My issues with my Saga finally wore me down.
No aGPS, dropped calls, poor/low headphone volume, poor software compatibility (I couldn't run half of the games I've purchased over the years which is why I love WM for the backwards compatibility).

I complained to Verizon, got a shiny new Touch Pro 2 last week (but I had to pay at the upgrade price), and haven't even looked back once.

I want to thank all of the posters here for their help.

good luck

I am waiting on FedEx to deliver a replacement Saga for me today.

I got my Saga during the launch weekend last year, and up until about a month or so ago I had few problems... yeah a dropped call here and there but nothing crazy.

Then about a month ago in my home EVERY SINGLE call started to get dropped and about 50% of my text messages wouldn't make it out. I call VZW a few times and they have me update my roaming .. blah blah blah...

Still no improvement. Mind you, this is in a place I had no issues with reception for almost a year with this phone, and with my original HTC Touch before the Saga..

So I called them back, and the tech was quick to tell me "You know we don't guarantee service inside homes" (wtf!?) And that I might need to buy the Wireless Extender for $250 to make it work in my condo. (eff that!)

After I told her that I've gone through all the troubleshooting steps.. (soft reset, hard reset, etc) she decided to ship me a new unit.. it should be here soon.

If this unit displays the same issues, then something with VZWs service has diminished in my area and I'm soooo done with them. I'll switch to Sprint and get myself a Pre, or maybe take the leap to the BB Tour -- who knows.. What I DO know is that Sprint's "wireless extender" the Airave is only $100, and some people if they ask correctly can even get them free....

yep- there's tons and tons of stories on the net about people on sprint complaining about no service at home and getting airave's for free.

I wonder if VZ's coverage got affected by the alltel deal- i beleive this past ~3-4 weeks is when they started integrating the alltel system into theirs (have a friend who got a job at VZW HQ and then they put it on hold for 30 days ending shortly for becasue they were to make no changes to anything else for 30 days while they assimilated the alltel people and systems into the hive.)...

I'm not into sliders so I'm thinking about the pixi myself- due shortly on sprint. But not sure I can stand the centro/atari 400 keyboard that Palm has gone too after I've had a saga for a year. So far I'm wed to vz so i'll see about the pixi when it comes over to vz. See if it's worth the effort.

I would agree that they have been messing with the towers or something. I went through a month or so of horrible service with constant dropped calls in areas that I never have had service issues. The last few of months have been much better. I still get the occasional dropped call, but no where near what it was in May-June. My signal strength would vary wildly too, but now it's pretty steady.

Between the mysterious drastic increase in battery life and the much better call retention, I'm back to being a satisfied VZ customer. I was to the point of dropping VZ, paying my way out of the contract, and switching to something else too, but now I think I can make it through the 1st year and see what's available to upgrade via the VIP program.

I got a replacement phone from Verizon, which I'm going to assume is a refurb. No biggie, screen was pristine and it had no cosmetic blemishes. Anyway -- the new phone gets 2 bars of service where I'd often have 0 to No Service.

So it seems that my previous Saga just got a bit tired and didn't want to put any effort in actually hitting the towers anymore. So I sent it back to it's Maker. hehe..

So, good new for now. Not switching to Sprint. Not bagging the Saga.

But... if the Pre comes to the big V -- I may say goodbye to the Saga.. who know.

I'm farily certain that the law says the packaging for refurb units must clearly state such.

Did it come in the same type of box that the retail ones come (like your original) or in some other generic vanilla packaging?

It came in a 3"x2"x5" (or so) plain white box with a sticker down the front of it that looked like it were test results. A lot of numbers, and OK's and the such. It was in pristine physical condition and didn't come with a battery or a battery door. Right now, the only dings in the whole phone are on my battery door from my original Saga.

I think that's a refurb but surpised it doesn't say explicitly I thought the law said it mush- but that might only apply when you buy it and not a replacement i guess.

Nope that's a refurb. The test results prove it and serve as a "guarantee" that it functions on the network.