Just bought the LG Optimus Quantum phone and its terrible.

sounds like you just got a defective unit... if all that has happened..ya  defective...  it happens to the best of the makers...  just return it for a new unit...  as for blaming microsoft for the faulty manufacturing of lg...  youre not going to get far with that story...   wp7 is an excellent operating system...  just because lg let you down you cannot judge the operating system....  that would be like me hating all touchscreen phones because the lg vu i had was a piece of crap....  no  just shoddy lg hardware...

as for a recommendation... i own a samsung focus...  love it... 0 issues..  and just to throw it out there..i own a cell repair shop...i can have any phone i want and i always do...  ive had the omnia2 from south america so the freq would work on att..  had a htc hd2 from telstra in australia again for the att freq.... see where im going...  i own it and use it because its the phone i like the best and fits my needs..   solid o/s with updates looming with all sorts of goodies to improve on the already really nice o/s...