Koil
Premium
join:2002-09-10
West Columbia, SC
clubs:
2 edits | [Sprint] So....did anyone get a Pre? Give us the scoop!!
Just looking to hear from anyone who may have picked one up, as I'm pretty interested in hearing what ya think after actually using the phone. |
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aztecnology
O Rly?
Premium
join:2003-02-12
Murrieta, CA | Leo says its still second fiddle to the iphone... |
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chlen
Ethically Challenged
Premium
join:2001-01-16
Albany, NY
| reply to Koil
I picked one up yesterday after 2+ years with the Palm OS Centro which I loved.
I have always had sprint and they are very strong in my area and in the northeast in general. They have real 3G in almost all the areas they cover.
I develop application for Palm and WinMo for critical applications for field personnel.
First impressions.
pro.
This OS delivers. Multitasking is fast, responsive and incredibly useful. It is at only one slight update much better then any other v. 1 OS I have ever seen. This is very well developed and tested.
Voice quality is fantastic, better then the Centro. Usability is a huge plus.
WiFi is actually really fast and stereo BT is nice since I have headphones.
GPS, and location services work as advertized and the 600mhz proc in the phone keeps up more then well enough. The huge memory architecture (256mb plus cache) really keeps this thing running.
Music syncs with Itunes and the in-phone music manager is based on the ipod so it is familiar. The sound output is impressive, and the headphones/mic that come with the phone are cheapo but not as bad as mp3 players.
Browser can do Cyrillic (Russian fonts) and copy and paste them which is really useful for me.
The browser is as good as Iphone and is a bit speedier because of the phone's hardware.
Messaging system is the best I have ever seen on any phone and we keep 4 types in the office.
Email synced N/P with exchange, IMAP, Gmail, but the real kicker is the application which has an outlook feel that feel native to me.
Easily swappable battery, and common micro-usb for charging is nice.
CONS.
Battery LIFE. It is atrocious.
With all the location, GPS services running which are default it lasts barely a day with moderate use, and I am a heavy user. This can be addressed by changing preferences, but then you are not running location services and you need to have data roaming on, because this phone is designed to work with EVDO only so it starts searching for an EV signal all the time between tunnels and pockets of poor connectivity like clean rooms and sealed government buildings.
This is why this thing work only on Sprint, they roam on everything for free (to the customer) and turning data roaming on in an unlimited plan, alleviates this problem, still the phone searches non stop for the best connection, always. The battery it comes with is weak, so I expect an aftermarket battery with 50% more capacity, need my phone to work for more then 24 hours. Compared to the Iphone the battery is the same, but compared to the Centro it is awful.
Calendar App needs work. It may look prettier then the Palm OS one but sure a hell not as powerful and PITA to navigate around. I miss having a real menu button already. Same goes for contact app. They are fine, but not great like the old ugly OS.
Stability has been an issue when running a bunch of apps and listening to music, phone locked twice but I was downloading the upgrade at the time and has not happened since. This required pulling the battery as the soft reset did not work. Not bad for a version 1.0 OS but I would not bet on it. This is nowhere near as bad as WinMo, which i code for and it locks up all the time. This was during a software update and running music while messing with the internet and camera apps. The phone is fine for casual users but not enterprise use.
I will update later if I find major flaws.
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Слесарь-гинеколог |
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Post Op
Premium
join:2001-11-06
Far Out
1 edit | Thanks, Chlen. That was a very articulate, informative and concise review. I'm very interested in replacing my Instinct with either a Pre or an iPhone. My contract with Sprint is up in January and I switched to an iMac from a PC last January which puts me on a fence between them. Your review tilts the choice towards the Pre. I have the luxury of being able to wait a little bit before I actually pull the trigger. There are advantages and disadvantages to being an early adopter.
I wonder how long it will take Apple to remove the ability to sync with iTunes. I really hope they leave it alone. It may have already happened with the most recent iTunes update. Since I use iTunes in the Mac environment the Pre, being able to sync with my music and movies without having to jump through Windows hoops like I must do to get stuff on my Instinct is a huge plus.
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I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy. |
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Koil
Premium
join:2002-09-10
West Columbia, SC
clubs:
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to chlen
Great review! Thank so much, and especially informative to me, as I have a Centro as well.
The battery issues you mentioned, do you think thats more of an item specific to you, as you're in and out of areas where the phones always trying to get a signal? Hows the battery life, say if you're at home, or in a decent signal area, is the drain still as bad? I get massive drain even on my Centro when I am working in data centers, etc due to the search of signal.
It sounds as if a lot of your cons aren't massive deal breakers and could be resolved thorugh SW updates...lets hope thats the case.
I still struggle with moving to the Pre due to my SERO, but I'm thinking one way or another, Sprint is going to get people off of them.
Glad to hear Palm didn't totally flub this, and w/ AT&T dropping the ball on the release, maybe this will let them gain some ground here.
Again, thanks for the review and keep us posted!
