Preparing a brand new HP Veer

[Simcoe_]

Hi guys,

So I'm planning on buying an HP Veer - I found some brand new ones on eBay for $110 (including shipping). Apparently they were quite cheaper a couple of months ago but eh, $110 is still a great price imho. That's actually my first question:
1. Do you guys know of any website where I could get a brand new white HP Veer for less than $110 shipped?

I am planning on using the phone on T-Mobile and with the latest firmware. I've just spent hours reading through the forums and if I understand correctly I have three things to do: unlock the phone (this tutorial seems to be up-to-date) then update to WebOS 2.2.4 (this tutorial should do the trick) then create a WebOS account (this post looks like what I'm looking for).
2. Do I have the most recent tutorials and the correct order?

I currently don't have any data plan. I spend most of my time around WiFi networks and adding data to my plan would basically triple the price: way too much for the use I would have for it. I know the Veer doesn't support T-Mobile's UMTS bands anyway, but I don't want it to use EDGE either. I could always misconfigure the APN on purpose but I'm afraid it would consistently try to connect and thus drain battery life.
3. Is there a way to disable all 2G/3G data connections (except WiFi of course) while still being able to send and receive calls and texts?

I think that's all the questions I have for now. I'll keep reading the old topics see if I can find more information.

Thanks for your help!

[raymondchiang]

On my Pre3, in the settings for the phone app, there's a toggle for "Data Usage" which I assume can shut off data access over the cellular network. I assume the Veer would have something similar. Maybe someone else can confirm? I believe My Pre 2 on webOS 2.1 has that option too since my brother is using it without a data plan.

[MicahDG]

Originally Posted by Simcoe_

1. Do you guys know of any website where I could get a brand new white HP Veer for less than $110 shipped?

Taking a look at ebay, I see $110 is a decent price at the moment... they really shot up right before Christmas. I bought my spare Veer for $67 only a month ago. Anyway, I just found this one for $109 if it's not too late for you:
Amazon.com: HP Palm Veer 4G GSM SmartPhone, Black, with QWERTY Keyboard, WebOS, Touchscreen, WiFi, GPS, Locked to AT&T, NO CONTRACT Required: Cell Phones & Accessories

Originally Posted by Simcoe_

2. Do I have the most recent tutorials and the correct order?

I don't know a lot about that personally.

Originally Posted by Simcoe_

3. Is there a way to disable all 2G/3G data connections (except WiFi of course) while still being able to send and receive calls and texts?

Originally Posted by raymondchiang

On my Pre3, in the settings for the phone app, there's a toggle for "Data Usage" which I assume can shut off data access over the cellular network. I assume the Veer would have something similar. Maybe someone else can confirm? I believe My Pre 2 on webOS 2.1 has that option too since my brother is using it without a data plan.

Raymond is correct about #3. These's a simple switch to disable the data connection. Tapping it on my veer immediately kills the H+ icon. Wifi still works great.

If this is your first webos phone, I highly recommend you pick up a few touchstones and extra touchstone cables such as these:
http://www.amazon.com/Palm-Touchston...4160537&sr=8-2
Amazon.com: Palm Pre Original Smart Phone AC USB Wall Adapter + Original Palm PRE Charging USB 2.0 Data Cable: Cell Phones & Accessories

[Simcoe_]

Originally Posted by raymondchiang

On my Pre3, in the settings for the phone app, there's a toggle for "Data Usage" which I assume can shut off data access over the cellular network. I assume the Veer would have something similar. Maybe someone else can confirm? I believe My Pre 2 on webOS 2.1 has that option too since my brother is using it without a data plan.

Originally Posted by MicahDG

Raymond is correct about #3. These's a simple switch to disable the data connection. Tapping it on my veer immediately kills the H+ icon. Wifi still works great.

Thanks, exactly what I was looking for!

Originally Posted by MicahDG

Taking a look at ebay, I see $110 is a decent price at the moment... they really shot up right before Christmas. I bought my spare Veer for $67 only a month ago. Anyway, I just found this one for $109 if it's not too late for you:
Amazon.com: HP Palm Veer 4G GSM SmartPhone, Black, with QWERTY Keyboard, WebOS, Touchscreen, WiFi, GPS, Locked to AT&T, NO CONTRACT Required: Cell Phones & Accessories

I just bought one for $85, new in box and free shipping.
I realized they would be cheaper after Christmas after placing my bid and it was too late to remove it... Oh well, still a good price compared to similar handsets (if that even exists).

