Palm Pre (Sprint Nextel)

The Palm Pre is the closest thing to an iPhone the market has seen. It out does the iPhone in several ways and falls a bit short in others. Overall, it is extremely promising. Palm apparently partnered up with a company that employeed former Apple employees.

The touch screen is excellent and .4 of an inch smaller than the iPhone's screen. My feeling on screens is that bigger is better, though the screen on the Pre is very crisp and bright.

The Pre uses a system called 'cards' which allows the user to switch between open applications elegantly and easily. The iPhone will only allow one application to be open at a time. (read on)

When the device is off or the screen is shutdown (for battery conservation) the screen sort of disappears in the all black device. The Pre is probably slightly thicker than the Apple product. This product mimicks the Apple phone with 8GB of flash storage. (Iphone has either 8GB or 16GB) Sprint's network shows it's strength through this device. It does require the 'data' plan just like AT&T's iPhone does.

I fell in love with Pandora all over again, Saturday when I bought my Pre. The Pre fades in from black at the beginnning of each song to show you breifly the title and artist. It fades back to black a few seconds later.

The stereo headphones that come with the device has a very small button in the wire that will pause and play your tunes! Most reviews ignore the sound quality and usability of the MP3 player portion of the device.

An accelerometer lets the user decide the orientation of their 3 megapixel photos by simply tilting the screen whichever way the like. The camera also uses an LED flash which is rare feature for a camera phone.

Then there is the smallish keyboard that slides out of the pre. It may take a bit to get used to, but in my opinion it is superior to the on screen keyboard that comes the iPhone. Input from the keyboard when no app is selected with either dial a phone number or search google. (brilliantly simple)

The device is light, small and powerful. Palm created the WebOS 'from the ground up' using GPLed technology along the way. The power of the 'cloud' can truely be discoverd by using the Pre.

Oh, it makes calls too.

The screen on this worked for the first week and then the touch screen obtained a dead spot located bottom/center so unable to navigate through some of the app's! Other than that one problem which might just be a situation with this particular palm, everything else is great and easy to use. Don't know why I didn't go to a pda years ago. Oh yeah, the price is indicative of why I didn't go with a pda before. At a replacement cost of over $500 I will probably go with a new contract through my service provider in order to save hundred's of dollars. If I had it to do over, I would never have bought a complicated technical device like this over the internet through services such as e-bay. In addition to these issues is the added expense ($70) that I shelled out for a car charger and a case to protect something that doesn't work correctly. I called customer support and received the run around about how this is not covered by warranty because I purchased it through e-bay.

Hardware: I really love the shape of the phone, and how well it fits in your hand or your pocket, however palm has been having some problems with the screen, either with heat spots, or yellow spots on the screen, I personally have 1 yellow spot that I've gotten used to, but later I might exchange it for a new phone when they get some more stock.

The USB port is kinda hard to access unless you first slide the screen up.

I personally love the changeable battery, since I have 3 batteries and you can use the same batteries from previous palm devices like the centro. or you can get batteries on ebay for about $10?

the back cover however sometimes feels a little insecure, and a little springy


SOFTWARE: wow... WebOS is by far the best phone OS I have ever seen, everything is so smooth and the multitasking feature is one of the best features a phone could have, if you play with a palm pre and use this feature regularly. then go back to an iphone or any other phone you will miss this feature a lot!

Palm updates the phone pretty regularly which is awesome! I've had the phone for 3 weeks and I've updated it twice already! webOS 1.1 was the latest update which for me seems like it speeds up the phone a little and makes everything run a little smoother.

there's a homebrew community growing for this phone, since it's open source and palm actually doesn't care about homebrewing, unless it goes against the contract with sprint, this is an awesome scene! I personally have a few homebrew apps, (mostly games) running on my palm pre

apps they have about 30 on the store and 15 or so homebrew apps, which is relatively pretty good since it took apple a whole year to release any apps. and the SDK was released last week! so I expect lots of great apps for this phone!

SERVICE: sprint for me works so well! since there's no roaming charges and it roams off verizons towers you are sure to have service pretty much eveywhere!

the data on this phone is awesome! the browser could be improved which probably will happen soon but it's a pretty good browser! I've already used over a gig of data in the time I've had this phone! which is more than I used in a whole year with my helio ocean.


overall I love this phone! I would never buy an iphone or any other phone that doesn't have multi-tasking, wifi, a normal headphone jack, removable battery, touch screen, great/cheap service, over the air / regular updates, and a great OS!

palm pre is the best phone out in the market right now, in my opinion!

THE SELLER SAID IT WAS WITH A CLEAN ESN BUT THE PHONE IS LOCKED AND THERE IS NO WAY TO ACTIVATE IF YOU DONT HAVE A SPRINT NETWORK ACCOUNT. YOU CANT EVEN ACCES THE OTHER APLICATIONS.

BE CAREFULL!!

