[robapol]

Just got my new Pre today. Had been doing a lot of research the last week or so on these forums and many others.

I was expecting my phone to be cheap in feel and have lots of problems. But when I unpacked it all I was genuinely suprised.

The phone looks and feels a lot higher quality than it does in the photos and feels pretty solid to me. I really like the finish on it. In some ways I didn't want to remove the back to put the touchstone back on, as it looks very good with the original.

Everything about the phone has exceeded my expectations. This is my first smartphone, though I thought I wouldn't get wowed as I have an Apple iPod Touch and would kind of know what to expect.

The biggest suprise for me was just how well designed the form factor is. Its large enough that the screen is useful, yet it is almost small enough to be classed as 'normal' phone size - it is not much bigger than my Sony W980!

Another suprise is the keyboard. After hearing all the rants on this forum I couldn't believe how easy it is to use. My typing accuracy is really good with it - far better than I would have dared. I can type pretty fast on this keyboard. Faster than my W980 with its autocomplete and a lot faster than my iPod Touch.

Checked out the music player on it too, whilst fairly simplistic (is there an easy way to load album covers?) I was surprised at the sound quality. I actually found it to be better than my iPod. That said, it could be that the default earbuds with the Palm are better than Apples default earphones. Will have to swap them around and see if there is a difference.

Tomorrow the phone gets its first full trial in the 'wild', where I guess I will get to experience its achilles heal of its battery life.

Very very pleased with this phone, despite my nervousness in ordering it due to all the bad posts. I'm wondering whether I'm enjoying it more because you guys had lowered my expectations to such a degree that the Palm Pre seemed to shine forth when I unpacked it!

RobP

<Edit>
Got mine from O2, but my phone number doesn't show up under device information. Is this normal?

[ChasT]

<Edit>
Got mine from O2, but my phone number doesn't show up under device information. Is this normal?

Mine's the same

The more I use my Pre, the more I like it. So much smaller than an iPhone, but with a totally usable sized screen.

The UI is so natural and easy to use.

I'm not having any problems with the battery. I've now got a Touchstone in my car, powered by the Palm Pre Vehicle charger, which gives me a charger in the car, plus hands free usage.

[xome1983]

Hi, my name is Matthew and I too love my Palm Pre. I've had mine for a few months and I'm a fan, I've never thought it felt "cheap" like I've heard it called on here. I guess its all subjective. I'm glad there's another supporter amongst the flow of haters

[StevenX]

I'm also very impressed with my Pre having just got it last week, and like you was shocked at how much I'm enjoying it.. I think perhaps when reading up on it the "flaws," which have been highlighted in reviews and on forums have stood out more to us than they would if we re-read the reviews now (for example, I remember reading Engadget's review of the Pre and thinking it was pretty poor, but having reread it this week, it's actually very positive, way moreso than I remember!)

I think the build quality's nicer than I expected, and it does feel quite high end.. The touchstone back feels really nice, although I do find the slider mechanism a bit tough to open at times.. You kinda need to put pressure on just the right part of the screen to manage to snap it open quickly occassionally. The keyboard's also quite nice, although I do kinda wish it had iPhone-esque autocorrection, and that the Enter key didn't send texts.. Having said that, my accuracy's going up quickly from last week and I've worked out that you don't need to hold the orange/shift keys to get the special characters, which was previously causing me some trouble..

My only real issue with it just now is that I'm anxious to get onto 1.2.1 or 1.3 so we can get some proper apps from the App Catalog, and to be able to install Homebrew apps. And yes, the battery life is pretty dire I think - even with very light use, my battery's running out quite fast, but I'm hoping that it wears in a bit, as most users seem to think they do..

Mine is o2 UK as well, and my number doesn't show up in device information either by the way.

Edit: Also, after just a week I'm finding using my iPod Touch increasingly confusing and frustrating; does anyone else find themselves trying to do the "back," gesture along the bottom part of the screen and ending up taking quite a while to work out how to get back in applications by going up to the top left of the screen?

