i dont know how many times ive seen this phrase thrown around while looking up information on this phone. Its starting to worry me.
I'm not so sure i have confidence in sprint/palm anymore, not that i ever did, but everywhere i look i see people saying "that phone cant do this yet" or "that can easily be fixed with an OS update". So far the only updates ive seen have made syncing my calendar easier, and revoked my ability to install 3rd party applications. When will i start to see some actual improvements made to the phone? I would hope that enough people are complaining to palm about these minor kinks so that they would be 'fixed/added' sooner than later. All i can think about is when the iphone was first released and seeing similar complaints, and it took them almost 3 years to simply add copy&paste :x
i just purchased a pre and i must say, though its a neat toy, its missing a lot of key features that every smart phone should have. I dont know if its sprint or palms fault but i'm looking for some answers. It wouldn't surprise me if sprint was holding palm back from making a decent phone. the Pre is really ALL print has, until the BB tour comes out later this month, but even then, it's gimped.
so we can copy and paste... i don't remember this being a big deal, other than on the iphone. My sidekick could do this many years ago, i even had a spell check, where is this on the pre?
Instead of ranting, ill list off a few features that ive found missing over the last few days of playing with it.
*you can not download ANYTHING on this phone over 3g, and in most cases, wifi either! no saving images from the web. no sending ringtones over bluetooth. you cant even save an attachment from an email. Sure i can view a hi-res photo that my friend sent me over SMS, but i want save it and use it as my background. sorry, the pre can't do this...yet? i needed to have my friend e-mail me the photo, save it on my computer, crop it, plug in my phone, and then drag it into the correct folder on the phone.
**no over-the-air updates using 3g, you must have a wifi connection.
***the only way to get images/sounds on to this device is to literally plug it into a computer and use it like a storage device.
*no on screen keyboard...yet? all i can do is shake my head at palm for this one.
*where is the forward gesture? So im browsing the web and the back gesture works quite nicely, and it feels good to use, but you cant swipe on the right side to go forward a page... this just seemed like common sense to me.
*you cannot delete pre-loaded applications. the pre comes pre-loaded with a few applications from sprint that i find quite usless for me. doc view, nascar, pdf view, amazon mp3. They are taking up space and if i have no use for them, i should be able to delete them, and just as easily download them again from the app catalog.
*I was told the pre has 8gigs of onboard memory for music/photos/documents/etc., yet when i plug it into my computer, it shows less than 7.
*please correct me if im wrong on this one, but i cant figure out how to select/copy text from a web page. i can only selects and copy if im working in a typing field.
*you cannot record video...yet. not that i really care, However, if the camera itself is capable of recording video, then why the hell cant we do it out of the box.
*no flash/java support...yet. Why not?
*I feel like the single button at the bottom of the screen is almost usless, it would serve better as a track ball.
*before the phone was released, sprint advertised a tethering feature, but shorty after the phone was available for purchase, sprint removed this from their website.
*Also, not reaally a big deal to me, but when using google maps and the navigation application my pre gets hot to the touch.
*when charging the phone gets hot to the touch
*while running some tests yesterday with the screenshot feature (orange+shift+p) ((not really sure what this is even supposed to be used for)) i had about 5 cards open. text, 2 web pages, photos, and help. when i started i had ~40% battery, after about 20 mins of constant use (switching between cards, taking snapshots, sending texts, and flipping the phone around) i had ~8% battery left. i was not only disappointed, but i was shocked by how little usage the battery could actually take at one time.
*you can not change any sounds on the phone other than the ringtone itself....yet?. Why would palm take this feature away in the first place? Nowadays its pretty much standard on every phone to be able to change the sms/voicemail/email tone to whatever i want.
The thing that upsets me the most isnt even software related, its about the hardware. My screen is scary loose, it almost feels like the phone should be able to slide up horizontaly, but it cant. The unfriendly folk at the sprint store told me the phone is supposed to do that, because of the way it is curved and in order to slide up smoothly, the screen needs to wiggle around. Even though this makes sense to me, I'm calling bullshit, i was sold a defective phone and they dont want to replace it. I decided to purchase a pre after my dad came home with one and i fell in love with how cute it was and how good it felt to use. i went in and purchased one the next day and canceled my tmo service after being with them for god knows how many years. when compared side by side with my fathers pre (and a few displays at the sprint store) my screen is significantly looser, and moves around even when using a simple gesture, where as my fathers screen is fairly secure and not really noticeable until you try and move it around.
I am a veteran sidekick user and when i compare this to my pre, im greatly disappointed with this supposed 'iphone killer'.
multi-tasking is awesome, but it seems pointless when my battery literally lasts me 12 hours or less. Hell my sidekick can multi task constantly with heavy use and it will last me 1.5 days at least. pushing for 2 wouldnt be hard.
