Comments on: Tell us about your Palm Pre experience

Early sales of the Palm Pre look promising, but some early problems are bring reported. Crave asks its readers what their experience has been with the Pre.

[vincentc3rd]

I Got mine on Saturday. The battery is god aweful. I disabled the IM. Did all the things reccommended to try and save battery life. I took it off the charger this morning at 7:45 AM. I made 10 Calls for a total amount of talk time of maybe an hour. I checked some emails and read news online. At 1:15 PM the phone shut off. Battery is dead. I love the phone, but if you cannot tether yourself to a charger all day long then its not worth it. And if you have to do that then it cannot be called "WIRELESS". So unfortunately, I will be returning my Pre on Saturday, A week after I bought it and going back to a blackberry, that is not as slick, but works all day long. I am very dissappointed because I like the phone. But if I have a day trip with the family and I am not going to be near my car or electricity, I need to know that I can make a call and that my phone won't die after only 5.5 hours. Its a shame.

[mjwelchphd]

My two biggest concerns with my new Pre are: (1) the battery will need a charge by early afternoon; use the Touchstone or a car charger; and (2) Sprint has decided not to support "phone as modem," which I had before and use (or now, used to use) from time to time. (I left an earlier post about this.)

I had an HTC Touch with WinMo and Windows is a horrible OS no matter where you find it. The WinMo phone also had limited battery life.

The is no way I'd take back my Pre and go back to WinMo. I'd rather shoot myself. Windows Mobile SUCKS! God, What an awful OS Windows is (and I know because I've been a Windows programmer for 12 years, and recently retired 'cause I couldn't take it anymore). Maybe Palm will let me be a Pre programmer. I can only hope.

[polarbebe]

"Well, if early numbers are to believed, things look promising for Sprint and Palm."

Sprint and Palm have NOT released sales numbers for their first weekend. I've only seen analysts throw out numbers between 50,000 and 100,000 units sold nationwide. I doubt Pre sales numbers would stack up to Android G1, Blackberry Storm, iPhone or iPhone 3G.

All they said was that it broke records. What kind of records? Best sales over 9AM Friday to 9PM Sunday while the moon was full?

I used to depend on CNET for accurate, CRITICAL and analytical reporting from the technology sector NOT FLUFF. NYT technology section is a bit more substantial IMHO.

[ack-thbbft]

I was first in line on Launch Day, and I was very happy with the unit I got. The next day, they had a "Pre Training Class", and I showed them the single bad pixel on the screen. It didn't really bother me, and I was only curious to know if they had a policy regarding a certain number of dead pixels before they would exchange it (as was the situation at Best Buy when the PSP first launched). The Sprint rep immediately offered me a new one, no questions asked, for just the one bad pixel (which, honestly, I could have lived with, as it didn't really bother me).

So I get the replacement unit a few days later. The screen was perfect (and also didn't have as much of the uneven lighting at the bottom many Pres seem to have as a result of the LED backlighting). However, it crashed whenever I closed the slider. Yes, the "loose battery" glitch. It was fine if I gingerly closed the slider, but if you let the slider close on its own as designed, the screen image would melt away in that definitely-an-electrical-glitch way and the unit would reboot.

I'm on my third unit now, which I got the very next day (a very pleasant surprise). No slider-crashes, thank goodness. The screen is fine, although it has a bit more of the uneven lighting at the bottom than the previous two units (although only noticeable when the image isn't so dark that you don't notice it, or so bright that it blasts out the uneven lighting).

I can live with the LED lighting issue, as everything else about the phone's OS is so phenomonal! I also trust Palm to work that out with the next iteration, of course.

[prelude619]

I'm loving the Palm Pre. The multi-taking is excellent. for those complaining about its sluggishness, what do you expect from having too many cards open. Try opening multiple programs on ANY computer and see what happens. It isnt any different. The iphone can only do one thing at a time. I have an ipod touch so I know what the iphone does and can compare.

