Comments on: Five of my favorite things about the Palm Pre

CNET editor Bonnie Cha lists her top five reasons for loving the Palm Pre.

[ace10134]

Things I HATE:

1. No file explorer. Enough said.

2. Exchange server won't connect. Since Palm won't allow you to set up an exchange server without a SSL secure connection, my exchange server doesn't work. Installing the certificate doesn't work either.

3. Live Mail doesn't work. Seriously??

4. Is there more settings for the phone? Let me get to the more advanced stuff please!


I think I might be going back to my WinMo phone. At least I could do things the way I wanted to.

[rickyrobles3]

I got the Pre on launch date and on Monday I went back to the Sprint store to return it. I live in Atlanta and what killed my love affair with the Pre was the lack of Signal and EVDO coverage. I couldn't get reception at home or at work, only outdoors or while driving. So I went back to my HTC Touch Pro which has a little better reception. Other deal breakers:

1. Lack of cell/EVDO Reception. (It was always showing 1X or Roaming. Bars jump like crazy from 4-5 bars to 1 or nothing in a matter of seconds.)
2. Cramped Kboard.
3. No memory card slot
4. Cannot stream windows media .asx files. (No Windows media player alternative)
5. No Slingbox player available or planned.
6. No PDA net available or phone tethering option.
7. No video recording.
8. Cannot acces personal folders in Hotmail account.
9. No windows live messenger
10. Battery runs out pretty quick.
11. Unit gets super hot sometimes. (Can't even hold it when it gets that hot!)
12. Couldn't use the copy & paste feature correctly. (It was cumbersome)
13. No file transfer or DUN via bluetooth. (Only audio devices? ***!)
14. Battery cover is too hard to remove.
15. I liked better the back cover that comes with the touchstone charger. (Sold separate for $19.99)

I can do everything mentioned here and more with the HTC Touch Pro. I'll be upgrading to the Touch Pro 2 when it comes out and hopefuly it will be much better than the 1st version.

[ace10134]

Yep I'm going back to my WinMo phone. My Pre experience was Pre-tty bad.

[pcwhisperer]

Since the accelerometer work in all four directions, I suspect if you simply turn your pre upside down the offending hand will no longer cover your speaker? Just a thought..

[pcwhisperer]

My reply was meant for pjhenry1216 and the I hate the speaker placement issue. In landscape whether you are right or left-handed you can turn the screen around so the speaker is on the side you don't cover. Also in ref to the portrait (keyboard mode) covering the speaker..unless you have hands like Shaquille O'Neal I can't see how you would cover the speaker while thumbing out a message? I have pretty big and blunt fingers and I was amazed how accurate the keyboard responds to my fat thumbs!

[HANDJOBBY]

did anyone else notice that there's actually no need for the "card view" button? if you slide up from the gesture area to the screen, it does the exact same thing! please help me let this be known, then maybe if enough word gets out about it, Palm might come up with something even more useful for the center button, which is absolutely useless now. btw, doing the same thing allows you to open up the launcher (from card view), which means having the launcher as one of the five shortcuts (which cannot be replaced by another shortcut) isn't necessary.

[ace10134]

I know, lol. They could have made it buttonless!!!!

[Dan7637]

dimfield i was right, and you misunderstood i meant the iPhone 3G S has faster processor than iPhone 3G

second whatever dimwit

[AppleSuxLeo]

Did you realize the specs for the iPhone 3G S processor are the same as the Palm Pre ???
Apple is copying Palm ALREADY. I love it.

[arbocorp]

Well, I've decided not to be a first generation user. Let Palm get all the feedback including comparable IPhone features of what a Pre should be. Let's face it, the Pre is very IPhone LIKE. So, if I'm going to spend my hard earned money on a Pre, it should match up with similar features. If the Palm offers the pre with 16gb/32gb models with similar IPhone features then I wouldn't mind spending $199 for the 16gb model or $299 for a 32gb oh, add a memory card slot. COME ON!
The Pre should also have the appearance of being a high end device. I held it in my hand and although it was very light and all plastic, I didn't feel it was high end device conversely I didn't think it felt cheap either but quality was an issue. I'd like to see a matte rubber back and with an oil resistive face plate or better yet, the face plate can have a fine pebble finish. Give some weight to it. Oh, I really would like to see a larger screen. What's the point of being able to surf in html or read a book or see a movie/videos if the screen is TINY, COME ON!
The keys on the keyboard allow for primarily thumb typing, that said, if it wasn't for the rubber coating, typing would be a struggle and while I thumb typed, I found myself paying more attention as I typed so as not to mistype. This is similar to using a mouse as opposed to the keyboard/shortcuts. While I'm typing, I don't need to see the keyboard but when I go for the mouse, I have to "step out" of that rhythm to accommodate the mouse. There looks like there's enough empty space to accommodate larger keys. You can have the keys rounded but just BIGGER and then place them side to side. I feel the current design is more aesthetically pleasing but not practical for big thumbs or people with poor vision. The numbers section which is on the left side can only be typed when pressing the similar colored key down while pressing any number or key with similar color. Ergonomically I felt it would have been more natural to place the numbers on the right side so I can depress the color key with my left thumb then the numbers with my right. Oh, why not have the keyboard capable of swiveling to the orientation the user prefers? Right now you would have to navigate in portrait mode; then, when you're in the site you can then switch to landscape, BUT if you need to input something, you're back in portrait mode. I forgot to check to see if the keyboard lights up in dark settings?
The camera should have an auto focus and some editing features. There should be a recorder too. I'd like to see an option for a camera/recorder wizard to help me take better pictures/video. Or have some tips on better pictures/video or optimum settings. I?d like to see a camera lens on the front for taking a self portrait OR video chatting. Maybe a ?port? to allow for a mini tripod for a timed picture or time lapsed video? It might be cool so see if the screen could swivel.
Option for a larger battery?
Tethering?
If Palm insists on an 8gb only version, then could I remotely connect to my personal pc and stream music/video from my over 8gb library?

