Comments on: Sprint Pre Ad Beckons iPhone Crowd

Palm Pre Apple Core AdSprint is running a new Palm Pre print ad that is aimed squarely at the iPhone crowd. The company has also posted a copy online to its Facebook account.

The ad shows a Palm Pre snugly resting against an eaten apple. Leaving no doubt as to its target, the ad boldly claims "Your iPhone contact is up. Perfect timing." It goes on to highlight the Pre's multitasking capabilities and the projected $1200 savings one would collect over the course of a 2yr contact by switching to Sprint. You can checkout a full scan after the break.

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Gekko @ 6/26/2009 10:55:41 AM # Q

1. the $1,200 savings is nice.
2. on a scale to 1 to 10, the pre build quality is a 2 compared to the iphone at a 9.
3. the pre's multitasking sounds great in theory but the implementation and the real world end result value to the user is a joke. the LAG, forced shutdowns, required reboots, and inability to truly multitask (live video/audio streams with other cards) are a joke.

the list goes on and on. i think any serious objective iphone user will be sorely disappointed.

RE: ad
tmd @ 6/26/2009 11:37:21 AM # Q
My Pre has not crashed once. I had it from launch day and have not crashed once - I have avoided Classic so far.

It can load a web page while I do something else, and the card view is brilliant for fast app switching. Yes, it seems to feel that if you are playing a video, you would either want to watch it or have it paused. I can listen to Pandora while browsing, typing an email, or anything else I want, except listen / watch something else. Sorry, this is not a particularly awful shortcoming. It's a phone-sized computer, it implements multi-tasking beautifully for being that.

I have no issue with the build quality, the slider is tight and cleverly designed. I have never been impressed by an Apple product, and think that Apple Care is simpy something you have to buy whenever you buy Apple anything, and that you get to use it, often repeatedly. if you want to suggest a 10-point scale, and suggest that the iPhone is built better, fine - but the "2" is ridiculous.

The Pre has some 1.0 issues, but I tried two different iPhones and took them back within 30 days because I just didn't like anything past the browser.

RE: ad
medevilenemy @ 6/26/2009 2:38:10 PM # Q
Gekko has been the designated PIC troll for many years now. I doubt that will change any time soon
RE: ad
icesalmon @ 6/26/2009 2:47:07 PM # Q
Gekko = troll
RE: ad
tmd @ 6/26/2009 3:16:00 PM # Q
Hah! Did he really just call to the authority of his own post? That's impressive.


RE: ad
justauser @ 6/26/2009 4:06:58 PM # Q
All pda's crash. ALL OF THEM, regardless of the platform - especially smart phones. Frequency of crashes is subjective and dependent on the amount of hacks...

Multitasking - IMHO the most impressive feature of the Pre would have to be dismissing alarms / phone calls while remaining in an application - I'd call this multitasking. And now that I think of it: I can't believe it isn't a feature of all smart phones.

Pre hasn't yet reached our shores so I can't really comment on Gekko's mate's review. Useful comments, but looks very subjective and nothing listed looks like deal a breaker - I mean he's complaining he keeps touching the gesture area LOL! Only person on the planet complaining there's too much touch sensitive area!

RE: ad
Gekko @ 6/29/2009 6:16:37 PM # Q

1. i was linking to my review.
2. who are you nobodys?
RE: ad
Spock9 @ 7/16/2009 5:46:35 PM # Q
LOL, HAHAHAHA...must be that you have a ifone, sorry your that jealous.....(no I'm not).
Reply to this comment

PREEE

maxima2k53 @ 6/26/2009 11:06:48 AM # Q
i think its a funny ad...good job sprint...i would pick a pre over an iphone no matter wut....and i think the iphone is a gr8 phone but the pre is just my kind of phone imo
RE: PREEE
twrock @ 6/26/2009 6:08:28 PM # Q
Yeah, maybe some of the Pre features are better than the iPhone, but certainly not all. The iPhone even has a few extra features you might not yet have considered. For example, did you know the new iPhone 3GS can be used as a coffee cup warmer? That's a really handy feature on a cold day.
http://tinyurl.com/ms2kht

Hey Palm! Where's my PDA with Wifi and phone capabilities?
RE: PREEE
SeldomVisitor @ 6/27/2009 3:33:17 AM # Q
The Pre wins that contest hands down:

- http://discussion.treocentral.com/1683204-post5.html

Here's what The Gummamint says about heating water for your house:

- http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/water_heating/index.cfm/mytopic=13090

I like this part:

== "...Although some manufacturers set water heater thermostats at 140ºF,
== most households usually only require them set at 120ºF. Water heated at
== 140ºF also poses a safety hazard—scalding..."

Nothing like being "scalded" by your phone...

