[greenawayj]

Palm III (1998) > Treo 600 (at launch Nov 2003) > Treo 700p (at launch Jun 2006) --- I've been kind of an 'every other generation' guy, but very much a Palm OS loyalist and advocate. I use it to manage my work life as well as my personal life.

First of all, I'm a total beleiver in 'To each his own', but for me... the Pre's just not there yet. Like many others have said above, the funtionality concessions I'd need to make for the Pre relative to my 700p just are not sufficiently offset by the benefits of the Pre and WebOs (In my view: True Multitasking, bigger / better screen, slide out kb, Wifi, GPS/LBS).

For my personal use scenario, the major functionality shortfalls are mostly solvable with firmware / software updates and 3rd party solutions which I am confident are coming:

- Some form of reliable Task Syncing with Outlook (I actually use "My Life Organized" as my Task / Project management / Life Brainstorming tool on the PC, but after all my thinking is done, MLO syncs my nearterm active tasks into Outlook and updates changes and completions very smoothly from my 700p via hotsync).

- A more configurable email solution. I have been a HUGE Chattermail fan for nearly 3 years now. I don't expect any built-in email solution to ever match it, but to not allow a user to turn off email checking overnight, come on?

- Pocket Quicken (or an equivalent replacement). I'm a religious expense tracker and need to sync with my Desktop Quicken (hence Classic with PQ won't work for me)

- General Buglist fixes. I've been very very surprised with the extent and nature of the buglist - both on the HW side and the SW side. There are at least 5-10 items in the (About 40 or so as of this writing in the first post, but I don't think the OP has updated it with some recent ones?) sticky list that have to be addressed for me to come to the pre...

• being able to use symbols in website forms? Nearly all of my important / financial website passwords has a symbol in it and I'm not going through all of the trouble to change those passwords just so I can have a Pre - major oversight - how could the beta testers not have caught this. Easy Fix if they had)
• improved synergy - there seems to be a bunch of problems with google calendar sync, EAS setup, etc... Believe me, I dream of the day that push my Hotsync butten for the last time!! I would love if all of my data is in the cloud or on an exchange server, but that OTA sync process better be reliable and consistent

Finally, while I wish we had D-pad navigation and onboard backup to micro-SD, there is one hardware issue that could keep me away. That is the coverage / signal issue. I helped a friend migrate this weekend from a 755p to the Pre. We were in a marginal sprint coverage area and the Pre was getting 0-1 bars, her 755p 1-2 bars, and my 700p (external antenna) had 2-3 bars. For those with city coverage, it probably won't be an issue, but having recently moved to the burbs and in a 1-3 bar range, if my phone doesn't work at home, I can't keep it.. (I know, there's always Sprint's in-home cell service, but that doesn't help me if I run down to the grocery store and my wife can't reach me to update her order)

So in the end, I do actually believe it'll be a matter of time, possibly several months, before I can take the plunge, but I do hope that the Pre will get there and I'll still be rooting for Palm, though I'm somewhat disappointed with how choppy this launch was and I hope the bugs and HW issues don't cause too much harm.

[kgilbertsen]

I have been using the Palm OS since 1997 - Palm Pilot, PP Pro, Handspring Visor, Sony Clie, Treo 650, Treo 755p. My biggest gripe with the Pre is the inability to synch Tasks. The rest of the changes with the Pre I think I could live with / get used to. I will definitely hang on to it until the 30 days are up, hoping someone comes up with an app for the Tasks issue.

[neffed]

I have been a Palm user for over 10 years. My first was a "Palm Pilot".

I got the Pre because I was getting fed up with my Treo 755p. The Treo would halt while you were typing or using the calculator and you would have to wait a few seconds for it to catch up. Minor hangups, not total crashes. And I am not a power user, not using any really power hungry aps. I didn't use the Treo for email, rarely accessed the internet. What I liked about the Palm was its ability to keep me organized. In other words, the strong suit of the Palm was the PIM.

Today I called Palm tech support to ask about some of the basic applications, and my fears were confirmed. There are some very basic functionality missing from the PIM applications.

The most frustrating for me:
Calendar--
No ability to search the calendar for a future or past event. When was that last Dr's appointment? When is my next one? Functionality missing.

Memo--
I am a big user of lists. I have a lot of my personal information organized on lists that I need to have with me. The Pre memo application has no ability to categorize memos. You can organize them into four different colors, but no ability to categorize or create new categories.

These are two major shortcomings that I don't know if I can get past.
I like the Pre, it's pretty, it's cute and it's nice to be able to actually BROWSE the web or use the internet from your phone, which the Treo could not do well.

We'll see. Perhaps I'll be returning the Pre until they can improve the PIM functionality.

