No - still in good condition 645 56.93%

Yes - but I dropped or bumped it 90 7.94%

Yes - but I was careful with it 398 35.13%

Hell, I have taken on the habit of carrying my 700p around in my back pocket of my jeans from time to time. I even took to sitting on it whenever I did! I actually did so with my Pre yesterday with it in its fabric case! Now I am flipping out that I almost broke my phone, seeing what happened in these pictures. I wonder if the slip leather case for pocket carry that Palm offers would be enough protection from the cracking we have seen in these pictures? I guess, at the very least, you could argue with Palm that you were simply carrying your phone in your pocket with THEIR leather case and had it crack for no reason at all.

My main concern here is that people are not mistreating their phones, as they claim, and are still having their screens crack. I have a very good track record with phones (knock on wood) and hope that this doesn't happen to me, but now I am going to be extra careful with this thing!

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From a palm.com forum:

You know, this is exactly what it look like on my phone - that the pressure came from right at the button. Maybe it did crack when I was pushing the center button - but I didn't notice, or it didn't spread until the next time I used the phone.

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I have a feeling we will be seeing a recall if this is, in fact, determined to be a manufacturer defect.

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I don't know if this was asked, but how can you crack you pre while it's in your front pants pocket and you crack it while you sat on a chair??

Unless you sit differently from the rest of us.

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suddenly glass screen doesn't seem too bad

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I actually have no idea how it cracked. Like I said, the only thing that was even remotely possible is that the side of my leg pressed the phone against the wrought iron arm of the chair. I'm just guessing.

But, now seeing that others are having the same issue - I'm starting to wonder if this has nothing to do with anything I did - and something to do with pressing the center button. All of my cracks appear to begin at the center button.

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If anyone see any other posts about this in any other forums/webpages - I'd appreciate it if you'd post a link here. Thanks!

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That's pretty funny, man.

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I've been carrying smart phones in my front pockets, (jeans - you name it), for years without incident - period. This type of breakage looks & sounds awfully suspicious. Under the circumstances you described, I don't think this type of damage, or should it be said failure, should have occurred unless there was "abuse" and from what is sounds like you were not abusing the phone. I've read about several others experiencing breakage under different circumstances, but not necessarily abusive sounding either. For me this raises suspicion. I cannot tell you how many phones over the years I have dropped numerous times on the pavement, floors, etc. resulting in scratches & dents, but never cracks or serious damage. The worst that has happened is a battery cover popping off and ejecting the battery.

A structural failure on the part of the phone itself should not be ruled out. The first thing I noticed in the pic was the cracks appearing to stem from the button. It should be investigated. No one should offer excuses for what indeed may be a manufacturing or design defect. We have here what should be considered a quality phone, so it goes to say that along with functionality, the design & build should be relatively durable as well. Remember, this is a polished stone – not a fragile egg For all that is known this could be a design flaw and be related to a structural integrity issue. Certainly as of yet it can't be said that there is a defect, but it cannot be ruled out either. It should at least be challenged and explored. Sometimes things have to be exposed to real world usage before all vulnerabilities are exposed and can be corrected. Let's face it; our experiences are the Pre's real world test.

Maybe the reviews about how "pocketable" the Pre is are just wrong??? As un-fun as it would be, why not before filing the insurance claim, challenge Palm on this issue. Perhaps the responsibility is theirs and not yours? How will you know? A brand new phone cracking in your pocket on the 2nd day of ownership doesn’t quantify for me.

If the problem is inherent, you will not be alone. If you can show similar type/replicate complaints, it will help to print a record and present it with the complaint. Be prepared to escalate this to the right person to get an appropriate response.

Not sure, but wasn’t there a problem initially with some iphone screens cracking?

Good Luck!

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Thanks tailwinder! When I first posted this thread I was ready to accept that I must have done something - even though I had no idea what - because I couldn't come up with any other explanation.

But now that I've seen a couple of others with similar problems, I am wondering if there is some sort of problem here.

I'm going to talk with my local Sprint store tomorrow and see where that takes me. I won't file for the insurance right away without looking into other ways to deal with this problem - if Sprint won't help, then I'll try Palm.

Worst case is I end up filing the insurance claim.

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Sounds like the right thing to do! If there is some type of an inherent problem, I would hope that the proud folks at Palm would want to rectify it.

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Just happened to my Pre. A crack that starts or ends at the button. I had mine in the back pocket. Same touch screen issue as quahtrader. Didn't even get it configured and it's going back to the shop. Hope there's a 48hr return policy.

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iphone screen cracked mac rumors - Google Search

The iPhone cracks just as much.

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Wow. Seems like there may be a pattern here with perhaps the button getting pressed against the screen while in a pocket, and causing cracks?

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Could I get a moderator to alter my thread title to include "cracked screen" - don't want to miss anyone else who might have this problem. Thanks.

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Done.

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Thanks. I'm very curious if this is just an isolated incident.

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On the other hand, if the screen cracks and then shatters, would you rather have a front pocket full of plastic or glass? That would be one for the tabloids - "Man Gets Snipped by iPhone!"

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Very sorry to hear this.

I'm assuming the Pre is much more fragile than my Centro which survives everthing. Let us know about the insurance and how long it takes to get the replacement.

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This is interesting... between the handset being too fragile, random screens becoming discolored, random handset batteries having poor life/heat issues, and the (bugs aside) whole slew of basic features not included in OS 1, I'm beginnging to wonder about this phone.

I kind of figured Palm would be cutting some corners, being in their financial predicament, but I didn't really think they'd gut quality control and hardware so much that these things would be a massive problem right after launch day.

They *had* to of known about any weak points in the screen or around the button. They do put their own phones through stress tests. From the forum banter, this is starting to have all the tale-tale signs of a rushed product. I can just imagine the design team screaming "We're not ready!" and upper managment saying, "Just give us whatever you got and we'll sell a finished product later!"

And by the way there is no reason this phone shouldn't (couldn't) be pocketable. It should not be necessary to put casing and layers of protection on what's supposed to be a good solid ergonimic and ground-breaking design.

hmmmmm....

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