[mobius42]

My only real issue with it just now is that I'm anxious to get onto 1.2.1 or 1.3 so we can get some proper apps from the App Catalog, and to be able to install Homebrew apps.

This is my only issue too, especially considering that a lot of my issues are solved by the 1.2/1.3 firmware!

[milominderbinde]

Wow.

Wait until you see Music Player Remix from Homebrew! And patches, etc.

Would you try out these instructions and reply in that thread to let me know how they work?

How to: Homebrew Apps, Patches, and Themes

- Craig

[leukay]

I'm really glad to see threads like this. There's all these posts about problems because people need help, and people think that that's all there is to the pre. Problems. That is truly not the case. I love my pre, and along with a lot of people, i am loving it even more every time i use it. Kudos for the great thread

[BAbnkr]

Edit: Also, after just a week I'm finding using my iPod Touch increasingly confusing and frustrating; does anyone else find themselves trying to do the "back," gesture along the bottom part of the screen and ending up taking quite a while to work out how to get back in applications by going up to the top left of the screen?

YES!

[skinneejay]

I'm glad everyone is having a great time with their Palm Pre. I remember getting my back when it first came out and all the doubts I had went right away. Please check out the battery saving threads and also the homebrew link above. I might also suggest getting a slightly bigger battery (maybe the 1400) to add some extra life on the phone.

Enjoy!

[Shado.F]

I am so glad I read this thread. For once, some boosted confidence. I was going to get a Pre at Radioshack today; unfortunately, the guy there was pretty rude and unorthodox. I decided to try a different location to purchase my Pre.

[Gaoban]

being a new smart phone user myself who's enjoying palm pre a lot (everything feels so natural) and considering this to be way too trivial to make a thread for, i'll just leave this here. Do you guys look at the keyboard while typing? lol stupid question to ask but yea, I usually do all my typing on my computer without looking at the keyboard, and since the keys' layout is the same, was thinking I could do the same on my pre, but can't do it.

[jewel]

The Pre is truly a wonderful phone. There are people though who do not read before buying their stuff and complain later on. OP, you're one of the smart guys.

[Brain_ReCall]

I think its safe to say there are a LOT of drama-queens on the internet...

[cas_esq]

Coming from years with PalmOS, I'm a little frustrated with the native calendar and task apps, but I'm immensely pleased with my Pre. I picked it up in June, and I wouldn't trade it for anything else. My phone is loaded with patches, and I experience occasional random luna resets, but I've never had a smartphone that didn't bug out occasionally. My Treos had software on them that automatically reset the phone on a schedule to avoid performance problems. It doesn't strike me as crazy that I need to reset my phone to keep it running smoothly. Smartphones are very sophisticated pieces of hardware, and some of us are installing patches and themes (correctly and otherwise) at an amazing rate; I don't understand the overreaction to every glitch and unexpected effect. Often when people here are cussing and threatening to return their phones, they've failed to follow instructions or disregarded warnings.

The Pre really is a nice phone. It feels great in my hand, looks very cool, give me a big screen and a physical keyboard, and puts me on the cutting edge of multitasking technology on smartphones. I'm quite pleased. Great job, Palm! Now get that stock price up before someone tries to buy you.

[sinistereo]

The Pre has a great keyboard, and a really good out-of-box experience.

Come back in a week, when the halves of your Pre are doing the twist-and-shout, and let us know if you're still in love with the solid feel of the hardware.

Otherwise, I agree. It's a nice phone. Until the headphone jack dies. Or the proximity sensor goes. Or the screen refuses to turn on.

Insurance is a wise investment with this handset.

[ChasT]

The Pre has a great keyboard, and a really good out-of-box experience.

Come back in a week, when the halves of your Pre are doing the twist-and-shout, and let us know if you're still in love with the solid feel of the hardware.

Otherwise, I agree. It's a nice phone. Until the headphone jack dies. Or the proximity sensor goes. Or the screen refuses to turn on.

