Almost a week with my Pre

[SAWYER]

First I must say I this is the best interface I have ever used on a phone(yes even the iphone imo). The screen looks great and I just love it. My main complaints are the battery life and the keyboard. There are a few other small annoyances that could easily be fixed by an update, overall I really like the phone. However I think I may go back to my Curve because of a few reasons..
1.battery life
2.it seems as if I get better signal with this phone
3.the keyboard
4.texting and email is better on it

 

[kedlav]

1.) battery life gets better after ~2 weeks I found (2 Pre's in friends/family circle)
2.) Probably subjective, my signal has been pretty good comparing to HTC Titan
3.) you get more or less used to it, but no, its not the worlds best kb. at least it has one with the screen
4.) ??? notifications on the pre are awesome, not sure how email or text is better...

 

[boomhower]

My battery life seemed to have gotten better after a week or two of use. My experience is 3G on a weak signal kills it. I can easily make it through a 14 hour workday with around 40% remaining. I adjusted to the keyboard pretty quick and can type faster and with less errors than I could with my Tour. It is the chicklet style keys I think that makes the difference but considering the curve is the same style I can understand the preference there. I don't understand how email and texting is better on the Curve. I use gmail and get it just as quick, HTML emails work worlds better on the Pre, and texting is not even a competition.

 

[SAWYER]

Access to email/texts are much faster on my Curve, plus the big deal breaker for me is yahoo messenger on the Curve. I prefer that over texting to chat with my wife throughout the day, I don't have a yim option on the Pre

oh and I love the universal search on the Pre!

 

[KingstonU]

The small keyboard was the deciding factor that made me go to the G1 (we just got both the G1 and Pre in Canada). I absolutely love the keyboard on this thing, much better than Pre. Android OS is a close 2nd to Pre's WebOS. Pre's hardware is faster. Battery life I believe is clsoe between the two, have no problem with mine as long as I turn off features when I don't need them. G1 was $30 with 3 year contract, Pre was $180 with 3-year contract. Besides the lack of 3.5mm jack, no regrets with my G1.

 

[boomhower]

Originally posted by: KingstonU
The small keyboard was the deciding factor that made me go to the G1 (we just got both the G1 and Pre in Canada). I absolutely love the keyboard on this thing, much better than Pre. Android OS is a close 2nd to Pre's WebOS. Pre's hardware is faster. Battery life I believe is clsoe between the two, have no problem with mine as long as I turn off features when I don't need them. G1 was $30 with 3 year contract, Pre was $180 with 3-year contract. Besides the lack of 3.5mm jack, no regrets with my G1.

Good lord that is a long time! How do they do phone upgrades? Any way to get a discounted phone within that time frame?

 

[HopJokey]

Heh Sawyer you post this on CrackBerry? I see a very similar thread in the Curve 83xx section.

 

[SAWYER]

Yes

 

[teiresias]

I had to give up the iPhone because I got horrible AT&T reception after I moved to a new place, so I ended up on Sprint and decided on a Pre. I really like my Pre, and the notification system for emails, txts, calendar alerts, etc. is leagues ahead of the archaic pop-up and non-informative "number in the corner of the icon" system used on the iPhone. I think the multi-tasking is handy and anyone who questions why you'd need to do it as an excuse for the iPhone's lack of it is just being purposely obtuse. The conductive charging station is also handy and it will be difficult going back to any phone that doesn't have that as it's so much easier to deal with when I get home from work to just sit it on the touchstone charger than fumble with a cable. Admittedly, sitting the iPhone in the cradle isn't much a problem, but every other smartphone makes you fumble with a mini-USB port and have that cable sitting our all the time - bleh!

The keyboard I could give or take. It's not horrible, but it's not the best, but as with every keyboard I've ever used I've gotten used to it to where I can type pretty fast with it.

I was never a huge application-whore though, so I can see where the attraction is still better on the iPhone or even Android for that aspect of it. I pretty much stick to the web browser, email, memos for misc. notes, and phone functions on my smartphone though. If I'd been able to wait a bit longer I may have gone with the Hero since I'm somewhat wanting to try an Android phone - but I wonder how the notifications are handled on that platform? Is it dependent on what "skin" your phone manufacturer has used?

