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e24ohm
May 4th, 2010, 08:00 PM
I am looking at the PALM Pre Plus. Can anyone offer insight on this product that is beyond the standard marketing threads?

Does it support HTML5? and any other tid'bits.

thanks.

HeresJohnny
May 14th, 2010, 08:36 PM
Hi, I'll do what I can.
1. I don't know whether it supports HTML5, but it doesn't have Flash support yet- promised this summer, don't hold your breath.
2. The Mobile Hotspot is a great thing if you take road trips with others- they'll be able to use their laptops or iPod Touch/es while you drive. If you don't do this often, it may not be worth it.
3. Invest in an Invisible Skin cover- the screen is the most important part of the device, you can't afford to have it crack, and IS works extremely well.
4. Treat the phone with care- the slider mechanism gets loose easily, and the phone itself can have construction issues.
5. The OS is the best you've ever used on a phone, hands down. A lot of people at my church have iPhones, but they have to choose between looking up bible passages or taking sermon notes, while I can do both, switching to and fro as needed.
6. In fact, I'm excited for the rumored HP tablet running WebOS for the same reason- the iPad does what it does well enough, but even with OS 4 it still can't approach the beauty and simplicity of multitasking in WebOS.
7. The homebrew community is very active in developing different solutions for the Pre and Pixi- and unlike Apple, Palm does a lot to encourage them. You have the ability to change a lot of system settings and install new themes, for example, to really personalize your phone.
8. Sprint's plans are really good value, even if their network is 'meh'. I don't know about Verizon.
9. The ONE thing I really want is the ability to pair to a Bluetooth keyboard, but the Pre doesn't support this- nor do plans seem to be in the works. If I could take the Apple keyboard with me, and my Pre, I wouldn't need a notebook.

Hope this helps!

dca
May 14th, 2010, 08:42 PM
Biggest complaint I've heard (don't get mad now) is that they're not very well made... Maybe that's not a good way of putting it. More like sturdiness compared to Moto Droid.

Put "palm pre plus build quality" into Google search and you'll see a slew of reviews and other information...

dca
May 14th, 2010, 08:43 PM
...nevermind, if it's the "Plus" that's at VZW in the US versus older Sprint model, some of the build issues have been addressed...

VeeDubb
May 14th, 2010, 08:51 PM
I've been using a palm pre, which is identical to the plus except for storage capacity and ram, since august or so.

Build quality is an issue for a lot of people, but I (and a lot of other people) have had no problems with build quality.

The one thing worth pointing out, is that the linux compatibility is stellar. The palm novacom driver for it is available as a .deb, the WebOSDoctor (program for reflashing the phone to factory specs) is a java application making it platform independent, and so is WebOSQuickInstall, which is a desktop application for installing homebrew software and doing a number of other very clever things.

It syncs beautifully with Banshee and/or Rhythmbox, and mounts up automatically like any USB drive when plugged in.

I strongly recommend you take a look around at www.precentral.net and especially at the forums there. There are a lot of linux users there.

