Roundup: Palm Pre Problems
Filed under: Cell Phones, Handsets | By: Peter Chubb
Posted on: June 8, 2009 | 103 Comments
The much-anticipated Palm Pre has only been available to purchase for two days now, and as you would expect with any handset that had gained huge hype, there will always be problems with it. Engadget has been looking closely in to this and have given us a roundup of these problems.
There are already a number of issues being reported, and Engadget have wondered how Palm will be able to put a spin on these problems. The first problems reported was with a “splotchy,” distorted, or discolored displays; there are even reports of dead pixels.
One of the worst reports with the Palm Pre has to be the system shutdowns, to resolve this you will need to remove the battery and then place it back on. We are certain that a quick firmware upgrade will put an end to this issue.
These are just a few of the problems that Engadget readers have told them about; if you have any other problems with your Palm Pre, then please add your comments below.
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Too much emphasis on the touch screen when there are times when it would be much more convenient to be able to navigate with a directional controller like the old palm’s had. Lack of this feature makes a number of tasks much more tedious than they used to be. The calendar is also terrible. Regardless of its ability to sync with google & facebook calendars, it is very cumbersome. It is difficult to enter appointments and events, and there is no color coding available like the old Palm desktop software had. Because I live off of my Palm calendar, this is a big issue for me. There are a lot of great features. The operating system is really good, and I’m sure that this will evolve into something very useful but right now it seems like a gimmick no where near the functional practicality of my old Treo’s. Very disappointed that so many simple conveniences that were standard on old Palms were left out on this overhyped phone.
I agree. I miss being able to navigate like the other Palm. In addition to what you mentioned, I found the following:
1. Schedule is slow.
2. Flipping between days on the schedule is slow
3. Launching contacts list is slow
4. Global find is not available.
5. I find I have to keep pressing buttons without a response.
6. Cut and paste does not work well
The old Palms functioned better and quicker and were more convienent.
There’s a better way to re-boot the Pre. Hold the on/off button down, switch the ring/silent switch back and forth 3 times. The phone will reboot.
I am not pleased with the pre at all. The battery life sucks, it heats up, my all day events are all one day off- anniversary, birthdays etc. It’s annoying as hell and no help. I do miss my today screen and the fact that it does not sync with outlook. And where are the apps. I miss my games. Multiple numbers in contacts for google and palm. Very disappointed.
I purchased 4 palm pre phones last Friday I have had to call sprint for support every day and still no help. Today I decided that the phone is not worth the trouble and will be returning them to the sprint store. I am greatful for the 30 day return policy. Beware of promises by the sprint people as they will tell you anything to sell a phone.
I agree. It is hard to enter calendar appointments. Would have been easy to have a 5 direction toggle on the key pad or on the front of the phone. Palm sacrificed looks for a great feature. I have several different types of events that have daily and repeating. It was nice to have them color coded on the monthly screen. And I miss the today page badly. This kept me most up-to-date on my scheduling. Hopefully some thrid party apps will come to my rescue soon! Also, the world clock is missed. I used this as my primary alarm clock when it isn’t the set time my bedside alarm clock is set at, or when I am out of town, or need a 20 minute power nap.
What I am wondering is if anyone has had trouble with shadowing on the screen? I had to trade in the first phone already when the screen would have dark spots shadowing in different stages of grey to black on the screen making it difficult to see the white pages I was working on. This occured when I went outside in the Florida heat or getting into my parked car. Eventually it would go back to the normal screen. Makes me wonder if this was tested in the colder northern climates or indoors and not tested to the hot Florida weather? Mostly I am really enjoying the Palm Pre.
if i may please agree and add to john doe:
yes the calender is awful the addressbook is not much better and the directional keys are a monstrous oversight! it is almost impossible to put the curser where you want it, it takes a lot of time and patience. the calender hides your events off screen because you cant compress the vacant time slots.
but all of this comes second..
(although these are the primary functions of the phone for the last 10-15 years ive used one, its seems backwards to abandon the Greatest asset the phone had to offer)
.. to the fact that you cant sync with your desktop and ………..
