Massive disappointment with Pre 3

[davidra]

Like others, I felt the same way initially when switching from my 700P....but remember that your Treo had very little native functionality; much of the utility of Palm OS came from external apps. You really will understand afters spending some time with WebOS that it is spectacularly better than PalmOS. It's just hard to see when you first switch. But just like Palm, the community is the key to functionality with these open devices and this one is excellent.

[katefields]

I felt like you when I switched from my 755p to the Pre+. A LOT of productivity was lost with webOS, and the only way to regain it is with patches.

BUT, a lot was gained, too--multitasking, to say the least.

You have to realize that the Pre is NOT the next incarnation of Garnet, and therefore you use it differently. Same results, different method of achieving them, and usually just as quickly once you get used to it.

For instance, I know what you mean about being able to hit a button and the program pops up and is ready to use in a split second. With webOS, it's OK to leave apps running all the time. That's the whole point--multitasking. Every morning at 7:00 Multiple App Launcher opens my three most used apps: calendar, tasks, shopping list. And I leave them running ALL DAY. It's super simple to get to the app I want.

There are certainly some glaring organizational omisions (color-coding in month view, contact groups, agenda), but the patches really do make up for a lot, and then some. You'll have a very nice, customized phone when you're done.

[OldSkoolVWLover]

As far as the physical buttons, as someone else said you can move your 4 most used apps to the quick launch bar. beyond that, just type to launch apps is awesome, trust me if you can get used to it you will never be paging through launcher pages to find an app. Also just type for launching the phone/sms is great.

Seriously get used to starting to type the name of the app or the name of the contact you want. Things like this made me never look back to PalmOS, it just takes getting used to the different operating system.

[mefm247]

[QUOTE=David613;3201793]I have just upgraded from a Treo 650 to a Pre 3 and am extremely disappointed. The Pre 3 seems to have lost loads of functionality compared to the Treo. Just a few examples off the top of my head:

Originally Posted by David613

- Text messages in a conversation don't show the day or time once they are earlier than today

Install "Timestamps Clean" from Preware

Originally Posted by David613

- Cannot insert a new line in a text message (pressing return sends the message)

Agreed, that sucks.

Originally Posted by David613

- Lack of physical 4-way button makes editing text harder

You can press the white square to scroll around the text or the shift key to select parts of the text.

Originally Posted by David613

- No keyboard shortcuts for copying or pasting

Gesture area + c, x, v

Originally Posted by David613

- Lack of physical buttons to launch apps means it takes longer to launch frequently used apps

You should leave the most used apps open.

Originally Posted by David613

- Apps take longer to launch than on the Treo

This is true for the first launch subsequent launchs should be faster, additionally, you should leave the most used apps open.

Originally Posted by David613

- No agenda view showing what I have on today

The "Calendar" Exhibition does exactly this.

Originally Posted by David613

- If i want to look for a specific event in my calendar, it is very easy to miss it as the calendar only shows a part of the day at a time

It is hard to fit so much information in the screen, but I can see how this could be confusing.

Originally Posted by David613

- No search within Calendar

Sadly that is indeed the case.


Hope this helps.

[Stevesrjr86]

Originally Posted by Xeron

OMG. For nearly TWO YEARS i've been cursing the inability to move the cursor.

Wow... I feel bad for you . Once you learn all the small things in WebOS, its a pleasure to use.

[gizmo21]

For many of the not so obvious usage problems look into all the
Tips here: http://precentral.net/tips?show_page=6 first after activating a webos device.
Start with the oldes ones when using a phone.

That will spare you a lot of searching time and for the real basics Just Type: Help on your device

[ka1]

Originally Posted by davidra

Like others, I felt the same way initially when switching from my 700P....but remember that your Treo had very little native functionality; much of the utility of Palm OS came from external apps. You really will understand afters spending some time with WebOS that it is spectacularly better than PalmOS. It's just hard to see when you first switch. But just like Palm, the community is the key to functionality with these open devices and this one is excellent.

Actually, many of the complaints he raises were native functionality, especially the PIM/calendar complaints. PalmOS is still the best PIM os out there.

You eventually get used to the WebOS way of doing things, usually with tight Google integration, but different is sometimes worse in some ways.

[laoh]

Originally Posted by David613

- Lack of physical 4-way button makes editing text harder

I find this to be true with most smartphones/tablets. Why can't they bring back the directional buttons? Or at least make some of the qwerty keys into arrows? Or dual touch/cursor setup like the newest BB Bolds are nice.

[cyph911x]

i ordered my pre3 on VZW today.... and let me tell you this forum is T!TS ! i am learning so much and i dont even have my pre3 yet.... my pre+ is awesome.. and this is making me SO EXCITED for the pre3 to come in the mail!!!

sweet

[sumitkishore]

Originally Posted by Xeron

OMG. For nearly TWO YEARS i've been cursing the inability to move the cursor.

How do you do that in TP?

[OldSkoolVWLover]

Originally Posted by sumitkishore

How do you do that in TP?

The physical button isn't there for you to do it.

[BBooDoc]

If you don't like webOS, just try Android to see how much worse it could be!

Learning Curve is real, but the ability to patch to *just* the way you want it is unmatched with webOS phones vs competition, and JustType is earthshaking productive. I don't even like using my kid's Pre now because webOS 1.4.5 JustType isn't as functional as 2.0 and up.

[Loiter]

Most of the issues have been answered (or not in the cases there is no answer).
I agree with the original poster about cursor movement. I wish there was a physical arrow key or something, the alt-swipe thing is very tiresome.
About the calendar search thing, if you use google calendar you can use the Google Calendar Search app. It's free and does its work very well.

[pgarcia]

Welcome to the touchscreen world.
Almost all your points, points also that you are a new user to WebOS...
YOu should read the Tips Section for your help =)

Originally Posted by David613

I have just upgraded from a Treo 650 to a Pre 3 and am extremely disappointed. The Pre 3 seems to have lost loads of functionality compared to the Treo. Just a few examples off the top of my head:
- Text messages in a conversation don't show the day or time once they are earlier than today
- Cannot insert a new line in a text message (pressing return sends the message)
- Lack of physical 4-way button makes editing text harder
- No keyboard shortcuts for copying or pasting
- Lack of physical buttons to launch apps means it takes longer to launch frequently used apps
- Apps take longer to launch than on the Treo
- No agenda view showing what I have on today
- If i want to look for a specific event in my calendar, it is very easy to miss it as the calendar only shows a part of the day at a time
- No search within Calendar
Thinking of going back to my Treo, unless someone can suggest a better alternative.