Quality control problems

[bostongio]

After reading threads here and on other Pre forums, you come to the inevitable conclusion that the Palm Pre has serious quality control issues. The build quality is apparently all over the map, with some users having exchanged their handsets as many as 3 times to try and get a "good" one (meanwhile, I'm certain those returned handsets are going back out as refurbs after being quickly checked over, wiped, and cleaned up).

This is really too bad. Competing against a high build quality handset like the iPhone means it just stands out all the more. Between the screen blotches, the overheating, screen cracking, the slider becoming loose (or resetting the phone!), it just seems like someone is sleeping in the quality control department. However, some things, like the overheating issue, *had* to have been a "known issue" long before they started production. You had engineers using these things for months and they never noticed it get hot, causing the screen to blotch?!

Please, Palm, stop production and get it right! You are shooting yourselves in the foot with the poor build quality, and turning even your most positive advocates against you. This could very well be your swan song if you don't pay attention to these details. Your engineers have designed a great OS, but we need a reliable, high-quality handset to deliver it.

I am truly on the fence. I know how long it takes to tool up for production, so anyone thinking a new hardware version is coming any time soon is dreaming. But perhaps they could tighten up tolerances and increase QC more, and ensure their suppliers are engineering parts to spec.

I would buy a Pre in a second if it didn't have so many (and so variable) quality build issues. But I refuse to pay this kind of price and be locked into a new 2 year contract for a great new phone with no idea whether I'll be getting a dud or a decent handset. (And if I do get a dud, having to go through the hassle of going back and forth with the store -- which is not close -- for exchanges...)

I'll wait a little longer to see if any of this stuff gets better, but I'm disappointed that Palm skimped on these details when they sent the phone into production. As a Sprint customer for nearly a decade, I really would hate to leave them for the far inferior AT&T, but it's getting to the point where the lack of modern smartphone choices on Sprint is infuriating.

I want to believe and purchase the Pre, so please, get it together!!

[leftyman]

lol...just go to AT&T already and get your iphone.

[mrloserpunk]

Originally Posted by bostongio

After reading threads here and on other Pre forums, you come to the inevitable conclusion that the Palm Pre has serious quality control issues. The build quality is apparently all over the map, with some users having exchanged their handsets as many as 3 times to try and get a "good" one (meanwhile, I'm certain those returned handsets are going back out as refurbs after being quickly checked over, wiped, and cleaned up).

This is really too bad. Competing against a high build quality handset like the iPhone means it just stands out all the more. Between the screen blotches, the overheating, screen cracking, the slider becoming loose (or resetting the phone!), it just seems like someone is sleeping in the quality control department. However, some things, like the overheating issue, *had* to have been a "known issue" long before they started production. You had engineers using these things for months and they never noticed it get hot, causing the screen to blotch?!

Please, Palm, stop production and get it right! You are shooting yourselves in the foot with the poor build quality, and turning even your most positive advocates against you. This could very well be your swan song if you don't pay attention to these details. Your engineers have designed a great OS, but we need a reliable, high-quality handset to deliver it.

I am truly on the fence. I know how long it takes to tool up for production, so anyone thinking a new hardware version is coming any time soon is dreaming. But perhaps they could tighten up tolerances and increase QC more, and ensure their suppliers are engineering parts to spec.

I would buy a Pre in a second if it didn't have so many (and so variable) quality build issues. But I refuse to pay this kind of price and be locked into a new 2 year contract for a great new phone with no idea whether I'll be getting a dud or a decent handset. (And if I do get a dud, having to go through the hassle of going back and forth with the store -- which is not close -- for exchanges...)

I'll wait a little longer to see if any of this stuff gets better, but I'm disappointed that Palm skimped on these details when they sent the phone into production. As a Sprint customer for nearly a decade, I really would hate to leave them for the far inferior AT&T, but it's getting to the point where the lack of modern smartphone choices on Sprint is infuriating.

I want to believe and purchase the Pre, so please, get it together!!

lame.

[smoresrock]

Originally Posted by leftyman

lol...just go to AT&T already and get your iphone.

Originally Posted by mrloserpunk

lame.

[bostongio]

Wow, truly great comments there guys, thanks for your thoughtful insights.

[mrkalel]

Oh please... 1 post?... troll

[mrloserpunk]

your insight into the pre is worthless. You don't own it, and your saying palm should shut down production based on the small percentage of defective units, on a 1.0 device reported on by forum you apparently just joined. You provide a 100% opinion based post that brings nothing new to this board. So yeah, your LAME.

[cardfan]

You're with a two year contract with sprint, not this phone. After 12 months, you can upgrade phones. And you can always pay the prorated etf later if needed.

[bostongio]

Wow loserpunk, and your 132 posts are like, wow, so much more insightful.

When you see that more than 35% of users have had to exchange their handset at least once:

how-many-times-have-you-exchanged-your-pres.html

You call that a "small percentage"!? A small percentage would be in the single digits, preferably under 5. If you've ever worked in a manufacturing production environment, you'd know that.

