[Pronk]

Hi all,

First post, so be gentle with me!

I'm a long-term iOS user, but recently I bought my wife a second-hand Pixi Plus to replace her ancient dumbphone. She loves it, and even on such an underpowered device I've been enormously impressed with WebOS too. So much so, I've reached the point where I think I'd be almost as happy with a Pre Plus/Pre 2 as my iPhone 4. I should point out I'll still be owning an iPad, so my app investment won't be going down the drain, and that I also really like iOS too - but being self-employed in the current economic climate the reality is I can make a fair bit of money on selling my iPhone and picking up a slightly older but almost as capable WebOS device. If it weren't for the quality of WebOS, I wouldn't even be considering it - I loathe Android because it's so fiddly, and the least said about Windows Phone 7 the better.

My question is, now I've reached this decision should I go for the Pre Plus, or the slightly more future-proof Pre 2? (I'd consider the Veer, but as it's so new I don't think there are bargains to be had yet). I'm leaning towards the Pre 2 because of the glass screen and boosted spec. and battery life, and have seen them for sale unlocked for £200 or less (I'm in the UK, and will be on O2). I'm assuming the Pre 2 will get WebOS 3 this year?

Also, any suggestions for good apps much appreciated - I'd definitely like a wi-fi sniffer/hotspot app, a decent newsreader (I currently use the excellent Pulse), decent weather app, twitter app, geocaching app and (if it exists) a UK TV Guide?

Thanks for your help in advance!

[Cantaffordit]

pre2 FTW. It's gorilla glass and faster processor is a world of difference.

and welcome to webOS - and precentral!

[sorli]

Pre 2 is supposed to Rock and would be great if you can get a good price.

Otherwise, I'd wait till next month and see what's coming on ATT and Verizon. Veer landed earlier in the month and is surprisingly powerful in such a small package. Sounds like you'd miss the large IOS screen so Pre 2 may be your best option. Sorli...

[vasekvi]

I have had the Pre Plus and now have a Pre 2 and I love it. I recommend either going for the Pre 2 which you can have now or consider waiting for the Pre 3.

Here is a few specs on a rundown from what I know about the three phones

Pre Plus - Pre 2 - Pre 3
16GB memory - 16GB memory - 16/32GB Memory
600MHz Processor (clocked at 500 stock) - 1GHz Processor - 1.4GHz Processor
512MB Ram - 512MB Ram (but faster RAM) - 512MB RAM (rumors of 1GB)
Curved Plastic Screen - Flat Gorilla Glass Screen - Flat Gorilla Glass Screen
3.1" display 320x480 - 3.1" display 320x480 - 3.6" display 480x800
3.1MP Fixed Focus Camera - 5MP Fixed Focus Camera - 5MP Autofocus
No front camera - no front camera - 1.3MP front camera
Single Microphone - Single Microphone - Dual Microphones with noise cancellation
1150mAh Battery - 1150mAh Battery - 1230mAh Battery

A couple other unique features the Pre3 will have that the Pre, Pre Plus and Pre2 do not have:

- Compass
- 720p Video Recording
- wifi a/b/g/n (previous phones only go to wifi G)

Bottom line is that the Pre2 is a great phone and is what the Pre should have been all along. The Pre 3 just takes the specs and quality further. Hopefully it lands on your carrier on the other side of the Atlantic.

[HelloNNNewman]

As an original Pre- user now using a Pre2... there's no comparison - get the Pre2 if you have a chance. It's a much stronger build, faster device, with a much better screen. I absolutely love this device compared to my old Pre (and I liked that too).

Oh yeah... welcome to Pre|Central.net

[spare]

I have had the Pre Plus and now have a Pre 2 and I love it. I recommend either going for the Pre 2 which you can have now or consider waiting for the Pre 3.

Here is a few specs on a rundown from what I know about the three phones

Pre Plus - Pre 2 - Pre 3
16GB memory - 16GB memory - 16/32GB Memory
600MHz Processor (clocked at 500 stock) - 1GHz Processor - 1.4GHz Processor
512MB Ram - 512MB Ram (but faster RAM) - 512MB RAM (rumors of 1GB)
Curved Plastic Screen - Flat Gorilla Glass Screen - Flat Gorilla Glass Screen
3.1" display 320x480 - 3.1" display 320x480 - 3.6" display 480x800
3.1MP Fixed Focus Camera - 5MP Fixed Focus Camera - 5MP Autofocus
No front camera - no front camera - 1.3MP front camera
Single Microphone - Single Microphone - Dual Microphones with noise cancellation
1150mAh Battery - 1150mAh Battery - 1230mAh Battery

A couple other unique features the Pre3 will have that the Pre, Pre Plus and Pre2 do not have:

- Compass
- 720p Video Recording
- wifi a/b/g/n (previous phones only go to wifi G)

Bottom line is that the Pre2 is a great phone and is what the Pre should have been all along. The Pre 3 just takes the specs and quality further. Hopefully it lands on your carrier on the other side of the Atlantic.

