Comments on: Palm Pre Build Quality Issues Continue to Slide Out

By: Pre owner

Pre owner — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:08:33 +0000

Guys, managed to slightly resolve the issue using some foam; details here:
http://www.palmpreo2.net/slider
Hope it helps!

By: jake

jake — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:16:40 +0000

Same here.

By: Ericka

Ericka — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:26:55 +0000

Rob, I’d suggest getting it exchanged now, while the issues are only slight. I ignored mine because they didn’t bug me, but as you can see from my above post, that was a BIG mistake. Good luck with the next one and enjoy!

By: Rob D.

Rob D. — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:15:45 +0000

I have slight play in mine. I have had it for a few days now. There is only a slight gap at the top and the volume keys on the side wobble slightly from side to side but they still engage quite well. I have slight play from side to side but I have decided to keep an eye on mine and I have made sure to get Sprints insurance on the phone. I would normally be so OCD about that but the play doesn’t bother me. I got mine at radio shack. The only thing I will ask them is if that play is normal because they also all have Pre’s at that store. If its normal I won’t worry about it.

By: kyle m

kyle m — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:11:09 +0000

Ive replaced 3 .. and maybe im anal retentive cause mines had minor oreo twist and minor gap… but my old sliders never had this much twist/gap after a year of useage so i wont stop exchanging till i get one that doesnt twist this much

By: Damon

Damon — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 03:58:31 +0000

I seriously love the Palm Pre but I will be picking up the insurance coverage on the phone. I am on my third phone. I had two phones that had the same issue. When you remove headphones from the phone the ear speaker and microphone will not start working again. The microswitch in the phone plug must be a poor design. At first you can fiddle with the headphones plugging them in and out several times and it will come back on. After time it stops working all together. I use the factory headphones. I do have concerns about the long-term reliability of the phone.

By: Ericka

Ericka — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:27:56 +0000

My Pre is officially done for. what started out as the gap, got worse after my son dropped it a few times. Finally, one drop ON CARPET, made it come completely apart. It’s held together only by the spring and the goldish ribbon thing. I wish I hadn’t of ignored the gap in the first place, because now I’m well beyond my 30 day replacement period. However I LOVE my Pre. It stopped working last night, and I’m going through some Pre withdrawal. I will hopefully be replacing it if I get get my insurance to work with me on the deductible. I DO NOT want to put another $100 into it. I do recommend it tho. Just report problems and exchange it ASAP. It’s worth a few bad ones to get to a good one!

By: Adam

Adam — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:08:36 +0000

Well, right out of the gate my phone was solid. after around a week my pre acquired the “oreo wobble.” the wobble effect however was dampened once i put on the touchstone charger back. It became bearable, but annoying. About 2 months later, my pre, while pulling it out of my pocket, i noticed my screen had cracked and was spiderwebbing from the home button. I had not caused any damage to the phone besides normal wear-and-tear. I went to sprint for a replacement; no go. i called palm; now i have to wait a 2 weeks for a replacement and may be charged $200, might not…

It has been a trip with palm and sprint and has left me very unhappy. when do i draw the line between the phones features, and its quality? well, very soon. Don’t upset me again palm.

By: bob

bob — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:07:31 +0000

any one who wants to use there pre to tether go to precentral.net they have homebrew apps like almost 200

By: JOSH

JOSH — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 21:50:42 +0000

I have gone through 5 pre’s.. I love this phone but each one has had different problems. I tried every fix but was never satisfied. Maybe I am OCD, but I should have every right to be after shelling out that kind of money. The phones hardware shouldnt be this bad. I have had a wobble on each one.. dead pixels, loose volume button, I had one the internal mic broke, and several other issues. I just want the phone to function as it should and the hardware to be sound… too much to ask?

By: Rich Shumaker

Rich Shumaker — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:00:17 +0000

@RichShumaker – I have had 2 Palm Pre’s and about to get a third and not for the hinge issue. Mine is the screen. When the unit heats up I get a small box like discoloration in the top left or bottom left – Portrait or Landscape views. I also get a series of light distortions on the bottom or right side – again Portrait or Landscape. It doesn’t happen all the time just when it heats up. The light distortion on the right seems like a series of Wall Sconses splashing light out bright in the center dark on the sides and going out in a V pattern. Oh and I have had the device for less than 30 days.
I love the features of the phone I am just concerned the image issue will turn ugly in 6 months and cost me cash or time or both to repair.

By: Yvonda

Yvonda — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 19:32:45 +0000

I’ve owned the Pre for a couple of months now. I hadn’t had any issues until today when I attempted to lock my screen and noticed that the power button was not operating correctly. I took it to the Sprint Repair shop; needless to say they removed the battery and couldn’t get the phone to power back up! Now I have to wait 3-5 days for a replacement. Absolutely sucks!

By: DeBerry

DeBerry — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:49:21 +0000

I wish I had read this review before. I brought mine two days after your review was written and had a similar response when my screen stopped responding after only 20 days of ownership.

By: DeBerry

DeBerry — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:32:39 +0000

I have had both the 2nd generation iPhone and now “own” a Pre. I must say that the customer service from AT&T is much better overall, but perhaps that is because I rarely had issues with AT&T other than thier plan costs.

The screen on my Pre stopped responding after only three weeks of ownership. I was upset that when I returned to the store, the same person who sold me the phone said, ” it must have been damaged from a drop, you have to go through an insurance claim.” Now mind you I had just transferred three lines of service from AT&T, so I was less than pleased at that response.

To add insult to injury, after going twelve rounds with tech service, they said I needed to take the phone back to the store to exchange it. When I got to the store, the two folks talked and agreed that it must be my fault.

They then told me that the nearest repair center was 30 minutes away in VA Beach. When I went online, I found a repair center that was less than 5 minutes from the store. Now i’m waiting for the 2nd replacement phone since the 1st replacement phone would not even power up when the batter was placed in it.

Happy with the phone when it works, but not with the customer service.

By: Jon

Jon — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 01:44:08 +0000

I am on my 2nd pre at this moment. My first one would intermittently shut off after I had it for two weeks if I closed the slide to hard or opened it too hard or if I tapped the screen too hard. I had no issues with the sprint store where I got it because it was still within the 30 days.

My new pre’s slide feels more secure than the one it replaced but there is one pixel that is not working. I didn’t see it at the store, I saw it when it was charging and the screen was black. The pixel stays a light color.

I have been a loyal customer of Sprint since 1997. Never had a problem with their customer service. I hope I do not run into the same issues as I have seen here. I love the Web OS and use most of the apps on this phone daily. I hate the feel of it. Im afraid if i sit on it or drop it, it would shatter into a thousand pieces.

By: John

John — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 20:14:25 +0000

I am experiencing the same issues as all of the above; the front screen is wobbly, the separation on one side of the unit, also it is getting warm while off the charger as well as it is acting really buggy like waiting on an app to open or close or hesitations in the animation of the screen swipe.