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

[MBHockey]

I love how may Pre fanboys signed up for this forum this month.

Some reviews I've read about the pre said it's multitasking begins to choke if you have 3-4 apps open. music starts to get choppy, app switching becomes laggy, and the battery life is laughable.

I'm not saying multitasking, in general, is a bad idea on a phone...but I think the current implementation in the Pre is not much different than simply switching apps on an iPhone.

 

[diamond.g]

I mean to post this question/statement in the Navigon thread as well, but I will add it here as food for thought. So you are using TomTom/Navigon/AT&T Navigator and you get a phone call. The Navigation app closes and the phone app takes over. You now have to re-open the Navigation app and have it recalculate the route and reacquire a position fix. This is my understanding of what would happen because the Navigation app cannot continue to monitor your current position due to not being able to be ran in the background.

Is that an accurate portrayal of what would take place if one received a phone call while getting directions? I guess this isn't a likely occurrence, but what if you got a phone call right as you were approaching a string of turns that you needed to take to get to your destination?

 

[thetexan]

I love how may Pre fanboys signed up for this forum this month.

Some reviews I've read about the pre said it's multitasking begins to choke if you have 3-4 apps open. music starts to get choppy, app switching becomes laggy, and the battery life is laughable.

I'm not saying multitasking, in general, is a bad idea on a phone...but I think the current implementation in the Pre is not much different than simply switching apps on an iPhone.

Pre fanboys are annoying, so are Apple ones. I was a previous 3G owner who switched to the Pre mainly because I get an experience very close to my iPhone's for a lot less money per month. The iPhone is more mature and overall I believe a better phone than the Pre, though not by much at all. With some software my Pre syncs better with my Macbook than my iPhone did! I don't even need to plug my Pre in, via Wifi I'm syncing my iTunes library, Podcasts, iCal, etc to my phone.

Bottom line is both phones are great phones and both phones are way ahead of WM, Symbian, and RIM. The Pre doesn't need to sell what Apple has sold to be a success. All they need to do is sell enough units to give Palm a profit and so far so good. I don't get why fanboys feel they have to attack other phones. I was at a deli in downtown Austin when an Apple fanboy approached me and told me my Pre is a POS and how his 3GS is the best phone ever made by man (his words). Seriously? Why? Am I not capable of forming my own opinions about what phone I like? I about punched a man in a deli that day.

 

[jclardy]

First of all, while you can't use data and voice at the same time, if someone calls you while you are using data, the call still goes through.

That is partially true. If on EV-D0 calls will go through and your data connection will shut off. If you are one 1xRTT using data then your calls will not go through because of a network limitation. Although it is kind of a moot point as 1xRTT is slow as molasses compared to EV-D0 so I probably wouldn't even bother using it.

I used to have a Palm Treo (650, without EV-D0) on Sprint a little over a year ago. After that I had an HTC Touch which had Windows Mobile...lets just say I'm happy with my 3G S now.

 

[timberga]

Depends what you mean by data. If you mean Safari, then you're probably right. If you mean email, IM etc. then not so much: IMO it is useful to have those services running in the background even when you are on a call.

I guess if you say so, although how many e-mails are you going to get for a typical 5 min phone call. I guarantee most people don't use this feature very much if at all.

 

[jmpage2]

I mean to post this question/statement in the Navigon thread as well, but I will add it here as food for thought. So you are using TomTom/Navigon/AT&T Navigator and you get a phone call. The Navigation app closes and the phone app takes over. You now have to re-open the Navigation app and have it recalculate the route and reacquire a position fix. This is my understanding of what would happen because the Navigation app cannot continue to monitor your current position due to not being able to be ran in the background.

Is that an accurate portrayal of what would take place if one received a phone call while getting directions? I guess this isn't a likely occurrence, but what if you got a phone call right as you were approaching a string of turns that you needed to take to get to your destination?

Well, the iPod app doesn't work that way. After the phone call it goes right back to the iPod screen and playback resumes.

Admittedly the iPod app is a background app that is always running but you would think that there is the capability to put in the functionality to resume your application and have some of the data cached.

 

[GfPQqmcRKUvP]

Meh, I can play my music and surf the web, I can also jump out of safari and text someone. I cannot and you cannot text and surf at the same time because of the form factor we're dealing with - a phone. So again I'm not seeing a compelling reason for multitasking.

What's the compelling reason for multi-tasking on a regular computer? I'm telling you, Pre's multi-tasking is great and you end up using it more than you'd think. Of course you can't text and surf at the same time, the screen size limitation...

