[jonKranked]

the palm lineup is heading to big red. Will be available Jan 25th.

 

[binary visions]

The Palm Pre is such a plastic piece of junk that it kinda turned me off to the whole Palm lineup. I mean, here is their ostensible flagship phone, and it feels like a cheap children's toy.

Yes, that's an aesthetic quibble rather than a functional one but if you're laying out bucks for a company's best, I'd rather it not creak when I look at it too hard.

 

[jonKranked]

BV, from what I've read they beefed up the device. The sliding functionality supposedly feels a lot more solid.


edit: here ya go:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/07/palm-pre-plus-and-pixi-plus-first-hands-on/

 

[binary visions]

Sliding functionality was a drop in the bucket. The whole phone felt like a piece of junk.

I actually really liked the look of the Pixi. Not really a phone for me, but a really nice size for some uses.

 

[syadasti]

One of my supervisors (with limited computers skills) at my last job had a Pre, she said she liked it but I didn't try it out myself.

Playing around in the store or borrowing it for a bit isn't a real test or sample size though. Cost or initial impressions don't often mean much.

Best case scenario is when you have to manage the mobile deployments.

 

[binary visions]

There are obviously things you can determine from initial impressions, and things you can't.

Tactile quality of the phone takes approximately ten seconds to get a good grasp on.

I'm not digging on the phone's operating system or feature set. Just stating that I have a problem personally with laying out a bunch of money for a flagship item and having it feel like junk. I'm using it every day: build quality matters.

 

[syadasti]

But again initial feel does not necessarily reflect durability. Some times the cheap crappy phones on average last longer than the nice ones like the razr for example.

Cars are a great example. Luxury brand cars often feel more significant but better designed average japanese cars are more than often superior despite the cheaper materials, thinner panels and other features that contribute to feel.

I agree that the new Palm overall seems like the least appealing of newer generation mobile platforms.

 

[jonKranked]

There are obviously things you can determine from initial impressions, and things you can't.

Tactile quality of the phone takes approximately ten seconds to get a good grasp on.

I'm not digging on the phone's operating system or feature set. Just stating that I have a problem personally with laying out a bunch of money for a flagship item and having it feel like junk. I'm using it every day: build quality matters.

From what I've read, the Verizon version sounds like these issues have been addressed.

 

[IH8Rice]

From what I've read, the Verizon version sounds like these issues have been addressed.

have they retooled the entire phone just for VZW? seems expensive.

 

[jonKranked]

have they retooled the entire phone just for VZW? seems expensive.

well they had to make a CDMA version, so why not make other desired changes in the process?

the phone also lost its function button on the front right under the screen.

 

[IH8Rice]

well they had to make a CDMA version, so why not make other desired changes in the process?

swapping the radio out is a little easier than re-tooling though.

 

[jonKranked]

swapping the radio out is a little easier than re-tooling though.

True.

Dunno if it was a re-tooling or if they just tweaked their resin modifiers.

 

[syadasti]

Jon was right, there were some hardware updates:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/20/palm-pre-plus-and-pixi-plus-review/

Most noticeable is the removal of the "home" button from the front of the Pre, and a slight change to its keyboard which makes the keys a bit clickier and less gel-like. Palm also says it's altered the hinge mechanism and updated the build quality of the phone -- that seems to be true, though there are still issues to be found.

...

As far as phones go, it is by no means perfect -- like the iPhone 3GS or the Nexus One or the Droid, it has its issues, and you will find yourself annoyed by certain decisions Palm has made here. It should be obvious that as a smartphone buyer, you have some amazing options right now. If you're a Verizon customer, you can get the excellent Droid, or wait for the forthcoming Nexus One, to say nothing of the BlackBerry offerings on the network (if that's your cup of tea). If you're carrier independent, then your choice is even harder -- T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T offer a stack of seriously great phones that would make even the pickiest geek happy. So why choose the Pre Plus on Verizon? To answer that question, you have to figure out if you believe in the potential of webOS devices; Palm doesn't have the fastest phone, or the phone with the highest resolution, certainly not the biggest app selection, and it doesn't have a massive community behind it. What it does have, however, is a brilliant platform with huge potential to change the way you work and live with your phone (provided they tap that potential soon... as in now). If you're as hopeful as we are that that potential will be fulfilled, your decision should be a simple one.

 

[jonKranked]

Jon was right

let us mark this day in history.