Another Palm PRE Convert

[MiguelATF]

Well, though I was quite happy with my last two Blackberry's - including a sweet 8900 on T-Mobile - I have now joined the ranks of ex-BB Palm PRE owners....and must say so far that the Pre experience is.....not only radically different from the BB one which I've enjoyed for a long time....but surprisingly powerful and functional.

Let me start out by saying that the PRE's keyboard, though not as ergonomically excellent as the BB's....isn't half bad. The layout is different and getting used to a new keyboard of any kind, whether mobile or on a laptop or a Mac or PC desktop - is always a little....interesting....and challenging. The Pre's keys aren't bad however. The big rap on early PRE's was double-typing of some letters - but apparently this was a software issue as the latest and newest Pre OS (1.4.1) seems to have solved the problem for those who had it earlier. Since I'm a Pre Newb, I haven't experienced any typing problems whatsoever.

Incidentally, the other phone I recently used for awhile was the generally excellent Nokia E71/E71x - a fine QWERTY phone with outrageously great build - and decent software - though it's hampered by Nokia's antiquated and ancient Symbian OS which is kind of fun in a classic way....and to be completely honest, though clunkier than the BB OS....is rather similar to it in some core ways.

But the PRE OS is....easy....fun....intuitive.....and efficient.

I've played around with some friends' iPhones which are also easy too - rather like toys in a way - but the PRE feels like much more of a powerful efficient communications device which can be used for business as well as personal stuff. Multi-tasking - the ability to run different Apps simultaneously - is WAY COOL. THe PRE's elegant and totally graphic mail/email system is fast, rapid, efficient....and stunning beautiful. It actually makes opening emails almost joyous. Then there's the Browser.....which is essentially light years ahead of all the web/browsers on all of my Blackberry's put together. It's like suddenly moving from the stone ages....into the 21st century.

And, yes, Palm suffers from less Apps than both BB's and iPhones....but that said, there are hundreds of insanely great FREE Apps on the lavishly maintained Precentral web pages - not too mention quite a few others in the Palm App store. Maybe BB and crackberry owners and junkies are spoiled by riches - iPHone users certainly are - but having used my Pre for only a few days and already modified its OS with some great Apps - I have to say....it's not too shabby.

The fact that HP has just bought Palm and is in the process of starting to pour not millions but BILLIONS into the innovative WebOS system - for both future new Mobiles - updates to the Pre's - and a heavily hyped and rumored WebOS touch-based Tablet - was actually a big factor for me.....it would have been hard for me to buy a phone that was about to go out of business forever. And, hey, if you're cynical, HP's track record with iPaq's isn't all that great. But on the other hand, they've got some marketing savvy and musle and waaay deep pockets so.....as a Pre owner, I don't think I'll be orphaned any time soon.

My biggest regret is not having access to the richness of the Crackberry community - but having dived into the insanity of the Pre-user-base at Precentral I have to say....it's almost as great a resource as crackberry is.

And, one final thing for anyone considering Pre's. Though the newer Pre PLUS is faster and has more RAM - not to mention firesale give-away prices from Verizon right now - I wound up getting a more expensive (initial price) non-Plus Pre from SPRINT.....for several reasons. One, to my surprise, was Sprint's excellent and competitive pricing - including nights which go from 7pm to 7am instead of all the other carriers 9-9.....another was the excellent Sprint coverage in my area (Southern Oregon)....another was the fact that the local Sprint store had not one but several smart and thoughtful salespersons who actually use Pre's as their primary personal smartphones and love them....

But the last and best part of Pre's is - they can be used as FREE MOBILE HOTSPOTS aka Mobile Mifi Routers. Yeah, yeah, we've all heard that Verizon is giving away free Mobile Hotspot service (normally $40 a month otherwise) with all its firesale Pre Plus's - but what I didn't know and just found out is that the same Mobile Hotspot technology is BUILT IN to every Pre - including the earlier 1st-gen ones from Sprint - and thanks to the PrecCentral community, it's easy to get either free or inexpensive software/Apps which, yes, have now turned my mobile phone....into a free mobile wifi router whenever I need one.

