Comments on: Palm Pre: A Pre-tty disappointing start

After waiting months for a Palm Pre, Jeff Bakalar is disappointed with the lemon he received on Saturday morning.

[struct210]

I dont have any problems with my Pre. The only little thing is that the edge around the keyboard is SHARP. It might feel like your going to cut your fingers while holding the phone up to your ear. Other than that its an awsome phone. I do recommend buying it.

[JGA638]

C'mon. I played around with the phone and specifically looked at this issue. I've seen a few people mention this, but honestly you must have hands of silk to even suggest it might cut you!

[Proud_Geek]

Dude. Are you hands made of silk? What are you, a princess? :)

[tucknet]

Actually, there are videos clearly displaying how sharp the edge is. It can even slice a block of cheese. And I'm not talking about crushing the cheese. These are clean slices.

[Sprockethead]

Sharp edge, what? Amazingly, I believe your hands to be made of fine and delicate silk!

[spikeypaul]

I have yet to have any major issues with it. The only instance perhaps is that i noticed a dead pixel on my screen, something i can live with since you only see it when the background is black. I am excited to see how far the phone will go with the Web OS system, time will tell.

[edwardmcintyre]

wow, looks like its almost as janky as my 3G. If we had the pre here i would be dropping my iphone in a second. Im on my second 3G, and this one is crapping out too.

[justusthegreat]

You might be just a little rough with your 3g... 3g's are pretty durable... if you take minor precautions.

[ajr65]

Uh oh!... I am having the same problem...but not as often *****!!!!.. Otherwise, I think this phone rocks! If I get a new one and that one does it as well???.... I might be sadly looking elsewhere.

[wpbrown985]

I have a Iphone, Blackberry, and as of Saturday the Palm Pre. One thing I quickly noticed was there was a new WebOS update. I updated before doing anything else across my wifi network. Thus far the unit is flawless. Use the Pre for 30 mins then try to go back to the I-phone. The iphone seems clunky and less usefull. The pre is lighter, nicer looking, and has a decent MP3 player. It is cool to have a conversation on the phone then flip over and view a map for directions. It is also cool if you are in debate during a conversation to be able to refer to the web. Palm also backs up the pre for you every night across the web. I think if Palm can put phones with every carrier they will dent both Apple and RIM. One you go Pre you never go back...

[seven7dust]

using the mac tag line against Apple Lol ! classic

the music player in the pre has a lot of missing functionality actually
Palm need to fix this soon
for thoose that use itunes sync the podcasts are clubbed together with the music which is super lame
then there is no progress bar for the song currently playing
plus no ability to create playlists ot queue songs on the fly
the multi-media features of the pre are seriously a problem right now !

[justusthegreat]

To each its on.... Iphone def not useless.

[JTungs]

wpbrown985...

I'm not sure if you haven't tried it on your iPhone, but I can check the web or maps while on a call perfectly fine.

[OscarWeb]

The Pre weighs the same (at 135 grams) as the iPhone, so I would assume you are saying it's lighter than the BB. You can easily look up directions, check email, and browse the web while on a call on the iPhone and BB. As for doing that on the Pre, well, I would also have to assume that you're on WiFi since you can't check the web or look up directions while on a call using Sprint. These are things I've been doing for the past year on the iPhone.

[stockyjoe]

Pandora on the pre is cool. I can listen to music and do other stuff without closing the app. Those are the little things about multitasking on the Pre that I like.

[polarbebe]

What is the deal with Palm Pre? Its interface is a 90% copy of the iPhone with: touchscreen, multitouch, flick to scroll and acclerometer.

If you want an iPhone interface just get an iPhone.

And why would anyone get a Palm Pre with its 18 apps? Apps let a ?smart? phone edit Excel files, have a talking dictionary, look at MRI images, play The Sims 3 on their phone etc.

With no apps, the Pre is a ?dumb? feature phone with full internet capability.

PS: For everyone who bought a Pre, Palm hasn?t even released the SDK yet to most vendors, you can wait about 1 year for them to develop the apps to get anywhere near the utility of an iPhone or Blackberry (if the developers aren?t busy making apps for iPhone, Android and Blackberry already!)

[seven7dust]

yes this is wat has prevented me from getting the pre too !
the iPhone has a huge lead in the app space and will only get bigger I guess
now that they opened up the O.S more in 3.0 !

but still the pre has a lot more going for it
multi-tasking like no other
a awesome implementation of universal search, best calendar to date
above all the best notification system on the planet
{ did you see how in today's Keynote they showed of push notifications
it's going to be a big mess IMO }

also after palying with a friends pre I found that the touchscreen is actually more responsive than the iPhone's plus the ripple effect it creates when touched is ingenious ! and the accelerometer works better too
apps will surely come in the future
even right now the pre is quite impressive if you ask me
as far as problems go all phones have their birth defects which get fixed
also the pre is still missing a lot of key functionality
at least Palm is in the right direction with the O.S
it's wat iPhone 3.0 should have been IMO

[jmey]

Looks like you have the same response for every post of yours---truly original~typical.
well here you go...