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Let us so live that when we come to die, even the undertaker will be sorry. -Mark Twain
My Blog - Raising Connor - »raisingconnor.blogspot.com/ - updated 3/11/09 |
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chlen
Ethically Challenged
Premium
join:2001-01-16
Albany, NY
| reply to Post Op
This is a great device...really great OS best from BB and Apple with a familiar Palm OS touch.
I would add a bit to CONS though.
Battery Life is like an Iphone, needs to be charging all the time. hopefully further firmware and replaced batteries will change this. There is something up with the batteries in this first batch.
Build quality from the Centro has gone down dramatically. I used to open beers with the back of the Centro, this thing is delicate.
Another nice PRO.
With location services off many applications like finding dinning ask if you could turn it on just for the session. This is really nice because it allows you to keep the transmitters off except when you need them. The application asks for permission during session.
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This is not the greatest post in the world, no, this is just a tribute!
Слесарь-гинеколог |
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chlen
Ethically Challenged
Premium
join:2001-01-16
Albany, NY
2 edits | reply to Koil
My plan did not change. I have the $69 unlimited plan with 25% Gov discount and free service and replace. I paid $200 (300 - rebate) and did not require a new contract. If you are eligible for the 150 (full) upgrade you can get it at new user price with out a new contract. I am not in a contract as mine expired.
My Centro searched and died, but that was rare, Centro could go 2 days, this thing can't.
With data roaming and utilizing US Cell and VZ networks the Pre searches less then the Centro, but it wants to be connected to EV all the time while the Centro only did when you used such an application. (connecting to Powervision...screen)
more on battery life here, although these people seem to have problems with the actual battery.
»forums.palm.com/palm/board/messa···ad.id=94 |
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Koil
Premium
join:2002-09-10
West Columbia, SC
clubs:
·RoadRunner Cable
| said by chlen  :My plan did not change. I have the $69 unlimited plan with 25% Gov discount and free service and replace. I paid $200 (300 - rebate) and did not require a new contract. If you are eligible for the 150 (full) upgrade you can get it at new user price with out a new contract. I am not in a contract as mine expired. I have the 1500 min, unlimited everything else for $50/mo, so it will be a stepup of at least $20/mo....I am eligible for $150....we'll see how it goes...the S.O. will want one, too I think.
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Let us so live that when we come to die, even the undertaker will be sorry. -Mark Twain
My Blog - Raising Connor - »raisingconnor.blogspot.com/ - updated 3/11/09 |
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hep cat
do da dirdy bird
join:2001-02-17
Decatur, GA | reply to chlen
Thought that the Centro battery could be used in the Pre. If so just do the ol' spare battery trick. 
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Bowling: It's cleaner than baseball. |
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chlen
Ethically Challenged
Premium
join:2001-01-16
Albany, NY
1 edit | said by hep cat :Thought that the Centro battery could be used in the Pre. If so just do the ol' spare battery trick. yes it can, but who wants to keep swapping batteries.
anyways Palm people note this is an issue and it is mostly about firmware which allocates how much power each application needs, with updates this will go away and a good portion of these batteries are not very good, need to be broken in, aka ran out fully charged a few times...
Today with heavy use and listening to music, I am at 38% at 3:30 PM and I took it off the charger at 8 am, and I have been online, listening to music and downloading and playing with apps.
Making calls does not use much power on this phone because of the proximity sensor, so calls actually don't drain battery too badly. about 25% for a 2+ hour conversation yesterday.
Still this is such an excellent product that is just crippled by battery life. It was my primary reason for this over switching to Iphone thinking Palm would do like the Centro and make the batt life great. The Centro and the 755 were like nothing else in batt life, even playing music.
As a heavy user I only charged the Centro before going to sleep with out worry used it all I wanted all day.
EDIT.
I should note that I am using the headphones/mic today and yesterday I talked using BT which is a lot less juice.
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This is not the greatest post in the world, no, this is just a tribute!
Слесарь-гинеколог |
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Ecologic
join:2001-01-25
Chattanooga, TN | reply to Koil
My wife want's a Pre, but the woman at the Sprint store said the lowest monthly plan would be $99. Is that not the case?
Is the $69 unlimited play still around chlen? |
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DarnellP
join:2004-10-12
Las Vegas, NV | reply to Ecologic
Re: [Sprint] So....did anyone get a Pre? Give us the scoop!!
the Pre is available on the 450 minute Everything Data plan for $69.99. Talk to someone different. |
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op
join:2005-07-16
Smyrna, DE | So what do you do when the screen on the Pre cracks on it's own and the people at Sprint say that it is not a manufacturing defect? There are lots of other people suffering the same problem as me. |
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DarnellP
join:2004-10-12
Las Vegas, NV | Get it exchanged for a new one...? |
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op
join:2005-07-16
Smyrna, DE
| Can't they won't allow it because it doesn't go under manufacture defect but physical damage which I never caused. I'm not the only one with the problem. Just search Palm Pre screen cracking and you'll get a 28 or more page of people complaining about cracked screens on precentral.net. Even Palm's own forum is having threads about Palm's cracked screen and they along with Sprint won't recognize it. |
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