Official Palm Pre User Review Thread

[Scottcrsi]

Originally Posted by cozboogie

Great pics....thanks!!!!

late,
Coz

just happy to contribute!

Originally Posted by mike20pr

thats quite a nice collection you got there =D> the apache looks huge compared to the rest lol

good job

Yeah, that apache is a monster! It's amazing how these devices change in just a few years!...right around the same time next year we'll all be discussing the next smaller, faster, more amazing gadget and the pre will end up just another prop for size comparison.

[vader4633]

Does the pre connect with activesync just like the diamond so my contacts and calender will sync with the pre?

[Scottcrsi]

Made yet another update to my review. If there is anything else anyone would like added, let me know and ill add it to the review.

[Insoc]

Got one for my Wife.

I am amazed at how easy she got her email set up, and was very happy to do so. The phone is very well set up for ease of use and this is the best feature of the phone to me, because my Wife is using it just fine.

It will be easier to list the things I don't like, but I assume they will be fixed as this phone is mostly Software OS issues for me.

1. The apps are unorganized and it is difficult for my Wife to find things. Old Palm had categories.
2. The Touchstone turning the phone into a clock is cool, but I want the option to turn the screen off.
3. Contacts need some more tweaking, maybe categories for them as well. They can be a bit confusing what with Facebook etc.
4. Need more syncing options with Hotmail/IM.
5. Something like voice command would be very nice for contact name calling with a headset. Otherwise I can only see speeddial as an option.
6. KB is nice enough, but I think they should have done it wide like the TP, for a better layout. I can get over this one, but I still believe a stronger KB would have been keen.
7. I myself cannot stand the banner advertising on AccuWeather, and I don't look forward to the future of that if that is a preview of what is to come. I am also surprised that weather was not a stock program on the phone.

All I can remember for now, and all to me seem to be trivial software tweaks. I think we can all look forward to this phone growing with the app store and OS updates, and good lord if it goes open source!

[Drybonz]

Originally Posted by Insoc

1. The apps are unorganized and it is difficult for my Wife to find things. Old Palm had categories.

You can actually organize them any way you want. Just hold and drag the icons.

[Khaler]

I got my Pre on release day and have been using it heavily since. All of the previous posts in this thread listing the positives are spot on. Rather than just reiterate those, let me say 'Ditto' to them and list an additions/exceptions.

Please bear in mind, to date I LOVE THIS PHONE! That being said, let me point out a few rough spots and issues. Most of them are software so they should be easily fixable with some PalmOS updates. (we're already on version 1.02 now)

Battery life. This seems to be the biggest negative to a lot of folks. The reason the battery drains so fast is that the built in setup wizards try to setup *everything* for maximum use. In other words, everything is set to poll/update very fast and waaaay too often. If you setup your Google Chat for instance, it is doing constant and immediate updates on status. That means your data connection is going 100% of the time and yes, that adds up to a fast drain. Hotmail is also very guilty of being autoset for such fast polling that it drains way too fast.

So right out of the box, let the wizards help you set everything up but then go in and make some judicious changes to them. At this point in time I would recommend NOT using the GoogleChat to IM feature. You can easily double your battery life just by turning that off. Hotmail? Switch to Gmail. The Gmail interface is rather superior and the autosync to Google calendars/tasks/contacts works so well that I am using it as my "gold" system. I sync my work Lotus Notes to Google/Gmail and then let the Pre autosync to Gmail. This works beautifully.

Other idiosyncracies that should be fixed by PalmOS upgrades:

Microsoft Exchange EAS sync issues. Most of these seem to be caused by accounts that use heavy security. There are some known issues there but the Palm engineers are aware of them and a fix should be out quickly.

Calendar confusion: There isn't enough level of detail for categorizing entries at this point IMHO. Entries are color coded based on their origin. IE, Facebook in one color, Gmail in another, Exchange another, etc. You cannot further categorize (color code) things like appointments vs birthdays vs holiday entries and so forth. This makes the calendar less than it could be but again, that can be easily fixed as the data is *there* just not being used to it's best advantage.

Sound use. Okay, so a Facebook notification comes in, then an Instant message arrives, then a Gmail email lands. I get the bottom of screen visual notification that is different for each source, but I get the same freakin sound notification for each one (if I have sounds turned on for them). Yeesh, please give me some customization tools there so I don't have to have the same sound for those different sources. Yes, you can *change* the sound, but no, it's still using the same sound for all three notification types. There are a number of other issues with Palm OS that are exactly like this. It's very cool the way it works now, but more customization options are needed.

Downloading songs from the Amazon MP3 store. You have to be WiFi connected! You can browse and buy all day long, but you cannot use the Sprint data network to transfer songs over. A WiFi connection is required. Now I fully understand the reasoning behind this, to prevent overloading the data network with 5 meg song downloads, but it is a bit of a pain to have to hit a WiFi hotspot to get your songs. Luckily the WiFi radio on this phone is VERY fast and those 5 meggers come down quickly once you hit a hotspot. The more I think of this, the less it bugs me as they're keeping my web browsing and searching damn fast by keeping all the music downloads *off* of that connection system, but still, they should mention that up front.

