I looked in Consumer Reports and had just about decided to buy a Razr Maxx. The last couple of weeks there have been several times when I've wanted GPS to help me navigate or needed to check email on the fly and not wait till I got home.

I went to Verizon and, is my habit, looked at the 1-star and 2-star ratings for the Razr Maxx. The customer ratings from April, May, and June were very discouraging. One person after another said that the Gorilla Glass cracked without any mishandling of the phone.

One man said he was entering a contact into the phone and the glass cracked. Another woman said she noticed that the phone was hot when she put it down on her nightstand and in the morning the glass was crazed.

There were at least a hundred of these reports. Many said they had sent the phone back, got another, and the same thing happened.

I started checking the recent ratings for other smart phones (even the iPhone) and it seems to be a generic problem. My guess is that the manufacturer of the protective glass had a bad batch go out, or there is an incompatibility with the case.

In any case, I'm going to wait until the fall for a new phone. Maybe I should just keep my old phone and think about getting a tablet (Kindle Fire, iPad 2, Nook) that can give me email. Still, though, wouldn't have GPS.

Money is burning a hole in my pocket, but I'll just have to wait.