Palm Pre 2 - (any takers?)

Swiftlegend · 26 Dec 2010 at 15:08

I received an email this morning showing the release of the new Palm Pre 2 at £399 sim free. 1Ghz processor, 5mp camera with LED flash, 3.1" screen (I think its gorilla glass), 16GB space and WebOS 2.0. (also the snazzy touchstone charging dock)

Info here: http://www.palm.com/uk/en/products/phones/pre2/index.html

I'm definitely very tempted by this phone (using an N95 8GB atm and i really need a new phone), android just doesn't do it for me - played on a friends' and it just doesn't feel right, W7 feels great (really smooth) but i'm not keen on the tiles, and the N8 looks great with a nice camera but i've had enough of Symbian.

What do you guys think of this phone? Any takers?

Vince · 26 Dec 2010 at 15:14

If its even twice as good as the pre 1 it will still be a bad phone... Some of the issues with my pre over 6 months ownership included:

1: if the phone ran out of juice it needed 20 mins of charge before turning on.
2: battery lasted less than a full day - often charging up to 3 times daily.
3: the slide started crunching and would stop answering calls
4: the touch screen was poor at best.
5: the phone kept thinking I had headphones in when i didn't meaning I could only talk to poeple if i put loud speaker on.
6: music quality through the phone in the car for example was less than acceptable.
7: the fully querty is not comfortable at all.

I could go on but I wanted to just share how truly bad the pre is and for what its worth web os is a complete pile of junk. I changed from the pre to a desire and couldnt have been happier.

Swiftlegend · 26 Dec 2010 at 15:15

oooh

well you still haven't put me off entirely

MagicBoy · 26 Dec 2010 at 15:18

Future doesn't look bright to be honest, given that none of the big networks are stocking it.

The brother-in-law has an original Pre and really rates it.

Vince · 26 Dec 2010 at 15:23

we were looking to roll it out for quite a few of our guys but my boss rejected in after a day and I picked up the slack with it for as long as I could stand it. Its big issue was battery and a poor OS. I mean the battery really is the most appauling thing known to man. It wouldn't supprise me at all if the pre was rejected by the networks. The previous one I had to get on the grey market and paid a whopping £360 for.

Vince · 26 Dec 2010 at 15:25

MagicBoy said:
Future doesn't look bright to be honest, given that none of the big networks are stocking it.

The brother-in-law has an original Pre and really rates it.

Can I ask what he likes about it? I really struggled to say anything I actually like about it after moving to the desire which imo does everything better.

MagicBoy · 26 Dec 2010 at 15:36

VinceB1 said:
Can I ask what he likes about it? I really struggled to say anything I actually like about it after moving to the desire which imo does everything better.

It just does what he needs, namely web surfing the usual phone stuff and social networking. He's lucky if the battery life lasts more than a day. Suspect he may end up upgrading to an iPhone at some point.

People do get attached to Smartphones, more-so recently as prices have fallen and traditional candybar phones are dying out. Working in IT procurement my dept is always getting bombarded by people wanting the latest model x from manufacturer y.

Swiftlegend · 26 Dec 2010 at 18:16

Ye i'm attactched to my N95, its got a messed up screen and a dot on the camera but still I have it, I don't want to spend £400 then find that I want another phone, cause my N95 has lasted me around 4 years I think. Also the Palm Pre 2 is a slider and I like sliders

not really a candybar person.

EDIT: Just a question: Which would you rate as being better? Symbian 3 - on the N8, or WebOS on the Palm Pre 2?

HumanShield · 27 Dec 2010 at 16:39

Iloved my Pre when I had it. I though the screen was lovely and clear, and very responsive. It performed well enough, and the keyboard was comfortable enough for me to use despite having big hands. And,the multitasking was awesome!

Wouldnt go back to one from a decent android phone though, and I include the San Fransisco in that, would rather that than a Pre these days!

Swiftlegend · 27 Dec 2010 at 17:35

Ok, looked at the Nexus S today, i must say it is very smooth and all that, but it felt too light and felt like i was about to drop it due to the curve, still very tempted by the Pre 2, what makes android so much better for you?

Doz007 · 27 Dec 2010 at 19:08

I've been the proud owner on a Palm Pre Plus for the past 6 months or so and over that time I have developed a real soft spot for WebOS.

The way it handles multitasking is just so effortless that it beats any other mobile os hands down in this department! There's a YouTube video out there showing 50 apps running in real time on the Pre Plus. :eek:

Sure, it doesn't have as many apps as the iPhone but you can pretty much customise to suit your needs via Preware.

|-Chris-| · 27 Dec 2010 at 19:57

I've been using a Pre for about 12 months now - the Pre 2 is basically just a stop gap until HP/Palm release new models in 2011 (possible announcement may be due at CES 2011 in January).

WebOS is a fantastic mobile operating system in terms of multitasking but I feel it is under-developed when compared to Android and services you can get from a Blackberry device!

At this moment in time my advice would be to wait and see what HP/Palm release.

Swiftlegend · 27 Dec 2010 at 20:16

|-Chris-| said:
I've been using a Pre for about 12 months now - the Pre 2 is basically just a stop gap until HP/Palm release new models in 2011 (possible announcement may be due at CES 2011 in January).

WebOS is a fantastic mobile operating system in terms of multitasking but I feel it is under-developed when compared to Android and services you can get from a Blackberry device!

At this moment in time my advice would be to wait and see what HP/Palm release.

Ok thanks, i won't rush into anything until CES is over.

@ Doz007 - ye i saw that video, that is very impressive having that many cards open at any one time.

Also I read that there are 5000 apps available on the WebOS market and if you use Preware there is around another 1000. I don't need more than 6000

besides having an iPod Touch is a good idea aswell.

Doz007 · 27 Dec 2010 at 21:00

Yeah, there was an app for all the main things that I used. I cant think of anything major missing that I used frequently on my iPhone. In fact having just moved over to WP7, I'm missing the engadget app and also angry birds.

Swiftlegend · 28 Dec 2010 at 14:12

Doz007 said:
Yeah, there was an app for all the main things that I used. I cant think of anything major missing that I used frequently on my iPhone. In fact having just moved over to WP7, I'm missing the engadget app and also angry birds.

I've looked at WP7 and it is soooo smooth, but no google maps

and it may be quick but i just don't like the tiles idea.

Yas786 · 28 Dec 2010 at 14:21

Im still rather shocked/surprise that Palm have survived this long in the mobile arena...the Pre is nice, i played with one and used one for a few weeks but it just had too many little bugs that ruined the experience for me.

Havent seen or heard anything about the new Pre but i hope its a better phone than the first one.

Mekrel · 28 Dec 2010 at 18:44

I'll enjoy seeing this one fall flat on its face, again.

Palm didn't really survive, they were in a pretty sorry state of affairs which led to the acquisition by HP. Their demise was driven by the poor performance of their Palm Pre, they shipped a lot to their retail customers, but they just sat on the shelves gathering dust.

Main reasons why will make the Palm Pre 2 fail:

Poor launch timing, Microsoft have invested heavily in W7 and according to early adopters it's a good experience (which I find surprising)
The hardware doesn't look that great - which will hold WebOS back from showing its full potential