[Fisack23]

Glad to have you in the community, and here's my take:

The Pre is not for wimps. It is an amazing, powerful device when you fit it with the right homebrew apps and patches. But straight out of the box? It needs some tweaks.

This mini-laptop (sorry, I meant to say "phone") can do so much that most users don't know what to do with it. I can't tell you how many Pre's or Pixi's I've seen out in the wild (translation: seeing someone using one at the mall, a store, or even at Busch Gardens) and the person isn't using Preware or patches or anything! They might as well have bought a dumb phone! They don't know about virtual keyboards, or multiple icon screens, or live weather maps, or even overclocking. It's like having a Ferrari and only driving it to pick up your grandmother from the nursing home.

But if you have the courage and the passion, you can fly with this thing! And best of all, Palm/HP ENCOURAGE you to experiment! They want the community to grow, so they provide a lot of openings for us to get into and tweak our phones! They've even provided a webOS Doctor for when we get TOO exuberant!

(Note - this is in no way a carte blanche for you to experiment with your phone and then expect Palm to give you a new one if you burn it out. Although it is difficult to do, it is possible to brick <completely trash so that it doesn't work> your phone. But if you are wise enough to READ THE POSTS that people put out <including WARNINGS>, then you'll be fine.)

Yes, we only have 7 "fart" apps instead of 233 (like Apple and Android). But so far I've found just about anything I've needed, except Voice Dial. (But is that coming soon? We can only pray...)

[ilovedessert]

I'm considering getting a pre plus from att. I'm aware that the phone is old.

HI all,

Amazing how fast we all get jaded over the rapid march of tech. The Pre is approx 1 years old and we are referring to it as old! LOL!

Take care, Jay

[Technosticrati]

The question isn't whether you should get one, its how to get one for the best price you can on ebay or craigslist. Get a Pre now without a contract so that you can enjoy the brilliance that is webOS and still be ready to jump on new hardware when it arrives.

[BBooDad]

I got my wife a Android phone because her phone co (US Cellular) doesn't have Palms. Now I wish I had just switched her to AT&T and got her a Pre+!

Android does have some better features - the swipe on instead of just tap on the opening screen or for answering phone, does prevent accidental redials, launching, etc. The focusing camera is cool for reading barcodes. Other than that, it is not nearly so easy to use as Pre. What I can accomplish in a few taps, or just typing a few letters, takes her several steps to do.

Android does have more apps..... and huge amount of them are junk, don't run, etc. I have to download several apps from the Android Market to find 1 good usable one, compared to what I am used to getting from Palm App Catalog. And App Catalog is easier to use, also.

If endless experimentation with 70000+ apps is appealing to you, or you need a barcode scanner now, then Android might be for you. The newer phones are louder, too.

But if you want a phone that you can use easily, with useful apps, and use as a hot spot, then grab your Pre+ and enjoy!

[feardunn]

I heartily recommend the Pre Plus. Its capable, simple, and powerful. There a bunch of quite stellar third party and himebrew apps, and I personally enjoy using the Pre as a music player. The AtT&T version allegedlyacks all the hardware issues that have plauged previoud Pre's, and the community is awesome. Go with the flow and get one (avoid the Pixi like the the plague).

What flow are you going with?
This log flume of a ride is over.

[brendu]

I would ONLY get the Pre with ATT if you are aware and alright with two things:

1. You have to get into homebrew and overclock the thing in order for it to be snappy, otherwise it will be sluggish compared to the iPhone 3GS (its closest competitor)... its simple to do and makes a world of difference for the phone.

2. You have to be willing to accept that within the next 6 months Palm will likely release a new phone and you will be stuck with yours for awhile before you can upgrade...

if your good with these two things, go for it... BUT by all means GET A WARRANTY. I can not stress this enough as I am currently awaiting my 6th Pre since launch. Im sure the ATT Pre Plus is better but not worth it without a warranty. Yes overclocking technically will void your warranty but for most issues with the phone you can use webos doctor to erase all of that before taking it in to get a replacement. (see homebrew forums for webos doctor)... Good luck and enjoy it because WebOS is worth it.