[GSM] 6 Weeks on - Build Quality

[c_man]

[Thats right, Americans, this is a GSM Pre thread!!]

Now that many of you have had your Pre for up to 6 weeks, what are you opinions on its build quality?

I've had mine swapped for a new Pre TWICE now, and am still not 100% happy, and as the O2 store will not swap for a new one again, its been sent off for repair (by the way, it doesn't get sent to O2 or Palm, its a 3rd party phone repair company... anovo o2 - Google Search ...)

The first Pre developed a 1.5mm Oreo within 4 days - with the phone extended all was fine, however, when shut, lateral movement was significant, enough to create an sharp 'overhang' on each side of the phone because the two parts didn't line up.

The second Pre's power switch became loose within 2 days... difficult to press and produced a VERY annoying rattle sound when the phone is moved in the slightest ...note, no Oreo at all

My 'current' Pre [of 1.5 days!] has a significant gap between the two halves of the phone on one side only. One side is fine, nice and tight, the other has a gap that when pressed on, produces a click each time.
There is also the Oreo effect present, slight movement is fine but I have hte 'overhang' described above.
It's been sent to the repair guys this morning but I've been told that they will most likely return it with the comment 'This is how all Pre's are'....grr...


1] What are your experiences?
2] What do you think of the build quality?
3] What level of movement/'flex' would you deem acceptable?
4] Do you have any movement/Oreo developing?
5] Is your Pre solid/as tight as you'd expect?

[diggedy]

im on my second pre now, the first was exchanged due to suspected hardware issues although im thinking there was nothing wrong with it, but hey, thats what warranties are for. The new one has more of an oreo than the old but so far ive been happy with them.

[Andreas]

No issues with mine, I love it.

[ptwilliams]

I'm on my third...

First one - marked Oreo effect after 2 weeks. Was so noticeable even using the touch screen with the keyboard closed would produce movement.

Second one - no oreo effect, lovely responsive touchscreen, one however, slightly fundamental flaw, you couldnt make or receive calls using through the earpiece. All you'd get would be a high pitched wailing screechy noise.

Third one - great so far.

Each one has been a new Pre unit, but I have a feeling should anything go wrong with this one (god forbid) O2 will send me down the repair route.

[bela42]

Still on my first one, 4 Weeks old, no issues.

[peabrain]

im not happy, going to call o2 and speak to them about mine.

it wasnt bad at the start, but after a few days of real use aboard its shaking sideways like women in a rap video!

did you guys all go to the store or call o2?

[c_man]

Seems like I'm not the only one then.
Must be a case of bad batches, with my local store having taken delivery of the majority

Originally Posted by peabrain

im not happy, going to call o2 and speak to them about mine.

it wasnt bad at the start, but after a few days of real use aboard its shaking sideways like women in a rap video!

did you guys all go to the store or call o2?

Go in. That way you can demonstrate your frustrations to them first hand. Let them see it for themselves. Then ask if they'd expect that from a phone that is worth over £450.
This may help you too: http://forums.precentral.net/gsm-pre...pping-pre.html

Good luck, keep us posted. If its your first return, they should swap it out for a brand new box there and then.

I'm not sure I'm looking forward to receiving my Pre after it's been with 3rd party repair engineers (Google search shows they're not too good) who probably scratch their **** all day and then proceed to handle our precious phones ...

[diggedy]

I suppose im lucky, im on a business contract so I get my phones replaced next day. I get refurbs but I can live with that. My second one was a new one though as it was within the 30 days but the build quality of the second is worse than the first. I dont mind the oreo now, its actually better because its easier to open the slider, before it was quite tight but if ti gets worse as most handsets seem to then maybe I wont be as happy

[amjz]

mine has an Oreo issue, but im not planing to return it coz im sure that i will get a worse one for sure after reading many users stories in this forum.
so im getting used to it and im happy with my Palm pre after the 1.3.1 upgrade and im using it finaly as my primary phone.

The build quality not excellent but better than many slider smartphones, i love the size and the look and feel of the Pre and the WebOS getting beter day after day.

