[raithe]

Part one: the journey begins.

I bought a pixi+ for $20 off craigslist as temporary backup a couple of months ago when I first joined VZW and was having problems with my LG Fathom.

The long and short of it is in 2+ months verizon has sent me 7 different smart phones (four diffent models) none of which worked properly for one reason or another. In this time period my Pixi has basically been my main phone aside from the occasional one to two day trial upon a new Fed Ex box arriving. I like my little Pixi, despite it's state of software abandonment both by HP and the developer communtiy, and it's sadly underpowered hardware. I've owned many Palm devices over the years the first being a Wireless VII. So it came as no surprise to me that the Pixi and I got along.

After MANY arguments with VZW, yesterday I finally got them to send me the Pre 2 I had been asking for since they began comp'ing me phones for my trouble. I had to settle for CPO because the Pre 2 is still too new to be available as a replacement phone new. Today the shell arrived. It will be a day or more before I can actually use it due to the fact I have to wait for a back cover to arrive from Amazon because VZW had none in stock... anywhere. O_o

Thus far having only the inactive shell to judge by I have to say I am NOT impressed. The Pixi is in every respect a superior design. I find the Pre 2 top heavy, almost impossible to hold on to opened (let alone use) one handed as I do my Pixi. The keyboard is terrible by comparison. Sure it's a tad bigger but I actually find that is worse as the keys are just spaced farther apart. The keytops are flat and not nearly as tacky, meaning I will have to use thumbnails where on the Pixi I can use the pad of my thumb and rarely miss a keystroke. They also have little (and in the spacebar's case, no) tactile feedback.
The build quality seems shoddier as well, the case plastics aren't as sturdy and all the buttons are flimsy hard plastic rather than the rubber coated kind. I definitely would not feel comfortable tossing the Pre 2 onto my bed from my computer (some 5') the way I do the Pixi which, having paid so little for it, I treat somewhat roughly and it never seems to hurt it. Even after it's trip into the sink and it stealing an entire mug of my coffee.

I truly hope when the battery door arrives and I power the device on the advantages of better guts and software outweigh my initial distaste for the ergonomics and build quality. I truly wish to like Pre 2, but it may very well end up with me seeing just how many parts of a Pre 2 and a pixi are interchangeable, I'm eyeballing you 1ghz cpu / 512mb ram package do not fail me.

To be continued...

[Cantaffordit]

Two well-placed drops of epoxy to freeze the keyboard open, and you have a Pixi XL.

But seriously, I think the larger screen and faster CPU will win you over as you get used to a slider.

[raithe]

Sigh just realized I put this in the wrong forum, somehow missed the Pre 2 forum earlier. Smack me with stupid stick.

Honestly the screen size doesn't bother me on the Pixi, I owned Treos and WinMo phones for years. It's only important to me because so many developers refuse to code things that work for the pixi's screen. Maybe the presence of the Veer will help, but I doubt it. Had the same problem in Android land; you HAVE to have an 800 x 480 screen sucking down battery life like there's no tomorrow because the developers won't code for hvga. Stupid, all that does is lose you customers.

Honestly the cpu I don't think will matter much to me either, except it's capable of flash. (I still find it funny most webOS users here seem to blame HP/Palm for no flash when it's actually Adobe's fault, they only code for the highest end cpu's because they can't write optimized code to save their lives - low end droids like the Optimus have the same problem) In most respects it seems the Pixi's main problem spec-wise was a lack of ram.

Mostly I want the improvements of 'OS 2, the larger app support base, better browser and less lag. The things I think I'll miss the most are keyboard, one handed use, thin profile, maybe battery life though the only comparison I've seen is between pre 1 & 2, my free hotspot ( I know about tether but is would seem so does VZW and AT&T as of this week) oh and probably the Pre itself after I drop it a few times. (its definitely harder to hang onto) The slider would probably bug me if I weren't such a Trek fan, as it is a simple sound on opening it should cure that. At least it's vertical, I hate side sliders.

Sigh, really I wish they'd just release a new Pixi with the Pre 3 that has Pre 2 guts.

[raithe]

So I've tried the Pre 2 a while and here's my thoughts.
Good:
I love the new OS. The card stacks, various app tweaks, just type, and most of all the new auto correct.
Hardware. The speed and power are nice. No lag. Good sound all around from calls to media.
Bad:
OS. Sometimes apps refuse to scroll or become unresponsive in other ways. Gestures seem much less responsive than the pixi. Can't set custom alert and notification sounds because they loop as long as the notification is there. (on screen keyboard and power menu in particular) Miss a lot of the old patches. GPS still doesn't work right.
Hardware. HOT! I can barely hold the phone at times. I despise the keyboard, pixi is so much better its not even funny. Bad feedback, too flat and the slider needs to go up about another centimeter. Battery life is hideous and random at that. Took it off charger last night right before bed (because it gets so hot charging), full charge; woke up 5 hours later - stone dead. I stuck my pixi battery in this morning too see if its just the new battery. I hope so. One handed is bad too top heavy and keyboard too mushy as I feared. Screen color saturation isn't as good as Pixi, blacks not black enough and viewing angle isn't as good.

All in all its a nice phone and I'll probably stick with it, but I still think the pixi is a better design.

[kataran]

The pixi is a nice phone..I had a minus and now have a two....my girl has the pixi and I steal it for my rides and such..but once you get your profile on the pre2 you will be hooked....while you wait put it in Dev mode and take her for a WiFe spin

-- Sent from my Palm Pre using Forums

[kataran]

Oh my bad..missed your last post....reading it now

-- Sent from my Palm Pre using Forums

[kataran]

Yes its thinner...I came from a pre- so it was easier to simalate

-- Sent from my Palm Pre using Forums

[kataran]

By the way my pre- was better balanced with the plastic screen but I love the glass

-- Sent from my Palm Pre using Forums

[Syndil]

The Pixi is in every respect a superior design.

I agree. Rubberized back cover that doubles as a case for the phone, solid construction, excellent keyboard... See no reason to get rid of mine yet.

[drewcam888]

i think the pre 2 is a major leap forward