Originally Posted by MicahDG

If this is your first webos phone, I highly recommend you pick up a few touchstones and extra touchstone cables such as these:
Amazon.com: Palm Touchstone Charging Dock for Palm Pre and Palm Pixi: Cell Phones & Accessories
Amazon.com: Palm Pre Original Smart Phone AC USB Wall Adapter + Original Palm PRE Charging USB 2.0 Data Cable: Cell Phones & Accessories

Yes, the touchstone is one of the main reasons I was interested in the Veer. I actually purchased those two exact items on Amazon yesterday!

I should've received everything when I get back home after Christmas - I'll try the tutorials I listed and report back, I'm sure it would be useful to someone.

[AREMA]

I bought unlocked version from China about 157 dollars (EMS shipped) and add 15 dollar for touchstone complete accessories

after you install Preware, You can do many tweaks as you need

[bluenote]

About half the people updating to 2.2.4 who reported in the 2.2.3 Veer thread (search forums) bricked their phones. Please read that thread carefully

[Simcoe_]

Originally Posted by bluenote

About half the people updating to 2.2.4 who reported in the 2.2.3 Veer thread (search forums) bricked their phones. Please read that thread carefully

I see a lot of people saying they successfully updated to 2.2.3, is the problem with 2.2.4 specifically? From what I read there is no noticeable improvement in 2.2.4, and it seems to break the stereo playback. I am, however, interested in the Skype integration and the performance fixes in 2.2.3 so I might go with this one.

Also I don't need data so even if the modem doesnt work I won't need to upgrade its firmware, which I understand is the cause of most people's problems.

[raymondchiang]

Originally Posted by Simcoe_

Also I don't need data so even if the modem doesnt work I won't need to upgrade its firmware, which I understand is the cause of most people's problems.

Would voice even work in this case? I'm not too familiar with the inner workings so I'm not sure if the voice and data services rely on the same modem.

[cmahy]

One additional thought re: no Data. Initial phone activation 'defaults' to using cellular data vs. WiFi, etc... Personally, I had a data-available SIM in-hand for that task, but there is a way to activate in a bypassed way. I'm on my Pre & can't easily find the link. If-interested, look for 'carrier bypass' & 'activation'.

Good luck & welcome to the sadly underrated, yet still amazing world of WebOS.

[Simcoe_]

So I received my Veer, unlocked it by calling AT&T (I'm using it with T-Mobile), created a WebOS profile and started playing with it. I found it to be sluggish at times so I updated to 2.2.3 (no A6 firmware) and it works a lot better now. I have a couple of issues with my Veer though - I'm pretty sure both started when I updated to 2.2.3 but I didn't use it long enough on 2.1.2 to be sure of that.

1. I can't get the Veer to display the right time. When I saw the automatic settings didn't work I switched to manual (both time and timezone): that was yesterday morning, and by yesterday evening it was off by ~30 minutes. I set the right time back (manually) and this morning I've just noticed it's off by 30 minutes or so again. I don't know if that happens overtime or all of a sudden. I switched it back to automatic and it now displays 5pm (I live in San Francisco and it's 9:30am right now). When I set only the timezone manually it displays 3:30am. I don't have a data plan but I have 2G coverage and WiFi. My last phone was 2G-only and was able to retrieve the network time so it should be enough.

EDIT: I've researched this further and it seems it's been happening quite a lot on all WebOS devices (including the Touchpad). There are numerous threads about this and no solution (except turning airplane mode on and off - which I did - and removing the battery - which I obviously can't do -). I've installed ClockSync, hopefully it'll work and not drain the battery life.

2. I think it switches off by itself from time to time. Twice in the past two days have I found my Veer off with plenty of battery left. Is this a known problem? It's only happened a couple times so I might have pressed the power button in my pocket or something but I don't think so - I'll try to be more careful and see if this happens again.

Apart from those two things I really love the Veer. My roommate was impressed by how small it is (she owns an HTC Evo 4G, figures!) and whoever came up with the touchstone is my new hero.
I used a Touchpad for a few days and didn't like it that much but that was more about the hardware than the software (I own a Galaxy Tab 10.1 so the Touchpad is kinda bulky compared to it). Now that I'm used to WebOS I actually like it better than Android 3.x, though I'm not sure it's wise to compare a phone OS to a tablet OS. The multitasking in particular is a breeze in WebOS compared to Android (that's now solved in ICS though). Android feels like an OS that started from almost nothing and which was upgraded overtime whereas WebOS feels a lot more "refined", though that may be the gesture area (which is new to me) giving that impression.