More options in pull down menus. Now this is mostly an issue with being unfamiliar with the new OS, but all too often I find myself thinking "Why can't I just delete that entry?". In some cases, swiping the entry from left to right off the screen performs the delete. In those cases, there isn't always a "Delete" option if you open the menu options from the upper left of the screen. It's a noobie thing, but it could be more clear.

My current number 1 gripe, Gimme Flash! The web browser is very very good, far better than Opera Mobile or anything I had on WinMo 6.1 with my HTC Touch. Pinch zoom functions work great, very fast and responsive, panning/scrolling is a beautiful thing to do and when showing it to others they're rather amazed by how well that works. The faster you flick, the quicker the scroll yet it will stop immediately with a second tap. Half the time I find myself going to the FULL website over the mobile website as the browser is just that good. Even "busy" pages like Amazon are easy to navigate the full site with the Palm OS browser. Yet Flash is missing currently. It is expected within the next month or two.

There is a full YouTube app that comes with it, so you can still watch YouTube vids all day long, but pop over to Vimeo and you get the "You gots no Flash dude" warning message. I can play my Mafia Wars turns on Facebook just fine, but the flash animations are missing. It's already on the "Yes we know, it's coming" list so I'm not too disturbed by it, but it's the biggest glaring omission from what is (IMHO) the best mobile browser on the market right now.

Tip: If you want to load your MP3s from your PC down into the phone, the easiest approach that I've found is to go to the Amazon MP3 store (app built into the phone) and buy at least one song. Until you do this, the folder isn't created for song storage. It puts them in a folder called, oddly enough, "AmazonMP3". Once you have that folder, throw all the MP3s onto the phone you want with a direct USB attachment and it works perfect with the Music app. (It picks up the album covers later as you're connected to the MP3 store)

You can plug the charger USB cable into a PC WITHOUT HAVING TO INSTALL ANY DAMN SOFTWARE ON THE PC! (*/rude Blackberry*) Connect the Pre via USB cable to a PC and you get the option to Just Charge, act as a USB drive, or work in Palm Media Sync mode. That gives me a huge grin and a major Kudos to Palm for giving us options instead of shoving a single method down our throats.

Another tip: Charging adaptors are in short supply right now as Palm is packaging all of the basic ones with new phones. You can buy an International power cable with all the plugs you don't need in addition to the one you do, or a car charger but you cannot get the basic 110v to Pre cable yet. The power cable for the Amazon KINDLE and KINDLE DX is a perfect, microUSB fit for the Palm Pre. They're cheap too, readily available and work connected to the phone. They will NOT work for the Touchstone though, as the Palm version of the plug has a smaller surround and the whole thing has to go into the Touchstone. I got a second Touchstone direct from the Palm online store and am using the Car Charger cable to plug into it. The USB connector on the other end I have attached to the Amazon Kindle 110v to USB plug. Looks a little odd, but works perfect.

[kanesis]

Without getting to lengthy

Ive only had winmo for a year with 6700,6900, and TP. Its amazing really everytime i flashed those phones in excitment. just to make the menus look different or make it run faster.

That being said the pre is amazing gps locks before google has loaded the map with one or no bars WTF. Using the phone is so easy i spend less time being fustrated and more time using the phone. Camera is decent and fast shutter. once you get navigation turn on gesture navigation in applications awesome. Basiclly whatever picture you have as wallpaper is your phone in essence cause theres nothing to muddy things up. I have never had to reset my phone because a program messed up ever. The phone just works and does so easy with less time trying to open this then that. The app thing is a bummer and im waiting for flash and ink note and voice recorder. But the first step was making the device that they did right and this phone will make it because out of the box this phone does it with little or no hangs at all.

I highly recommend this phone speaker is a little louder than 6900 if you were wondering

[pgolsoniv]

I'm deliberating getting the PRE and I've scanned every post.... Most of what I see looks good. I am concerned with connectivity to the Exchange server. I saw that one person posted that they have synched with exchange but it was buggy. Does exchange push email/Contacts/Appointments to the PRE or do you have to check for updates? Do you need special software on the exchange server or will it use active sync? Anyone that has any further intel on synching with exchange as that is my primary source for contacts/email. Thanks.

[Scottcrsi]

wow I'm at a loss, once I set those options it started showing for me...i know were going a bit off topic here but just out of curiosity, what calendars are you syncing with?

I have google as my default and then my computer through missingsync which has sub catagories of work, home and unfiled, also flixter put in a movies calendar and there is the palm profile one that is always there.

[Drybonz]

Originally Posted by Scottcrsi

wow I'm at a loss, once I set those options it started showing for me...i know were going a bit off topic here but just out of curiosity, what calendars are you syncing with?

I have google as my default and then my computer through missingsync which has sub catagories of work, home and unfiled, also flixter put in a movies calendar and there is the palm profile one that is always there.

Google, Facebook and Flixster.