Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Why the iPhone 3GS destroys the Palm Pre.

I

iHalo

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 14, 2008
157
0
So, as of June 6th, the beloved, next iPhone killer, the "Palm Pre", was released to the public. Now, I give Palm credit for putting together a better touchscreen smartphone than Blackberry, Samsung, LG, Nokia, G1, Sony Ericcson, etc. They made the second best phone on the market in the United States, but Apple has gone way beyond the Palm Pre this time.

First, when the Palm Pre was being touted as the "iPhone killer", note it was released A YEAR after the iPhone 3g. Palm was trying to catch up to Apple A YEAR later.

Now, here are a few arguments that someone might use to claim the Palm Pre is better than the iPhone 3GS.

1. Keyboard-I had a Treo 300, Treo 600, and a Treo 650 before my original iPhone. I learned to use a physical keyboard extremely well on a phone. Yes, when I got the original iPhone, it took some time to get used to, but the keyboard was WAY BETTER. The corrective spelling (which you can turn off), the ease, and the simplicity behind it. It also did not take up any extra space. I loved it and I can type extremely fast on it. When I used the Palm Pre keyboard, it felt edgy on the sides and weird against my skin. It wasn't and so easy to hold experience of the iPhone.

2. Multitasking-This is not really a big deal to me. With the release of iPhone 3.0, I can get push notifications on all the applications I need. It also takes me hardly time to boot up a new application and switch between applications on the iPhone.

3. The application store will be HUGE!!!- Palm has what, 12 applications right now for the Pre? Apple did an amazing job rewarding developers for innovation and there are countless applications on iTunes. Even if Palm gets the application store to grow bigger (which it will need to release the developer kit for), Apple's application store will keep growing faster than Palm's. Apple has applications ranging from The Sims 3 to Mafia Live to Tap Tap Revenge 2.5 to an ESPN Sports Application to E-Readers and way way more. The Palm Pre's store has um, Pandora (which is on the iTunes application store as well)?

4. Camera is better!!!- iPhone 3GS now has a 3 megapixel camera as well, along with autofocus and a video camera. Oh yeah, isn't that Pre lacking a video camera?

5. Sprint is better!!!- I had sprint before AT&T, I feel the same on both of them.

6. Storage- Oh, how Apple destroyed the Pre here. The Pre is $199 (after $100 rebate) for 8 gigabytes. The iPhone is $99 for the iPhone 3g 8 gigabyte, $199 for the iPhone 3GS 16 gigabyte, $299 for the iPhone 3GS 32 gigabyte. Much better deal.

7. Screen is better- I did a side by side comparison, I felt the iPhone screen was more appealing to look at. Same resolution on both phones.

8. Synergy- This is a cool feature, but come on, is it that critical? I can reach anyone I need to easily on the iPhone.

Any questions? Let's face it. iPhone 3GS wins. The speed, the design, the applications, the camera, the video, the software, and more. The Palm Pre does not beat it.
 
I wouldn't say the Pre is destroyed by the 3GS. I think the iPhone 3GS is better, but it doesn't destroy it. I think 3.0 and the new hardware is what it needed to push it up beyond the Pre. The Pre seems like a great phone and the 3GS seems better, but to say it destroys the Palm Pre is a stretch.

Now, it WILL destroy the Pre, commercially, though.
 
The 99 dollar iphone destroys the Pre, forget about the 3gs, the Pre is not even in it's class. This is why the Palm supporters have gotten so desperate, they say we should compare the Pre to the original iphone released 2 years ago.
 
I don't even really know everything about the Pre, but two things make it a non-starter. iPhone Apps and 8 GB. I've been using 8 GB for the past two years just fine, but I can't see myself spending $2/300 and signing another two years for 8 GB. The 3GS doesn't really change anything in that regard.
 
How long does it take you to swap a fresh battery into your iPhones? I can do it blindfolded, on my Treo 755 (and on the Pre) in about 7 seconds. And the batteries are pretty inexpensive, to boot.

Any phone without juice is just a hunk of plastic and parts, isn't it?

The Pre is 3mp camera but no video or autofocus, but has a LED flash.

oh yes, what's the cost of AT&T's unlimited data plan again?
 
Why would i need to swap the battery on my iPhone when it lasts a full day?
 
MTI said:
How long does it take you to swap a fresh battery into your iPhones? I can do it blindfolded, on my Treo 755 (and on the Pre) in about 7 seconds. And the batteries are pretty inexpensive, to boot.

Any phone without juice is just a hunk of plastic and parts, isn't it?

The Pre is 3mp camera but no video or autofocus, but has a LED flash.
Click to expand...

About one second to plug an external battery extension into the port.
 
true enough, but the vast majority of user will never be away from a laptop to charge from, car unit, or regular outlet.
 
MTI said:
How long does it take you to swap a fresh battery into your iPhones? I can do it blindfolded, on my Treo 755 (and on the Pre) in about 7 seconds. And the batteries are pretty inexpensive, to boot.

Any phone without juice is just a hunk of plastic and parts, isn't it?

The Pre is 3mp camera but no video or autofocus, but has a LED flash.

oh yes, what's the cost of AT&T's unlimited data plan again?
Click to expand...

Touche. So the iphone is worse.
 
MTI said:
How long does it take you to swap a fresh battery into your iPhones? I can do it blindfolded, on my Treo 755 (and on the Pre) in about 7 seconds. And the batteries are pretty inexpensive, to boot.

Any phone without juice is just a hunk of plastic and parts, isn't it?

The Pre is 3mp camera but no video or autofocus, but has a LED flash.

oh yes, what's the cost of AT&T's unlimited data plan again?
Click to expand...