Originally Posted by cmahy

One additional thought re: no Data. Initial phone activation 'defaults' to using cellular data vs. WiFi, etc... Personally, I had a data-available SIM in-hand for that task, but there is a way to activate in a bypassed way. I'm on my Pre & can't easily find the link. If-interested, look for 'carrier bypass' & 'activation'.

Yes, I knew that, I posted the link in my OP

[Simcoe_]

So it's been a day and my clock is still in sync, I guess ClockSync did the trick!

No shutdown either so it's all good

[MicahDG]

Glad to hear things are going okay, for the most part

Remember, don't feel guilty about putting a touchstone everywhere you sit or stand for more than 10 minutes a day Car, work, home office, bedside, etc. It's especially important to keep the Veer's battery topped off since it's not removable.

[showie]

Great thread! Just adding on to the discussion as I, too, am planning to put a newly purchased Veer on T-Mobile.

What kind of data speeds can I get with the Veer? Will it do 4G on T-Mobile network or is it only able to do that with AT&T?

Has anyone run into problems moving the Veer to a prepaid T-Mobile setup? I'm planning to use the prepaid unlimited everything plan. Actually for my wife, so am hopeful it will be a smooth transition from her Pixi.

Veer should be here by the end of the week, so any advice is greatly appreciated!

[74sickness]

bricked my veer maybe getting a new one or over to android ics.

[PreJim]

Originally Posted by showie

Great thread! Just adding on to the discussion as I, too, am planning to put a newly purchased Veer on T-Mobile.

What kind of data speeds can I get with the Veer? Will it do 4G on T-Mobile network or is it only able to do that with AT&T?

Has anyone run into problems moving the Veer to a prepaid T-Mobile setup? I'm planning to use the prepaid unlimited everything plan. Actually for my wife, so am hopeful it will be a smooth transition from her Pixi.

Veer should be here by the end of the week, so any advice is greatly appreciated!

T Mobile's data speed is a lot slower than AT&T. Maybe only 2g. Why not just go with AT&T? The Veer was made for it.

[showie]

@PreJim: Price. T-Mobile has a prepaid everything plan for $50/month - I can't find that good of a price on AT&T.

[PreJim]

Originally Posted by showie

@PreJim: Price. T-Mobile has a prepaid everything plan for $50/month - I can't find that good of a price on AT&T.

Can't argue with you on that.

[Simcoe_]

Originally Posted by showie

What kind of data speeds can I get with the Veer? Will it do 4G on T-Mobile network or is it only able to do that with AT&T?

I believe the Veer is not compatible with T-Mobile's 3G bands so you would be stuck with Edge (2G).

One of the main reasons I bought the Veer is precisely the fact I don't have a data plan: I think the screen is too small to make mobile data worth it. Had I had an unlimited data plan, I would probably have gone with a high-end Android phone instead.

[Herrie]

Originally Posted by Simcoe_

I believe the Veer is not compatible with T-Mobile's 3G bands so you would be stuck with Edge (2G).

One of the main reasons I bought the Veer is precisely the fact I don't have a data plan: I think the screen is too small to make mobile data worth it. Had I had an unlimited data plan, I would probably have gone with a high-end Android phone instead.

I guess it depends on where you live. T-Mobile seems to have 1700/2100 MHZ 3G Network according to Mobile World Live - Coverage Maps

2100 MHZ should work on the Veer according to the specs at HP Veer 4G specs and HP Veer - Full phone specifications however the 1700 MHZ won't work.

AT&T seems to have 850/1900 MHZ 3G network according to HP Veer - Full phone specifications

Both these frequencies are supported by the Veer.

[summatusmentis]

if you're not in an area that has the 2100MHZ band, you might look into Simple Mobiles Unlimited "3G" plan (unlimited data, unlimited text, unlimited minutes, for $40/mo). I'm using it right now on a veer, and since I can only get EDGE anyway, I see no reason to pay for a more expensive plan. Only downside is that Simple Mobile doesn't roam (they sub-contract T-Mobile's network, but don't have roaming agreements).