[justryan]

When I was considering the Palm Pre, I looked every where for an honest review from a former Blackberry Curve owner. I coudn't find one, so here I am for you, my fellow Curve owner. I want to say that I love my Blackberry. I love how stable it is and how it just works. What I didn't love about it is that I have to scroll for everything. The screen is not the best on the market any longer and the web browsing experience is not the best anymore. I wanted a touch screen to help make things quicker and easier to see, but didn't want to give up the tactical keyboard. Enter the Palm Pre.

I left my Sprint Curve 8330 to give the Pre a chance to win me over. I loved a lot of things about the Pre such as, the browser (the best on the market right now), the card system, the ability to link contacts into one (although this still needs work) and the threaded SMS. However, the phone just didn't do the things I needed it to do as a business owner. I couldn't add any of my POP3/IMAP email accounts through my ISP or my personal domains. That was the deal breaker, but I also didn't like that I couldn't invite people to my scheduled appointments, hear my phone ring (I missed nearly 80% of my calls), lost signal/broken/dropped calls in places it never happened on my Curve. Additionally, the battery life was abysmal. I had the phone for 10 days and only had the phone last until the end of the day once. Battery was at 4% that day when I plugged it in. Other days it was gone by 6:00pm. I could run for two days minimum on my Curve. The keyboard is also one of the toughest keyboards to type on that I've owned. The gel keys felt like they took twice the effort to push as my Curve. My thumbs ached using the phone and I dreaded having to slide out the keyboard and type on the recessed board. The plastic lip would irritate the webbing between my thumb and my forefinger. I honestly would prefer the iPhone on-screen keyboard over the Pre's and I never thought I would say that. Finally, I hated that every time I would need to do something on the phone, I had to "launch the app". Even the phone was an app. The Pre is a phone, it should never have to "lauch" it's primary tool. When I click on contacts in my Curve, they come up instantly. The Pre is at least twice as powerful as my Curve and it would take 2 seconds to show up. That sort of lag is irritating after a while.

I want to love the Pre. It's the coolest device Sprint has had in years. WebOS is the future of mobile technology, but it's just not ready for prime-time in my opinion. I went back to my Curve on day 11 and I love that everything just works.

[soulfulzeta]

I also switched from the Curve 8330 to the Pre. Brought the phone on the 24th of June and return it on the 13th of July. It's a HORRIBLE phone! While it looks nice, Palm Pre is simply not ready and they should pull it right off the market!

[bigalemos]

well, i agree with you as to the problem with the pre, the key board is really hard to get used to when coming from a blackberry, and unfortunatly that's just something i had to get used to.

the battery life actually get's better after a couple weeks of using it, there are guides out there as to how to inprove the battery life, but it still sucks to have to charge it every night.

i will say in the last month i have never had my pre die on me once, but i do have to charge it every night.

the design is tough to get used to, but as far as the features on the phone, expecially with the email, apps and updates will come out that will help the phone become much more functional over the next couple of months, it's just a matter of waiting for palm to get on the ball.

i really liked by curve, and if something happened to my pre, i would probably go back to my curve, but i love the pre, i don't even get on my computer anymore to surf the internet, on my bb i would never try to buy something on ebay on my bb, worried the browser would time out or soemthing like that, but with the pre i do it all. some of these problems are just things that you have to deal with when you get a phone that is the 1st version. the same kinds of things happened when the first iphone came out, however apple got on the ball and fixed all the problems pretty quick, palm is taking their time, but i will galdly wait for the updates and the app store to get bigger and better.

i have made the switch to pre and am trying not to look back.

[Skibumette]

Long time Palm/Treo user here.

I usually am not a first-adopter... I usually wait for OSs and hardware to be out for 6 months before I jump on the bandwagon.

The Pre was the exception. I got one during the first week and I had it for 2 days before bringing it back. I'm hoping that in 6 months, maybe more software and fixes will be out for it.

The pros of it: internet browsing.. as long as you don't have to touch a link in the page - I hate having to use the fingertip to select things instead of using the edge of my fingernail, the tip of a pencil (that never hurts the screen on the treo) or (gasp) using a stylus.

The card thing was cool.

But overall, as someone with 1,500 names in her phone... it's a horrible device for someone in business who needs to actually stop playing with the device and make dozens of calls in a day.

Text messaging... better than a Blackberry (I truly hate the way BB handles texts compared to the Palm world).