I was third in line at my local Sprint store and the first one out. It was a smooth process. I am VERY satisfied with this phone!!! Finally a REAL iphone alternative on the Sprint Network. ( I didn't say killer, I said alternative!!) Don't kill the competition, just deliver a knockout punch!

Other than one dead pixel, Ive had a good overall experience with this phone. It surpaces everything I was expeting from it.

A few minor setbacks (Cons)

-No video recorder
-No customizable text tone
-mixed reviews on the battery
-mini USB would of been nicer (as I don't have micro usb cables lying around even though it IS a standard)

Pros
-physical keyboard
-web synch (google mail, calendar, contacts)
-wireless charging (gotta LOVE that!)
-itunes support as well as the option to use it as mass storage (try THAT on the iphone!)
-add pics from facebook contacts
-AIM
-google talk
-Turn by turn GPS (BUILT IN)
-SPRINT TV (NFL NETWORK)
-fits better in your pocket.

this phone is no insticnt so if you were dupped into buying t hat phone last year, don't judge it based on that. I don't even know why Samsung wastes its time with that garbage phone.

the Pre is the REAL deal!!

As for the Apps, what do you expect? It's a brand new phone, give it some time. Everyone's gotta start from square one,

and @iJustine, if you are reading this, get off your high horse Pre/Sprint bashing! I'm an Apple fan myself but don't critisize the phone because you could not get one even with your internet celebrity status! Sure go ahead follow ALL the SHEEPLE to the iphone. I give you credit that at least you ARE are REAL mac fan, unike the Apple bashers that praise the iphone but don't own a mac AND don't even know what the iphone does other than make calls and show off the phone for status!

[Hellcat]

I have neither the iphone nor the Pre but I played with both at stores. I find the Pre VERY VERY nice, an elegant phone with a nice screen and very easy to use. I never had a phone that multitasked and after using the Pre I really want one. Like every first generation phones it has its quarks (my friend has a Pre), but they can be fixed by update and video will be added by update as well. The Pre doesn't have many apps but the iphone had no app store on the first iphone. It took forever for the iphone to get copy and paste and mms, and the Pre will have them on the first gen with an update.

People who like the iphone can have it, I'll take the Pre, it does more of what I want.

[bigmurph939]

cant wait until the iphone 3gs comes out then youll gonna say

[bugg27]

The pre does not perform as advertied. All of the functions are nice but if you phone can not last over a couple of hours its useless. The phone would not stay in standby for more than 3-hours, i missed 90% of my calls during the week. Its shuts down automatically due to overheating. When it shuts down, you have to plug it in for 10 min before it powers back on. It gets so hot you will think it will start a fire. I tried to send an IM while plugged in and it burned my fingers. It would not download the new updated over EDVO or Wifi. Palm has a lot of work, not to mention the cheap plastice feel. Every time I opened the phone I thought it was going to break. I returned the phone and went back to the Instinct and will move to new Iphone next week. It took Palm to force me to leave spring after 10-years.

[Hellcat]

With the 3.0 update you'll get a lot of the changes that you get for the 3GS. The 3GS gives you a better camera and video. Those are the two big things that the 3GS gives you. If you have the 3G now you go and pay for the 3GS...oh and you don't get it for $199 or $299 because your breaking contract, so you'll have to pay $599. Good for you.

[Hellcat]

Do you remember when the first iphone came out? People complained about how bad the battery like was and then finally Apple did an update that fixed it. My friend has the Pre and hasn't had ANY of those problems. I read your post to him and he laughed and what he said I won't say because I'll be nice.

Good for you go to the idropcallsphone. I bet in a week you'll be back to Sprint because AT&T is really bad! I tried them last year for a week and dumped them. Lucky I still had Sprint hooked up (and no I wasn't leaving Sprint because of problems, but because I was told I'd save money because I have Uverse, and it ended up I was paying $60 more a month than with Sprint, plus in a week I got 10 dropped calls).

