Has your Palm Pre learned to do the twist?
By Donald Melanson 
posted July 23rd 2009 11:48AM
posted July 23rd 2009 11:48AM
No, that's not a Blurrycam shot of a rumored Palm Pre follow-up with a rotating screen. It's actually one of the more extreme cases of the Palm Pre "twisting" right out of its shell, which, as far as we can tell, still seems to be a fairly rare occurrence. This particular Pre belongs to one Royer, who was apparently able to get it replaced without too much hassle, but other folks are also reporting some slight screen wobble, and even a few cracks appearing here and there. Somewhat interestingly, Royer says that the Sprint repair center he went to said they're not allowed to try to fix the Palm Pre, and are instead instructed to simply exchange it for a new one. So, has your Palm Pre learned any new moves it shouldn't have? Let us know in comments.
[Via Engadget Chinese]
[Via Engadget Chinese]
Mine is working great. No problems at all. Kind of freaky though to see that.
ditto never had the screen wobble, nor did the wife and we replaced hers due to theft.
Zero problems here... this is a *VERY* rare occurrence.
Hey isn't this story old? PreThinking reported it weeks ago.
Palm built it to do that. That's so you could still use the keyboard while typing in widescreen mode. Palm FTW. Within six months all Pres will just self-destruct and that will be the end of that.
In theory, the more moving parts you have on a device, the more likely it is to fail, especially when trying to save on costs.
Mine has a little more wiggle to it than I'd like, it feels like a loose tooth. I'm brining it back to Best Buy tonight.
Also, that slick looking USB car charger is AWFUL. I've read of others having the same issue where it doesnt even charge enough to break even with use. Thats lame, Palm.
No problems here...knock on wood
Hmm, I've been jonesing for one of these for a while now, and am pretty much set to get one. This freaks me out a little, but not enough to not buy one.
Question: I'm getting it at Best Buy (the way I can save the most money). Should I get their protection plan, or just stay on Sprint's insurance, or what?
@Chris Are, sprint insurance should cover the phone for basically everything, not sure what Best Buy would offer.
Chris. I just bought mine last week. The BB insurance plan is $10 IIRC compared to Sprint's $7. The rep told me that it covers about the same as Sprint's except they have no deductible compared to Sprint's $50 fee. They will also provide you with a temporary phone so you can still use a phone while yours is getting repaired/replaced. Also, Sprint's plan covers you if your phone is lost or stolen, where BB's insurance does not. I'm pretty sure those are the only differences he mentioned.
Same here. Mine's been working great since launch day. Just waiting for flash and a new crop of apps to add some bells and whistles to an already solid platform.
Alright, thanks guys. I think I'll stick w/ Sprint's insurance. They replaced my Centro straight up. Though apparently a battery is considered to be an "accessory" which I think is really dumb.
Looks like a feature to me! They should work on making the next model rotate 90 degrees when extended.
Mine is fine..had it over a month now.
the pre seems like a cool phone. i played with one at my local sprint store the day that it dropped (could never get it simply cuz its honestly too small, especially the keys, for my hands). the OS seems great, but i did notice the build quality of the one i played with seemed to be a lil sub par. kinda has me worried hearing about all these stories.
Come on let's twist again, Like we did last summer
Reminds me of when someone told me they got their Touch Pro screen to tilt, but only once.
bahaha this is pretty crazy but nope mines still sturdy
Even when the keyboard isn't slid out?
Slid up my Pre felt solid as a rock. When the keyboard was away it was wiggly and flimsy. For example the top half of the screen, when touching, would give in and wiggle. Doing the back gesture would have the top layer of the phone go with my thumb a bit. Just wiggly all over.
nice it look cool
Ouch!
That wouldn't be that bad if the Pre had a real feature like that added. Just saying, Would make emulators easier.
(although it would make flipping it open weird)
This is actually an OTA upgrade in response to the negative coverage for gaming. The phone now slides in either direction revealing game controls at the other end and a spin with release/lock mechanism. Perfect. Way to go Palm.
