Pre 2 official..yeah it's dead

[randomlinh]

What's going to hurt them the most is that is looks EXACTLY the same as the old Pre which obviously hardly anyone loved. If they made it a different form factor it could bring new customers as it has a new device look and people will think it's something totally different but since it looks exactly the same as the old model, people are going to pass on it without really checking it out unless they know exactly what it is which as we know, no phone has immediate recognition except the iPhone. Obviously there's still millions and millions of new customers that have never played with a smartphone before but I think that someone they know might tell them it's a bad device so they won't get it.

Yes, it will certainly hurt them because of image (and lack of options), but I guess the question is, would it have hurt them more not to have anything at all? (i'm divided on that, but moot now, it's out). I guess I didn't factor in a consistent sales pitch. No one will go to bat for HP Palm except HP/Palm and those left not wanting to switch yet.

How are you going to say its not competing against the likes of iphone4 ??
Its a smartphone that requires the same data plan as every other smartphone.
Not to compare it to the KIN, but the main reason why it failed so miserably is because it require the same data plan as all smartphone.
While its better than the KIN internally, the form factor is that of a "cheap" phone.
When you are paying $2000+ over the lifetime of your contract, $100 difference is not going to persuade people.
Everyone I know at work who have upgraded their phones have ALL been getting the "magical" $199 priced smartphone.
One guy actually did get a Sony Vivaz for $79.
I asked him why in the world would you get that phone if you are paying the same monthly as if you got an iphone ??
In 2 months the Vivaz will be worth noting.
In 2 months the IP4 will still be worth $500.
The next time I saw him, he exchanged it for an IP4.

Ok, taking the Pre 2 completely out of the equation, you seriously don't think there's a market for sub $100 smart phones? Not everyone wants/needs the best of the best. $100 is a $100 still. Yes, I know folks who have stuff like the LG Ally and are perfectly happy with it. Or the BB Curve, they love the keyboard. Most are not techie ppl.

 

[kaerflog]

Ok, taking the Pre 2 completely out of the equation, you seriously don't think there's a market for sub $100 smart phones? Not everyone wants/needs the best of the best. $100 is a $100 still. Yes, I know folks who have stuff like the LG Ally and are perfectly happy with it. Or the BB Curve, they love the keyboard. Most are not techie ppl.

Well, yes, some of the people will choose a $99 phone.
But we are talking about Palm/HP so called flagship phone here.
Its going to sell as much as the HTC Aria and Ally which is not much.
How is webOS going to survive when you start to compare it to phones like the Ally ??
Don't forget ATT have the 3GS 8g for $99.
Even that is more attractive to the general public than a Pre 2 at $99.
I can tell you that I know of noone who have upgraded their phone and decide to get the $99 3GS vs the $199 IP4.

 

[Stang289]

The day-to-day use of my pre plus is a much more pleasant experience than my day-to-day use of the iPhone 3g that I had for two years. I tried the iPhone 3gs and iPhone 4, and determined that I liked the pre plus and webos better.

If there are competent sales people at stores that all willing to show the capabilities of the pre 2 and webos 2, it will stack up against any smartphone. Not many people buy a car, house, tv, smartphone, or anything else based on one or two things; They buy it based on the total package.

 

[MrX8503]

The day-to-day use of my pre plus is a much more pleasant experience than my day-to-day use of the iPhone 3g that I had for two years. I tried the iPhone 3gs and iPhone 4, and determined that I liked the pre plus and webos better.

If there are competent sales people at stores that all willing to show the capabilities of the pre 2 and webos 2, it will stack up against any smartphone. Not many people buy a car, house, tv, smartphone, or anything else based on one or two things; They buy it based on the total package.

I dunno man, even with sales people pimping the Pre2 I don't think it'll be anywhere close to the success of other phones. The hardware is decent, but that screen is just awful.

 

[QueBert]

I dunno man, even with sales people pimping the Pre2 I don't think it'll be anywhere close to the success of other phones. The hardware is decent, but that screen is just awful.