[dbodner]

Started with the 300, then 600, 650 and 700p.

At this point it's really hard to evaluate the pre. Not only because of how used to that core functionality of it I was, but because of how hard it is to separate the core palm functionality with added apps. You sometimes forget that you had to have a 3rd party app to listen to music (although it was later bundled). I find myself going "god, the Pre needs a 2day like screen so I can get everything in one spot" before remembering that 2day was a 3rd party app and palms "today" screen left me frustrated.

I also remember the bugs when I got my 700p at first, the slowness, the lack of wifi, and the bluetooth that was basically pointless.

There's still quite a bit I'm frustrated out with the pre. The battery life, the messaging notifications options, overall lack of customization, keyboard (which I'm getting better at), and I miss my 5 way nav.

But I think most of these are correctable.

[chicity1]

I'm a business user who has been with Palm since the Palm Pilot, so I ditto everything listed above. I also have a problem with 2 hand usage vs. 1 hand. My Treo 755p was on its last leg so I waited for a Pre for 3months and was no. 2 on Sat. morning. Couldn't read the manual because I couldn't download it, so been playing with it and reading these forums and trying to make this work. So I'm waiting anxiously for 3rd party apps and updates within the next 25 days.

[treobk214]

The smartphone experience first started up with the treo 300.

The big draws were the keyboard, internet access, and email. The treo 300 had a pretty good keyboard. The treo 600's kb was so so, as I felt it was too cramped.
The 650-755 kbs were very good, and I was hoping to see palm's traditional classic keyboard size and layout carry over onto the pre.

The pre's screen is pretty nice. The web browser is excellent and the synergy capabilities are intriguing. Like others here, while I think its a nice new step for palm, it just isn't there yet.

I would have loved to have seen a 480 x 320 res display and web OS on the 755. I think it would have made the 755 a killer smartphone in my opinion. Combining the best of classic palm os PIM ( memo, calendar, etc) with the fluidity of web os would have been a fantastic development, building on the basics that once made palm an early leader in the space.

The hardware is not what I'm used to, which is why I'm not comfortable with the pre outright.

I'm hoping that the next gen pre will offer a more robust keyboard, PIM applications and the elimination of the display issues, overheating, splotching etc.

If they can bring that to the table next time around, i'll definitely be taking a look. For now, the pre is just not quite what I'm looking for ( even though there are some attractive features onboard).

[bubbahooska]

There are several things I really miss from my 755P. Easy one-hand navigation, easier text entry and editing, much better UI for the phone.

But I would never consider going back. And I am absolutely certain that as the weeks go by and new applications and updates are released, my Pre will become better and I'll become better at using it. And memories of the 755P will morph over time from smiles to chuckles.

[Lawmen23]

I have a Treo Pro now and before that had a Treo 700w. The Treo's specialty is one handed operation. Once you get used to having the phone in one hand and ANYTHING else in the other, you can't abandon that functionality. That being said, I will never understand why people are so amazed and feel the desire to have a mostly touch screen phone which almost required two handed operation. "Intuitive" is nice, but that is only necessary for people who have a hard time learning or are too lazy to read. I only played with the Pre for about 15 minutes....but in that time, it seemed very slow to load apps considering how fast it's processor is. I felt like I needed two hands to navigate webpages and cards. The screen presses didn't seem as accurate to me as they should have(while playing connect4, which was nice to see). I felt kind of lost without a 5-way directional pad which I think would have made the phone much more one-hand friendly. Just putting in my 2 cents...

[UserOne]

Just to add my .02... I'm a long time Palm user (check sig for device history) and have to say that I am quite satisfied, actually rather impressed, with my Pre. There are a few things that I miss that my old Treo had... namely the colored calendar appointments (i.e. Yellow for bills, blue for meetings, etc.). The biggest change I notice... Speed. Yea, there is a 1-2 second delay in loading up some apps on my Pre, but its not on all apps and is a HUGE improvement on the overall speed of my old Treo 755p loaded down with third-party apps.

Just my .02... L8R

[jhoff80]

I started with smartphones with the Treo 600, upgraded to the 700p after a long time being perfectly happy with the 600, had two replacement 700p's before the third time it broke, Sprint gave me a 755p, and then switched to a Motorola q9c (running Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard.) I loved Garnet, but switched to the q9c because I wanted GPS, needed multitasking, and was quite frankly bored of the same operating system for the 6 years I had it. That was a bit of a mistake, because while I liked the q9c hardware, Windows Mobile always felt like it was holding me back a little bit.

