Comments on: HP Veer 4G Initial Impressions

Thanks for the written and visual comparisons to Palm OS devices.

Timmmmay, how much is a Pre 2 nowadays down under? I finally got to a VZW store with a working Pre 2 display model recently and gave it a thorough fondle. I have to admit that the 1Ghz CPU & glass screen makes it feel like a much higher-end device. The build quality has definitely been improved. Basically, the Pre Plus is what the original Pre should have been. The Pre 2 is what the Pre Plus should've been. And the Pre 3 is the proper Pre sequel and should have been out 6 months or more ago.

Spoiled by 16GB? Heck, I filled that up in 2009 on my Droid 1. I'm now bursting at the seams on my 32gb MicroSDHC card. Those weekend trips with a bunch of 720p video recordings will quickly gobble up the space...
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->Verizon Moto Droid + Verizon Palm Centro-> Verizon Moto Droid X + Palm TX

A device like this would have a certain appeal if everything synced real-time with a real phone, allowing users to swap sims to take out the Miata for a spin instead of the F-350 dually.

I cannot fathom trying to type on that infantile KB. The Pre+ is already too small for adult hands now. All the connector shortcomings would be deal killers for me (not to mention postage stamp screen) and unfortunately show that decision makers in this company still don't get it.

Looks like more of the same story ... a great OS and bad hardware, thus no buyers, thus no potential app profits, thus no app devs, thus dying platform. In the coming months ...
Pat Horne

Josh Topolsky totally rags on the Veer in this week's This is My Next Podcast:

http://thisismynext.com/2011/05/06/podcast-005-05-06-2011/

"The Veer is so wildly underwhelming in comparison to any other smartphone on the market...It's like a Pre 2 again...Why should I get excited about this brand?"

"It won't be long at all (before they are giving them away}. I don't think it will be a hit product"

"This is the best you've got right now? The Veer should have never existed. It seems to me to be wasted resources."

But Palm sure has ...
Tungsten W
LagDrive
Treo 800w
Treo Pro
Pixi

... only thing they could have done worse would have been to try to make their own laptop with typical Palm underwhelming specs for the price. Oh wait. :-o

Quit wasting time with these DOA phones HP. Get a 4"+ slab superphone to market yesterday to show off the fabulous and functional OS that the innovative people at Palm created. Maybe then customers might want one and devs might actually try to pursue them.
Pat Horne

Honestly, the Veer & Pixi screens "feel" smaller to me than the Centro, primarily because of the loss of the d-pad and WebOS' UI elements making such horribly inefficient usage of screen space & pixels.

If I was in your position, I would follow the advice of TVoR and FJH and hunt out a new or mint condition 128mb Centro (since you use Sprint) on E-Bay and switch to it. If you can live with the incredibly lame Blazer, then that device was the paradigm of Palm OS performance. Stick in a decent 4GB microSDHC card and use Aceeca's new 64-bit Windows to Hotsync and you're all set!

Another option would be to carry a Centro for PIM & phone purposes then carry an iPod Touch (or equivalent Android PMP/PDA from Samsung or Archos) for multimedia, web browsing, picture taking etc.
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->Verizon Moto Droid + Verizon Palm Centro-> Verizon Moto Droid X + Palm TX

I guess as far as advances in technology are concerned, sometimes you just need a screwdriver--not an 18v Li-ion drill. It works well and is really foolproof.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc_Sve1AjiU

i was tempted to buy it but two things stopped me -

1. why would i wear this watch over the $7K watch i already own?
2. poor early reviews regarding connectivity, stability, and battery life. however - supposedly - things got much better after the last software update.

if you get it let us know how it works.

Satan! Now THAT'S a blast from the past!
TVoR - The best Palminfocenter poster of all time.
FJH - A legend in my own mind.
Mike "tabes dorsalis" Cane - poster child for early intervention with i.m. penicillin ;-)
hkklife - Palminfocenter's life support machine

Missing from your list:

Jeff Kirvin
Dr Opinion
Ska
stonemirror/"Lefty"/David Schlesinger
Marty Fouts/PenguinPowered
Rhino Steve
Pepper
legodude
Timmmmmay
David Beers/cervezas
relyons
Surur

Wait a minute... what's this?:

http://www.palminfocenter.com/comments/8378/#119116

FJH

if I was on AT&T (which I thank my personal God that i am not), i would either buy the Infuse or the Inspire. i'd probably lean towards the Inspire because i like HTC build quality and i like the Sense UI. the 4.3" display appeared to be almost the same as the 4.5" and with a lot less bezel. also - not a fan of the Samsung layer UI.

so Reverend - there you have it. since i assume that you are still with us and you didn't ascend up in the Rapture as planned - it's time to go treat yourself and get a new phone. it looks like you're going to be here for a while, so you might as well enjoy it.

http://mashable.com/2011/05/21/rapture-bomb-pics/

http://thesop.org/story/20110524/harold-camping-my-bad-i-miscalculated-new-rapture-date-oct-21-2011.html

richf wrote:
Thanks for that. Damn near made want to run out and buy Palm V. HAHA

I still have mine :-P

HyperScheduler wrote:
For what it is worth, *I* am interested in hearing more about your experience with the TX.

