I bought and iPhone and a Pre.. Currently Comparing Both

[Konz]

- Only 8GB of space
- No landscape keyboard

Those two alone are dealbreakers. WTF do you do when you're looking at something in landscape mode then need to type? Turn it on it's side and slide out the keyboard so you can put one word into a search box then turn it to landscape again? Stupid... stupid stupid stupid.

There are plenty of other cons but I don't even need to list them because the first two make me cringe.

edit: And the camera? Those pictures look no better than all the Flickr albums I've looked at from the 3GS... in fact, I'd go so far as to say the 3GS pictures were actually better than those.

 

[skwoytek]

PS. Apps that are just sitting, don't use extra power. They just make life a lot easier.

But don't they use extra memory? Otherwise, they're really not sitting there waiting any more than an iPhone app is...

I haven't used a Pre for more than a few minutes, but I do have a 3GS. I've heard that switching between apps (even already open apps) on a Pre takes about as much time as switching between apps on an iPhone 3GS. The time taken switching apps on an iPhone 3GS is almost inconsequential.

There are however, still a few benefits to multiple emails open, etc. But that could be handled the same as Mobile Safari's card switching.

 

[Denny Crane]

I'm currently using

both the Palm Pre and the iPhone 3GS. I've previously owned the original iPhone and the iPhone 3G as well as the Treo 650, 700p, & 750. What I am saying is that I have a history with both companies.

With that said, the Pre's biggest advantage is that they have multitasking which is very cool. The keyboard issue is a wash with me. Their physical one is so cramped, I'm probably just as good on the iPhone on screen keyboard.

I've conducted tests on my wifi network and both perform well. The iPhone wins some and loses some. The unlimited plan on Sprint is very nice. I just wish their coverage was a bit better.

The biggest advantage of the iPhone is the number of apps available and build quality. The Pre feels like a plastic egg. They are already having issues with broken screens. No way it would last a year for me.

 

[MBHockey]

But don't they use extra memory? Otherwise, they're really not sitting there waiting any more than an iPhone app is...

I haven't used a Pre for more than a few minutes, but I do have a 3GS. I've heard that switching between apps (even already open apps) on a Pre takes about as much time as switching between apps on an iPhone 3GS. The time taken switching apps on an iPhone 3GS is almost inconsequential.

There are however, still a few benefits to multiple emails open, etc. But that could be handled the same as Mobile Safari's card switching.

Yes if it's using memory then it's using battery power. The poster you quoted is blissfully ignorant.

 

[MBHockey]

both the Palm Pre and the iPhone 3GS. I've previously owned the original iPhone and the iPhone 3G as well as the Treo 650, 700p, & 750. What I am saying is that I have a history with both companies.

With that said, the Pre's biggest advantage is that they have multitasking which is very cool. The keyboard issue is a wash with me. Their physical one is so cramped, I'm probably just as good on the iPhone on screen keyboard.

I've conducted tests on my wifi network and both perform well. The iPhone wins some and loses some. The unlimited plan on Sprint is very nice. I just wish their coverage was a bit better.

The biggest advantage of the iPhone is the number of apps available and build quality. The Pre feels like a plastic egg. They are already having issues with broken screens. No way it would last a year for me.

Can you confirm whether or not the Pre can do voice and data simultaneously over EVDO? I've read conflicting things.

 

[Drag'nGT]

Sprint may work well in a few cities but it is a joke here in the south east. That alone kills the product.

 

[Denny Crane]

MBHockey...

I'll have to check tomorrow..I don't have EVDO (or 3G) for that matter at home. I have it at work though.

 

[thetexan]

Can you confirm whether or not the Pre can do voice and data simultaneously over EVDO? I've read conflicting things.

No you can not. If you have wifi the phone will use wifi during a call, but CDMA can not do both voice and data. If the iPhone ever came to Verizon, it wouldn't be able to do voice and data at the same time. When the GSM version of the Pre is released as long as it can do 3G it will be able to do voice and data at the same time.

If you try to use data while on the phone on the Pre you will get a notification telling you there is not an active data connection. It'll give you the option to find a wifi signal and attempt to use that or you can just ignore it.

The iPhone 3G will not do voice/data at the same time if you have 3G turned off, you don't live in a 3G coverage area, or when you placed the call there was no 3G signal available and your phone had to use edge.

 

[maflynn]

I didn't want to cut and paste all of the arguments regarding multitasking but the OP failed to provide a compelling reason that multitasking on a phone is a huge benefit. As other had stated, I can easily cut and paste the phone number with a number of gestures.

I don't think anyone is arguing about the advantages of multitasking on a computer but on a phone, I've not heard about a compelling reason why its actually needed.

As for the other items in the this thread, its interesting how PRE apologists makes excuses about the horrendous keyboard, especially when its one of the major marking points that palm was pushing.