That alone is worthy of mention....for anyone who's ever been stuck in some remote non wifi area where your phone works but your laptop doesn't. Granted, since most smartphones and Blackberry's use data and email plans, we can all get info anywhere - but being able to use your phone to easily 'tether' wifi for a laptop or netbook anywhere or anytime....is.....mind-boggling.

Bottom line: Palm Pre's are innovative, easy, intuitive and powerful devices. They're so good they remind me of why, years ago, long before modern Windows and Vista OS's made PC's easy to use, the early generations of PC's were complex and semi-nightmarish for ordinary non-geeks.....while the early Macs, in spite of some limitations and price penalties, more than made up for them by being not only astoundingly easy - easIER - to use than PC's....but also way more fun.

That's what Palm Pre's are.

And, yes, I miss one or two things about my faithful CUrve 8900. It was efficient, reliable and relatively easy to use. But to be honest, the Blackberry OS is.....ancient and, at times, clunky.

It's fun to be in the 21st century again.

Miguel

[afropoika]

Hello,

Great point of view there. I have been considering a Palm Pre for a while, (and now that a real unlock is available for us living in GSM countries with carriers not offering beauties like the Pre,) I must say that so far everything I've read about webOS is positive and this has really got me tinkering as to which direction I shall choose in the future should I decide to upgrade from my current BlackBerry.

Now that you mention the keyboard, I can't but help the thought that it must feel like a burden to 'slide out' the keyboard whenever you want to type something. Maybe in the very beginning it doesn't matter much, but I tend to think forward looking and don't believe it'll do any good for the sliding mechanism in the long run if it sees regular use throughout a day. I text rather often, about ten times a day including around ten Twitter/Facebook status updates. Count that as twenty 'short messages' a day on a regular basis. I believe I wouldn't feel comfortable with the Pre or any other smartphone out there with a slide-out-keyboard. In addition to this one of the very reasons I chose BlackBerry in the first place was for exploring different keyboard types available on the market and ever since literally laying my thumbs on the keyboard of my first BlackBerry, the 8700c, I simply fell in love with the ergonomic design that simply worked well and encouraged me to type more. It was that good. Since touch screens flooded the smartphone ecosystem I kept an eye on them for a long time, but eventually decided to 'upgrade'. Being familiar with BlackBerry it was an almost straightforward decision for me to go with the Storm2. Despite being excellent for the type of work I use it for, I must say that I really have started to miss a real QWERTY keyboard. Although the Pre (and Pixi) provides a hardware QWERTY to type on, I can't see myself typing on it. The keys on the Nokia E71 that you mentioned are already too small for me, but it may just be me with my big hands that are against the idea of going Pre.

Although the BlackBerry and Symbian operating systems may not seem as intuitive to use as webOS, I must stop here and give this moment a little thought: both these operating systems may not allow you to do that little 'extra' something, but when it comes to real work to be done these very operating systems will aid you through your way to the top and keep your busy life organized. I've yet to see someone with an iPhone actually utilize their device to ease their lives: all I see them doing is literally 'having fun' and using their devices for consuming multimedia, whereas most people I know owning Nokia devices are usually of the more conservative type who get more work done, even before it's actually due. If I didn't know any better I must say that since having a BlackBerry my grades in school bettered themselves almost automatically, which motivates me to push myself further into studying encouraging the idea of seeing work as something fun and not having something external pleasure me that only distracts me from my work.

