Android coming from Palm Pre

[jamex]

Ok the screen on the Epic is beautiful but using the Android web browser on the Epic does not make it look so good. Web pictures look washed out like they are displayed in 8 or 16 bit color and everything about it just looks ugly. I am coming from a Palm Pre so I was shocked at how bad it looks. The Email program is also poor and my opinion of Android OS isn't that good.

It is far ahead of Webos in terms of applications but I think the OS itself isn't as elegant as Webos. For eg. the notifications aren't intuitive. Anyone coming from a Palm Pre? What do you think of Android? If Palm announce a new phone within 30 days and it has a larger screen and good specs I would dump the Epic.

 

[locationman52]

I'm considering switching from the Pre to the Epic. jamex, could you explain how/why the notifications and email app are less effective? Those are two things you can't really "test" in the store. I played with the phone yesterday and really like some of the Epic's features, but I am a little afraid I'll end up missing WebOS. Any imput would be appreciated.

 

[drizek]

Hesright, notifications aren't as clever. There is less information there. On te other hand, gmail pushes much faster on android than it does on the pre

Images on the browser do look crappy. Part of it is becase the brightness is turned down, but the are also rescaled or something as well.

Overall, the epic is much better, but there is no doubt about it, you will miss WebOS, and you might get jealous when HP releases new hardware.

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

 

[coolqf]

I just got the EPIC 4G, and the WebOS e-mail app is noticeably better than the Android OS e-mail app and the gmail app. The WebOS app is extremely intuitive and out of the box it lets you have access all the inboxes and how many e-mails are unread. You can also swipe from one e-mail to the next without having to scroll back to your inbox.
In the end however, the speed of the EPIC 4G makes up for it. The Pre was just so slow.... The EPIC 4G just zips through everything you throw at it.

I agree, you will miss the Webos. I spent two days configuring Android OS to my taste. With the Pre it took less than 1hr. Now, to be fair, Android OS does provide much more configurability.

 

[Gordoflex]

I've had the Pre from the start and yes it is much easier to work with. But the number one reason I left is because of the support. Even if new hardware was to come out later this year, it's still lags in apps. It also needs support from companies who will create apps for it and right now it's not there. To date there are about 3700 apps and much of them are worthless. Palm had it's chance and now it needs to play catch up, the Epic is a nice phone and I can learn to live with it.

 

[peterweb]

I had a pre for a year. Palm did a great job with OS, but any time that you get aquired you loose focus and that is what happened with palm. I have been through it many times and have seen countless times.

They have not even rumored about new hardware. Even Windows Phone 7 is doing a better job at spreading the news.

Web OS SDK info came out and cool stuff but nothing for me to stick around for. Enough of that.

It is taking me time to transition, jutlst like when I got my Palm Pre.

Things I miss:

- Messaging all in one. Now I have text messages in one app and google talk in another. Loved it all being one app. Have not found anything similar. Anyone know of app that does this?

- Cards I sorta miss, but not as much as I thought.

Things I like:

- Speed is GREAT.

- Keyboard is a lot better. For example the directional keys are great to have. Much easier to get the curser to the right place.

- Notification works well. Like that I can really customize the sounds for the diffferent notifications.

- over all I am liking the change.

Love the choices and variety of apps available.

 

[drizek]

We have already seen pics of a webos tablet, smartphone and, apparently, a watch, coming from HP. New stuff is right around the corner, but i see no reason to have multiple webos devices for myself. Id rather have a pre and an epic than a pre and a pre 2.

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

 

[Addie_Goodvibes]

I agree with Op on the web rendering images smaller, i dont think web images are washed out. just smaller i think due to screen being bigger.

The notifications are what i miss most about the Pre, although sometime snotifcations on the pre were not subtle enough. on the android they are too subtle. I likes the ease of use of the Pre's stock e-mail and im apps, but the handcent is so customizable that i quickly got over the pre.

Also with talk to text & swype I do not even miss my Pre that much.

I even have a choice to use Touchwiz or android stock launcher.