So I went back to my Treo. Then a month later, my Treo needed to be exchanged (I keep wrecking the headset jacks in them).. and because Sprint didn't have a Treo handy, I decided to "grow up" and buy a blackberry to try it.

There are things I miss terribly about the Treo... but I figured I might as well grow up and go with BB because I think Palm will abandon the Treo line now that they focus on the Pre.

All I can say is that it takes 3-4 clicks to do anything on the BB compared to 1-2 clicks on a Treo.

[DougB541#CB]

I also switched from the Curve 8330 to the Pre. Brought the phone on the 24th of June and return it on the 13th of July. It's a HORRIBLE phone! While it looks nice, Palm Pre is simply not ready and they should pull it right off the market!

Um...what?

[JR_Rider]

Long time Palm/Treo user here.

I usually am not a first-adopter... I usually wait for OSs and hardware to be out for 6 months before I jump on the bandwagon.

The Pre was the exception. I got one during the first week and I had it for 2 days before bringing it back. I'm hoping that in 6 months, maybe more software and fixes will be out for it.

The pros of it: internet browsing.. as long as you don't have to touch a link in the page - I hate having to use the fingertip to select things instead of using the edge of my fingernail, the tip of a pencil (that never hurts the screen on the treo) or (gasp) using a stylus.

The card thing was cool.

But overall, as someone with 1,500 names in her phone... it's a horrible device for someone in business who needs to actually stop playing with the device and make dozens of calls in a day.

Text messaging... better than a Blackberry (I truly hate the way BB handles texts compared to the Palm world).

So I went back to my Treo. Then a month later, my Treo needed to be exchanged (I keep wrecking the headset jacks in them).. and because Sprint didn't have a Treo handy, I decided to "grow up" and buy a blackberry to try it.

There are things I miss terribly about the Treo... but I figured I might as well grow up and go with BB because I think Palm will abandon the Treo line now that they focus on the Pre.

All I can say is that it takes 3-4 clicks to do anything on the BB compared to 1-2 clicks on a Treo.

Sounds like you need to disable dialing from home screen and download quicklaunch....problem solved....I had the Pre as well, but ultimately decided to return it because I was underwhelmed with the keyboard and realized no software upgrade was going to fix that...

[Brnkvc]

Long time Palm/Treo user here.

I usually am not a first-adopter... I usually wait for OSs and hardware to be out for 6 months before I jump on the bandwagon.

The Pre was the exception. I got one during the first week and I had it for 2 days before bringing it back. I'm hoping that in 6 months, maybe more software and fixes will be out for it.

The pros of it: internet browsing.. as long as you don't have to touch a link in the page - I hate having to use the fingertip to select things instead of using the edge of my fingernail, the tip of a pencil (that never hurts the screen on the treo) or (gasp) using a stylus.

The card thing was cool.

But overall, as someone with 1,500 names in her phone... it's a horrible device for someone in business who needs to actually stop playing with the device and make dozens of calls in a day.

Text messaging... better than a Blackberry (I truly hate the way BB handles texts compared to the Palm world).

So I went back to my Treo. Then a month later, my Treo needed to be exchanged (I keep wrecking the headset jacks in them).. and because Sprint didn't have a Treo handy, I decided to "grow up" and buy a blackberry to try it.

There are things I miss terribly about the Treo... but I figured I might as well grow up and go with BB because I think Palm will abandon the Treo line now that they focus on the Pre.

All I can say is that it takes 3-4 clicks to do anything on the BB compared to 1-2 clicks on a Treo.

Just be happy you aren't dealing with the iPhone. 3 taps, 2 swipes, a 90 degree roration and a home button to so the simplest thing!

[jazzbarton]

I still have my 8330 because I'm not up for a upgrade yet from sprint but for now I'm in a toss up between the Pre and the Tour. I love the internet and youtube player from the pre but I love bb durability and how it just never gave me a problem.

[RobNyc]

I still have my 8330 because I'm not up for a upgrade yet from sprint but for now I'm in a toss up between the Pre and the Tour. I love the internet and youtube player from the pre but I love bb durability and how it just never gave me a problem.

I am stuck as well... cant seem to decide
I ordered a 1600mAh battery for the Tour for like $8 on ebay
the Amzer� SmartCell 1400 mAh Slim Extended Battery cost $50 for the Pre
the Seidio Innocell 2600mAh Extended Battery for Palm Pre cost $65 but I wouldnt buy Seidio for ****..
And the Amzer� SmartCell 2800 mAh Lithium Ion Extended Battery with Black Battery Door For Palm Pre cost $85 on ebay for Pre.