Maybe it is because I'm a student with little in my pockets, but I feel the BlackBerry Browser being somewhat 'antiquated' helped me think that it's more a question of efficiency and bandwidth than ability to render full websites in a fraction of a second. I've learned to utilize other types of sources for information, such as RSS feeds, in order to get what I need in a quick fashion. Of course all this wouldn't be necessary if the Browser already could handle the full Web experience, but keeping in mind that in my area 3G connectivity is somewhat limited (and the fact that 3G consumes simply way too much battery life), I am mostly connected to the Internet via EDGE or WiFi. Especially on EDGE it matters very little how good of a browser you have on your device, because with such speeds you'll still have to wait. Usually I'm ready syncing my RSS feeds and reading the latest news while my friends have yet seen the website they are trying to access. My view is that a smartphone should be able to replace the need for a notebook computer, but one should also keep an eye on costs and think twice before literally downloading the whole Web on their device. Of course if one has the financial resources to cough up an unlimited data plan, I see the need for a full featured browser. One is coming for the BlackBerry anyway, sooner or later 'we' can enjoy the full Web as well, but at least I am already now accessing data quicker than most other people even if 'they' are on high-speed 3G with a fancy iPhone.

Multi-tasking is very important to me and the way my BlackBerry handles multi-tasking is excellent. I have no complaints and the system simply works. While the webOS 'cards' approach is very interesting indeed, I have yet to see a real need for so much going on. At one point I had maybe a maximum of four applications running in the background: Media player, RSS news reader, Browser and Twitter client. Without issues I was able to switch back and forth between applications while listening to my music completely skip-less. I had all sorts of information at hand and I simply can not come up with a situation I may need more applications to run in the background. Fact is, most people rarely multi-task much. It is also one of the reasons Apple didn't include 'real' multi-tasking in the iPhone, because switching from an application to another was already quick. With the inclusion of 'real' multi-tasking in iPhone OS 4.0 it is now possible to do what I have done with my BlackBerry for some while, nothing really exciting. webOS' approach isn't that different either. What matters in the end is what and how you utilize your device with all the applications around you.

You mention the last and best part of the Pre to be the ability to utilize it as some sort of gateway between 3G data and a WiFi capable router. While I agree this technology has good potential to be useful on a large scale of occasions, I personally wouldn't classify it as 'the best'. I carry a smartphone with me for the very reason that I want to be able to get my work done without my notebook computer. What benefits does carrying a smartphone give me if I'm still having the need to carry a notebook computer with me? Seems a bit contradictional.

Won't comment on your references to the PC/Mac era in the past, but will only say that I personally believe it was good 'back then' when people needed to be educated before using software like Microsoft Word. Personally I feel the society is sinking with more and more 'dumb' people utilizing high-tech gadgets mostly for pleasure and fun. Usually these people are the victims of viruses and trojans as well as information leaks through social networking services like Facebook.

You say it's fun to be in the 21st century again, but did you really miss anything when you had the Curve 8900? Prior to knowing the possibilities of the Pre how could you have known what is really new and modern and what is old and ancient? Makes no sense to me. In a few months there could be a new wave of technological advances flooding to the market in the form of portable devices, if these do something in a 'revolutionary' way will you automatically consider yourself to be living in the 'past'? Funny. I for one will not keep up with the Joneses.

[Jaggrey]

The OP was an excellent review. I'm another one that left the BB for the Pre, and I've gotta say I wasn't too thrilled with my BB anyway so I was already a little biased against the BB. But going from the Tour to the Pre is an experience very similar to what the OP described.

[MiguelATF]

Nice post, afropoika.....you raise some thoughtful and interesting points and I think the bottom line is, each one of us is different as human beings and we all have our different needs. Different phones and different OS's are designed to fulfill different functions - and they work differently for different people. For example, I am a writer - it's my job, my vocation and my passion - and though I've used many many different types of computer hardware, OS's and software, I am much more productive on Macs. I think the main reason for this is that the Mac OS, for a number of reasons, has actually developed many many more writing tools (aka pieces of software designed for and with writers in mind) than Windows, Linux and most other OS's put together. On PC's, there are maybe 2 or 3 truly innovative and excellent standalone outlining/creative thinking/story structuring Apps for novelists, writers and screenplay writers; on Macs there are almost literally dozens of similar programs. So, as a matter of record, having used most writing programs and interfaced with lots of writers who use them both in their vocation and profession, it's a simple generality to say that....the Mac OS has spawned a lot more useful writers tools than other systems.