THE PHONE SYNCS ALL YOUR INFO WITH THE CLOUD WETHER YOU WANT IT TO OR NOT! WITHOUT WARNING! IT RESETS YOUR DEFAULTS TO SYNC WITH THE CLOUD AND GOOGLE. you can not erase it. i know you think you can but you cant, i know they said you can but you cant.
my info came back to me after resetting all to zero… shouldnt have been able to… but it DID.
can you say class action???
and cut and paste is a joke.
I had the same issue w/ the cursor, but if you hold down the orange button(the one that changes letters to numbers) then u can move the cursor back and forth and it’s much easier. Now saying that I still took mine back because of the calander and contacts(why have a b-day in the contact if it does not remind you). Hope this helps you.
I am now on my 3rd Pre in 30 days and it looks like this one is going to die as well. I am in agreement with every comment I have seen here. This phone was sold to me with the promise it would work with the Palm Desk top software, supprise it dose not. I have been with Palm devices for 8 years and now have had to redo all my stuff. After 5 hours on the phone with coustomer service I was finaly able to get my contacts and calender transfered to the Pre. The loss of HotSync is really disapointing. Overall I would not recomend this product to any one. Dose any one know if the new Treo will use Palm desktop software or will it be windows os based? Looks like a BlackBerry could be in my future.
I recently purchased the Palm Pre and immediately realized that its functionality and ease of use was truly all just “hype” because the battery life sucked, the touch screen really is of no convenience at all. I got a Blackberry Curve 8330 and it has everything I need and then some! I can even do voice-activated dialing and it is so user friendly and the battery last all day with a single charge,..I mean over 12 hours plus of use (no kidding).
I was the lucky one of two who purchased a new PRE on Sat. morning at a local Best Buy(yes, they only received 2!). Besides the manager having to sit on hold with Sprint for over an hour to tell me I was approved to upgrade (10y.o. Sprint customer-aka Premier status..hahhaaa if that means anything) I noticed that the speaker makes a LOT of crackling noise between moving ‘cards’, etc. Has anybody else had a problem with this? Great phone otherwise and thanks for the daily e-m updates!
The Palm Pre’s built in Google Maps app doesn’t support Google’s Public Transit directions. Since the app can’t be removed and every time you go to Google Maps, it automatically starts the app, you can’t even access the Public Transit Routes through the web page. It’s probably not that big of a deal for most people but it’s not something I expected to lose during an upgrade. Overall the phone feels very nice, I love the card interface. The multi-touch is awesome. It has enough features to keep me from buying an iPhone but I do have a few wishes; like a video recorder, and my music’s folder pictures show up in my Photo Roll which is annoying. I wish there were arrow keys or a trackball, why isn’t the memory upgradeable? And how long until we see a Flickr app? or eBay app? Anyway, for the price, it’s pretty cool and it’s definitely the best thing on the sprint network.
I picked up my Palm Pre on Saturday. I have had nothing but problems out of it. It constantly shuts down. I have to pop the battery to get it to come back on. Once it comes back on, the battery is depleted. It also gets very hot to the touch. I’m not sure if its a problem with the battery, phone or what. But it is annoying! I have made 2 trips today to my local Sprint store. They have said they will replace it, but they currently do not have any Pre’s in stock. So now I am without my phone.
Monica - I have had the SAME exact issue with mine… yesterday I accidentally dropped the phone, but it was a short drop on soft padded carpet…so it wasnt anything major that should have effected the phone. When I picked it up it worked fine for about 30 seconds (I was listening to Pandora at the time)…then it just cut off… I got the charging icon and it kept displaying “palm” and then would cut off…it kept repeating this. I took the battery out and put it back in and it was fine… Last night I let it charge over night… When I unplugged it and put it in my pocket after about 10 minutes I felt it getting hot… by the time I got to work 40 minutes later I had already lost 20% of the charge and I hadnt even used it yet… I tried to charge it when I got to work this AM and it will not get fully charged…
Im going to take it back to the store and see if they will replace it. I have the insurance so hopefully there will be no issues with Sprint.
This keeps happening to me too, and it’s irritating! is your new one better?
