It's now up to 3 documented to my knowledge, and 2 were from normal usage very early in the device lifecycle.

That last part is far more important than current number of known incidents. Don't get hung up on comforting numbers to the exclusion of other contexts.

I think the bigger issue is not so much the entire receptacle coming off the circuit board, but the USB contact points disconnecting. It didn't seem to take much, given that the contact points are not welded, but "glued" to the board. I'd fear those coming lose before the entire assembly.

Either way, the snug nature of the power plug and port, make sure it "straight-in-straight-out"...there is little "wiggle" room, pun intended. I will concede that mine was an isolated incident, if others can confirm whether or not the power plug is a "tight fit".

A failure is a failure, but complete removal of the connector is fatal. I'd have rather had the other.

And now up to 4 reports...

I just had an idiot experience.

Was plugging in the usb to the phone, no response. Hunted around for usb issues, read through this - got worried.

Eventually realised the issue was plugging the wrong cable in to the phone. Sigh.

I discovered that you can plug a USB type A male connector into an RJ-45 Ethernet socket.

Your'e right, did you smell smoke also?

No. Did you?

Sorry, I left my burrito too long in the microwave!

I've always thought the entire microUSB connector to be dubious at best. It's flat and in sits tight in the socket, ergo you need to use some force to pull the plug out. It is just way too easy to break the female plug if you happen to twitch the plug a bit. MiniUSBs were a lot nicer in that aspect.

Sadly, the N900 needs to be recharged daily. At least in my use. So I think it's pretty much avoidable the the socket fails at some point over time. I just hope it'll be within warranty period... *fingers crossed*

fwiw the cases reported here were pre-production devices. This problem was addressed in the final sales devices.