RE: PREEE
twrock @ 6/27/2009 7:37:41 AM # Q
SeldomVisitor wrote:
The Pre wins that contest hands down:

Wow, SV actually says the Pre is better than the iPhone. Bookmark this comment; I think it's the first positive thing he's ever said about Palm or the Pre.

I guess there's a real advantage to not making a white device. It's harder to see the scorch marks on black plastic.

I had a Nokia battery go bad once during an overnight charging. I could barely pick the thing up in the morning and the cover was bulging way out. I think I could have boiled coffee on that one. Fortunately the phone survived.

Hey Palm! Where's my PDA with Wifi and phone capabilities?

RE: PREEE
SeldomVisitor @ 6/27/2009 7:52:28 AM # Q
> ...Fortunately the phone survived.

Based off the comments from Fanboys on TreoCentral, the Pre is not surviving its heating problems - numerous posts noting the appearance - gradual appearance - of bubbles in the display, for example, or colored splotches near the "hottest area" suggest degradation.

We'll see how this develops, huh?

RE: PREEE
freakout @ 6/27/2009 4:26:26 PM # Q
http://forums.precentral.net/palm-pre/188652-how-many-people-perfectly-happy-their-pre.html

I'd say based off these comments, many people are perfectly happy with their Pres.

Relying on Internet forums for evidence of hardware problems is specious at best.


RE: PREEE
twrock @ 6/27/2009 4:54:56 PM # Q
freakout wrote:
I'd say based off these comments, many people are perfectly happy with their Pres.

Relying on Internet forums for evidence of hardware problems is specious at best.


Tim, I don't understand why you still don't get it.
http://www.palminfocenter.com/comments/6853/#152826

Hey Palm! Where's my PDA with Wifi and phone capabilities?
RE: PREEE
freakout @ 6/27/2009 7:53:09 PM # Q
(facepalm)

I'm a slow learner, I guess ;)

RE: PREEE
jca666us @ 6/28/2009 8:46:27 AM # Q
Finally admitting it? :)
Reply to this comment

Can you explain the 1200$?

zuhmir @ 6/26/2009 11:50:47 AM # Q
Where does the save come from? apps? bandwidth?
RE: Can you explain the 1200$?
tmd @ 6/26/2009 12:21:50 PM # Q
It's from the cost of the plans on the respective companies. Normally, Sprint is comparing the "Everything" plans of AT&T and themselves. I know my savings over a PDA data plan on AT&T are huge.
RE: Can you explain the 1200$?
zuhmir @ 6/26/2009 5:09:36 PM # Q
thx!
Reply to this comment

reminds me of RIM's (unaired) Blackberry bullet ad

freakout @ 6/26/2009 5:08:38 PM # Q
RE: reminds me of RIM's (unaired) Blackberry bullet ad
jca666us @ 6/27/2009 5:04:50 AM # Q
I like the blackberry ad better; unfortunately blackberry's (touchscreen) device didn't match up to the iphone.

The Sprint ad - like almost any ad - is full of half-truths and mis-statements.

The Pre does things the iPhone can't

Let's see:

1. Run multiple applications at the same time.

Depends, doesn't it.

On the iphone I can be in any app (including the web browser) and receive phone calls - can the Pre do that?

I can browse the web, listen to music, and receive email messages and notifications on the iphone - all at the same time. Isn't that multitasking?

Of course, third party apps on the iphone can't run in the background (except receive notifications).

Pre's third party app situation is abysmal right now - why flaunt it in an ad?

2. Save $1200 a year - woohoo!

I had Sprint for several years - never going back. AT&T may charge more for an equivalent plan, but they don't screw you over the way Sprint does.

Notice, the ad doesn't mention certain things in it's poor attempt to lure iphone users over:

1. The Pre's piss poor build quality. Loose slider, tiny keyboard, and cheap ass construction. No mention of the slow performance of webos either - see anandtech for numbers.

2. The tiny screen. I find the iphone's screen the smallest I would use - the Pre's has a slightly higher pixel density - but it's just way too small for my use.

3. half-assed itunes support. No support for drm'ed content.

Lastly, I think the timing of this ad is bad. This ad should have been released a few weeks ago.

Lots people who had a first gen iphone have already upgraded.

Definitely a lost opportunity for Sprint.

RE: reminds me of RIM's (unaired) Blackberry bullet ad
freakout @ 6/27/2009 7:47:22 AM # Q
O RLY?
RE: reminds me of RIM's (unaired) Blackberry bullet ad
twrock @ 6/27/2009 7:50:09 AM # Q
jca666us wrote:
No support for drm'ed content.

Hey, here's something to consider. If there was no support for drm'ed content anywhere, there wouldn't be any drm'ed content anywhere.

Oh, and incidentally, if that $1200 is meaningless to you, can you please send it to me?

Hey Palm! Where's my PDA with Wifi and phone capabilities?