To have a 35% exchange rate from Pre lovers, that's not a good sign. And how many people just live with the problems assuming it's okay. If my 24" monitors can be delivered to me with 0 stuck pixels, then yeah, I'd like to think they can deliver a 3.1" screen without any too.

[bostongio]

Thanks cardfan for the reminder about handset options... I'm probably going to make the plunge for a Pre, but waiting another month hoping some of the hardware issues will get ironed out.

[homerlanza]

35% of 100,000 handsets would be 35,000. I doubt even a fraction of that posts here. So your 35% number is sad at best.

You need to take what people say here with a grain of salt. You won't really know until you get your own. I have had my phone since launch and I haven't had one issue. I would like to think it is more good manufacturing than luck. Call me an optomist.

Originally Posted by bostongio

Wow loserpunk, and your 132 posts are like, wow, so much more insightful.

When you see that more than 35% of users have had to exchange their handset at least once:

how-many-times-have-you-exchanged-your-pres.html

You call that a "small percentage"!? A small percentage would be in the single digits, preferably under 5. If you've ever worked in a manufacturing production environment, you'd know that.

To have a 35% exchange rate from Pre lovers, that's not a good sign. And how many people just live with the problems assuming it's okay. If my 24" monitors can be delivered to me with 0 stuck pixels, then yeah, I'd like to think they can deliver a 3.1" screen without any too.

[gbp]

Originally Posted by cardfan

You're with a two year contract with sprint, not this phone. After 12 months, you can upgrade phones. And you can always pay the prorated etf later if needed.

cardfan
are you sure about prorated etf ?

[vizi]

Originally Posted by bostongio

After reading threads here and on other Pre forums, you come to the inevitable conclusion that the Palm Pre has serious quality control issues. The build quality is apparently all over the map, with some users having exchanged their handsets as many as 3 times to try and get a "good" one (meanwhile, I'm certain those returned handsets are going back out as refurbs after being quickly checked over, wiped, and cleaned up).

This is really too bad. Competing against a high build quality handset like the iPhone means it just stands out all the more. Between the screen blotches, the overheating, screen cracking, the slider becoming loose (or resetting the phone!), it just seems like someone is sleeping in the quality control department. However, some things, like the overheating issue, *had* to have been a "known issue" long before they started production. You had engineers using these things for months and they never noticed it get hot, causing the screen to blotch?!

Please, Palm, stop production and get it right! You are shooting yourselves in the foot with the poor build quality, and turning even your most positive advocates against you. This could very well be your swan song if you don't pay attention to these details. Your engineers have designed a great OS, but we need a reliable, high-quality handset to deliver it.

I am truly on the fence. I know how long it takes to tool up for production, so anyone thinking a new hardware version is coming any time soon is dreaming. But perhaps they could tighten up tolerances and increase QC more, and ensure their suppliers are engineering parts to spec.

I would buy a Pre in a second if it didn't have so many (and so variable) quality build issues. But I refuse to pay this kind of price and be locked into a new 2 year contract for a great new phone with no idea whether I'll be getting a dud or a decent handset. (And if I do get a dud, having to go through the hassle of going back and forth with the store -- which is not close -- for exchanges...)

I'll wait a little longer to see if any of this stuff gets better, but I'm disappointed that Palm skimped on these details when they sent the phone into production. As a Sprint customer for nearly a decade, I really would hate to leave them for the far inferior AT&T, but it's getting to the point where the lack of modern smartphone choices on Sprint is infuriating.

I want to believe and purchase the Pre, so please, get it together!!

I agree...I bought the phone on launch day. I've been reading these forums and taking the advice to just wait a little while, Palm will fix it. The WebOS problems I can deal with, they will be fixed I'm sure. But the build quality is sub-par. The materials are flimsy. And I'm terrified of dropping the thing.

Oh yeah......Flame on.

[tripsbacks]

Originally Posted by bostongio

After reading threads here and on other Pre forums, you come to the inevitable conclusion that the Palm Pre has serious quality control issues. The build quality is apparently all over the map, with some users having exchanged their handsets as many as 3 times to try and get a "good" one (meanwhile, I'm certain those returned handsets are going back out as refurbs after being quickly checked over, wiped, and cleaned up).

This is really too bad. Competing against a high build quality handset like the iPhone means it just stands out all the more. Between the screen blotches, the overheating, screen cracking, the slider becoming loose (or resetting the phone!), it just seems like someone is sleeping in the quality control department. However, some things, like the overheating issue, *had* to have been a "known issue" long before they started production. You had engineers using these things for months and they never noticed it get hot, causing the screen to blotch?!

Please, Palm, stop production and get it right! You are shooting yourselves in the foot with the poor build quality, and turning even your most positive advocates against you. This could very well be your swan song if you don't pay attention to these details. Your engineers have designed a great OS, but we need a reliable, high-quality handset to deliver it.