'Maybe you should refresh your memory and remember that Palm came out with most of the iPhone's 'precious little features' you describe YEARS ago.....(ie TOUCHSCREEN, 30,000+ available applications, INCLUDING MRI images, dictionaries, emulators for gaming, etc.)
AND maybe you should ALSO remember that this is Pre 1.0---did iPhone have 30,000 app with their first iPhone-i dont think so. Reality check for you and many other readers. Stop force feeding bs to the masses and fact check yourself before writing incredibly numbing and factless statements.

Lets also say that for the record, I use and have used all OS's including--RIM, Symbian, Winmo, Palm OS, Android and now WebOS. Palm has released a product with an operating system that keeps them in the game.

Move over Apple---there is a giant market and Palm is ready to take it back with WebOS and its GROWING app catalog.'

[justusthegreat]

jmey... Iphone will slay this challenger just like all the rest... how many times have we seen the "iPhone killer?".... Maybe next time with the new os update... there is still nothing even coming close to the iPhone.

[sims5677]

Well actually, Apple was the pioneer in multi-touch. Besides, Palm had 2 YEARS to develop an iPhone competitor, and there's still barely any apps available, with missing functionality in its biggest department, the media player. You don't forget that most of the UI is COPIED FROM THE IPHONE and would never exist today if there was no iPhone. The Pre is just another copycat that fails to give any edge to the brand, just the the Crackberry Storm.

[stockyjoe]

I like the Pre's mulittasking. its little things, using Pandora and checking my email and other apps without closing one down to open another. Of course that power comes at a bit of a drain on the battery. This is first gen though that will be improved. I think they are both great phones its a matter of preference.

[seven7dust]

been hearing about Pres getting really hot on few hours of use
I wonder if it is a widespread problem ?

[HANDJOBBY]

it actually does get kinda hot. the magnetic back cover that's used for the touchstone charger (frickin awesome, btw) helps a lot, since it has a matte finish.

[anrebma]

The phone gets extremely hot quickly when in use. I've noticed that mine will also get very hot when NOT in use. Strange really. I don't understand why!

[mwuagi]

One HUGE problem is that the Palm Pre doesn?t properly support MS Exchange push mail. They claimed to support it on their hype sites, but now that the rubber hits the road, the car drove right into a ditch.

In order to properly support MS Exchange push mail with most companies and providers that want security, the Pre should support exchange EAS PIN-locking. Every Pre rival (WinMo, iPhone, Instinct, BlackBerry, etc) supports it, and even the old Palm phones (like the Centro) support it. The Pre is going to sink like the Lusitania because the developers didn?t get this basic security item straight.

That?s a shame too. I?d bet there is a 30% return rate (or higher) if they don?t get this fixed fast. What were they thinking? Maybe they weren?t?

[tonicarr]

Not sure if this may relate to the problem I am having with my exchange. Everything works fine, email, contacts except my calendar. The calendar does not sync with Outlook. I have called my exchange service and Palm to no avail. They are both calling be back tomorrow hopefully with a higher level of support. I have spent the whole day on this.

[rbaker6966]

tonicarr - let me know what you find - my calendar won't sync either; everything else pulls thru - also the battery ides within 3 hours - I'm thinking its tied into the calendar trying to sync and burning the battyery - when i remove the exchange account the battery seems ok

[woojae74]

I have been using pre. I noticed that when i use camera mode. it becomes black, no pictures. I had to slide up and down to operate the camera...is anyone having problem with using camera mode?

[mobyrich]

Why are there so many whiners about the amount of apps? Like it's not going to improve dramatically in a short period of time...

[viper396]

Oh come now. We all know every phone needs a bunch of apps like baby shaker, a 100 variations of a tip calculator, fart noises, or two dozen different ways to manager your grocery list.

[justusthegreat]

viper396... you dont need all the apps.... but if you needed them you wouldd have them.

[stockyjoe]

lol @viper396. I was thinking the same thing.

[vbowker]

viper396 - Don't forget the one that let's your phone look like a pouring beer! Yes, these are quality apps my friend... How will we live without them?!