RE: reminds me of RIM's (unaired) Blackberry bullet ad
jca666us @ 6/27/2009 7:40:25 PM # M Q
not that the 1200 doesn't matter - just that sprint was always overcharging me
RE: reminds me of RIM's (unaired) Blackberry bullet ad
Scott R @ 6/30/2009 4:37:29 PM # Q
"Lastly, I think the timing of this ad is bad. This ad should have been released a few weeks ago."

That was my initial thought. The ad's headline states "Perfect Timing." Perfect timing indeed. They released this ad a week *after* the iPhone 3GS was released and many people had already lined up to buy one. They couldn't even get that right.

My next thought was along the lines of fake Steve Jobs' thoughts:
http://fakesteve.blogspot.com

There's much that I like about the pre, but like Gekko, I think they threw the baby out with the bathwater. Where's the zen of Palm that Hawkins injected and that the Treo possessed? There's no categories, a clumsy tiled icon view on the home page, and it wasn't *just* the keyboard that made the Treo so efficient to use. On the Treo, the keyboard was always-available and the D-Pad was an integral part of the user experience. The pre and webOS looks like an iPhone wannabe, designed by former Apple employees. There appears to be little of the old Palm in there.
http://Tapland.com
- Tapwave Zodiac News, Reviews, & Discussion -

RE: reminds me of RIM's (unaired) Blackberry bullet ad
freakout @ 7/1/2009 2:21:42 AM # Q
Fake Steve is tres` amusing as always, but needs to be reminded that Sprint != Palm.
RE: reminds me of RIM's (unaired) Blackberry bullet ad
trekbowler @ 7/17/2009 11:26:39 AM # Q
jca666us

1) I think the concept of running multiple apps is pretty straightforward to most. That is, it means running Pandora Radio, Sprint GPS, and taking a phone call (of of which is possible because I have all of those streamed over my Bluetooth to FM transmitter in my car) at the same time. Thus, the iPhone is unable to manage this and the Pre can. Easy enough.

2) As twrock stated, if the $1200 is meaningless to you, then please, feel free to send that our way. I will take being overcharged $50 bucks one month (which incidently has never happened) if that means I still save $1150. Rumors of Sprint's bad Customer Service are greatly overblown (mainly by iPhone fanboys and blowhards).

3) My iTunes syncs perfectly with both drm'ed and non-drm'ed contenct. Again, this sounds like someone going to www.ihatepreandneedtosayshitaboutpre.com websites and regurgitating crap.

FYI, I am not an apple hater. I own my 5 year old Apple Macbook and a 1 year old Macbook Air. In fact, I love Apple stuff. But the problem is that the iPhone has looked and acted the same for the last 3 years and quite honestly, I am smarter than a 5th grader so I dont need a phone that has no depth and limits me to one app at a time. Apple needs to take a page from the people who saw the future and build a phone that truly takes advantage of their unique platform while allowing multiple apps and redesign their interface so its not a bunch of stupid buttons staring at you.

I have innumerable friends who rushed to buy the 2nd gen iPhone but who are now pissed because they can't really get the 3rd gen for, at a minimum, three or four more months. People think Sprint's timing of their ad is poor, how about Apples poor timing of the release of an entirely new phone.

RE: reminds me of RIM's (unaired) Blackberry bullet ad
jca666us @ 7/17/2009 3:39:24 PM # Q
trek,

I think the $1200 overcharge is sprint blowing smoke out of their asses again.

I have my wife's iphone and mine on a family plan - with unlimited text messaging and we pay $139 a month.

I see that the Pre has certain advantages, however the disadvantages are:

1. Palm as a company
2. The build quality of the Pre
3. Not knowing to what degree (long term) Palm will support - not just webos, but the pre itself.


Reply to this comment

New Palm Pre TV commercial?

hotpaw4 @ 6/28/2009 8:01:14 PM # Q
Anyone see the new Palm Pre commercial with concentric circles of like a thousand Chinese dancers? I thought is was pretty cool.
RE: New Palm Pre TV commercial?
numlock @ 6/28/2009 8:38:58 PM # Q
Reply to this comment

Palm Pre no longer available at Sprint.com

SeldomVisitor @ 7/21/2009 5:20:26 AM # Q
Nor its accessories, apparently.

Maybe they have decided to only sell it in person at stores.

Or something.

[if something more dramatic has happened, of course, Palm has to tell the world about it since the Pre (and Sprint) are so important to Palm financially ("material" is the key word)]


RE: Palm Pre no longer available at Sprint.com
Ryan @ 7/21/2009 7:15:05 AM # M Q
The Pre has never been available through sprint.com only in stores to date.
RE: Palm Pre no longer available at Sprint.com
SeldomVisitor @ 7/21/2009 7:19:03 AM # Q
No, the problem w as not "available", the problem was it wasn't there at all; they (temporarily) yanked it entirely from the list(s) of phones for sale.

The Pre is back on the site in those lists now - with the caveat to go to a store.

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