I think phones - both hardware and software - are similar. They obviously are. Blackberries for years have catered intelligently to the needs, demands and requirements of many different types of business, professional and corporate users; as a result, the Blacberry hardware/software environment is good to excellent to occasionally superb for certain kinds of uses. Iphones are an interesting new market niche. Perhaps most of the people you know simply use their iPhones for 'fun' or entertainment - but I know quite a few people - many of them in the entertainment, media and advertising fields - who use their iPhones on a daily basis for serious, thoughtful professional apps and work which, probably (unfair generalization follows) other smartphones aren't as good as.

The emergence of new and complex OS's - as well as their software - obviously opens more than new marketing opportunities and challenges for providers, hardware manufacturers, developers and OS makers - it also creates many many tools which are quite useful.

I personally don't use my new Pre much for Facebook/social apps. As a professional communications tool, however, to a number of people whom I work with, it has a number of interesting strengths which I'm discovering. The way its native messaging App works, for instance, makes it much easier for me to have ongoing (I think the word is 'threaded') dialogues with a number of creative & professional colleagues....in ways which none of my Blackberry's, much as I loved them, ever could.

Also, the screen size and suberb quality of not only images but also ability of the user (ME!) to actually READ text displayed on a screen - has already made it 100 times easier for me to read/review/browse a number of PDF documents which, alone, makes the Pre incredibly helpful....at least, helpful to me as a writer.

In terms of organization, actually, to be fair to both the Blackberry OS and the Symbian OS - as well as my new fave, Pre's WebOS - all three offer excellent organizational tools for calendars, appointments, syncing, reminders, all the usual stuff. Some people (not me) depend on Google online Apps including using Google Calendars to set up appointment schedules which they then sync with their mobile phones. Obviously in some respects Android phones may have slight Google App advantages over other OS's - but back to Pre's.....they more than hold their own in my (admittedly limited) experience.....and personal needs.

The big rap, so far, against Palm Pre's from many users is.....battery life. So far, it hasn't been a problem for me. I was in a Verizon store today talking with a knowledgeable salesman about their new hot Android phone, the Incredible - and he finally admitted to me what I already suspected - namely that the Incredible doesn't have great battery life. The generality can be extended to most media-capable smart phones - the more data-hungry Apps one uses - regardless of whether you're on a Pre, an Incredible, a Droid, an iPhone or Storm - the shorter battery life is. Most people - whether they use their phones for business or personal use purely - understand this. It's why we all buy extra batteries and multiple chargers - so that we can charge our phones at work - at home - or in the car. My first Blackberry, an 8300 series, had the longest battery life of any 'smartphone' I've ever had; the 8900 which followed it did a lot more, seemed much more capable....and, honestly, had a much shorter battery life through it's charges. I suspect if I'd gotten a newer gen Bold or Storm, the battery life would be even shorter. It's what happens when you use your phone for more apps....and more productivity.

But....back to Pre's. Since I can get all my email on my Pre (just like I could on my Blackberries and Nokia before) - and since I can do web browsing on my phone as well....what is the real benefit of having a MiFi/Mobile Hotspot for free? Why use a laptop when your phone can do it all? Well, the simple answer is: my phone CAN'T DO IT ALL. I'm a writer - and the best keyboard on the best mobile phone is still crap compared to the keyboards I use on a daily basis of my laptop or my desktop. As a writer, my serious writing is done with a full sized keyboard. So, in a nutshell, having the ability to use my phone to get a wireless connection anywhere to my laptop - in my case is huge - as all of my work, projects, writing, etc IS on my laptop. I think for many professionals and students, the possiblities and importance of this.....are hard to comprehend.....and can't be overstated.

And.....finally.....though technology fascinates me, I'm not driven or obsessed to always have the latest toy or the coolest piece of hardware. For me, my new love affair with the PRE is more complex. It's not that it does more things for me than my Blackberries or Nokias - but rather that, since operating the phone is not merely 'intuitive' (an overused adjective) but also genuinely enjoyable.....I think I'm using my new mobile phone device - my PRE - more productively than any other mobile I've ever had, tried, or just fooled around with.