[jazzbarton]

I am stuck as well... cant seem to decide
I ordered a 1600mAh battery for the Tour for like $8 on ebay
the Amzer� SmartCell 1400 mAh Slim Extended Battery cost $50 for the Pre
the Seidio Innocell 2600mAh Extended Battery for Palm Pre cost $65 but I wouldnt buy Seidio for ****..
And the Amzer� SmartCell 2800 mAh Lithium Ion Extended Battery with Black Battery Door For Palm Pre cost $85 on ebay for Pre.

Well right now if you had to pick what one would it be?

[tscharf]

When I was considering the Palm Pre, I looked every where for an honest review from a former Blackberry Curve owner. I coudn't find one, so here I am for you, my fellow Curve owner. I want to say that I love my Blackberry. I love how stable it is and how it just works. What I didn't love about it is that I have to scroll for everything. The screen is not the best on the market any longer and the web browsing experience is not the best anymore. I wanted a touch screen to help make things quicker and easier to see, but didn't want to give up the tactical keyboard. Enter the Palm Pre.

I left my Sprint Curve 8330 to give the Pre a chance to win me over. I loved a lot of things about the Pre such as, the browser (the best on the market right now), the card system, the ability to link contacts into one (although this still needs work) and the threaded SMS. However, the phone just didn't do the things I needed it to do as a business owner. I couldn't add any of my POP3/IMAP email accounts through my ISP or my personal domains. That was the deal breaker, but I also didn't like that I couldn't invite people to my scheduled appointments, hear my phone ring (I missed nearly 80% of my calls), lost signal/broken/dropped calls in places it never happened on my Curve. Additionally, the battery life was abysmal. I had the phone for 10 days and only had the phone last until the end of the day once. Battery was at 4% that day when I plugged it in. Other days it was gone by 6:00pm. I could run for two days minimum on my Curve. The keyboard is also one of the toughest keyboards to type on that I've owned. The gel keys felt like they took twice the effort to push as my Curve. My thumbs ached using the phone and I dreaded having to slide out the keyboard and type on the recessed board. The plastic lip would irritate the webbing between my thumb and my forefinger. I honestly would prefer the iPhone on-screen keyboard over the Pre's and I never thought I would say that. Finally, I hated that every time I would need to do something on the phone, I had to "launch the app". Even the phone was an app. The Pre is a phone, it should never have to "lauch" it's primary tool. When I click on contacts in my Curve, they come up instantly. The Pre is at least twice as powerful as my Curve and it would take 2 seconds to show up. That sort of lag is irritating after a while.

I want to love the Pre. It's the coolest device Sprint has had in years. WebOS is the future of mobile technology, but it's just not ready for prime-time in my opinion. I went back to my Curve on day 11 and I love that everything just works.

I had a similar experience. The Pre just felt like a demo device for WebOS. I think Palm has a future with this OS, but coming from the feature rich BB, the Pre just felt like a demo phone. I didn't realize how much the BB did until I didn't have one for 3 weeks. It's going to be tough to get me away again.

[tscharf]

I still have my 8330 because I'm not up for a upgrade yet from sprint but for now I'm in a toss up between the Pre and the Tour. I love the internet and youtube player from the pre but I love bb durability and how it just never gave me a problem.

Go with the Tour. If you've been using BB for a a while, you'll never be happy with the Pre. Trust me.

[digital_cataclysm]

Good review - I'm sure fellow BB users appreciate the candor of those who've (at least for a while) made the jump.

I have to say, I wasn't overly impressed with the device myself. My Godchild's mother has Sprint, and we stopped by the store the other day while we were out.

I agree, those gel-keys are God-awful. How someone would manage to bang out messages all day long on that thing, is beyond me. My thumbs would fall off.
The question of durability is another area I didn't feel was all that great either.

It felt flimsy to me - like the keypad would be really easy to tear off, if you dropped or whacked the thing.
I certainly wouldn't say it has the robustness to make it as a go-anywhere road warrior.

The OS was honestly, ok. It had it's cool moments, some things I didn't like - it didn't blow me out of the water, let's just say.

Anyhoo - my 2 cents for the canteen.