Same exact issue. Began doing it 3 days after I got it. at first I thought the power button had been pressed in my pocket or something, then when my leather case came in, I thought the problem would be fixed. then come to find out It did it again. and now it does it like 4-5 times a day. It could just be sitting there on my desk and then I go to pick it up and its blank, nothing, won’t turn on…have to reset it!!! WTF!!! For now I’m glad I still have my old treo (the third one I’ve had, and they never broke down, and only had reset issues when I would upload certain (bad) thrid party apps) but never with the basic pre installed apps… this is ticking me off!!!
I had the same problem with mine randomly shutting off for no reason. I took it to Sprint and they said it’s a problem with the connection by the battery because of the slide function. They tightened up the connection, but it still happens if I slide the phone open too quickly.
I went into the Sprint store after an hour wait, and I have to say, not like going into an Apple store. My god, no customer service showing off this phone, even with the limited number of people allowed into the store at any given time. Then we get to the phone to try it out, I have to say. Not impressed. The youtube and CES demos werent at all like it actually operated. Im reading about the bugs this phone has, ok iPhone had that too on it’s initial launch, but honestly, Palm Pre, sad sad day for both Sprint and Palm. Sorry boys, back to the drawing table.
One HUGE problem is that the Palm Pre doesn’t properly support MS Exchange push mail. They claimed to support it on their hype sites, but now that the rubber hits the road, the car drove right into a ditch.
In order to properly support MS Exchange push mail with most companies and providers that want security, the Pre should support exchange EAS PIN-locking. Every Pre rival (WinMo, iPhone, Instinct, BlackBerry, etc) supports it, and even the old Palm phones (like the Centro) support it. The Pre is going to sink like the Lusitania because the developers didn’t get this basic security item straight.
That’s a shame too. I’d bet there is a 30% return rate (or higher) if they don’t get this fixed fast. What were they thinking? Maybe they weren’t…
Couldn’t agree with you more. I am unable to get my work email to send. I have battled with Palm tech support to get it fix and after 4 different attempts over 5 days, they finally advised they have a problem which is being worked on. How Palm can launch a product with this kind of problem is outrageous.
Also when choosing to repeat an event in the calendar in July, say the 3rd Tuesday of each month eg from 7/21 forward, it does not give you the 3rd Tuesday to repeat as a selection, instead it gives the 4th Tuesday.
Also my Google maps is not able to register my current position.
I am ready to “make time fly”, by throwing this phone out the window!
You can set up the 3rd tuesday in custom repeats. go to custom, then click where it it says ‘daily’, it should give you the option to pick ‘monthly on 3rd friday’. Kind of a pain, not as easy as it was on centro, but hope this helps.
Also, if you set up an appointment on Google calendar on google website, you can set a reminder for any amount of time, days, weeks, etc beforehand. That’s my workaround for the calendar reminder choices on the Pre.
I’m still trying to decide if I want to return it
Not for business use is what I was told yesterday.
I received my Palm Pre last Fri, spent 2-1/2 hours in the store. But I wanted to make sure every thing was set up before I left.
Starting receiving emails, when I open 1 email, it either deletes it immediately or you can read it and then it deletes all emails pending.
They are deleted right from the phone, not the trash folder.
They are just gone from the phone.
So after several phone calls to *2 over the weekend, and several steps.
Back to the Sprint store on Monday. 1:45 mins later, I was informed that the PRE is not intended for business use.
I do not understand how they can roll out a product and not expect people to receive and send emails?
Unless you have a very basic GMAIL account.
They tell me its not the phone, that its our email system, which just happens to also be powered by GMAIL.
How can the emails show up on the icon, but once you open the inbox folder they just delete?
How can this be the server and not the phone?
They did offer to switch me back to my Treo, which I just happen to keep. And cancel my new contract.
After 15 years of being a sprint customer, I think I am going to ATT.
Its seems that putting RECENT: before my account name, which is my email address, has resolved the problem.
I just tried this 6 hours ago, and now no problems.
That is how my outlook is set up with gmail, so I figured I would try it.
No help from the 6 hours I spent with Sprint techs.