[gadgeter]

when i slide my phone closed at any time it will usually turn itself off. when it happens the screen colors get messed up then it fades away to a lit but black screen. after a few seconds of that it turns completely off. starting it back up takes a while. glad to see CNET is having the same issue.

i also have some dead pixels which i showed the sprint store at the time of purchase. they said to come back when they have a new shipment of phones and have it replaced.

one time i had a memory issue and the phone said to close some programs because it ran out of memory to open new ones. i didn't have ANY programs open at all! i had to take out the battery and restart it.

i'm not even going to mention that i have to charge it several times a day because it goes dead quite quickly. not having over heating issues though.

i can't get google maps to launch at all. it just sits there and tries to load.

when i tried to transfer files from my computer to my palm pre i plugged it in via usb. then when i clicked on "connect via usb" on the pre, my mac instantly crashed. not cool in my book!

i have an appointment at the sprint store to return it and go back with my old palm centro which worked great. i just wanted the cool new thing - first releases never go well so i should have known better. oh well, at least i tried.

[caseyindc]

I also got my Pre in Manhattan, and I'm having a similar issue. First off, I called the Sprint at 42nd and 5th on Friday night (after I'd gotten the email saying the stores were opening two hours early on 6/6); I wanted to confirm it before I went over there. The woman I spoke with told me no, they were in fact opening at 10am. I didn't trust her answer, so I showed up at 7am the next morning. Sure enough, a line of ten or so people, and Sprint employees getting ready to take down names on a clipboard. I was ticked that I was lied to, by the store manager no less, but still pretty jazzed about being able to get my hands on a Pre.

About the tech issue...I didn't even realize it was a problem at first. After a half hour of not getting replies to some texts I'd sent, I checked the phone and noticed it wasn't even on. That's when I felt the queasiness in my stomach. I played around with it a bit more and noticed it was shutting down when I tried to open the slider. It wasn't staying on the "black but still on" screen. It was shutting down completely. The re-boot, from what I've read, normally takes 45 seconds to a full minute, so I don't think that's a bug. Pretty big inconvenience, though.

The phone worked fine for the rest of the day. On Sunday, I got a few more shutdowns, but it only happened when I closed the slider with even minimal force. By Monday I was losing faith. I was testing it, and it happened seven out of ten times. The only times it didn't happen was when I closed the slider verrrry gently. Clearly, there's a hardware issue. I'll probably take it in to Sprint today and get on a wait list for a replacement. Hopefully it won't be too long here in the DC area.

But overall, I love the damn thing! It's compact, got a beautiful screen and OS, and it's got an app for NASCAR! (yawn!!)

casey

You might interested in a temporary solution found here.
http://forums.precentral.net/1654403-post65.html

[mrmarco1]

Try wedging the battery as described here...

http://www.precentral.net/slider-crashes-inspire-macgyver-solution

[SoCal65]

Hot = Hotmail bug
Slider Reboot = Loose battery losing connection

"Palm Pre: A Pre-tty disappointing start"

Pre-tty disappointing headline for an amazing phone.

[modelnet]

ditto - a little research goes a long way people

[jeffstading]

I bought my Pre Saturday afternoon and have really enjoyed it. I was a little slow figuring out the whole synergy thing as I had never used facebook or gmail, and being self employed I've always used stand alone outlook. But after signing up for gmail and using the data transfer software from Palm.com I've got it down now. The only thing I miss is the ability to sync data directly to my pc.
As for many of the complaints Ive read they seem to be matters of preference. The mp3 player is ok unless that the main reason you bought the phone. I have had several apps running while on the phone with no problems. The cmara is very functional. There are new apps just about every day.
By the way I chose the Pre for three reasons (1) I've used Palm pda's since the mid 90's. and have found them to be reliable devices. (2) Web OS. When it was time for an upgrade (the last week in May for me) I purchased a Treo Pro. This was my first windows mobile device and I decided after a week that it would be the last windows mobile device. (3) I like Sprint. I've had AT&T and Alltel several years ago and paid a lot for unreliable voice service. I've switched to Nextel before the merger and was happy. After the merger I got switch to Sprint and bought a Treo. Since coming to Sprint they have gotten better in almost every way. Customer service is actually pretty good. Great voice and data coverage and lower cost than their competitors.

[FijiSkillz]

Have you upgraded to 1.02

[ArsFragica]

2 words: iPhone 3GS

[viper396]

I counter that with three letters and a symbol: AT&T

[seven7dust]

@viper
Lol!
best comment of the day

[wmurch3]

good comment!

[wmurch3]

I can't wait to get the Pre. I'm currently on the Sprint store waiting list but I should get it in the next few days. I've had an iPod Touch for a while now and am not interested in an iphone anymore. It's a slick phone and all but the pre just tickles my nerd fancy. Having an ipod touch means I can play all the cool app store games without signing up for stupid At&t. So i'll be getting the best of both worlds now! woohoo!