Possible Convert

[bmatt0516]

So I've had a Palm Pre for a little over a year now, been happy enough with it, but I have an upgrade coming up next month. Since HP is dragging its feet now, and Sprint seems to have lost interest in HP/Palm, and almost everyone else, I am considering switching to Android. I bought my wife an Epic when they came out and have played with it a little, seems to be a decent enough phone.

My only problems with it are the size, which I can get over I guess but I do like a little compactness on my phone, and the possibility of new phones in the next few months. I have dug around and all I can find right now is the EVO Shift, which almost seems perfect, little smaller etc. However, it seems to lack the front facing camera from reports and, of course, probably uses the same screen technology as the EVO, which isn't bad but I prefer the AMOLED screen. The other potential deal breaker on that one is I'll probably be able to get an Epic for cheaper, splitting hairs most likely but cheaper is cheaper!

I have been reading some more about the phone on the forums, my wife is perfectly happy with it but she came from a blackberry curve and isn't a power user by any means (email, facebook thats about it). I have had limited time playing with it, but without using it as a primary phone it is hard to gauge things. I have seen some complaints bout missing/broken features and the touchwiz being slightly gimped in the Epic vs other Samsung phones, though I don't know that these are still issues or if they are big issues really.

I am not a super power user in general, when/if I first get it I'm sure I will be, but after the new phone feel wears off I'll be back to a minor power user, I'm sure. The main pull for me is developer support of Android, seems to be next best to iOS as far as random companies creating/supporting apps for the device. The voice features will be nice, since palm has been missing these, and customizable ring tones since those are limited in WebOS currently, though I generally don't use a ring tone anyway. I like a physical keyboard, but with a bigger phone I almost think I may not use it, I've used swype on my wife's phone and it is pretty sufficient for most things. I was looking at the EVO as well, but the processor and screen seem like deal breakers for me. Any advice/experience from other converts?

EDIT: Oh and how is build quality on the Epic, I know my wifes seems ok, but I wanted to get some more feedback on that. That has been the biggest issue on my pre, though mine has faired well over the time I've had it. The EVO seems a little sturdier that the Epic and the slider does feel a little flimsy on my wife's, though it hasn't been an issue.

EDIT 2: I also noticed, when she first got it, I tried to load some apps on it from the marketplace and had issues with a few I picked not working on her specific phone. How big is this problem in general?

 

[Q-fugee]

I'm not a convert from WebOS, I'm a developer. I have pretty much one of everything spread out across my desk, but the Epic is the one I chose from the pile to actually buy and take home as my personal phone. Besides the 4G advantage over all the other phones, there are lots of little things that I like over the other Androids. Not just the keboard. The screen is brighter and the processor is faster. Voice quality is better than the HTCs as well.

The keyboard is just one of those things that you can't really define up front as "I must have a keyboard so I can do xxxx." It's one of those things you find comes in handy over and over in places you didn't think of when you bought it. Like playing games--especially emulators. Or when you'd rather hit arrow keys than try to precisely align your big fat thumb with a teeny box while running through an airport. If you buy a phone without one, you won't miss it at all, but if you buy one with a keyboard you'll wonder how you could live without it.

Price-wise, there is no combination of up-front price and monthly recurring charge where Sprint does not come out ahead of ATT, VZW or Tmob. I'd only pick one of the other carriers if Sprint's coverage stinks where you live.

Mechanically, the Pre is undoubtedly the least reliable phone of the bunch. If you are still on your first one, you are one of only about 60% of Pre owners. You may be on the fence now but you'll get a push soon when it fails. Honestly, only the old Motorola Q (see my username?) had a higher failure rate. I went through three or four of those once. It seems to be the only blight on Moto's product line, though, and it's long gone.

The Motorola and Samsung phones are mechanically the most reliable Androids, and have the best voice quality. Samsungs feel cheaper but seem to hold up just as well as the Motos. The HTCs are average but I have never liked the voice quality of any HTC phone going back to their old Windows Mobile bricks.