The plastic touch screen is definitely a step back and again apple clearly has a better product.

Overall if you like the PRE, go for it, though I've never once heard anything good about sprint. I think you're missing out on a lot by going there but different strokes for different folks

 

[kdarling]

And how long was iPhone OS in development before the release of the original iPhone?

The iPhone OS port began in early 2006.

If you put together all the known histories, you get something like this:

2005 Jan - Apple begins talks about doing an MVNO with Cingular
2005 Feb - decide to do phone instead
2005 Jul - Apple approaches Verizon with phone idea
2005 Fall - first experiments with iPod-based wheel phones
2005 Dec - new hardware design begins
2006 Jan - OSX port begins
2006 Jul - Apple finally gives up on Verizon, signs with Cingular
2006 Fall - Jobs angry because nothing works right
2006 Dec - ATT finally shown iPhone
2007 Jan - world shown iPhone

Throughout it all, perhaps a dozen people out of hundreds ever saw a complete phone. Everyone else, including Apple UI engineers and ATT techs doing radio tests, saw only bits, pieces and large box versions.

 

[kdarling]

But don't they use extra memory? Otherwise, they're really not sitting there waiting any more than an iPhone app is...

Sure, unless you have an OS with virtual memory, all apps use real memory. Which is undoubtedly one reason the 3GS got more... so it could keep more background cache, allocate room for voice control, etc.

As for thinking that re-opening apps over and over again somehow equates to multitasking, I just have no words for that. The flow is nowhere near the same.

Consider if you had five apps going, one from every other page of your 10 menu pages, but you had to keep flipping between them. Even in the ideal case (which doesn't exist) of all those apps starting quickly and at the exact same spot... I'm sorry, but between lack of context flow and finding those apps again, there's no comparison.

Listen, I'll make you a friendly bet. The moment that Apple allows it, everyone here will suddenly sing the praises of multitasking.

Yes if it's using memory then it's using battery power. The poster you quoted is blissfully ignorant.

Static apps are not using extra battery power, which was the question. RAM takes the same amount of power whether it's all filled, or not.

As a note, the design of the iPhone makes having more RAM pretty critical. Because it uses NAND flash, it has to serially download apps into RAM to execute. Some other handheld designs use NOR flash, and run the apps directly from that... no downloading required.

 

[MBHockey]

No you can not. If you have wifi the phone will use wifi during a call, but CDMA can not do both voice and data. If the iPhone ever came to Verizon, it wouldn't be able to do voice and data at the same time. When the GSM version of the Pre is released as long as it can do 3G it will be able to do voice and data at the same time.

If you try to use data while on the phone on the Pre you will get a notification telling you there is not an active data connection. It'll give you the option to find a wifi signal and attempt to use that or you can just ignore it.

The iPhone 3G will not do voice/data at the same time if you have 3G turned off, you don't live in a 3G coverage area, or when you placed the call there was no 3G signal available and your phone had to use edge.

Thanks for that. I guess the raging Pre fanboy in the other thread was mistaken. He asserted that it was the same as the iPhone. Over 1X you can't do both, but EVDO could handle it.

 

[Goona]

I'm pretty much certain that the phone call interrupts your web use, if I'm wrong then yeah, that does suck. I still am not certain if I'm keeping my Pre. I know everyone here will hate on me for saying this, but in my opinion, WebOS beats the hell out of iPhone OS. That being said, the hardware is not up to my standards, and I'm not yet certain if I can deal with it...

Can you please elaborate on webOS beating the iPhone OS?

 

[MBHockey]

Goona, the Pre can play Pandora in the background, duh.

I don't understand the whole multitasking thing. People love comparing it to a computer, "What if your computer could only run one program at a time?" and that's a terrible analogy. On a computer the screen is much bigger than a single application, and multitasking is much more purposive.

It seems the main argument is that it makes switching between applications faster, which I think is untrue. Switching between apps on the iPhone is extremely fast, especially with the 3GS. So what's the difference between switching cards in WebOS or hitting home and picking the next app to run on an iPhone? Is it the number of actions it takes to accomplish this? The perceived length of time this requires?

 

[redking31591]

Fair enough, I'm not an expert on WebOS, I just know it's been in development for 4 years and the iPhone has been out for 3 years.

Um, review your apple history, webkit was started by Apple in 2002 not 2005 and it was forked from a KHTML project that dates back to 1998. Also if I remember correctly most of the work on the pre and WebOS was done since Jon Rubinstein joined the company in late 2007(Well after the iPhone introduction) because the previous atempts at Palm OS II were deemed crap by Rubinstein. So what is now know as WebOS owes quite a bit to the iPhone, more than the iPhone owes to the original Palm OS. Without the iPhone the smartphone market would have nothing but the older Blackberry OS and the old Palm OS. In behaviors and functions the WebOS is extremly similar to iPhone OS. Take away the mulitasking and all you have is a iPhone OS with a different look and a crappy poorly supported app store.