[Achill3s]

Build quality is the biggest issue with the US Pre's, not sure if it differs from the GSM Pre's. My Pre rocks (Especially WebOS) but the build lacks any sense of robustness.

[ChasT]

So far mine has not shown any hardware problems. Bought about day 3 of O2 UK launch.

[peabrain]

Originally Posted by Achill3s

Build quality is the biggest issue with the US Pre's, not sure if it differs from the GSM Pre's. My Pre rocks (Especially WebOS) but the build lacks any sense of robustness.

if you read the posts you'll see its a problem for at least half of gsm users.


as for me, i think i might wait a bit......if o2 are going to be fussy after 2 swaps i might want to use them carefully

[Adam Carr]

Have had my Pre since launch day.

On my first Pre, build quality is superb, no oreo in the slightest, and its really solid, overall very happy (Though has anyone noticed the lip below the keyboard is prone to a few scrapes?)

Apart from a minor cosmetic issue, everything else is the same, so i for one cannot vouch for any problems with build quality, it seems to have been significantly improved from the CDMA Pre's.

[QUOTE=peabrain;2071708]if you read the posts you'll see its a problem for at least half of gsm users.[QUOTE]

Thats very innacurate, the GSM Users on Precentral account for a VERY small proportion of the overall users, who probably dont have any problems at all. The people who do complain are usually the ones who speak the loudest.

The vast majority dont have any problems, and we dont know about it because they dont post it, i mean why would you? You would post if youve been having problems but not if everythings been fine, call it an internet placebo effect

[ChasT]

Originally Posted by Shadow-360

Thats very innacurate, the GSM Users on Precentral account for a VERY small proportion of the overall users, who probably dont have any problems at all. The people who do complain are usually the ones who speak the loudest.

OR to put it another way, in the recent front page pole on how you sync, only a handful (157) of users said they used a standalone app, like missing sync.

However, over 100,000 Pre users have downloaded PocketMirror alone. Go figure

[mvpilot172]

Originally Posted by ptwilliams

I'm on my third...

Second one - no oreo effect, lovely responsive touchscreen, one however, slightly fundamental flaw, you couldnt make or receive calls using through the earpiece. All you'd get would be a high pitched wailing screechy noise.

Are you sure that high pitched wailing wasn't your mother-in-law, just saying. Sounds like the GSM Pre's are being made in the same place as our Sprint CDMA phones.

[peabrain]

well i had some time so i contacted o2, and they said to bring it into a shop or call a specific number to help sort out the problem.......might pop into my local o2 store to see what would happen

[mastahaze]

Endorsing o2 Germany Palm Pre on h3g italy...
I'm overall very pleased with the phone. I'll say 80% as in the title.
everything just go.
I've a very little little slide movement while closed but nothing that I'm warried too much about
But if I think at this phone with better materials and slightly little better slider mechanism, then it would be the real iphone killer for sure
and this is my 20% of unhappiness

[adesonic]

4 weeks in with my 1st Pre and it is perfect - hope I haven't jinxed it now!

[kyll05]

when i plug the usb charger in there is no more overhang or oreo effect on my pre

Once it's removed though it comes back

[pman_lt]

Originally Posted by c_man

[Thats right, Americans, this is a GSM Pre thread!!]
1] What are your experiences?
2] What do you think of the build quality?
3] What level of movement/'flex' would you deem acceptable?
4] Do you have any movement/Oreo developing?
5] Is your Pre solid/as tight as you'd expect?

Experience differs. I had some difficulty at the beginning with the micro USB port cover, it was hard to open it. But now i just slide the phone and its simple as that.
A had to use metadoctor to be able to use the phone, edit carrier db3 files settings to use data.

I experienced (with horror) unresponding keyboard glitch, profile logout ("Restart Required, You are no longer signed in to your Palm Profile on this phone..."). But managed to fix these, via quick search on precentral.net formus

So it is a bumpy ride...

Built quality is exceptional (Palm Pre is my first ever slider phone, so no experience on other sliders), but if you compare with other phones its more/less the same, those cracking noises (especially when using keyboard) are not only on Pre.

It doesn't feel as solid as, for example my old Motorola SLVR L6.