You didn't ask about them, but for comparison the Blackberrys are way out on top of the heap for voice quality and battery life. They are also rock-solid reliable as long as you don't buy the first batch off the assembly line. Always wait until they shift production to one of their high-volume suppliers. I don't think they are worth the "Blackberry tax," though. I'd only get one if someone else is paying.

As for converting from WebOS, I don't think there will be any pains. WebOS only really does two things better than Android: Multitasking and Social integration. Multitasking isn't any better at the OS level, but it looks better to the end user. Sliding between "cards" is nicer than holding the home button and picking from a list. And WebOS' applications do a better job of grabbing calendar, contacts, and other stuff from all of your work and social networks and putting them in one view. Android is still a compromise between applications provided by Google, the handset maker, and the carrier to pull together and present everything. I solved this problem by buying Touchdown and not using the built-in, well, anything. If you can get your cloud down to one central hub, like Gmail or Exchange Server, for everything, life is good.

The free market seems to agree with you, though. My contacts at the carriers tell me that literally 100% of Pre owners are not renewing, and that Android is what they are all picking up at the end of their contracts. HP has said squat to developers since buying Palm. We sure aren't putting any effort beyond version 1.0 of our WebOS stuff.

--Qfg

 

[bakerja]

Scroll down and look at the other threads that are about former Pre users converted to Epic. I am one and was a launch day pre owner. So glad I made the switch. I too was a little concerned about the size but you get used to it really quick and being able to function on it without reading glasses is a real plus for my aging eyes. it takes a little to get used to Android but IMO, the EPIC rocks.

 

[jk175d]

Scroll down and look at the other threads that are about former Pre users converted to Epic. I am one and was a launch day pre owner. So glad I made the switch. I too was a little concerned about the size but you get used to it really quick and being able to function on it without reading glasses is a real plus for my aging eyes. it takes a little to get used to Android but IMO, the EPIC rocks.

I could say the same thing verbatim. I was a launch-day Pre owner untill a couple of weeks ago. The Epic is a great device, and I'm digging Android now more than Web OS. The customization potential is both fun and useful/productive.

 

[DFroelich]

The only thing I miss from my pre after switching last month is card view multitasking.

The keyboard is much better even though I use swype 90% of the time.

Battery actually lasts longer than the pre (no 4G here) but I still bought a 3 pack of hong kong batteries off ebay for $15.

The epic's size never bothered me, but the pre feels better while making calls. Anytime you are using the big beautiful screen, the inconvenience of the big size is quickly forgiven.

I have not yet ran into incompatible apps, but there are several I have been spying that rely on froyo flash.

Since your wife has a front facing cam, you'll be able to make face calls, very cool.

Other bonuses I really like with the Epic:
Google maps opens within a second or too vs. the pre's 10-20.
Camera has autofocus which allows all the fun barcode scanning, google goggles stuff.
More free apps (but all have annoying ads).

I say go for it. There are probably 10 threads here of pre to epic converts for every "I tried android but am back to webos" thread over on precentral.
When HP puts out a new phone, I'll definitely check it out, but Android develops so much faster than webos, so you can expect the shortcomings will be worked out sooner rather than later...as long as Samsung passes those updates along.

 

[thepervster]

i too was a pre owner from launch but had so many problems i switched to the samsung moment for 6 months then went to the epic, no looking back after switching to the android oper system. you will be glad if you do i am.

 

[psm9]

Count me in. I loved my Pre and I think WebOS has great potential, but it's just falling further behind. I waited 6 months past my update and finally gave up.

I would love to be able to return to a mature WebOS with updated phones in a year at my next upgrade. Until then, I'm using the Epic. Android is great. It runs much faster on my Epic, then WebOs did on my overclocked Pre

 

[Cyber Warrior]

My wife has the palm pixi. The android platform is soooo much better...I'm trying to get her to switch. I might just do it for her and surprise her for Christmas.