[nightmare]

Well, I didn't think I'd do this, but I've had enough. After going through three Pres since launch, I'm done. I've had numerous issues with them:

Pre 1 - launch day: loose slider, battery movement/shutting off issue, proximity sensor would 'freak out' causing the screen to cycle repeatedly for 1-5 minutes, even away from a person.

Pre 2 - refurb, worked fairly good until Z, C, B, M, and return keys would stop working intermittently, then come back on. Took into Sprint, couldn't replicate issue, called Sprint CS, warrantied the phone, and sent me a 2nd refurb.

Pre 3 (current) - refurb again (I requested a new one, but they 'couldn't give me one) - Already has a horribly loose slider, phone 'creaks' (something my other 2 never did), and has several small 'blurs' on the screen. I also had the infamous 'lost contacts' issue with my activation on this one, and after 2 hours on the phone with Palm, I was able to fix that.

In short, I looked forward to getting this phone, I was optimistic that it would be great, and would be a worthy replacement to my Centro. It is capable, has a huge potential, but right now, the cheap hardware and all of the issues it has (which there seem to be a lot of) are keeping me from getting another one. I'm not hard on phones, but this one just barely makes it worthwhile.

As for what's next, I don't know. I'm torn. I have considered the BB Tour and the HTC Hero. I'm cautious with the Hero because of hardware issues from friends with older HTC phones (Touch), and that the Android OS is not the most secure. The Tour looks good, and BB's typically just 'work', and that's what I'm looking for.

I'll keep you all posted, I'm going to put a call into Sprint tonight and explain the situation, and that I'm just fed up with this phone, and go look at a few possible replacements and see what I decide on.

Rock on!

-Steve

[Kamen]

I am in the same boat so I don't blame you. My first Pre worked great for the first 5 1/2 months before it took a crap on me. It would over heat like mad to the point it fried the lens and my pics I took with the camera were all distorted and discolored. Plus it would freeze up all the time. I got my replacement that literally lasted exactly one week before it died. It had a faulty chip in it according to Tech Support. Now I am on my third which I have had for just under 2 weeks now and it is starting to act up on me. It is freezing to the point I have to do a battery pull to fix it and I am getting the "Too Many Cards" open error others have had, but I have no cards open to begin with. Mind you this is a stock Pre; no Patches, Tweaks or Homebrew apps. Just a few apps I installed from the App Catalog.

I need a phone that is going to be reliable, and no offense to the Pre *******, but this phone is far from reliable, at least it hasn't been for me.

[nightmare]

That's the biggest issue I've found...reliability. The OS is still far from perfect, but that can be fixed. The hardware, on the other hand, is irreparable, and lacking the robustness that it should have.

Several of my friends also have the Pre (5 total). Of those, I have been through 3, and someone else has been through 5, and ended up getting a Treo Pro after all the issues.

I didn't spend $200 to get an unreliable piece of plastic.

[Elysian893]

Be glad you've only gone through 6, I'm on #7(#6 technically, #6 was a refurb that I gave back to them to get my brand new one, it had no issues). I'm doing my best to offhand this thing, listed on Craigslist and on here, but so far no luck.

[dead78]

technically, #6 was a refurb that I gave back to them to get my brand new one, it had no issues.

could you please explain how you did this? I'm awaiting a new Pre after my launch day Pre's power button crapped and I'm almost positive they're going to stick me with a refurb.

[Tiako44]

Only issue I have had so far is the phone turning off when I closed the phone. Sprint quickly replaced the battery. I am getting Oreo effect though but it is not bad yet. I have had the phone for about 4 months. I do see the phone lasting a year.. Maybe before my warranty is up I will put in for the Oreo effect. Not sure how quick sprint is to replace phones with that problem.

[Tiako44]

could you please explain how you did this? I'm awaiting a new Pre after my launch day Pre's power button crapped and I'm almost positive they're going to stick me with a refurb.

He was within the 30 days and prob bought it from bestbuy or radioshack where they don't have refurbs on hand. I know for a fact that the radioshack that I bought my phone from would give me 100% brand new one if my phone crapped out in 30 days.

[pillzbury]

Sorry to hear all your troubles with the Pre. I guess I've been lucky (knock on wood).

I got my first Pre around August, screen had small cracks (I did drop it, but it was on carpet and not very far at all, so I'm not sure if it was the drop that did it or if it was the spider crack problem were reporting). They sent me a new replacement still in the box (because they didn't have refurbs yet) which I still have. After the first incident, I put a screen protector and hard case on it, and I haven't had a problem since (even with a few fumble and drops).