Good post. Two corrections. Pre 3 has 8 or 16 GB memory and also Touch-to-Share.

As for apps op is looking for:
Freetether
Rythymn for something like Pulse
not sure of UK weather and tv guide
handful of geocacheing apps
and many quality twitter clients

See precentral's app gallery and search for what you want.

[major payne]

Since no one else has posted on if the Pre 2 is going to get webOS 3.x. The truthful answer is that we don't know. If they follow the current trend then No the Pre 2 will not get webOS 3.x The reason i mention this is that is was announced a few months back that the Pre (-) and the Pre Plus will not get 2.x. This was a very sore subject to many people

[Pronk]

Thanks all - it's looking like the Pre 2 may be the one to go for. I'd love a Pre 3, but the whole idea with selling the iPhone 4 is buying a replacement 95% as capable at 50% of the cost and making some money back. If I hung on for the Pre 3 - even if it's available in the UK, and I don't see much news on that yet so far - I'd be losing virtually all my income from the sale of the iPhone because it's brand new.

On having played with a Pre and a Pixi, I really think the biggest difference aside from the sheer range of apps (and as I say, I'll have the iPad anyway and besides, there's always the web for a lot of them) is the screen. Hands down the one thing I will miss is the iPhone 4 retina display, which is awesome. BUT - that isn't a deal-breaker, which is why I'm going to switch.

Plus a small part of me has to admit I do quite like going with the (deserving) underdog. From my experiences so far, WebOS is the ideal combination of thoughtful, elegant and consistent design from iOS with (unblocked) customisability from Android. I've had to jailbreak my iPhone from Day 1 to get it to do what I want and have a decent notification system/task manager, whereas WebOS has that from the get go.

[major payne]

then just wait til you get into preware and all that fun stuff...

[spare]

Since no one else has posted on if the Pre 2 is going to get webOS 3.x. The truthful answer is that we don't know. If they follow the current trend then No the Pre 2 will not get webOS 3.x The reason i mention this is that is was announced a few months back that the Pre (-) and the Pre Plus will not get 2.x. This was a very sore subject to many people

The Pre 2 is upgradable to 3.0

https://developer.palm.com/content/s..._showcase.html

[HelloNNNewman]

The Pre 2 is upgradable to 3.0

https://developer.palm.com/content/s..._showcase.html

nice find - never saw that!

[major payne]

The Pre 2 is upgradable to 3.0

https://developer.palm.com/content/s..._showcase.html

I didn't either but they also said that Pre Plus could handle 2.0

[mu7efcer]

Let me preface what I'm going to say with this: I've had palm products since the late 90's. I'm a Palm fan.

But you get tradeoffs when you switch away from the market leader. Buy the webOS phone and use it for a while before you sell your iPhone4. You may decide, after a couple of weeks, that you don't like those tradeoffs. And you won't really know until you've really spent time with the device.

For me, I like webOS. I wish that we had some of the developer attention that iOS gets, but overall I'm happy with the set of tradeoffs. My point is this: before you sell your iPhone4, depend on webOS for a while to make sure you're happy with the tradeoffs, too.

Good luck & welcome to P|C.

[mu7efcer]

I didn't either but they also said that Pre Plus could handle 2.0

As someone running a Pre2 on Sprint using a meta-doctored version of 2.1, I'm not really all that worried that I won't be able to run 3.0 on my Pre2. webos-internals FTW.

[cmahy]

I'm joining the party late, but, here goes anyway.

As everyone else said ... welcome to P|C and the world of WebOS! For most things, I think you will find the migration from iOS to WebOS to be fine. You'll miss the retina display & some of the odd quirks (ie: eMail client oddities & lack of APIs currently for camera, microphone, etc..) might frustrate you. That said, I think you'll be happy overall.

The Pre2 is absolutely the way to go. No point in purchasing a device that has been unofficially/effectively EOL'ed (ie: anything older than the Pre2 is fixed at V 1.x of WebOS short of hackery).

I'm willing to bet you'll find a stock iOS experience to be simplistic, limited & frustrating pretty soon after using WebOS. Short of the app ecosystem, I find the whole experience to be too limited for my tastes. Unlike iOS, WebOS 2.x (not sure which version) works with flash, FYI.

If in doubt -- reach out here -- LOTS of good info & helpful people. Best online mobile community hands-down.