[jmatt83]

Well guys I'm pretty new to the bb scene and still finding out about my 8330's features but I'm addicted never the less. My roomate actually stood in line on the pre's lunch day for over 6 hours. He loved it, the second day he exchanged the phone for another due to it just being unreliable !! Bb users I think I found my significant other, my bb !!!

[Pimp Lucious]

Go with the Tour. If you've been using BB for a a while, you'll never be happy with the Pre. Trust me.

I used the BB Curve for a year and while it was a solid phone, I moved on to the Pre and could never go back. The only thing the BB had over my Pre was the build quality, but once I put the Pre in a hard case that became a non-issue. The thing I do the most, messaging, is easier, intuitive and prettier on my pre. Going back to a BB at this point would be like going back to Win 98 loaded on a brand new hardware.

[tscharf]

I used the BB Curve for a year and while it was a solid phone, I moved on to the Pre and could never go back. The only thing the BB had over my Pre was the build quality, but once I put the Pre in a hard case that became a non-issue. The thing I do the most, messaging, is easier, intuitive and prettier on my pre. Going back to a BB at this point would be like going back to Win 98 loaded on a brand new hardware.

You must not have used many of the BB's features. I had non-smartphones before I started using BB's that had more features than the Pre.

Don't you love it now, when you get a text message while in the middle of an important work-related phone call and the tone blares in your ear? You know, the ONLY tone that you can set for either ALL or NONE of your alerts?

[Pimp Lucious]

It takes all of a minute to setup the Pre to side load apps. I customized my alerts and tones a long time ago. Got rid of tones that i did now want. So let's talk about these features that I apparen't never discovered on the Curve that I'm now missing on the Pre. After that we can talk about the webOS messaging preview ability which is far more advanced that that of the BB OS, then we can talk about threaded SMS, then Synergy and the lovely way it converges different types of messages from single individuals and the ability to bounce from IM/SMS/Email/phone call. Do you really want to compare web browsing on the Pre's webkit browser versus any option on the BB? Didn't think so. I could go on.

My Curve was a solid phone for me and now it's a solid phone for my wife, but she is also looking towards the Pre as her upgrade option is coming up. The assertions you make that no one could ever be happy with the Pre coming from a BB is silly. Many like myself are tired of waiting for RIM to do a serious update of their OS and have found the Pre to be a better alternative. Simply upgrading the hardware while offering nominal updates to a dated OS isn't going to cut it for much longer for RIM. The Pre is a 1st gen device on a brand new OS, but it was created by a team of innovators who aren't simply going to sit back and admire their creation. That's why they aren't with Apple anymore, they were looking for a new challenge and not just incremental updates.

Honestly, I'm looking to jump on the Android bandwagon, something I wanted to do before buying the Pre, but wasn't willing to give up Sprint pricing and 3G for the G1. Now that it looks like Sprint is getting the HTC Hero I might be passing my Pre on to the wife. I tested out the Tour just to be sue I wasn't missing out on a good opportunity to come back into the BB fold, but only reaffirmed what I already knew. RIM is being left behind and I'm not willing to stay there with them despite how much I liked my BB.

[tscharf]

It takes all of a minute to setup the Pre to side load apps. True, but this has nothing to do with the OE OS

I customized my alerts and tones a long time ago. Got rid of tones that i did now want. The best you can do is change the factory tone to a single custom tone. That tone is the same tone for every notification. Not very customizable if you ask me. Oh, and you still can't keep the thing from blaring in your ear while on a phone call unless you turn the tones off completely.

So let's talk about these features that I apparen't never discovered on the Curve that I'm now missing on the Pre. After that we can talk about the webOS messaging preview ability which is far more advanced that that of the BB OS, The notification system on the Pre is nice, but it has never been intrusive on the BB. Also, there is a nice app out for the BB that will give you message preview pop-ups if you so desire that I have been using and it is the same functionality as the Pre.


then we can talk about threaded SMS, Threaded SMS is nice, and the BB will finally have that with OS 5.0

then Synergy and the lovely way it converges different types of messages from single individuals and the ability to bounce from IM/SMS/Email/phone call.
Synergy sucks. I hated how the Pre chooses everything for you. The BB lets you link your contacts to various different accounts only the BB lets you choose. With the Pre, it's all or nothing. If you have facebook contacts or gmail contacts that you don't want on your Pre, too bad.