WiFi was a pain in the butt to set up on my Epic, the pre was simple.
(i finally had to restart my router then epic picked up my Wifi right away)

Even though the Pre was elegent very user friendly it still seemed vanilla and stuck with no hope for more developement. it has the power to handle majority of the apps that the droid uses, why Palm never got it launched properly I will never understand. The overclocking made it feel just as fast as my Epic, in fcat it loaded Web pages fatser it seems. and the card view was TRUE Multitasking.

The Epic with Android 2.1 feels complete, The Pre felt incomplete.. which led to its fall. I hope to see WebOs on a tablet and maybe a new generation device 12-18 months a new mobile phone with fully developed software dev. support and hardware to at least match the industries leading manufacturers.

 

[bipoler#AC]

Ok the screen on the Epic is beautiful but using the Android web browser on the Epic does not make it look so good. Web pictures look washed out like they are displayed in 8 or 16 bit color and everything about it just looks ugly. I am coming from a Palm Pre so I was shocked at how bad it looks. The Email program is also poor and my opinion of Android OS isn't that good.

It is far ahead of Webos in terms of applications but I think the OS itself isn't as elegant as Webos. For eg. the notifications aren't intuitive. Anyone coming from a Palm Pre? What do you think of Android? If Palm announce a new phone within 30 days and it has a larger screen and good specs I would dump the Epic.

BOOM! WHY attack this nice device? I'm comming from a Pre too and I feel CHEATED! And missing out this phone is EVERYTHING stop all the negative comments please and webOS only thing I may "miss" if u even want to call it that is the cards system but I love that android is all about opinions and options for your device and notifications on webOS and now android isn't really much reason to complain either way its NOT that serious to put 1 above the other....if you got a pre and deciphering still to get Epic then GO NOW!! U WON'T REGRET IT! I don't even care about webOS for now adroid & this device particuarly will do just fine for me

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

 

[mikachu]

I am coming from a pre and the things i like/miss were:

-The email program. It has pinch to zoom and shows images.
-Gestures. I still see myself trying to use WebOs gestures on the Epic
-The slide up keyboard(its so quick, im not a landscape fan, infact I dont even use the landscape on my Epic, maybe ill use it when i have long messages to right or games).
-I think the palm pre has better 3d games, especially with all the ports comings.
-Seems to charge faster(so far, this can change after using the epic, maybe epic will charge faster).
-battery and easier to use
-Pre is king of the sun ie it is completely visible even in direct sunglight


Things I like about Epic/Android

-beatiful screen more screen realestate.
-widgets
-homescreens
-options of virtual keyboard(which i am loving and rocking)
-App store is actually pretty decent
-HD camcorder/Picture camera
-better browsing experience
-not so scratchable glass screen, very slick.
-louder speaker(so you can show off to ur friends )

 

[mikachu]

One more thing, anyone knwo of a better email program? for some reason The Epic comes wiht 2. i get notifications from Both. I dont like that I cant zoom in them, its annoying.

Another thing, How can we save battery life? I dunno which programs keep grabbing data from the internet. Is there a way to turn off data? BTW I know I can turn off all sync by using The Power Bar widget(the one wiht brightness, wifi, gps, on off switches) that comes in the phone.

 

[coolqf]

One more thing, anyone knwo of a better email program? for some reason The Epic comes wiht 2. i get notifications from Both. I dont like that I cant zoom in them, its annoying.

Another thing, How can we save battery life? I dunno which programs keep grabbing data from the internet. Is there a way to turn off data? BTW I know I can turn off all sync by using The Power Bar widget(the one wiht brightness, wifi, gps, on off switches) that comes in the phone.

You're using the Android e-mail client and the gmail e-mail client. Use only one. If you have gmail accounts, then stick with the gmail client and delete your accounts from the android client.

I loved the Pre e-mail client that it never occurred to me that you could have competing software for this.

 

[coolqf]

As for battery life. There's a samsung widget preinstalled on the phone that you can load and it shows how many apps are running and which they are. A neat trick I also learned, if you hit the back button to leave an app it closes, but if you hit other keys, such as home, it stays running in the background and AndroidOS eventually will turn it off. Hit back instead of other keys if you're done with a program. It increased battery life for me!