[Norseman]

Isn't short battery life the "multitasking tax"?

[ace10134]

Not on WinMo :)

[AppleSuxLeo]

All else aside , my fave thing about the Pre is that it is the "real deal" Not a Storm or other flop like the G1.
And it pisses Apple off to no end.

[paulflory]

How is the wifi on the Palm Pre? Also, is web browsing noticeably (or even much) faster rendering pages than compared to either regular cell service or 3g speeds?

[ace10134]

WiFi is slower than 3G, from what I could tell. But then again, I have DSL at home, so it's probably about the same connection speed.

[JustNotEverybody]

My favorite thing about the pre, it chose Sprint. We know everyone has some issue with some carrier, but that was the greatest thing about the pre. Every carrier falters somewhere, so I know some of you aren't hearing this, but think about it, reviews constantly put sprint with some of the fastest speeds in data throughout the country. They just won the award for best call quality in the west, and they have the most affordable plans for a phone of this nature. Any other carrier gets a phone like this to rape you with charges (AT&T especially) but Sprint throws it all at you for $100 a month. Now I can ball on a budget!

[friscoG]

This phone may be an option if and when it comes to Verizon, but I am sick and tired of them crippling the phones and then charging extra for included features when they are already making there money back on the phone's subsidy by requiring a 2 year voice and data plan. My Samsung i760 has alo the windows live integration stripped out from Verizon which grinds my gears, but when it comes to service and coverage, they can't be beat.

[AppleSuxLeo]

Did you know that Apple`s latest security roll-up for OSX was over 600 megabytes ?
It mostly patched holes in the UNIX core.
Quiet , they don`t want you to know...but it is a fact !

[ace10134]

Pshh I thought Mac's don't need a bunch of large updates? Their commercials lied to me???

[AppleSuxLeo]

The Palm Pre is the first phone using Texas Instruments' new OMAP3 (Open Media Applications Processor) platform. The processor is a 600MHz ARM Cortex A8, PowerVR SGX 530 GPU, 430MHz C64x, DSP, and ISP (Image Signal Processor).

[lvcsslacker]

For a first shot at this sort of thing (WebOS ONEpointZERO!), it's not bad...

It could use some improvements... which is honestly expected of a new product. That said, I'm sure the second generation of WebOS will be much improved over the current products. And as it's popularity grows, so will it's apps store, and all that stuff...

the short version: Chill.. it's new. It'll get some momentum going before too long. the iPhone didn't get 50,000 apps in one week, did it? nor did the G1, Blackberry, etc..

[kdy9901]

I haven't really read the rest of the comments but I have to say that I'm extremely disappointed in the Pre and I've been waiting to buy this phone since it was first announced. I don't understand how a phone that is supposed to be top of the line has gotten rid of so many basic features that my Centro has or most any other phones out today have standard?
1. Can't forward text messages
2. Can't set a distinct sound for alerts or messages (On or Off...those are my options?)
3. No Yahoo or MSN IM app which are the most popular IM's used and came standard on the centro i just mistakenly upgraded from
4. Call history only includes All Calls or Missed Calls (what happened to Incoming and Outgoing)
5. I've never had an IPhone and never cared to because I like having a physical keyboard which is why I was soooo excited to learn about the Pre's release but how can you launch a phone that's supposed to be compared to the #1 one phone out there and only launch it with 12 apps and tell us to wait for more to be released later?

Now don't get me wrong, this is a cool looking phone and it's fun to play with but taking away standard features just so I can 'flick' away doesn't make up for what I'm missing. Again, i'm deeply disappointed in this phone and am now on the search for a replacement. Maybe I'll come back once they've worked out all the bugs.

[jmzwolf]

Maybe someone can help me out here... I am SO used to SPB mobile shell on Windows Mobile that has a "one tap" way to get to your favorite contacts... I hate hitting "phone, slide open, type name, scroll, oh! there's the person, choose mobile/home/work, dial"...

Is there a fav contacts app for the pre? This phone is slick, I just want it to work better as a PHONE!

I want to see an icon that brings up a screen with a few of my normal contacts that I call on a regular basis, so I can tap them and talk to them. HELP!

[bongka]

hi there! after reading all the messages here, i'm still wondering & i really, really wanna know if the previous applications of Palm OS especially the medical applications could still be installed and run by Palm WebOS in Palm Pre? i need your help, thanks.