I am truly on the fence. I know how long it takes to tool up for production, so anyone thinking a new hardware version is coming any time soon is dreaming. But perhaps they could tighten up tolerances and increase QC more, and ensure their suppliers are engineering parts to spec.

I would buy a Pre in a second if it didn't have so many (and so variable) quality build issues. But I refuse to pay this kind of price and be locked into a new 2 year contract for a great new phone with no idea whether I'll be getting a dud or a decent handset. (And if I do get a dud, having to go through the hassle of going back and forth with the store -- which is not close -- for exchanges...)

I'll wait a little longer to see if any of this stuff gets better, but I'm disappointed that Palm skimped on these details when they sent the phone into production. As a Sprint customer for nearly a decade, I really would hate to leave them for the far inferior AT&T, but it's getting to the point where the lack of modern smartphone choices on Sprint is infuriating.

I want to believe and purchase the Pre, so please, get it together!!

Uh.................I guess.

[tozfeekum]

sorry guys but he's right, the build quality of this phone compared to the iphone is just horrible. Every pre i've gotten has dead pixels and or light bleeding. I've had 5 iphones and none of them had those issues, or any other hardware issues. I might just be unlucky, who knows.

[dkotoric]

you have to understand most people that have a problem come and complain the ones that don't have problems don't say anything so the issue here is that not even close to 35% are defects. Iphone is a great product but I stoped by and checked out 2 times the iphone 3gs over the weekend wanting to make the switch and every time I use it I reallize how much nicer the Pre is.

[beret9987]

Originally Posted by leftyman

lol...just go to AT&T already and get your iphone.

Are you going to shhot down everyone with a decent realizatipn of the Pre's build quality? I own a Pre and I have to agree with the build quality issues. Its not enough to make me switch off of it, but its annoying as hell... If all you ******* do is shoot down real concerns(flame those true pre haters though! XP) then you're just as bad as Iran. As far as I can tell, he has valid concerns about the Pre and does list the positive about the device, so chill out. Last time I checked, this is mainly an American forum. Act like it.

[Ben7seven7]

Originally Posted by homerlanza

35% of 100,000 handsets would be 35,000. I doubt even a fraction of that posts here. So your 35% number is sad at best.

You need to take what people say here with a grain of salt. You won't really know until you get your own. I have had my phone since launch and I haven't had one issue. I would like to think it is more good manufacturing than luck. Call me an optomist.

I think your more of an optimist as of the almost dozen Pre's i've seen in person probably almost half have had one problem or another. This is very unfortunate and doesn't make me feel good of my chances on getting a good exchange on my Pre.

[mrloserpunk]

Originally Posted by bostongio

Wow loserpunk, and your 132 posts are like, wow, so much more insightful.

When you see that more than 35% of users have had to exchange their handset at least once:

how-many-times-have-you-exchanged-your-pres.html

You call that a "small percentage"!? A small percentage would be in the single digits, preferably under 5. If you've ever worked in a manufacturing production environment, you'd know that.

To have a 35% exchange rate from Pre lovers, that's not a good sign. And how many people just live with the problems assuming it's okay. If my 24" monitors can be delivered to me with 0 stuck pixels, then yeah, I'd like to think they can deliver a 3.1" screen without any too.

My other posts show I'm not afraid to let anyone know my dissatisfaction with the pre hardware. I own it. I have no more "insight than you", just more common sense. I wouldn't type a post calling on palm to halt production "until they get it worked out". Especially when I haven't even purchased it yet. I also wouldn't be so naive to think a forum with what could only be at most 25% of the palm pre owners out there can be used to determine defect rates and I for dam sure wouldn't be stupid enough to use a sample of what 110 respondents based on estimated sales of 100k...Your crappy ineffective call for palm to halt production is based on an defect rate(estimated) of less than .00101...you sir deserve nothing more than a big old FAIL.


How many of those returns were due to the "screen blotting" panic? It appears to be a known design issue, as each phone I have had has it in some form. Should they hault production and destroy the company because of it? How about the dead pixels...listen if the Pre is not up your alley, wait for the EoS.......

[mrloserpunk]

Originally Posted by vizi

I agree...I bought the phone on launch day. I've been reading these forums and taking the advice to just wait a little while, Palm will fix it. The WebOS problems I can deal with, they will be fixed I'm sure. But the build quality is sub-par. The materials are flimsy. And I'm terrified of dropping the thing.

Oh yeah......Flame on.

I'd buy that for a buck. I Still wanna know WHY palm chose a slider...jeesh. I'm getting more confident when i carry it around. I've gotten alot of use out of if I've watched a few movies, use it for music and nav almost everyday and respond to about 15-20 emails or txts each day. The more I use it the more confident I am that it'll make 2yrs...good thing Im premier just in case! but I do hope their is a TREO ULTIMATE "style" in the plans somewhere....