Do you really want to compare web browsing on the Pre's webkit browser versus any option on the BB? There is no question that the Pre and the iPhone have excellent web browsing. The BB can not compare in this department, so if web browsing is your main concern, then I could understand why you would prefer the Pre over the BB.

Didn't think so. I could go on. There is not enough time in the day for me to talk about all the features the Pre is missing. Anyone here could browse the Pre forums and laugh at all the Pre fanboys complaining about all of the features Palm forgot to include with the Pre that us BB owners have been enjoying for years.

Don't get me wrong, the Pre is a nice device, but even the die-hard Pre fans will admit that the Pre is missing a LOT of features. There are almost no options and you can customize almost nothing on the Pre. You can do almost anything with the BB which is why I think most BB users would not like the transition to the Pre.

[jostnyc]

hey everybody thanks for all the info on the Pre. i was curious about that device but i would never consider giving up my Bold. everyone has different needs. pimp lucious made good points and i'm glad he stands his ground. but you shouldn't bash on the BB. unfortunately for you but fortunately for us tscharf broke it down. LOL.

[tscharf]

honestly, it's all about preference. The Pre can be the perfect device if it suits your needs. My GF loves her Pre. She had the Curve before, but she was never a power user. She uses the Web on her Pre all the time, so it suits her needs. Plus she switched her email over to a gmail account.

My main point was that long time BB users, mainly power users, would have a hard time making the switch to the Pre.

[Pimp Lucious]

hey everybody thanks for all the info on the Pre. i was curious about that device but i would never consider giving up my Bold. everyone has different needs. pimp lucious made good points and i'm glad he stands his ground. but you shouldn't bash on the BB. unfortunately for you but fortunately for us tscharf broke it down. LOL.

I'm just not big on back and forth, especially when the other person makes his or her point in a non-fanboyish manner. He doesn't think the Pre tones are customizable enough to suite him or other BB users. He has a point in that its not currently nearly as customizable. For pretty much all of my other points he conceded by saying 'there is an app for that, the Pre beats the BB at that, or its coming to the BB eventually'. The point about Synergy not allowing you to pick and choose what contact info you want to migrate into the Pre is really a non-issue for me. I have hundreds of contact/friends/buddies spread out amongst the various communication channels. The Pre brought them all into my phone and allowed me to easily associate those that weren't associated automatically. As for the ones I didn't really need brought over because of infrequent to no contact, I don't even notice that they are there. The ones I need are easily found and selected.

The fact is, in my opinion, there is so much that the Pre does well, that the BB OS does satisfactorily that I could never give it up to go back. HTML email that displays as it should, threaded beautifully formatted SMS that keeps my message thread going back indefinitely, not just for a few days. Honestly, messaging is supposed to be the Blackberry's strength, but for the non-business user Palm, Apple, and Google OSes have left all surpassed RIM, as have some feature phones. Having a browser that renders pages as correctly and I enjoy using, not use only when I have to, ability to seamlessly navigate through different open apps swiping them off the screen when I'm finished.

The most important thing in all of this, is that the pre is on OS version 1.1 and RIM is playing catchup on the features most users use the most day to day.

[kkwan77]

I came from the 2 generations of the Iphone to the Pre, and it is by far (software wise) a breath of fresh air.

With that being said, being on Sprint and the build quality is more than suspect. Those are the only faults imho with the worthy Iphone contender.

[tscharf]

The most important thing in all of this, is that the pre is on OS version 1.1 and RIM is playing catchup on the features most users use the most day to day.

You've got this reversed. Palm is playing catch up, not BB.

[RobNyc]

I had a Curve 8330 for a year as well, the longest device I ever had and I have jumped a lot. I used both Pre & BB. But the only reason why I still have the tour is because I have about 100 BlackBerry messenger friends.. I thought the battery lasts longer it does only talk-time wise. Other than that Tour battery lasts as long or maybe a bit less than the Pre in my use.

Pre is def the best 1st Gen device I've seen to date.

I still have it & just waiting for more updates
I LOVE THE TOUCH SCREEN and the Phone has potential to own.

[tscharf]

I LOVE THE TOUCH SCREEN and the Phone has potential to own.

That's just it; The Pre has "potential". But that's it. I don't understand why a struggling company like Palm puts out a promising device to compete with the iPhone but yet leaves everyone waiting for updates so they can have all the features they're used to. And don't even get me started on build quality...