Awful screen > beautiful screen when the device works much better. I love the screen on my Droid 1, but the phone simply won't do most of what I want it to do reliably. *IF* I could get a Pre 2 to do what I needed it to reliably I'd buy one in a heartbeat. My Droid has taught me a pretty screen should be near the bottom of my list.

 

[Funyuns101]

just curious guys, does Palm (HP) still let you sync (HotSync) via their Palm Desktop software?

 

[TheStu]

just curious guys, does Palm (HP) still let you sync (HotSync) via their Palm Desktop software?

With the Pre? I don't think so. For one thing, the Palm Desktop software was originally created over 10 years ago I believe. For another, it syncs Palm OS devices, and the Pre/Pixi are WebOS devices, totally different beast.

 

[Funyuns101]

With the Pre? I don't think so. For one thing, the Palm Desktop software was originally created over 10 years ago I believe. For another, it syncs Palm OS devices, and the Pre/Pixi are WebOS devices, totally different beast.

yea, Pre or Pixi... looking to upgrade my mom's cellphone in the near future. Guess it's time to move on from that old platform.

 

[MrX8503]

Awful screen > beautiful screen when the device works much better. I love the screen on my Droid 1, but the phone simply won't do most of what I want it to do reliably. *IF* I could get a Pre 2 to do what I needed it to reliably I'd buy one in a heartbeat. My Droid has taught me a pretty screen should be near the bottom of my list.

That may be true for your preference but that wasn't the case for the millions of others who bought other smartphones driving Palm into bankruptcy.

 

[zerocool84]

That may be true for your preference but that wasn't the case for the millions of others who bought other smartphones driving Palm into bankruptcy.

The size of the screen was probably on the bottom of the list that people wanted to change.

 

[Fingolfin269]

The size of the screen was probably on the bottom of the list that people wanted to change.

That's definitely on the bottom of my list of reasons as to why I can't wait to replace my Pre.

 

[AstroManLuca]

That's definitely on the bottom of my list of reasons as to why I can't wait to replace my Pre.

I replaced mine for two reasons:

1. The platform didn't have a future.
2. I hated the keyboard.

The Plus has a better keyboard, but I was on Sprint so I couldn't get the Plus. I have to say the screen was beautiful, though. Small, but it looked great. A decent soft keyboard would have gone a long way toward helping make the Pre's case. I also love how it looks, and I still do.

 

[simonizor]

I dunno, it looks pretty cool to me. I'm kind of looking for a smartphone to replace my ipod touch and, depending on the price, it might draw my attention.

 

[Bateluer]

I dunno, it looks pretty cool to me. I'm kind of looking for a smartphone to replace my ipod touch and, depending on the price, it might draw my attention.

Uh, its likely going to cost 199 with a 2 year contract combined with the usual 3G data pricing.

 

[boomhower]

This phone will fail. Hopefully HP will keep pumping money into Palm and live with the losses until they can get a true successor out. HP knows this isn't going to set any sales records but they also knew they had to release something, even if it's just a refresh.

I had a Pre and used it for around six months. I loved the idea of the OS but in use it was annoying. The constant to many cards drove me up the wall and eventually to Android. I know that this ended up being the lack of memory in the original Pre, but the fact is I moved on. I am now fairly entrenched in Android with the amount of money I have spent on apps. For me to take another look at WebOS it's going to take killer hardware, not a Pre 2. I love my EVO and there is no way I'll ever go to a phone with a display smaller than 4.0". I have also grown to dislike hardware keyboards. With the quality of software keyboards today I don't want the extra size and weight. But considering I can't recall Palm every making a phone without one I am not holding my breath.

 

[zerocool84]

I have also grown to dislike hardware keyboards. With the quality of software keyboards today I don't want the extra size and weight. But considering I can't recall Palm every making a phone without one I am not holding my breath.

The same reason why Blackberry makes practically all their phones with hardware keyboards, cus they were primarily a business oriented company.