Maybe im over reacting, but maybe im not. everything mentioned could be easily fixed with an update from palm no?
i mean thats what the hype is about the whole web.OS right?
let me know what you think/know about these issues and any other issues that you've found with this revolutionary device from palm.
your voice must be heard if palm plans on making this phone successful.
###EDIT:
got my screen repaired, its so much nicer to use now.
i literally laughed at every single point you made because i whole-heartedly agreed with everything....my jaw dropped when this phone was first shown at the CES show in January...waited 6 months for this thing, and although i love the phone, im completely and utterly disappointed with the execution of the little things...
the only thing that you can actually do that you mentioned above that i noticed is saving a picture someone sends you over mms....just hold your finger on the picture for a second or so, and it'll open in a different screen where you'll have the option to save it...
but just like you said, "NOT YET" seems to be the theme with this phone...i don't truely see this phone as a competitor to iphone because its targeted at a different audience...iphone is more along the lines of internet/music/games...the pre is more aimed at the business-folks.....however, its that EXACT audience that's gonna raise hell when the simple things like copy/pasting from uneditable screens are not allowed...yet...or when they have to decide between multi-tasking or saving 20% battery life...or when there's no java support...or when you can't capture video footage...and etc...the list goes on as Roor has demonstrated..its just f'n ridiculous...I wish Sprint had the Blackberry Bold...i'd switch to that in a heartbeat
Seriously...I have read so much whining and complaining about this phone. Look...if you don't like the phone...take it back and get something else. If you're going to be an early adopter of tech...you have to expect bugs. That's just the way it is. And I'm not sure what your deal is...but I can save photos sent via e-mail as well as MMS. And I can easily use them as a wallpaper image. Sure there are a few things the phone "can't do yet"...but I'm happy with the things it does so well now. There are plenty of people waiting for a Pre...so take yours back so someone else can enjoy it.
Ok people!
1- in a memory (flash type, hard disk,etc)you cant use all the space (in the pre 8giga) because the operating system use some space for backup etc! in the pre case it leaves a 7 gigas plus free!(remember that the pre comes with an introduction video, ringtones, etc!
2- i agree that palm have to improve some features of the pre! remember that the pre is a 1generation device and it will be improved over the time! but please how you can compare the pre with a side kick!!! you cant compare an i phone with a pre! the pre its a powerfull pda! the pre handles multiples task at a time (12 to be exact) the iphone cant do that!! search in internet and look why the pre is a real opponent to the iphone (for me not! because a pre its for people that need production when the iphone is for multimedia)
3- my battery last up to 30 hrs on moderate use! what are you talking about!! (i leave the wifi and bluetooth on!)
4- why you want a key board to get finger prints all over your screen!! thats why the pre got a real keyboard! (for people who wants a touch one is coming out one application for that)
5- my friend you have to use a third party application because the os is a palm operating system! (you can syncronize a mac with a vista pc? no! you need a program to do that!!)thats why you need a 3rd party program!
6- yes you can delete the nascar etc programs! touch the upper left edge of the screen in the applications screen and then touch the application list and there you can delete them!
7-the video application its coming out soon!!! as many others!
8- to change your alert tones and messages tones try the pimp my sound application!
i can tell some more things but i think that you are from apple jejejeje or you dont know how to use your pre my friend! i haved a htc touch , a diamond and a pro and i can tell you the pre its the best and more powerfull pda i seen!!! and of course the sprint network have a lot of speed and its going to be the first 4g net and the pre its a 4g pda!!!!!
(here you can learn to use your pre! search in the forum! here are lot of information and tricks)
Lol no way the pre comes anywhere close to my sk, but I still miss it.
An onscreen keyboard just makes sense to me, for short keystrokes, quick responses, w/e, I didn't think an argument was needed for that.
However, I still can't delete those usless apps, it will only allow me to delete the ones I downloaded.
You've been helpful.
try this to delete those applications!
1-open the applications screen
2-touch the upper left corner of your screen
3-select application list
4-select one of the application you added (the sceen shows delete or ok) press ok (dont delete it) (i dont know why but this step its the clue!!)
5-select the application you want to delete and there is the delete option! (if you jump the step 4 you only get the ok and not the delete option!)
be careful when deleting the application touch the right one!!
try this to delete those applications!
1-open the applications screen
2-touch the upper left corner of your screen
3-select application list
4-select one of the application you added (the sceen shows delete or ok) press ok (dont delete it) (i dont know why but this step its the clue!!)
5-select the application you want to delete and there is the delete option! (if you jump the step 4 you only get the ok and not the delete option!)
thank you, that works... wait no it doesn't i hit delete, and nothing happens ; ;
now....
since i have updated to 1.04 already, is there any way to download these apps?
i was going to attempt to restore the phone in the 'reset options' but i wasn't sure if that erases the os updates.
Sorry, you can't do that...yet
Linear Mode