[Ssx3000]

I had a chance to play around with the phone. Even though I'm not in a 3G area with my G1, it was receiving text messages faster than the Pre. I do like the multitasking features and the interface. I'm not feeling the 8GB limit and the small keyboard. I am sure they will make major updates they need. iPhone and G1 wasn't perfect when they come out.

I returned my pre the same night. I just didnt like it.

[Billylones]

I have been a loyal Sprint customer since 1998 and I don't understand when people bad mouth them.

I got my Pre opening night and I can say I am impressed overall with the device. My list of wanted features are:

1. Visual Voicmail (This is a must have, once you have it, you wonder how you lived without it) My Instinct had it. Why can't the my Pre? I hope this comes out as an update/app whatever.

2. The ability to forward a text message

3. The ability to send a text message to multiple recipients. It may be able to do this, but I haven't figured it out yet.

4. The ability to integrate with Yahoo. Google, Facebook, Twiter and Exchange are fine, but I use Yahoo for my e-mail, contacts, etc... I'm feeling a little left out on the whole synergy experience.

5. I would like more apps. Sirius/XM would be great so I can listen to Howard. Pandora is very good.

6. Voice Commands. I miss that from my Instinct.

7. The ability to integrate an address with Sprint Navigation. When I click on an address, it locates it on Google Maps. My Instinct would go to Sprint Navigation. Let us choose the program to use.

8. Birthdays, Holidays, etc...When I enter a person's birthday, I want the phone to remind me and to put it on the calendar. Google might do that for me. Maybe I need to open a G Mail account.

9. My Yahoo e-mail is a POP account. I keep getting login failures when I am on a wifi network and the phone is not pushing the Yahoo mail to me as it come in. I have the setting set on "As Items Arrive". I have to keep putting the phone back on the network to avoid the login failures.

10. The ability to put the phone on "roam only". I know that is Sprint dictating it, but it sucks when you get in a poor coverage area and the phone keeps trying to grab a Sprint tower that doesn't exist. Overall, their network is good though.

11. The ability to capture video with the camera. Once again, my Instinct could capture video.

While the iphone is a good device, I feel Palm has uped them with this device. If they can iron out some of my wants/issues, I will be a raving fan! If you have an iphone, I hope you realize that AT&T is costing you an additional $600 or more per year to own. If you don't believe me, compare the plans. The Simply everything plan for $99 is just that, Simply Everything. I can talk, text, navigate, watch TV, browse etc...all I want. No nickel and diming going on here. And for the Verizon users, it will cost you the same as AT&T and I can roam on your network when I can't get a tower with Sprint. Keep up the good work Sprint and Palm!

[drklyong1]

I'm looking forward to Palm Pre. Any idea when will it be available in Malaysia?

[kschroppe]

I went the week ahead to make sure the Best Buy near me had the phones coming in and they said they would put me on the list to get one that day they came out. The day before I went ther they said the list was to get in a line on saturday and hopefully get a phone yea whatever. I went to radio shack by me and was going to buy the phone but because I am a Corporate client I can only get it from Sprint. I called over to sprint from Radio Shack and they set a phone aside for me I walked in and got my phone in 30 mins. I bought the iphone for my wife and I like that alot. I have since bought the ipod touch because the iphone was so good at everything one at a time. I know that the Pre will be great as soon as all the Apps start getting made. There are enough Apple haters out there and anyone who developes something for Iphone can adapt their product for the Pre. If they do not they are just limiting their income potential they already have the idea they created it once it is easy to recreate the same thing for all platforms the question is which will be first. Blackberry or PRE or G1or Symbian. I like that I can run multiable things like durring a phone call see what the weather is like or what movie to tell my wife to get tickets for all of which I have done while still on the phone with my wife. I loved it so much I bought $20000 worth of Stock At $13.45 a share this is a good bet in my opinion the more makers that start using the OS the better the bet come on HTC and Motorola get with the program start using WebOS.