With all the issues I've read about, I consider myself lucky and definitely will do everything I can to make sure I don't need to replace the perfectly good Pre I have now with a refurb that could have one of many potential problems.

Good luck with whatever phone you get!

[cardfan]

He was within the 30 days and prob bought it from bestbuy or radioshack where they don't have refurbs on hand. I know for a fact that the radioshack that I bought my phone from would give me 100% brand new one if my phone crapped out in 30 days.

I think he had to complain and then do some more complaining..it was past his 30.

That said, if you're under 30 days, it don't matter where you bought it. You could simply return it and buy a new one. You shouldn't ever be stuck with a refurb if under 30 days. That's the limited time that you hold power. After that, you're at their mercy and its refurb city.

[mclldavidson]

Reading these posts makes me consider ditching my Pre when I get it back from repair

[Shane112358]

I can't use my Pre for work (Exchange) email anymore, since the 1.3.1 update all I get is "login credentials rejected" over and over.

I couldn't install apps until I installed and performed a command line hack.

Battery life is more crappy and it's slower since the 1.3.1 update.

We're at 6 months after launch and have only found 1 app worth paying for. Still no GOOD calculator app, or unit converter app, or non-puzzle game.

GPS apps are decent but lots of GPS connectivity issues due to the hardware.

Too many API limitations.

[Elysian893]

could you please explain how you did this? I'm awaiting a new Pre after my launch day Pre's power button crapped and I'm almost positive they're going to stick me with a refurb.

This guy is incorrect:

He was within the 30 days and prob bought it from bestbuy or radioshack where they don't have refurbs on hand. I know for a fact that the radioshack that I bought my phone from would give me 100% brand new one if my phone crapped out in 30 days.

I got it by having to get 6 Pre's in the first place. I had to go through the Sprint Store Manager to have it happen, but he took care of me.

[Elysian893]

I think he had to complain and then do some more complaining..it was past his 30.

That said, if you're under 30 days, it don't matter where you bought it. You could simply return it and buy a new one. You shouldn't ever be stuck with a refurb if under 30 days. That's the limited time that you hold power. After that, you're at their mercy and its refurb city.

Yep. My first Pre replacement was after week 1, and I got another brand new one. That one actually lasted the longest out of my 7...

[jniemasik]

If you get good Sprint coverage where you live and can deal without WiFi, try a Pixi. I have one now and the hardware is solid and feels great. That takes care of some of your issues....

[Ayasinskiy]

Yeah the pre deffinately comes with a bag of issues. I haven't had any major hardware issues yet. I'm gonna stick with pre for now. However moto droid sure looks tempting, will see what apple cooks up next summer (I'm a 2 year iPhone veteran) and there are also rumors of the google phone in the works with data only plan which will be half the monthly bill price and use google voice service for phonecalls.

[nightmare]

I really don't want to take a step back with the Pixi...maybe down the road I'll step back into the Palm realm, but not right now.

[jc924]

I know that you guys have had lots of build problems and I'm sorry about your experience, but I did want to go on record to say that not everyone has had these problems. I have a launch-day Pre and it is still fine. I also want to note that I remember similar posts on TreoCentral about the Treos, with people having to get six or seven replacements. I think you can get a lemon in anything - cars, TVs, phones - but that doesn't mean that they are all like that. On a forum like this you tend only to hear from the people who have had problems and not from those who haven't. I just wanted to make sure that the other side was heard too.

[beachboy]

Got a great solution, I found some great deals on Paid in Advance Phones. They only cost $10, they have minimum features, therefore in advance you can't Bit****** about anything, because there nothing but phone service to complain about.

If there is any problem with the phone you just throw it against a wall, relieve your frustration and feel better. I also find there are no Forums to waste time on to enhance your phone or get help in making it better. It is what it is and if you don't like it, again throw it against a wall and get the latest $10 phone with the same features, but newer and according to the marketing literature better.

I got a couple of them, when I am pizzed with my Pre, I throw the $10 phone against a wall and feel a lot better. The $10 phone doesn't do Jack, the Pre does more.

I LOVE MY PRE.

Go get a $10 phone and feel better. By the way it doesn't do Jack, but then you know it in advance therefore nothing to Bit****** about. Problem solved.

[netwrkr9]

I think Palm had a defective batch of phones and instead of taking these phones out of service, they just kept patching them up and shipping them out as refurbs, henceforth people going through multiple phones. Not the best policy to build a loyal fan base.

[jrdejavux]

I am on my 6 pre since launch date, love the software but the hardware is total crap. If this one breaks I am going to go the hero way until a new webos device comes out. By the way i dont like the pixi.