questant
June 2nd, 2010, 03:13 AM
I just purchased a Palm Pre Plus. I have used Palm for the past 10 years. I find the Palm WebOS superior, hands down. I see no immediate problems with the construction of the handset, but I've just begun to use it. The keyboard is tiny but I've found it reasonably easy to adjust. I have had no problem with any features as yet (getting gestures just right is a trip) and find the change in operation from buttons to screens a relatively minor learning curve overall. This version of Palm REQUIRES, by default, syncing with a web provider or a server "Exchange" such as Microsoft. Palm seems to be pushing Google, Yahoo and Microsoft Exchange. They neither list, nor indicate the existence of other options and that is, for both a noob and a vet alike, relatively unhelpful. If we don't want to use those services or the MS exchange server there are additional steps. If a user wants to sync with the personal desktop, the support for alternatives includes only using either "Classic" (www.motionapps.com. $30) or "MissingSync" (www.markspace.com $40). These are plugins which open the function to sync to a desktop client in the same way as the original Palm. Both of these alternatives are written specifically to sync with a client on the MS Windows OS. In addition, Classic will not sync over a network and their staff recommends their competitor if one needs that feature (imagine that!). Neither of these offerings are open source or any flavor of the GPL. But apparently Missing Sync will not include memos and tasks syncs until its next release.
I can think of no reason why the internet/web sync procedure would not work regardless of platform, but I have not, as yet, done my first sync.
Palm has been clear in the past it does not support Linux as an end user OS on the desktop, and continues to stand on that position over the telephone (May 29, 2010) EVEN THOUGH the WebOS is a Linux Kernel-based OS. Isn't that ironic!
That may change. Hewlett Packard just bought out Palm (Announced April 29, 2010) and, although the word was they were not to complete the takeover before the end of June, another word currently floating about is they've already fired Palm's marketing staff (information from a Verizon source tracking the move--V is selling the Palm Pre Plus). If that's true, that's likely very good. Palm marketing practices tended to be costly to the consumer and relatively poor in building in software incentives and offerings as incentives to purchase and use the device (It is not that clear HP will be a whole lot better -- They're doing layoffs now). In the past, if a user wanted voice-activated dialing it was a $40 add-on from a 3rd party vendor and didn't work with Bluetooth. It is STILL not active in WebOS 1.4.*, although the code is apparently in the system already (Verizon says it is present and active in the Pixi Plus, see http://verizoncellularphones.net/verizon-cellular-phones/palm-pixi-plus-phone-verizon-wireless/)and is rumored to be activated in the next release. It's about time. Almost everyone else and their dog has had that by default since dirt was young.
I think this one is a go. In some respects it is a sleeper. But it's based in the Linux kernel. Linux was a sleeper too. But one could see immediately how large it would eventually loom. So be it.

MooPi
August 1st, 2010, 12:06 AM
I just bought a palm pixi, which is very similar to the pre and it is great. Can't say enough about it and I got it free through Verizon. Something to look at now as HP is trying to promote this phone line. My Asus eepc is less responsive than this phone and considerably smaller. I really like the WebOS.

pwnst*r
August 1st, 2010, 12:22 AM
Try Howardforums

Also, Flash 10.1 on the Evo w/ Froyo is t*ts.

merry558
September 1st, 2010, 05:32 AM
i am looking for palm pre but i heard from many of my friends that there are some problems in palm pre.....please anyone palm pre user can suggest me about this

toupeiro
September 1st, 2010, 08:06 AM
My wife had one for a while, ... well I should say 2. The first one had issues where it would power itself off and so did the second one. Needless to say, she have a moto-devour now.

However, webOS was amazing!

dmglouis
September 1st, 2010, 08:40 AM
I have a Palm Pre and I can say with certainty that the OS is definitely what has made me keep after a year. However, the phone performs a little sluggish (I don't know about Plus because it does have double the RAM, that might make it a bit faster) when it is run at stock speeds.

That's why I'm currently overclocking mine to 1 Ghz. Whenever I use the phone, the CPU clocks to 1 Ghz, and when the screen is off, it reverts to 500 Mhz (default max clock speed). Using this setup, I get a speedy phone but it doesn't perform well in terms of battery life. I pretty much have to charge everyday even though I don't use it a lot during the day (few phone calls, texting throughout, plus some web browsing in 5 min increments)

It is also pretty easy to get into the whole community (http://precentral.net), their forums are a wealth of information for problems you might encounter with the hardware and fixes that might help.

Also, to learn the OS, I recommend you watch some tutorial videos online before you get the phone. This helped me a lot because I was familiar with the OS (gesture area, swipe gesture, etc) when I walked into the store to buy the phone.

Having said all of that, I would be a little wary buying a Pre Plus now. HP/Palm just released the WebOS 2.0 SDK and they might release a Pre 2 soon (I hope!).

m4tic
September 1st, 2010, 02:14 PM
Where i am, Samsung wave is really popular and i've been hearing good reviews from people i know whom are using it, i had a test drive of it myself. It has HTML5, WiFi tethering, multitoutch, iphone style copy paste and a good camera. I'd choose it over palm pre unless it's renamed to HP Pre, then I'll be certain of their commitment.

EDIT: If it makes anyone here feel great, Samsung wave runs on top of Linux