Thanks!

Ditto... I have two TXs although they don't get much use anymore. I've made the transition to Android, but I keep them around in my Palm graveyard collection.

http://lifehacker.com/5804927/how-to-de+crapify-your-home

Gekko wrote:

Want To Turn Off 4G LTE On The HTC Thunderbolt Easier? Try LTE OnOff

http://www.droid-life.com/2011/04/04/want-to-turn-off-4g-lte-on-the-htc-thunderbolt-try-lte-onoff/

Not much point in a Thunderbolt without LTE. That was one of the big reasons to get it. The free (for now ) mobile hotspot using the LTE network was great on the drive to Chicago where there was LTE coverage. And no, I was in the back seat using one of the two Xoom over wifi.

Gekko wrote:

stop complaining about the battery life then. using 4G 24/7 will burn your battery life regardless of size. 3G is plenty fast enough for most smartphone situations. if you are in the car or elsewhere and have a power supply, sure, go ahead and leave 4G on. otherwise, leave it on 3G and only toggle on 4G when you "need" it. if you have a Ferrari and want to constantly drive 200 mph, don't complain about the gas mileage. they can only make the gas tank so big before they ruin the aesthetics of the vehicle.

My complaint was not about the battery life, but about the fact that they are going cheap on the battery by including smaller and smaller batteries even though they know that power consumption will be higher. I'm not asking for a huge battery, but they did go down to a 1400mAh battery for this device.

The battery life is a known issue and they know that there is a software issue that they have still not fixed.

The most power (70%) is consumed by the damn screen anyway despite having a 15 second timeout and the brightness set to almost nothing.

What a tease you are. Careful - you just might get your a$$ smacked by Aunty Mike Cane if you sashay over to the Village tonight. Tee hee.

FJH

The OS rocks and if HP actually got the hardware done in excellence then it will make positive impressions, unlike my featurephone feeling Pre+.

I'm not interested due to screen real estate alone, but the Pre 3 holds some interest, and a 4" slab with WebOS holds a lot. I still am not convinced that HP is that interested in the space. Only time will tell, because their leaders are liars.

Give us a 30 day update.
Pat Horne

At what point did it become acceptable for manufacturers to produce PHONES that sound like you're talking from insde a tied up burlap sack? Does anyone use their phones for, you know... TALKING?

FJH

P.S. Where is the damn TouchPad, HP? If/when it ever gets released HP had better be planning on undercutting iPad by $100 or giving buyers an option to add an unlocked Veer for $100. If webOS is ignored by users and developers over the next year it will be time to throw in the towel. 12th round, bleeding, battered and behind on all scorecards. HP needs a knockout , but it's about to run out of time and iPhone 5 is getting ready to step into the ring...

If the price is right and the browser is slick and the hardware is well constructed I will buy a TouchPad. The webOS UI is the first UI I have liked since the original Palm Pilot and then bested only by Launcher III and Launcher X.

iPhone 4, MyWi, Infinidock, Infiniboard, StyleTap Platform and TouchPad. We'll see. Just need another T3 with Cobalt for a full helping of Palm Retro Goodness!

FJH

Look at how pathetic he is!

>>>I was expecting June 13. Tried to "borrow" a TouchPad from a connection at Palm and he said they are not alowed off site (I don't believe him).

And he's sooo psychotic he doesn't understand a SNUB when he's been given one.

One of the few comments that made me really laugh out loud! No. I was not responding to you.

@ Gary: Which particular hardware do you predict will be cheap on eBay? The Veer, for example?

Thanks,

HyperScheduler

The Veer, just like all other WebOS devices, other than the "niceties" of integrated wi-fi, GPS, greater internal memory, and a better camera, is absolutely worthless as a standalone device without cellular service.

There is still no easy way to bypass activation on a WebOS device and they are so cloud-dependent that it would be foolish to entrust one's data solely to the device. Add to that the lack of expandable storage, no removable battery, proprietary connectors and no standard local synchronization, and a Veer would be a poor choice for anything but a poor man's mp3 player/camera/camcorder even if you could get one contract-free for $100.

Centro (or a real Palm OS PDA) all the way if you want an unconnected "PDA" for PIM purposes, iPod Touch or one of the better Android non-phones (Samsung Galaxy Player 4" or 5" in particular) if you want more of a focus on web browsing and media.

Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->Verizon Moto Droid + Verizon Palm Centro-> Verizon Moto Droid X + Palm TX

It always surprised me that the iPhone lacked the equivalent of Palm Desktop software where we could look at a computer screen of our calendar that synced with the calendar on the handheld device. Sure, I achieved the benefit of that by syncing with Google Calendar, but it never made sense to me why Apple did not include it as just a free feature of the handheld device like Palm did.