 

[amorican]

The key word there was Opinion... I like the Pre OS more. Maybe beats the hell out of was too strong a statement, don't know, don't really care.

I will once again, however, re-state that I'm not sold on the Pre yet. I in fact plan on buying an iPhone in the next couple of days. The hardware feels cheap as I said previously, and if in playing around with an iPhone more I start to like it more, than that's the one I'll keep. I have an open mind about these things.

Plain and simple as of now I prefer WebOS, I find it comfortable and slick. Also, being able to stream Pandora while doing one of various other things, just pick one, is really nice. No, it's not revolutionary, but it's one of the little things that is just nice. Anyway, we'll see if iPhone's OS grows on me, I know the hardware is most definitely better.

 

[Goona]

Goona, the Pre can play Pandora in the background, duh.

I don't understand the whole multitasking thing. People love comparing it to a computer, "What if your computer could only run one program at a time?" and that's a terrible analogy. On a computer the screen is much bigger than a single application, and multitasking is much more purposive.

It seems the main argument is that it makes switching between applications faster, which I think is untrue. Switching between apps on the iPhone is extremely fast, especially with the 3GS. So what's the difference between switching cards in WebOS or hitting home and picking the next app to run on an iPhone? Is it the number of actions it takes to accomplish this? The perceived length of time this requires?

LOL that's the only benefit we've been hearing. Before they added IM apps but now that Push has fixed that, they've now turned to Pandora like that's all we so on our phones all day, stream Pandora in the background.

 

[redking31591]

LOL that's the only benefit we've been hearing. Before they added IM apps but now that Push has fixed that, they've now turned to Pandora like that's all we so on our phones all day, stream Pandora in the background.

you said it. I had pandora on my iphone for about a month and then got rid of it. People made it out like it was this amazing service but for me it just played music i didn't like or it just played the same 10 song over and over and over. If someone picks a phone by the ability to stream a music service while surfing the web by all means let them. I'll stick to the app store

 

[clevin]

quick question,

how many of you apple apologists actually used a Pre to the extend like OP did? before you throw out sore grapes all over the place?

big LOL

invent something new, people, beside the same old cap like

oh, my iphone can't do this, this must be stupid and useless ...

i mean, com' on, aren't you guys tired of doing the same old trick again and again?

 

[felixxiano]

So, after playing the entire day with the Pre, I will return it tomorrow at the mall kiosk where I bought. The hardware itself is not the best quality.

When the phone is closed, it 'wiggles' a bit. It really bothers me; I have another friend with a Pre and his doesnt behave the same way. However, I have found many people are having the same problem based on multiple posts on the web. There is no way the phone can last two year with such an 'average' hardware. At least the iPhone seems more heavy dutty. I am definitely not keeping the Pre.

Not sure if I'll keep the iPhone yet; I'm waiting for the BlackBerry Tour. If it doesn't come within the next 27 days, I'll keep the iPhone by default.

Although, I still like the Pre camera the best.

 

[amorican]

I experience the same wiggle too, which is why I'm gonna be buying an iPhone to try out. The hardware really does feel cheap.

 

[felixxiano]

I experience the same wiggle too, which is why I'm gonna be buying an iPhone to try out. The hardware really does feel cheap.

I had the Ocean by Helio, which is also a sliding phone, for about a year, and the quality feels very different. My Ocean had solid hardware, and wouldn't wiggle nearly as much.

I loved the hardware in the Pre along with the camera; I was leaning a bit more towards the Pre earlier today, but the hardware was a big dissapointment towards the end of the day.

 

[Goona]

quick question,

how many of you apple apologists actually used a Pre to the extend like OP did? before you throw out sore grapes all over the place?

big LOL

invent something new, people, beside the same old cap like

i mean, com' on, aren't you guys tired of doing the same old trick again and again?

Hey has the screen of your Pre scratched yet?

 

[redking31591]

what is the screen of the pre made of? I have searched and none of the reviews mentioned it.

 

[amorican]

what is the screen of the pre made of? I have searched and none of the reviews mentioned it.

It's made of plastic, but I have an Invisible Shield on it, so no it hasn't scratched yet.

The only hardware gripe is the slider. It's loose. That also can't be blamed on the fact that it's a slider phone, because my 1.5 year old HTC Mogul didn't have any play/wiggle in the slider at all. It's just Rev. A hardware, and I don't know if I can keep it because of that. It will be unfortunate if I end up returning it, because it's a great phone, plus I'm a Sprint Premier customer, which comes with many perks.