The blotching or discoloration problem on the screen is now being reported all over. Some purchasers of the Pre are putting blinders on since their devices aren’t experiening the same problem. It sounds like it is heat related. Google will give numerous reports at various forum sites. Palm will probably be the last to respond since their company has delayed this project for so long and have invested the survival of the company on the Palm Pre. In my opinion a recall might be in order with this 1st edition Palm Pre if indeed it is a hardware issue. Here is one thread to follow:
http://www.everythingpre.com/forum/palm-pre/problem-with-the-pre-screen-19249.html
Please report this problem ASAP to the place you purchased your PRE.
I’ve had my Pre for a week now and I see no discoloration or blotchiness except when I’m wearing polarized sunglasses.
Well i have had my pre for 2 days now and the touch screen is broke. I have to tap the power button to put it in stand by mode then hit it again and I can have access to the touch screen for about 20 seconds. Then I have to do it again. Called sprint and they are replacing the phone tomorrow but here we go again with problems problems problems. Can’t we make a phone that works? I agree with John doe and want some of my old treo features back. Also the calculator sucks. I loved the converter on my samsung instinct. Should have asked some customer opinions about likes and dislikes on phones and taken the top suggestions and rolled with it. Maybe palm will open up to att and apple will let sprint sale some more iphones for them. Another day another dollar!!!
when i slide my phone closed at any time it will usually turn itself off. when it happens the screen colors get messed up then it fades away to a lit but black screen. after a few seconds of that it turns completely off. starting it back up takes a while.
i also have some dead pixels which i showed the sprint store at the time of purchase. they said to come back when they have a new shipment of phones and have it replaced.
one time i had a memory issue and the phone said to close some programs because it ran out of memory to open new ones. i didn’t have ANY programs open at all! i had to take out the battery and restart it.
i’m not even going to mention that i have to charge it several times a day because it goes dead quite quickly. not having over heating issues though.
i can’t get google maps to launch at all. it just sits there and tries to load.
when i tried to transfer files from my computer to my palm pre i plugged it in via usb. then when i clicked on “connect via usb” my mac instantly crashed. not cool in my book!
i have an appointment at the sprint store to return it and go back with my old palm centro which worked great. i just wanted the cool new thing - first releases never go well so i should have known better. oh well, at least i tried.
took the pre back the other day. they happily took it back with no questions and even switch me back to my old plan which was no longer available. Pre = 0, Sprint = 1
good luck to everyone else - i will be waiting till the next generation of phones till i get another pre. i really hope they get it right next time around. too bad sprint doesn’t have the iphone. oh well. maybe i’ll get some sort of blackberry after my centro finally kicks the bucket.
I called Sprint today to complain about 2 thing the phone gets way to hot and the battery life sucks. After charging all night it lasted from 10am-1pm today. I literally sent 5 text messages and spent 20minutes on the internet. Don’t buy this phone yet. Palm needs to work out these kinks. Oh yeah, and forget about being able to edit MS Office docs, you can’t.
Yes above is very true battery life sucks and you will need to have a spare ready to go.
On my first day the battery drained quickly. That has settled down and yesterday I went from 6am to 8pm and still had 28% left on my battery.
Let’s get something straight people: batteries for ALL electronic devices suck. It is a constraint placed on manufacturers by the laws of chemistry and physics, not incompetence or a conspiracy. High-tech applications use lots of juice. If you don’t like that, then go back to a “brick” cell phone. My first Sanyo lasted all week on one charge.
There are at least 10 tips and tricks people are coming up with to prolong battery life. The simplest ones are:
1. When you are not using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, turn it off.
2. When you have Wi-Fi access, use it. Wi-Fi uses less power than the phone’s radio.
3. Change the download time on your emails from 15 minutes to 30 minutes or an hour. If you’re so important you need to check e-mail every 15 minutes when you’re away from your home or office, you can afford the money to keep an extra battery in your pocket.
4. I don’t know this for a fact, but if you leave an app running and turn off the screen, it might still be running in the background and using battery. To be on the safe side, shut down your apps before shutting off the screen.
5. Dim your screen a little. Personally, I can’t stand to do this but if you can, then do.
6. Buy another charger and keep it at work. You need a spare anyway.
I am having the same issue with the heat…and battery life. Also…if you happen to go somewhere that it looses it’s normal EV connection and happens to Roam…it gets extremely hot then as well. I think because it is constantly looking for a connection. Of course the batter craps out then quickly too.