I'd venture a guess you'd still use multi-tasking on your computer even if you couldn't stack the windows to where two sets of information were displayed at the same time. Jump into calculator, make a quick calculation, swipe over to an email (that you don't need to save as a draft), type it in. There are thousands of uses for multi-tasking, but you won't really believe it's usefulness until you actually go use a Pre.

Please read this: https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/7681185/

It was linked in the post above mine, but it really needs to be repeated. Great post.

 

[Goona]

Is the Pre the only phone that does 3rd party multitasking?

 

[Ferris23]

Honest question here from a Pre user, what would you want to do with data while talking on the phone? Please no sarcastic answers, I just don't get it. When I'm talking on the phone, I'm talking on the phone.

Edit: I do agree that the hardware quality of the Pre leaves something to be desired. The cutting cheese thing is total B.S. They must have gotten a one off, sharp device as mine is not sharp at all... However, the slider is definitely a bit loose and it concerns me a bit. That's why I got insurance.

When I am on the phone at home, I put it on speaker and have browsed the web and done other data related stuff quite often. Or I will need to look something up while I am talking on speaker. Trust me, it comes in handy.

 

[MBHockey]

Jump into calculator, make a quick calculation, swipe over to an email (that you don't need to save as a draft), type it in. There are thousands of uses for multi-tasking, but you won't really believe it's usefulness until you actually go use a Pre.

Can you post a youtube vide of you doing this? I want to see how much it differs from the iPhone. You don't have to save the email as a draft before switching out of mail and into a new app. When you "re-open" Mail your cursor is still blinking in the same spot in the email composition you left off prior to switching apps.

I think the confusion stems from iPhone users calling it more "closing" than "switching" apps. It really doesn't sound any different from what you are doing.

 

[GfPQqmcRKUvP]

Is the Pre the only phone that does 3rd party multitasking?

No, but it's the only phone that handles multi-tasking as well as it does. The card system is brilliant and it makes multi-tasking super easy. Other platforms (windows mobile, for instance) are pretty un-natural.

Can you post a youtube vide of you doing this? I want to see how much it differs from the iPhone. You don't have to save the email as a draft before switching out of mail and into a new app. When you "re-open" Mail your cursor is still blinking in the same spot in the email composition you left off prior to switching apps.

No, I have an iPhone 3GS. But I've used the Pre extensively. It's highly buggy and feature-incomeplete, but the multi-tasking is near perfect. It's a joy to use, no joke. Go play with one or at least read the link I reposted in my previous post. Switching apps isn't the only advantage of multi-tasking.

When I am on the phone at home, I put it on speaker and have browsed the web and done other data related stuff quite often. Or I will need to look something up while I am talking on speaker. Trust me, it comes in handy.

There are a lot of reasons to want voice and data at the same time, you just happened to pick one that 99% of the people on this forum can't relate to. We all have wireless networks (and full-fledged computers) at home. The Pre can use Wifi and voice at the same time.

 

[Ferris23]

I still don't understand how the OP owns and Iphone but somehow doesn't know that the Iphone can play music and do other things at the same time.

 

[kdarling]

Is the Pre the only phone that does 3rd party multitasking?

Umm. More like the iPhone is the only smartphone that does not.

Windows Mobile, RIM, Android, Symbian, all do (although I have no personal experience with the last).

The Pre card system is a brilliant and simple visual solution to giving the user natural control. But it's not a unique idea:

The second generation of HP Touchsmart home computers have a similar card carousel presentation.

nVidia also has a really nice card carousel on their WinMo Tegra development system... see some video from 2008 here. Would not be surprised if the new Zune has some of this.

You can get third party addons for Windows Mobile that present running apps all in miniature on one screen or a carousel, to close or to bring to front. I wouldn't be surprised if someone developed a Pre shell clone for WM soon, if not for the other OS's.

 

[timberga]

Meh, I can play my music and surf the web, I can also jump out of safari and text someone. I cannot and you cannot text and surf at the same time because of the form factor we're dealing with - a phone. So again I'm not seeing a compelling reason for multitasking. What you state is pretty close to what I can do now w/o multitasking.


They are compared to the PRE's and the for me the biggest advantage is scratch resistant. I've used enough palm pilots and other PDAs that if no protective covering was used they'd be scratched up in no time - I know, I found out the hard way

I've said this before, the PRE isn't a bad phone but I don't believe its features make it a better phone then the iPhone. If it fits your need great, but unfortunately its on sprint, where they've been bleeding customers at an incredible rate.

