Palm Pre Week 1

After a full week of using my Palm Pre I thought I’d right another post to let you all know about my experiences. Overall I’m still very happy with my purchase decision. Switching from Windows Mobile to WebOS has been pretty easy, mostly because WebOS is so easy to use. I also have to understand that I’m an early adopter so while there are some things I’m not completely thrilled with right now, I have hope that they can be fixed with updates.

Battery Life

This is what everyone is asking about. Battery life is less than stellar. I’m not sure why and if this can be fixed in a software update or not. In my day-to-day use battery life is OK as long as I’m using my computer more than my phone. When I have extended periods where I’m on my phone, not talking but using WebOS, I find that the battery will drain after a few hours of hard use. To be honest, this really isn’t much worse that on my Windows Mobile phone so it’s really not a big complaint for me. Besides, after a few days I realized that I would need an extra battery so I ordered one from Sprint. It’s a pretty easy fix really…if the battery goes dead, replace it with one that’s not (I’m so glad Palm listened to the complaints from all those iPhone users).

Multitasking

This is where WebOS really shines. It’s so easy to switch between applications, simply press the button to go into “card view” and then flip between all the open apps. If you wan’t to close one, just through it off the top of the screen (this is actually a pretty satisfying gesture).

I have run into some instances where my Pre has run out of memory and it suggests I close open applications (cards). It’s hard to say exactly why this happens but I suspect that it has to so with some applications not handling memory very well (leaks) and again, it’s a brand new platform so I’m forgiving.

The “Big Issue”

OK, there is one thing that really, really annoys me about the Pre. Again, it’s software related so I’m hoping for an update soon. The issue is formatting of emails when replying using EAS (Exchange ActiveSync). When you reply or reply-to-all to an email you received through EAS, all formatting is lost and all the text runs together. Apparently this issue is caused by the fact that we’re running Exchange 2003 and not Exchange 2007. But, judging by the community response here (Palm Forums) I’m hoping that Palm fixes this VERY SOON. Here’s some examples of what this looks like…

Notice how the text at the bottom of the image on the right is all run together. I have gotten more than one complaint about this from my co-workers so I really hope Palm fixes this soon. Upgrading to Exchange 2007 would be an option if I controlled IT, but I don’t

Fun Fact: To save a screen capture on  your Pre, simply press <orange>+sym+p, an image of the current screen will be saved and you can view it in the Photos application under screencaptures. This is how I got the 2 images above.

Summary

While I do have some minor complaints and the Pre is not without its quirks, I am keeping it for now and I have no desire to go back to Windows Mobile after owning this phone. Also, everyone who has actually seen my phone and handled it has been super impressed with the size/feel/funcationality. I really do think Palm has a great device in the Pre, now if they can just get some updates rolled out I’ll be a very happy camper.