Mine has a little bit of play, but no mare than any other slider phone I've ever had.
That's not good...
"the Sprint repair center he went to said they're not allowed to try to fix the Palm Pre, and are instead instructed to simply exchange it for a new one"
Good! Now why can't they do this with all of the phones? The idiot behind the counter hard resetting my phone a hundred times clearly doesn't know what he's doing
Probably because the do not want Sprint employees opening them up and breaking them further.
Apple did the same thing with the first gen iPhones. I had mine replaced 3x within the within the first year without any hassle. The first swap they basically begged me to take it. I assume Apple wanted them to diagnose issues internally and fix issues with updates.
Could the current, newer design be free of this issue? Maybe the manufacturing process has been refined a bit after the initial launch.
I usually buy the high end tech phones. But, they have always replaced with a new phone for me.
Except one time there wasn't one in stock so i had to use this old phone till one came in.
It was the biggest pile of shit i have ever seen.
ahh it was this phone!
http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=736
It was embarrassing!
That phone is embarrasing to own. FYL man!
The reason is that Palm will be sending them back to the OEM to be repaired or replaced at no cost to them.
A lot of these problems are clear manufacturing defects as opposed to design defects. Therefore, the company which builds the devices for Palm is hit with the liability.
Mines got a little screen wobble, but nothing too severe. It can be helped a lot too by tightening the hex screws in the rear battery plate. PRE 4 LYFE!!!
My Pre is does appear that he wants to do the twist, but needs more time to practice. He seems to twist the most while doing the slide.
nice try
My Pre is actually pretty good with the slider and overall build, but I had to change out the battery. My brother's Pre did not fair so well. It has a crack along the entire screen, but he is not sure if he cracked it or the kids... They are replacing his. I have noticed there are a lot of issues with build, so I am watching my 30 day return policy just in case.
Other than that I like the Pre a lot.
Mine wiggles a little bit from side-to-side but no rotation! That plus a single stuck pixel up in the far left corner so far so good.
I really hope Palm does well enough with the pre later this year with the GSM version to start making more devices. I actually thought the EOS/Pixie concept was exactly what I want, a small, capable phone, for business that is slim and easy to type on. Blackberry would work if the OS was a bit better and the devices a bit thinner.
i love my pre but i have had a problem lately where my headphone jack doesnt register the headphones coming out and the phone often thinks i have headphones in. meaning i have to blow into the jack like an NES. otherwise tho, no twisting cracking etc since launch
The headphone issue is easily resolved... just pull out the headphones while the unit is turned ON. ... Should be an easy fix in the future...
thanks for the tip but trust me ive tried that. ive tried everything. sometimes it happens in the middle of a call. im going to get a replacement soon. but really, it only affects me when i want to make a voice call. and who does that in 2009 anyway?
It's a known bug, I don't think the phone matters. Software issue.
The same thing happens to me!!
Somtimes for days at a time.
I have also noticed that the proximity sensor is turned off when this happens.
You have to put it on speaker, that works.
I had this same issue. Take a cotton swab and try to clean out the headphone jack. There is probably some dirt on the sensor in jack port. I did that to mine and haven't had any problems since.
Still a palm pre.
GARBAGE
Mine is fine.
an awful lot of those pre stories seem to start with "this is my third pre and..."
So far NONE of the comments have started like that. Observation FAIL.
Do you have an iPhone?
"So far NONE of the comments have started like that. Observation FAIL."
Stories related in the media and in places like this. What's with the childish "observation FAIL", are you 12? Just reply like you are in a room full of adults.
"Do you have an iPhone?"
Used one once for about five minute (however I might get one when my contract is up next month) - I use windows mobile devices for work related reasons.
"Just reply like you are in a room full of adults."
That would be suitable if the Engadget comment section was in fact a room full of adults.
If you think this is the case, you must be new here.
"Just reply like you are in a room full of trolls"
-fixed