- It's not a quick jump between that web browser into messaging and back into the web browser, and its especially not quick when the iphone reloads the page you were browsing. This is fact.

- Screen protector, period.

 

[GfPQqmcRKUvP]

I still don't understand how the OP owns and Iphone but somehow doesn't know that the Iphone can play music and do other things at the same time.

Everyone knows the iPhone plays music in the background. You know those iPod controls when you double tap the home screen? Yes, that's multi-tasking, but only for one program. Imagine being able to do that (have your attention shifted away for a split second, get something done, and already being back in your original program and train of thought without skipping a beat) in every program if you want.

It's not a quick jump between that web browser into messaging and back into the web browser, and its especially not quick when the iphone reloads the page you were browsing. This is fact.

No, it isn't. The iPhone 3GS holds webpages in its memory and never needs to reload them. Further, if you switch away from a tab in Safari, it will load in the background while you're on another page.

 

[Ferris23]

Everyone knows the iPhone plays music in the background. You know those iPod controls when you double tap the home screen? Yes, that's multi-tasking, but only for one program. Imagine being able to do that (have your attention shifted away for a split second, get something done, and already being back in your original program and train of thought without skipping a beat) in every program if you want.

Originally Posted by felixxiano
The biggest drawback for me is the lack of multitasting; I cannot listen to my music while I am chatting with a friend or surf the web. That's kinda a bummer.

The original poster didn't know that. The rest I'm not sure what you are talking about, but going from one thing to another on the 3GS is quick and painless.

 

[Ferris23]

- It's not a quick jump between that web browser into messaging and back into the web browser, and its especially not quick when the iphone reloads the page you were browsing. This is fact.

- Screen protector, period.

No, that is not a fact actually, on 3GS it's fast as hell.

 

[GfPQqmcRKUvP]

The original poster didn't know that. The rest I'm not sure what you are talking about, but going from one thing to another on the 3GS is quick and painless.

Then read my post again. It adheres to proper sentence structure and is pretty comprehensible.

I have a 3GS. I don't have a Pre. I recognize the Pre bests the iPhone in multi-tasking.

 

[timberga]

I love how may Pre fanboys signed up for this forum this month.

Some reviews I've read about the pre said it's multitasking begins to choke if you have 3-4 apps open. music starts to get choppy, app switching becomes laggy, and the battery life is laughable.

I'm not saying multitasking, in general, is a bad idea on a phone...but I think the current implementation in the Pre is not much different than simply switching apps on an iPhone.

- I'm not a Pre fanboy. I have the 3G and Pre and am deciding between the 3GS and the Pre.

- Your information is bad. I can open 20-21 cards before getting the "too many cards open" message. The 3 - 4 thing you read is false.

- The battery life for 3G talk and 3G data are better than the iPhone 3G, ANANDTECH has the tests to prove it. Go look before making foolish statements. Oh yeah, and it seems there are plenty of people complaining on these forums about the 3GS battery life when it comes to 3G talk / 3G data time.

The battery life on the 3GS is definitely better if you are on WIFI and are only playing music and videos. The pre definitely doesn't compete there for sure as well.

- Multitasking + Gestures are where the Pre shines....if you actually used one you'd know why instead of making speculative statements.

 

[timberga]

No, that is not a fact actually, on 3GS it's fast as hell.

- The opening of the applications is faster, but everything else that you would be doing is the same speed. AND if the browser decides it needs to reload the webpage you were just looking at a minute ago, thats not "fast as hell". I'll stick with logic here and say fact.

 

[chwhale]

My wife has a Pre and I have the 3GS. Here is a quick review of my experiences.

The gestures on the Pre take a little while to get used to coming from the iPhone. After you get the hang of it though, you're blazing through the screens quickly. I found the touch response of the screen very good. It isn't 100% as snappy as the iPhone but it is miles better than anything else that I've tried the touch screen on.

I do like the multitasking on the Pre. I like that I can have several apps running at once and switch between them quickly. After having used it quite a bit, it does make Apple's version of multitasking (i.e. using the phone or ipod) seem antiquated. It just felt clunky coming back to the iPhone and having to close an app, open the next app, do my work, close that app, and reopen my first app. On the Pre, I can just bring up the new app and either close it when I'm done, or just leave it there. I wish that Apple would think about multitasking more.

