A&L Enterprises Tech Line

I feel like having a Techcrunch moment – where I get to rant and complain about something.   My Palm Pre is getting on my nerves lately – acting up to point it’s trying to call 911.  I had high hopes for this device – but they’re fading fast…..

In many ways this Palm Pre is a significant upgrade from my Palm Centro – a jump into a new world of mobile computing.  The browser is great (web-kit based) and the notification system is wonderful.   Having access to apps like Facebook, Pandora, Twitter Client, etc. has been great.  In many ways it really is a portable computer – as I can surf the web, check e-mail, facebook – listen to Pandora, etc.  So at first, and at times, I enjoy using the device.  Oh – and it’s a phone too that I can hold in my hand….

Over time though I’ve been disappointed as it just doesn’t quite make it there. The battery life is horrible (I have to charge it during the day and today I was listening to Pandora while plugged into an AC adapter and it still was running out of battery).  Sometimes it just acts strange – turning the orientation to the side doesn’t always work – as I think the processor can’t keep up.  So sometimes I have to turn and turn to get it to shift – then it’s sometimes completely upside down.  The other day I was using the Sprint navigation (which worked well) but I was fortunate the battery just lasted until I pulled into the driveway (and of course my spare batteries were also dead).

One of the most annoying features is how it dials 911 without my intent – yes it dials 911!  I had a pin code set (just numbers) to lock the phone – but the problem is that the touch screen keeps registering the keystrokes wrong.  It also, instead of registering I click done, will then click on the emergency mode.  It did this to me twice while I was on vacation – dialing 911 for me – wonderful surprise.  So last night I gave up and switched to a password I have to enter with the keyboard so I don’t have to touch the screen and it screw up.

It also has this annoying habit of showing a “too many cards” error at random times – which means I need to reboot.  Something to do with memory management -as I don’t think this phone has much RAM.  Again – it’s like it was close – but not quite there in how it handles multi-tasking – in that the swipe, notifications, etc. is neat – it just doesn’t work right all the time.

The other thing that concerns me is that frankly I think it’s a dead platform in terms of a smartphone. Palm was struggling against Apple, Android and others – so it was about to not make it.  HP came in and bought it up – but I don’t know if they care about  smartphone part and not just the OS.  So I seems most of the app development occurring on the Android and Apple platforms – which the Palm Pre being left behind.  I was supposed to be able to use Flash on the phone this Spring – but it’s late Summer and still nothing.  I’m wondering if it’s ever going to come…

So I guess this phone is pretty frustrating at times – but I’m stuck with it for a while. On Sprint I can switch after a year – but there’s still an investment involved.  I’m going to try to stick with it – using the password, charging it during the day every day,  switching batteries, etc.  I’ll use my apps – but have to be careful with battery life.  That said, I’m not sure if other smartphones have much better battery life – as they seem to suck down battery quick….

Anybody got a recommendation for an Android phone on Sprint?