Samsung Transform or Palm pre

[Addie_Goodvibes]

I am looking for a good entry level smart phone for my wife.

I currently have the Epic, was an early adopter of the Pre and it served me well, but was limited in the functions I needed. However for my wife, this will be her 1st smart-phone. I am considering the Pre for her because of its simple UI, she will want a physical keyboard

wanting some feedback as to what people think is a better option Pre or Samsung Transform.

My wife mainly would use her phone for Texting, calls, and would like to use google voice for international calling. She will need e-mail support for her hotmail & maybe some light web browsing
She won't do much multi media and will most likely keep the phone stock.

This will be her 1st smartphone.
4G is not necessary and we do not need the expense of 4G that is why going with the Transform over the epic is what we are considering

 

[vel7wil]

In that case since I have owned both the Pre and an Android, I would suggest the Pre.....its would better fit her needs and since you're not wanting the 4g $ then the pre

 

[Addie_Goodvibes]

In that case since I have owned both the Pre and an Android, I would suggest the Pre.....its would better fit her needs and since you're not wanting the 4g $ then the pre

Thank You, i figured it to be a decent choice, I can tweak it to work well for her, i dont see her requiring all the extra functionality of Android nor the App choices of Android that i needed which is why i switched to Android.

The Pre is a smooth clean, & Crisp UI. Do you recall if the Pre supported Hotmail,
Or would she simply have Hotmail fwd to her Gmail?
Also one big thing she would need is google Voice functionality so she can make international calls from her phone using Google Voice. Does the Pre support that?

 

[dante501]

Pre is the better choice it does way more playing games all the rooting and stuff? Make the pre better phone.

 

[kinster02]

The Pre does support Hotmail.

 

[milominderbinde]

Whatever you do, wait until Black Friday weekend to make your move. Watch for sales as much as half price. The Pre was $149 until spring of this year except for Black Friday at Best Buy when it was $79. That's when I got my second Pre.

OK, for full disclosure, I have had 5 repalcements and one is cracking at the USB again now. So really I have had 7 Pre's I guess. If you get the Pre, make sure you get the $7 a month insurance.

Also there are 43 New Androids Announced, Shipped, or Leaked So Far in October and almost all are hitting in November.

She will have this phone for at least 2 years so make sure it is what she will still be wanting 24 months from now.

 

[Addie_Goodvibes]

Whatever you do, wait until Black Friday weekend to make your move. Watch for sales as much as half price. The Pre was $149 until spring of this year except for Black Friday at Best Buy when it was $79. That's when I got my second Pre.

OK, for full disclosure, I have had 5 repalcements and one is cracking at the USB again now. So really I have had 7 Pre's I guess. If you get the Pre, make sure you get the $7 a month insurance.

Also there are 43 New Androids Announced, Shipped, or Leaked So Far in October and almost all are hitting in November.

She will have this phone for at least 2 years so make sure it is what she will still be wanting 24 months from now.

Thanks for the input. I have been through a few Pre's myself. I still think it will be a better choice ( UI and easier to learn than Android. WebOs is very intuitive.) She will probably not need an upgrade for some time, she has been on the same phone for over 3 years. She complains that her phone is hard to read text messages, & she wishes she could check her e-mail and customize her ringtones more easily.

I still have my old Pre so i may give that to her to try until Black Friday.

 

[japclev]

I gave my wife my old Pre and we both hope for the day we can both be on a real phone...If your wife likes looking at a little screen and you want to treat her like a second class citizen, get her the Pre..

Otherwise, go big or go home...

 

[cckgz4]

The Pre possibly but Android (the Transform) has a pretty good email support also. I think the Transform will suit her cause if she decides she wants to do more with her form, the Transform will let her grow whereas the Pre, you're kind of stuck being that it's apps and community is minimal

 

[Tirron]

Just something to consider is whether if the two of you want things like "our groceries" which allows the two of you to share a grocery list, I couldn't find anything like that with the Pre. (there are websites that have similar functions but I didn't like having to use a browser and log into them, etc.)

 

[DAZ#AC]

i have a similar question. i have used the pixi (small version of the pre) for a year now, and i am doing an upgrade with sprint. i know all about palm's web OS and Android technology (my parents both have EVOs). should i get the transform, or the pixi? both cost the same at my local sprint store.

 

[JDGAFFLIN]

Neither. Check out the LG Optimus S.

 

[cckgz4]

Transform if you need a keyboard. With the Transform, it takes tweaking to get what you want out of it to be honest. That means rooting which there's a topic here that links you to an easy step by step guide to rooting it.

If you want more out of the box functionality, look at the Optimus, which is free at this time. No keyboard but IMO, using the onscreen keyboard only takes a little while getting used to

 

[mk3]

Having both I love my Pre so much more. Same idea about having to root it to add patches or whatever but on Pre it doesn't violate any contracts or agreements and is easily reversed. I have yet to customize the Transform to my likings as I have done with the Pre. If I had to choose between the Pixi and the Transform I might go with the Transform only 'cause the Pixi looks like a girls phone to me. Just something about its physical appearance and customizable faceplates. My observation with Android is that each phone is like being in a whole different ballgame as not everything is compatible between models even by the same manufacturer.

 

[makris0000]

I would recommend the Transform because i have owned both the Pre and the transform (current device i have is the transform) and the Pre has not been good for me because it always had problems. The Transform has better battery life then the pre and the Transform is more reliable too.