The camera is good. I really like that it pushes the rendering and saving of the picture to the background. That makes it easy to take pictures quickly. Just snap, snap, snap away. On my iPhone 1.0, it took FOREVER to take a lot of pictures. On the 3GS, it isn't as bad. Browsing pictures on the Pre does take a while. Its rendering is laggy and I got found myself getting tired of waiting. My advice, snap a lot of pictures on the Pre and pray that one turns out.

My wife doesn't have a Gmail account, so we don't take advantage of the push features like we could. However, I don't like that you have to pay for a Mobile Me account just to get the same features as the Google ones on the Pre (which are free). Yeah the "find my iphone" feature is one that the Pre doesn't have. But, everytime I'm indoors with my iPhone and turn on the GPS, it thinks that I'm anywhere from 10 miles to 30 miles away from where I'm actually at. Point being, don't lose your phone indoors.

Yeah, Apple can laugh at the number of apps that the pre has at launch, but how many did Apple have when 1.0 came out? My wife just wants the basics anyway and didn't need her choice of 50,000 apps. She uses it as a phone / communications device.

I was able to quickly add all of the music and movies to the Pre through iTunes. The media player on the Pre is, in my opinion, just about as good as on the iPhone. There's no coverflow on the pre, but I never use it on my iPhone unless I'm trying to show off. I don't need to make playlists on the fly, so a lot of the advanced media player features of the iPhone are lost on me.

All in all, for me, I still like my 3GS. If there were no iPhone, the Pre would be a superstar. It is a good second choice if you don't want to get an iPhone or just want a cheaper data plan.

Just my $0.02.

 

[GfPQqmcRKUvP]

- The opening of the applications is faster, but everything else that you would be doing is the same speed. AND if the browser decides it needs to reload the webpage you were just looking at a minute ago, thats not "fast as hell". I'll stick with logic here and say fact.

The 3GS does not need to reload webpages. With 6 pages open, I can quit safari, use my phone for an hour in a graphically intensive game, go back to safari and they're all there without needing to be reloaded.

Yeah, Apple can laugh at the number of apps that the pre has at launch, but how many did Apple have when 1.0 came out?

Your post was informative and well thought-out, thanks for your impressions. I just wanted to comment on this one phrase because I hear it a LOT from Pre fans. 1.0 was over two years ago. You don't compare recently introduced products to what the competition was like two years ago. It just doesn't make sense.

By the way, the number of apps on the Pre WILL grow a lot once the SDK is available, but it isn't yet and it's a definite drawback.

 

[marksman]

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

You are likely right. However, if and when Apple does do it, they will likely do it right and it will be done in a manner where issues where the usability and functionality of the phone are not hindered or impeded. They will not just add it because it sounds cool to add. There are a lot of trade-offs with doing multi-tasking on these devices now, and the Pre is no exception to this. Once Apple does implement a mobile device with full multi-tasking it is very likely that most of those trade-offs will have been dealt with and/or minimized.

So yeah, people will probably sing the praises of multi-tasking. Multi-tasking as a concept is a great thing. It is the impact it has on the current generation of devices that is a problem. Some day multi-tasking will make sense on these devices, just like it now makes sense on computers. Multi-tasking did not make a lot of sense in computers for many years. Even when people took stabs at making it work, it still wasn't right.

Now it is second nature and works pretty flawlessly. So Apple chooses to wait until they can make it work to their standards. Nothing wrong with that. Also nothing wrong with people who dismiss or diminish current implementations currently as being lesser, than praising a better implementation in the future.

 

[diamond.g]

Your post was informative and well thought-out, thanks for your impressions. I just wanted to comment on this one phrase because I hear it a LOT from Pre fans. 1.0 was over two years ago. You don't compare recently introduced products to what the competition was like two years ago. It just doesn't make sense.

Hmm, it has actually not even been a year yet. Remember 3rd party apps for the iPhone didn't show up till 2.0 (July 11, 2008). I will say it isn't right to try to compare the Pre to the original iPhone (pre 2.0). The pre isn't competing with the iPhone (pre 2.0).

 

[GfPQqmcRKUvP]

Hmm, it has actually not even been a year yet. Remember 3rd party apps for the iPhone didn't show up till 2.0 (July 11, 2008). I will say it isn't right to try to compare the Pre to the original iPhone (pre 2.0). The pre isn't competing with the iPhone (pre 2.0).

Yup, I was just saying that a lot of people say "The Pre doesn't have many applications, but the iPhone didn't have ANY when it was first introduced!"

It's like people (not the poster I quoted, he wasn't that adament about this argument) think its valid comparing a current product to their competition's previous offerings...