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06/05/2011, 11:12 AM
#1
I've been a Palm user since almost the beginning--starting with my Palm Pilot way back when. Had every model, getting each new device as soon as it came out, and worked my way through all the Treos (well, except the Pro) as well. They were great.
I took a bit more time making the switch to the Pre when it first came out, given some of the early issues I read about, but made the leap early last year. I came to love the OS. The hardware, however, was another story entirely--as most everyone here knows.
I went through probably 4 or 5 Pres (on Sprint)....lost count, honestly. I had the usual issues--USB crack, oreo effect, etc. I stuck with it, though, because the OS was great and it just worked better for me than anything else out there.
Last month, the latest Sprint Pre inexplicably decided to lose its mind while I was in northern NY in a low coverage area. It had insane battery drain, even after repeated doctors, and would not hold a charge using 3 different batteries. Occasionally, I could just BARELY get it to charge. Clearly the hardware was shot--again.
Without any clear prospect of a new WebOS device on Sprint, I took the major step of going to the trouble and expense of switching carriers to get a Pre 2 on Verizon. New, improved hardware and new, improved software--how could I go wrong?
Since getting the Pre 2, I've had one problem after another (not one of which I had on the original Pre):
--Google sync works intermittently for calendars and contacts. No clear solution in sight. Google exchange sync will not work at all to the device.
--Email works on and off. I'm getting constant "Login credentials rejected" messages.
--Data connection seems to go to sleep and not wake up. I need to cycle airplane mode on and off to get email, web or any other internet dependent app to work--at least several times an average day.
--GPS works intermittently. The only way to get it to work consistently is to open Google Maps and then it seems to wake up for other apps.
--Contact pictures behave totally erratically. They're there, they're not, they come and go before your very eyes without even interacting with the device.....and with each passing day, fewer and fewer of them are there at all.
All of this is happening despite REPEATEDLY running the WebOS Doctor....and the device already being replaced once in less than a month. Some of these problems (ie, Google sync) materialized only after switching to the second Pre 2, so that actually made things worse.
I've tried not readding the accounts after a restore and adding them all manually, removing and re-adding, really everything short of a seance.
All that said, Palm (well, now HP) customer support has been great (despite the lack of resolution). After my initial problems with the final Pre-, and a very unsatisfactory and downright ridiculous conversation with an online rep, I got a call from an actual person with Palm/HP who took ownership of the issues and continues to be engaged. They don't have much of a clue as to what's going on with these devices and these problems, but they are very engaged and responsive, which is nice.
My plan all along has been to snatch up a Pre 3 and Touchpad as soon as they become available, since I had believed WebOS was the best mobile OS out there and all it needed was better hardware. Now the hardware works--more solid, snappier--but the software is failing in all my key areas (at least most of these seem like software issues).
So, I'm at a point where I'm really not sure what to do next. I don't like Android, the iPhone or Blackberry at all. But at the end of the day, I need something that WORKS.
Ok. Done venting. Any therapeutic or actually helpful comments will be appreciated.
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