 

[sndplace]

As for battery life. There's a samsung widget preinstalled on the phone that you can load and it shows how many apps are running and which they are. A neat trick I also learned, if you hit the back button to leave an app it closes, but if you hit other keys, such as home, it stays running in the background and AndroidOS eventually will turn it off. Hit back instead of other keys if you're done with a program. It increased battery life for me!

THANKS .I PUT UP THE SAMSUNG program monitor to close apps . didnt know hitting the home button did this lol ...

 

[jamex]

I'm considering switching from the Pre to the Epic. jamex, could you explain how/why the notifications and email app are less effective? Those are two things you can't really "test" in the store. I played with the phone yesterday and really like some of the Epic's features, but I am a little afraid I'll end up missing WebOS. Any imput would be appreciated.

IMO Webos blows Android away when it comes to Email, notifications and even the web browser is much nicer on the Pre. You can basically do things much faster on the Pre. Applications like Pandora is also better because of the notification area. IMO Android needs a lot of work to become as functional as Webos but what it has Webos beat at are the applications.

On the Pre if someone sends you an email you can see who it is from and even the subject just by looking at the screen. On Android you have to unlock the screen, pull down this notification bar that tells you that you have a new email with no other info. You have to open the application to see who the email is from. Also the email client looks really dated.

IMO you are not missing much by holding on to the Pre. I am considering returning it before the 30 days is up to wait for another Webos device but plan to play with it some more.

 

[vader4633]

I miss the WebOs email when someone sends you pictures they are already loaded up and ready to view. In the Gmail, I have to download previews of each individual picture (unless someone knows how to set it to auto download the pics)

 

[smashclash]

I'm agreeing with those who made the switch from the Pre to the Epic. WebOS just blows away Android in almost everyway... the exclusion being the apps. BUT for me that's not enough. To get between apps it's soooo much more work than webOS. Plus webOS was much MUCH friendlier with the rooting with WebOSQI and Preware. I'm learning android as I go but I'm really missing my Pre. Some of my major complaints:

-Different LED notifications depending on communication. With the Epic you get a standard red light blink that only works when the phone isn't on the charger. With the Pre it would blink a different way for a text and another way for all other notifications (missed call, email, etc.)
-Ease of rooting. WebOSQI was pretty much dummy proof. You plug it in, select the stuff you want and hit the install button and you're done. With android you have to download a bunch of different stuff and then get into command lines which I would imagine is waaaaay beyond most people's comprehension.
-The cards...... oh how I miss the cards. It was so much easier to flip back and forth to different applications. Also you have to run the task manager to be sure everything is closed in android.
-The web browser in android either sucks or I don't know how to use it yet. Where is the refresh button? Where is a forward button?
-Notifications. The lights I already talked about but also the preview of the incoming is awesome.
-Swiping. It's just so easy to delete or move things around on the Pre. It's really really well thought out and easy to use.

 

[dragonol2]

I was hoping someone was going to start a thread like this...

Things I miss / am still getting used to not having:
-Gestures (am still swiping back and forth on what I keep thinking is the gesture area
-Throwing cards away off the top of the screen
-Preware and all the great work of the developers on the patches and themes
-My AWESOME SportsCalendar app!!!!! (the Google sports calendars are terrible!)
-My 2 Touchstones
-The charging speed (but I do NOT miss the overheating on the Touchstone while charging!)
-Native Yahoo integration into the Messaging, Email, & Calendar apps... I live through my Yahoo email and the fact that it's not integrated into the email app (yet?) on the Epic is troubling... yes, I know I can (and have already) download the Yahoo Mail app from the App store, but it's not the same as having native integration
-Being able to go to card view to switch between open apps (has anyone found a way to switch between open apps on the Epic?)

That's all I can think of now... I'll add more as I'm sure I have forgotten some...

 

[dvdqnoc]

My brother chose the Pre over the Hero, which I decided to go with. And I would get this exactl speed every time. I think that Android just allows for more freedom for the users, such as plenty customizability (especially phones like the Epic with 7 homescreens) and a ton of apps in the Market. You dont get that with the Pre.

 

[smashclash]

Yeah. To me apps just really aren't that important. I mean apps really just make doing things on the web a little simpler and faster but sometimes you lose all of the functionality of a real site.