affected the phone. I found the right top screw to be in there pretty tightly, and I've worked on enough things that I know if I screwed it in any tighter that it would probably strip the screw hole. I think this potential fix is just a rumor - it didn't work for me.

Re: If your Pre has too much play in the slider, exchange it
 

Good information, thank you.

Re: If your Pre has too much play in the slider, exchange it
 

I have the same problem with way phone but i didn't trip over it until i was talking on it and set it down then the phone hung up my call.....Time to call sprint.