And, no.....the Android OS though it has some fun aspects.....doesn't feel quite as seriously user-friendly.....not in the sense that it is designed for dumb users....but rather in the sense that intelligent users can more easily find ways to make their new device.....more productive. I semi agree that iPhones often tend to be used by many for pure fun and games - but their media-heavy platform is helpful, specifically, to directors, imagemakers and visual artists. And of course Blackberries and the Blackberry OS are productive and, once you get used to them.....hard to give up.

But for me.....after using a PRE....I don't have any regrets.

Miguel

[VIDGMER]

1. I really like webOS which has mutitasking and some games are awesome, but BB hasn't.

2. I dont care about android apps, webOS apps, Iphone apps, Because they are useless. So, anyway BB really suffers from Iphone (200,000) and Android (50,000) apps. BB just has 2,000/ or 5,000 apps right now..

[ok4a56]

One thing I found to like much better on the Pre is email. I can now sync my work exchange email, calendar and contacts as if it was BES, but while I had my BB on BIS I could not do that. My Exchange is instant, however on BIS it was 10-15 minute lag time.

I'm glad I put down my 8330 and took the step to Palm, Rim will have to come out with something huge and great to get me back on a BB.

[reeneebob]

I can put my phone in my pocket without dust under the screen. Something so simple and Research in Motion should be ashamed. I know I am, of meself for settling for a sub par phone for so long. Never again. I gave them 3 models to improve and its the same lazy effort. As long as there are people willing to settle for the crap BB has become it won't change...

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[papped]

There are a ton of posts regarding pre/pixis getting dust under the screen, so I wouldn't jump to conclusions.

This problem is not specific to a certain manufacturer.

Palm Pre Build Quality Issues Continue to Slide Out
Re: Dust under the screen - Palm Support Community
http://forums.precentral.net/palm-pr...ml#post2218731
Should I return a Pre with 2 Dust Specks under The Screen? Answer ASAP please - SprintUsers.com

Hardware defects (aka an imperfect seal around the lcd screen) happen on any lcd screen, doesn't matter who makes it. Some device designs let more dust in than others, but it can happen on any of them.

[reeneebob]

after 2 weeks nothing. I had to crack my curve after the first time. Unacceptable.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[reeneebob]

oh and 2 weeks without a single battery pull. No constant checking of memory or my texts and emails start going poof. The other half is so unhappy with his berry at this point he's ready to go too. He keeps looking at what I can do and he's pissed. I don't get the apologists.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[papped]

What does any of that have to do with what I said... People have had dust under the screen on the Pre day 1... I've already owned a Pre so anecdotal evidence about what a Pre can do towards me is a waste of time.

[Jaggrey]

For the record I haven't had dust under the screen on my Pre or any other phone I've had. But I don't usually keep my phone in my pocket either.

[ok4a56]

Originally Posted by reeneebob

oh and 2 weeks without a single battery pull.

LMAO, I don't even know how to take the back cover off. And I like that.

[davedit]

Ive just switched from nokia e71 to a bold 9700 and would agree with many of the comments above.

However I wouldn't be here if the palm had been available in the uk on more than O2. I'm with voda and for my needs they have vastly superior coverage but dont do the pre.

My enthusiasm is based on owning Palm devices going back many years, the last one a tungsten which was superb.

They were always rock steady and far more reliable than windows devices (switched to ipaqs) , nokia and .......dare i say it....................BBerry

[dwaynewilliams]

I like the Pre in concept, but I disliked it very much when trying to use it. I switched my device out five times in one week. Even when I heard that it was going to AT&T, I found myself getting excited about it all over again, but then I remembered the faded spots on the screen, the keys that weren't correctly lit, the battery that didn't last past noon, copy and paste only in text fields, and the touchstone that didn't work properly. That makes me stay with my bb. Like I said, FOR ME it was a great device in concept, but in my hand.