The Sprint Palm Pre is a good phone, but like anything else there is some concerns. First, the ability to use the phone as a modem has been disabled and that is a real problem for those who travel and need internet access like the HTC Diamond Pro offered. However, the phone and applications work without problems where windows based phones like to lock up or quit working without notice. I would not recommend this phone due to the lack of support from both the manufacturer and Sprint.

I've had the phone active for about 4 days now, and have noticed it hasn't left my hand yet!!

Pros
1. Touch screen is very responsive
2. Palm OS is very user friendly
3. small and compact
4. camera is nothing but amazing
5. app store is nice, but only in BETA right now
6. Keyboard is just enough, the only thing it lacks is directions arrows (d-pad)
7. Email is fast
8. Internet is fast, I havent used WI-FI yet
9. Youtube app is the best thing, very clear (TV quality), and it hasnt skipped yet
10. Texting chat is great, very easy to flip from AIM, to texting
the list goes on and on

Cons:
1. no D-pad, sometimes its hard to get where you want to fix spelling errors with your finger
2. No camcorder yet, i heard a rumor that they are working on a update
3. You can't change your Email, MMs, Text, AIM ringer, and all of them use the same tone over and over, and the pre doesn't support ringtones from MYXER.com yet or sprint even. The only thing i've found out is that you can use your MP3's as ringtones, if not you are stuck using Palms
Thats about it.

Screen:

The screen is where the Palm Pre shines. Selections take little to no effort and there’s that oh-so-magical water ripple effect when actually touching the display. It’s vibrant, rich and all around really clear.
Size:

The size of the handset itself is wonderful. Really no complaints. It’s fits perfectly in your hand

Sold me a Palm Pre cellphone as brand new. Delayed on shipping and sent me a bad shipping number, sent and gave me a good shipping number only after paypal dispute opened. When the Palm Pre was finally received it had a bad ESN and was unable to activate because it was on another account (AKA STOLEN). Seller was unresponsive to several emails to the point that paypal refunded full amount.

I really like the Palm Pre alot. Apps are cool, I absolutely love the touch screen and ability to run multiple apps. Although I wish it wasn't so delicate (it shuts off if closed too fast)and unable to fwd text messages. I'm sure it's just a matter of a short time before a new and improved version is released..but hopefully we'll get an automatic update for txt fwd capability SOON & more cool apps. :D (hint, hint)

As a Sprint customer I was seriously thinking about jumping ship to get an iPhone. The concept of an all in one phone, mp3, web browser and gaming platform appealed to me.

I am so grateful that my husband continually talked me out of the iPhone and begged me to wait and see if I liked the Palm Pre upon release. It feels great in the hand, has vivid colors and all of the features of the iPhone that I like nestled into a sleek package without the price of switching companies.

The store is a little sparse right now - but the iPhone didn't even have an app store when it launched and now even with over 1 million apps ... I have no use for 50,000 fart apps or flashlight apps.

The Pre started off to a decent start with mutiple features. IE-Mutitasking, Bluetooth stereo, copy/paste, synergy. It can be destined to be a better phone with more potential and the use of its processing speed, more apps, and WEbOs . Firmare updates will determine that in the future.

What I like-Mutitasking, browser, copy/paste, A2DP bluetooth, gesture bar, synergy, currently sync with Itunes, MMS, dont need to wait for text to send

What I dislike-unable to copy/paste on websites, Extremely slow startup, occasionally freezes up, not too many apps but that takes time dont think mojo is out yet, no expanded memory available, no video recording, the use of extra space on the home screen(not the launcher screen, settings are all over the place).

Greaat Phone. Don't have customer service on the phone hook it up though.... Take it to a store if your using sprint or any other provider with a Pakistani customer service team. They accidently turned all of my services off when i tried to hook this up...I wonder how that happened.. I wonder if it's because they don't use the english dictionary in that part of the world..They should outsource one white dude with a speak and spell to ensure they keep providing the best customer service nigeria has to offer.

Pros
What I do like about the phone is that it does have the multi-tasking. When you are in a card or program and you get a message, the phone notifies you without shutting down a program. I like the swipe gesture for returning to the previous page in a program. The good apps available, function very well and are very easy to move around in. Palm Pre does function very fast with loading and shutting down apps.

Cons
Seems like they spent more time on on their multi-task feature and last time on overall product. I feel even though the phone very nice it also seems it is made very cheap. The slide up feature for the keyboard feels off-track at times. Battery life is not sufficient. With average use, I charge the phone at least twice a day. Very limited on good apps and apps are still in development stages.

I really like the Palm Pre. I had the HTC Touch and was no happy at all. The first improvement is the slid out key board for the Pre and that the screen automaticly darkens when you place it to your face to conversate. The HTC would open all sorts of programs if you didnt remember to darken the screen yourself due the the touchscreen touching your face. The internet browser works great, I like it, I was a bit worried because I had become used to the Windows brower in the HTC. The only thing is the battery wears down quickly while using apps, but it has an indicator that lets you know your battery status in a numer format(example 31%), but it does not take long to recharge either.

he New Phone's size is perfect for carrying in a pocket and the battery has a pretty good lifespan of roughly 4 hours. My only complaint is that the menu system on the phone makes you click four times before you can find someone in the address book, set an alarm, or perform a additional functions.