Insurance is a wise investment with this handset.

Here we go, it's very easy to be negative, but that's not what this thread is about. There are plenty of other threads for you to complain in

[C0deM0nkey]

The Pre has a great keyboard, and a really good out-of-box experience.

Come back in a week, when the halves of your Pre are doing the twist-and-shout, and let us know if you're still in love with the solid feel of the hardware.

Otherwise, I agree. It's a nice phone. Until the headphone jack dies. Or the proximity sensor goes. Or the screen refuses to turn on.

Insurance is a wise investment with this handset.

I've had mine since launch (3 weeks). No twist in the slider, no problem with the headphone jack, no problems at all.
Overall I'm really happy with it (just keen for the new firmware update like everyone else). Bearing in mind in the last year I've had an iPhone 3G, a G1, a Magic and a Sony W760i, I'd rate the hardware quality no better or worse than any other manufacturer in the smartphone bracket.

I bought the Pre based on it's existing capabilities - it does what it's supposed to and does it well. The OS isn't perfect, but then as an early adopter I expect that. The apps catalog isn't as extensive as others yet, but no-one will write apps for an OS before it has a solid market base. When the G1 came out it went through the same negative publicity, with "Android is dead" threads everywhere and people complaining about the lack of applications.

FYI some insurances will cover smart phones under standard home contents insurance - under mine any phone I have (smart or otherwise) is covered for loss, accidental damage and street robbery. It's definitely worth checking out with your insurance provider before shelling out extra money to a third party insurer.

[paulhelyerpre]

The Pre has a great keyboard, and a really good out-of-box experience.

Come back in a week, when the halves of your Pre are doing the twist-and-shout, and let us know if you're still in love with the solid feel of the hardware.

Otherwise, I agree. It's a nice phone. Until the headphone jack dies. Or the proximity sensor goes. Or the screen refuses to turn on.

Insurance is a wise investment with this handset.

Insurance is a good idea for any kind of technology worth a few quid, standard.

Mine may have a slight twist to it but it hasn't developed an apple logo yet...

[andyhurley]

My only real issue with it just now is that I'm anxious to get onto 1.2.1 or 1.3 so we can get some proper apps from the App Catalog, and to be able to install Homebrew apps.

You do know you can install homebrew without 1.3 don't you? If you use WebOS quick install you have to lie about the version (e.g. just choose sprint) but since you don't load this to your phone it doesn't matter.

Personally I was just using fileCoaster (done via quick install) but yesterday I removed that and loaded preware which does the same job.

The only thing I would avoid for now are the patches/tweaks which alter the system code as they won't match the version we have. Some work, some don't and you have to remember to remove them before any updates so I am avoiding them for now at least.

I also installed MyTether yesterday (different install process again) which is working very well. I was surprised that it even worked when I only had a 2G signal (albeit slowly), this will be very useful when travelling with my laptop.

My battery life has stabilised after the first few days of constant fiddling with the phone. I now take it off my bedside touchstone at 6am and it still typically has 30-40% when I put it back on at midnight. I don't even bother taking the touchstone to work any more but I may still get a 2nd one purely for the cool factor

I've found the form factor is great and actually improves a little when adding a seidio innocase as it firms up the slider a little and makes it easier to open single handed. The keyboard is as easy as the Treo's I had previously and I have no problems there.

Overall I am very happy and any concerns over build quality have proven unfounded. My work colleagues are starting to look at their iPhones with a little less enthusiasm

[sacherjj#AC]

Edit: Also, after just a week I'm finding using my iPod Touch increasingly confusing and frustrating; does anyone else find themselves trying to do the "back," gesture along the bottom part of the screen and ending up taking quite a while to work out how to get back in applications by going up to the top left of the screen?

Yes, navigating around the iPod Touch or iPhone will feel ancient after spending a week on a WebOS phone.

You me, that trumps any of the small issues.