LED flash? Seriously? Have you actually used an LED flash? Total joke beyond around two feet or so.
 
i think that the iphone is overall a better phone than the pre, but i think that the pre is better than the iphone was at launch in 2007.

the pre seems to be the only phone that is doing a good job at becoming the iphone competitor. webOS and iphone OS seem to be the 2 best at being a touch screen device. android a close third.
 
MTI said:
How long does it take you to swap a fresh battery into your iPhones? I can do it blindfolded, on my Treo 755 (and on the Pre) in about 7 seconds. And the batteries are pretty inexpensive, to boot.

Any phone without juice is just a hunk of plastic and parts, isn't it?

The Pre is 3mp camera but no video or autofocus, but has a LED flash.

oh yes, what's the cost of AT&T's unlimited data plan again?
Click to expand...

Well, I guess the Army Rangers can hire you as a special ops - smart phone division soldier.

Just as someone else said, if you're that desperate, buy an external battery pack. Most of us have never used one.

AT&T's unlimited data plan w/voice is $70. I'm pretty sure Sprint's is the same. The only difference is you get unlimited texts from Spring. Kudos for doing that, but that's like throwing in an extra 50 minutes per month for me, who has 300 left over every month.
 
kanon14 said:
Touche. So the iphone is worse.
Click to expand...

I never intimated that the iPhone is an unworthy lesser device, but merely to point out that it's not "all that" as the OP wishes to portray.

I'm curious to see what the future brings for Palm apps. Remember in the dark ages, before the iTunes store . . . which handheld/mobile platform had the most apps? Think hard, not just different.
 
MTI said:
I never intimated that the iPhone is an unworthy lesser device, but merely to point out that it's not "all that" as the OP wishes to portray.

I'm curious to see what the future brings for Palm apps. Remember in the dark ages, before the iTunes store . . . which handheld/mobile platform had the most apps? Think hard, not just different.
Click to expand...

Yea i'm just tired of hearing people claiming the Pre is better or iPhone is better or any other device for that matter. Yes it is better for you only. Something important to you may seem trivial to another. I'm not really saying that to you but anyone who openly claims a device is objectively better than another.
 
kanon14 said:
Yea i'm just tired of hearing people claiming the Pre is better or iPhone is better or any other device for that matter. Yes it is better for you only. Something important to you may seem trivial to another. I'm not really saying that to you but anyone who openly claims a device is objectively better than another.
Click to expand...

I totally agree. I loved the iPhone and jumped ship to the Pre on Saturday and I love it too. There are some things the iPhone did better, and there are somethings the Pre does better.

I think the fact that it really comes down to preference shows how good, and similar both phones are when you compare them overall. Sure the iPhone boasts much larger storage but the Pre boasts multi-tasking. For someone with a small music library but needs to multitask it's a no brainer. For someone with a large library and only a need for push it too is a no brainer.
 
dukebound85 said:
i know ive been on jobs where i hadnt had an outlet for a couple days

additional batts would have been nice
Click to expand...

The next iPhone needs pendulums inside that convert kinetic energy to electricity and recharge the battery. Wrist-watches have been using this technology for decades. It's about time cell phones started using this.
 
pavvento said:
There are some things the iPhone did better, and there are somethings the Pre does better.

I think the fact that it really comes down to preference shows how good, and similar both phones are when you compare them overall. Sure the iPhone boasts much larger storage but the Pre boasts multi-tasking. For someone with a small music library but needs to multitask it's a no brainer. For someone with a large library and only a need for push it too is a no brainer.
Click to expand...

nicely said :) :) :) :) :)
 
iphones4evry1 said:
The next iPhone needs pendulums inside that convert kinetic energy to electricity and recharge the battery. Wrist-watches have been using this technology for decades. It's about time cell phones started using this.
Click to expand...

Could that generate enough electricity to be useful?

Secondly, would people like that moving device wiggling around in their otherwise solidly-built device?
 
The kinetic energy required to power a watch is far less than what would be required to power a mobile phone. I doubt it would be possible.

Jakeblu
 
pavvento said:
I totally agree. I loved the iPhone and jumped ship to the Pre on Saturday and I love it too. There are some things the iPhone did better, and there are somethings the Pre does better.

I think the fact that it really comes down to preference shows how good, and similar both phones are when you compare them overall. Sure the iPhone boasts much larger storage but the Pre boasts multi-tasking. For someone with a small music library but needs to multitask it's a no brainer. For someone with a large library and only a need for push it too is a no brainer.
Click to expand...

From what little I know, I think most smart phone users have bases with pretty much different needs.

It's pretty much a given that BlackBerry users need whatever it is that made the thing so popular. I tried my sister's Curve and hated it. But it was cheaper and could be bought without a data plan. As bad as that browser was, no biggie. She wanted it for text messages, so it should be good.

I don't know what Pre users need, but perhaps it's more of what the Palm Pilot offered. That was a kickass device except for the fact that both of mine died pretty quickly. The multitasking is a good feature if you need it, but I think the Apple SDK has allowed a lot of that while maintaining more battery life.

IMO, the iPhone is the smart phone for people who like iPods. It does music better than anyone else. It does other media better. It makes a lot of the simple things (the new video capture) pretty easy. When I got one, I pretty much wanted a phone I could use as an iPod. Apple went beyond that and helped AT&T hook me in to now an extra $35/month. I was in a mall Sunday and slowly was able to find a map from the Mall's Web site (hey, it's a 2G phone).

So I think each phone has a good market. RIM actually benefited from the iPhone exposure and sold more devices during the first year. Palm is doing the opposite by jumping on the bandwagon as a newbie. Lots of luck to Palm, but the Sprint network sucked ass when I used it on a Virgin Mobile phone.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back