I like the palm pre...I do not like that you can't zoom in to take photos as the black berry, I bought it because appls were phasing out for my palm treo...but I have had the palm PDA, treo 750, palm centro. I would like that some of the old appls were still in the palm pre...i.e. color coded calender...I use to be able to glance at my monthly calender and knew by the color what was what..now have to open each day. Also battery gets really hot when charging and acrylic covering can easily be damaged. It's doesnt have all that I would like...even thinking about going back to the palm treo pro. Also multiple sms at the same time with different subjects are more difficult then the previous versions. I thinks they changed a lot for look and intrige. Which sold me.

LOVE ALMOST EVERYTHING. it can run as many apps as you want without slowing any of them down (also while texting and using the internet). everything runs extremely smoothly. the touch screen is beautiful and AS responsive as the iPhone. one of the only thing i dislike about it is the keyboard. it is a little small and close to the ridge, but is still better than the iphones touch qwerty. but after getting used to it, texting is a breeze. whether you use your phone as a pda for work, a multimedia device, or as an internet tablet, the Palm Pre can do it all.

Coming from using a iPhone to BlackBerry and now the Palm Pre, I have to say I made the right choice this time. It might not be for everyone, but I can honestly say this is what I have been wanting a phone to do but didn't think it was possible until now. Okay it's missing a video recorder & voice dialing, but hell I never used either feature when I had the BlackBerry. This phone is blowing me away and I will not be giving this up for nothing.

Great communication with me during the entire process! Seller was friendly, knowledgeable on the product. He sent me emails constantly, to inform me of the progress of the shipment.

A little trouble setting it up with the internet thing but it works great with a little help from Sprint support. So many neat features, I cannot list them all. Imagine the internet, GPS, Music, Calendar, phone with call waiting and caller ID plus so many other things like a cool touch screen, dropdown keyboard... JUST A WOW PHONE!!!

I'm a Palm user from way back in the 80's - totally sold on Palm units. Imagine my excitement when I first heard about the Pre! I couldn't wait to get one. I ordered mine direct through Sprint, and while this is a fantastic idea - Palm has not created the perfect phone by any means. It has definite drawbacks that are a disappointment at least, and quite often a pain in the "you know what".

The idea of WebOS is fantastic - and it really works. You are always connected to the internet and to all your contacts. The phone doesn't have a browser - it IS a browser, and I haven't met the web page it can't access yet. It handles You Tube videos and secure sites like my bank - it doesn't play streaming radio stations but I'm assuming that's because there's no Windows Media Player equivalent installed.

However, in choosing to use WebOS, Palm abandoned its propietary format - and NONE of your old PalmOS software will run on the new phone. There is an application you can purchase which allows you to run the phone in "Classic" mode and some of the old applications will work while running the phone using this application, but it's klunky and imperfect, and it costs $20 to get access to programs you already own.

The next problem has to do with the whole interface. Palm obviously didn't have real users test the interface prior to releasing the phone. It lacks some very basic functionality which makes it difficult and frustrating to use. My son texted me his new address. With my old Palm Treo, I could select the address, copy it, open the address book, and paste it. You can't do that with the Pre. The only way to select a message, copy the whole thing, and edit what you have into an address is, you guessed it, with a downloaded application that allows you to manipulate the built in copy/paste tool. There are no arrow buttons, no way to select portions of the text using your fingers on the touch screen, etc. so either you get the whole tamale or nothing, and then you use the back button to delete. Ever try to use your finger to position the cursor between two letters to delete text before a certain point? Let me tell you, it isn't a pretty picture.

And while I love the freedom to go anywhere on the web, I hate the "all or nothing" mentality of the Pre's delivery. When you go to a web page, it displays the whole page on the tiny view screen. You can use their cute little guesture to "zoom" in for a closer look, but then you have to keep moving back and forth to read the text on the screen. It's enough to make you dizzy. It works the same way for documents. You either see the whole page, or zoom in and then have to move back and forth to read the text. With my Treo, I could wrap the page to fit the window, which made reading the text a whole lot easier.

My final beef with the phone is the way someone decided to handle the appointment application. With my old Treo, I was in complete control of the alarms. My son is having surgery this month. When I set the surgery (with my old phone) I set an alarm to remind me 21 days before the surgery so I could call his doctor for pre-surgical instructions, remind him to get time off work, etc. The alarm went off today, and I wanted to change it to remind me again a week before the surgery so I could be sure everything is in place. Guess what? That isn't an option on the phone. You get a dropdown box - Start time, 5, 10, 15, 30 minutes, 1 hour and 1 day. Untimed events have 1,2,3 or 7 days.

Very friendly and responsive. Item was exactly as described and arrived super quick! Thanks for making this a smooth transaction!

The new Palm Pre have everything I could have on a phone. Music, Pictures, Camara, Palm Apps that keeps growing everyday. It syncs all my calendars. Its great.