Now, as for the Pre, I actually have no issues at all using the it one-handed, with one exception, and that's text selection and navigation. I'd love a five-way control for that, but surprisingly it's not that huge of a deal to me because everything else works perfectly with one hand. The Pre is the perfect size to hold in my hand and be able to reach everything with my thumb, and the gestures are great for one-handed navigation as well.

The Pre improves greatly on the two aspects of PIM that I use all the time- calendar and contacts- and I couldn't go back to having non-connected pools of information after just a few short days. I can understand how memos and tasks are a step backward for some people, but they actually have the perfect functionality for how I've used them all along.

The browser is an even bigger leap forward than contacts and calendar, and browsing in that works great with one hand or two- double-tap zoom works great with one hand and pinch zoom works great with two. I'd love to be able to save files off of websites and open links in a new window, but the browsing experience is so much better that that doesn't even bug me all that much.

I thought that the lack of a 2day like program would bother me until I realized that all of my notifications replace that anyway. Something that Palm really needs to enable though is an always-active calendar notification that will show all events you have that day, and then it'd be perfect in that respect I think.

The built-in music player is better than PocketTunes ever was for me, though for those who listen to podcasts and want to scrub through files, I know that's not true. Again, works great for me though.

With email, I guess I didn't use the features of Chatter as heavily as some, because it feels identical to me.

Sure, there are a ton of bugs, but none so glaring for me that I haven't felt that it's an overall positive experience. (Though maybe I've been luckier than others). There's some things that are missing from the OS, which I can understand how they put others off. But, if you can't tell, I'm very, very pleased with the Pre, and can't wait to see what updates and bugfixes bring.

When I got the q9c, I played with it for a while, and thought to myself that except for the multitasking and built-in GPS, I could easily go back to Garnet and actually in some ways be happier. After using the Pre, there's no way I could go back to either Windows Mobile or Garnet.

[mtmason]

The great thing about my Treo 755p is that I could use EAS. My company requires the phone to have a simple 4 digit password. The Treo was capable of supporting this, but for some crazy reason the Pre does not. I have to cross my fingers and hope this oversight is corrected quickly, because I LOVE MY PRE.

I actually prefer the Pre keyboard over the Treo. The OS is taking some getting used to, as I find I want to navigate with buttons. I'm quickly adapting. The fun factor for the Pre is huge, but basic business is letting me down. I'm enjoying Yahoo mail and Facebook. However, all I really asked of my Treo was email, calendar, and one traffic app. I might have to go back for a while.

[driven01]

What does "pre" stand for anyway?

[Loolaw]

It began in 1999: Palm V > Treo 300 > 600 > 650 > 700p > Centro > BB Storm (short adventure) > BB Curve-Envoy > Pre

There is a lot I really like about the Pre. It is lacking in the PIM arena, as I stated elsewhere, but I am giving it the full try to see if I can readjust how I work with those items to make them meet me needs. I am not a heavy multi media user which means that I probably will not discover most of the hi-end potential of the device - bet I can count on one hand the number of videos I've recorded with my Treos. Rarely install any games. I use my mobile device for extensive social and professional networking as well as keeping my on schedule - probably wouldn't remember my Mom's birthday without a calendar notification.

The key for me is with WebOS and Google, I see a very bright future and look forward to growing and providing feedback to the developing companies.

Hey cloud, here I am. Now show me how I can stay afloat!

[sleepysurf]

As a longtime Palm user since the original Palm Pilot 1000, most recently the 755p, I'm sorry to say I'm quite disappointed (thus far). The Pre (and WebOS) have essentially made Palm a new startup company with a beta release product, lacking much of the day-to-day functionality and usability of the PalmOS. As a busy physician, the Pre, at this point, does not meet my needs. I'll hang in there for the rest of my 30 day return window, but doubt there will be significant enough improvement to warrant keeping it. I won't bother reiterating the shortfalls, as they've been mentioned in other threads.

[cl191]

Palm m125>Treo600>Treo700p

All i can say is now I look at Palm OS again and it looks like Windows 3.1

[ADGrant]

Palm m125>Treo600>Treo700p

All i can say is now I look at Palm OS again and it looks like Windows 3.1

It's certainly not pretty by modern standards, but it is functional except perhaps for Web Browsing.

[RenardRouge]

What does "pre" stand for anyway?

It stands for Pre-release version of the New Palm phone

[tatremblay]

Ive been using Treo's for awhile and all I can say about the Pre/WebOS is, "Its about time".

[meyerweb]

It stands for Pre-release version of the New Palm phone

[foolishfocus]

After using the 700p for over a year, I was still very happy with it. I jumped ship to the HTC Touch Diamond and could not have been more disappointed. With the Pre, I remember why I was so happy with Palm products, all the way back to my Palm m100 I had in high school!