 

[Reckoner]

after upgrading to seidio's 2600mah battery, I no longer have any battery problems. Amazon sells them for $50

 

[boomhower]

Originally posted by: Reckoner
after upgrading to seidio's 2600mah battery, I no longer have any battery problems. Amazon sells them for $50

But they are huge. It completely kills the slickness of the phone. I am doing alright with the stock battery but am still considering on of the 1350 Mugen's.

 

[gorcorps]

That tiny keyboard was enough for me to not even consider it. It seemed like a really awesome phone until I saw the keyboard.

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: gorcorps
That tiny keyboard was enough for me to not even consider it. It seemed like a really awesome phone until I saw the keyboard.

But it sure is better than no physical keyboard. You get used to it really quickly. I would never have a phone without a physical keyboard.

 

[Dangerer]

I adapted to the mini keyboard pretty quickly however I hope future iterations will include a horizontal keyboard instead. I love the look of the phone aesthetically and it's actually very very fun to use. I ended up getting rid of it for a touch pro 2 and miss it already however I can probably hold over until the next Pre is released. Some more hardware issues ironed out such as a really sturdy framework (no more oreo BS) and more customizations to the OS and Palm can have a presale!

 

[gorcorps]

Originally posted by: zerocool84

Originally posted by: gorcorps
That tiny keyboard was enough for me to not even consider it. It seemed like a really awesome phone until I saw the keyboard.

But it sure is better than no physical keyboard. You get used to it really quickly. I would never have a phone without a physical keyboard.

*shrugs* I'd rather have no physical keyboard (like the iphone I have) then a slide out thing that's too small for my hands. It just adds another moving part that can break, and doesn't add anything of value for me. The G1 is much closer to my ideal design. Palm has always had incredibly tiny buttons though, so it wasn't a huge surprise.

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: gorcorps

Originally posted by: zerocool84

Originally posted by: gorcorps
That tiny keyboard was enough for me to not even consider it. It seemed like a really awesome phone until I saw the keyboard.

But it sure is better than no physical keyboard. You get used to it really quickly. I would never have a phone without a physical keyboard.

*shrugs* I'd rather have no physical keyboard (like the iphone I have) then a slide out thing that's too small for my hands. It just adds another moving part that can break, and doesn't add anything of value for me. The G1 is much closer to my ideal design. Palm has always had incredibly tiny buttons though, so it wasn't a huge surprise.

Yea I've never liked Palm's keyboards. I hated all of them but the Pre is such a good phone that the small keyboard wasn't that big of a deal.

 

[shortylickens]

I agree with most of the stuff in the OP. Got my mom a Curve 8330 and played with it for a week before I gave it to her. Got the Pre for myself recently and kept it for 4 days. Didnt like it too much, especially after having an Android phone.
Battery life is a non-issue since I always get an extended battery (when available) but they keyboard was just plain aweful, especially compared to a Blackberry. I agree that a horizontal sliding keyboard would have been far better, especially because the kind of stuff you tend to need lots of typing for also looks better in landscape than portrait.
I also wasnt able to take advantage of the multitasking. The problem with a phone is the small screen size, its not like a computer where you can do ACTUAL multitasking. You'll still be moving back and forth between apps and in that sense the Pre isnt any better than most other smart phones.
The contact consolidation and management was excellent but not needed for my purposes. Blackberry would be wise to do something similar very soon, their business users need it.

 

[Slick5150]

Originally posted by: boomhower

Originally posted by: Reckoner
after upgrading to seidio's 2600mah battery, I no longer have any battery problems. Amazon sells them for $50

But they are huge. It completely kills the slickness of the phone. I am doing alright with the stock battery but am still considering on of the 1350 Mugen's.

I picked up one of those Mugen batteries. Its not a HUGE improvement in battery life, but it is better than the stock battery. and currently it's the biggest battery you can get for the Pre that doesn't change the form factor of the phone (and allows you to keep using the original or touchstone back).

 

[SAWYER]

I'm back on my Curve and much happier

 

[luv2liv]

the trick to typing on the pre's kb is to have your thumbs completely covering the button. i was typing it with the thumb's tip or nail, but that wasnt good.