Boy Genius Report nabs a Pre 22
Thu, 28 May 2009 9:19 am EDT 
AUGH! We all know that they’re out there, floating in the hands of users who must feel so blessed that they’re beyond words. Boy Genius Report is not beyond words, though, they’re not even beyond pictures. They have their hands on a brand new Palm Pre and they’ve posted some initial thoughts on their new precious.
“The Pre feels really good in your hand in terms of size and shape, but there’s a real plasticky aura about it. Additionally, things aren’t looking good for that QWERTY either. And hey, you know we take them keyboards seriously! When you try and type on the top row of keys, your finger hits the bottom part of the front piece and on top of that, you often hit multiple keys at the same time while typing. It’s actually really frustrating and doesn’t bode well for such a fantastic social communication/personal/business tool.
The screen is really responsive and blends right in with the casing — awesomely executed and the capacitive touch is so damn beautiful. We’d rate it just behind the iPhone but in front of the T-Mobile G1 as far as screens go.”
Now all we need is to get our own... *grumble*
Thanks to everybody that sent this in!
22 Comments
I'm not going to say that BGR is wrong about the keyboard, seeing as how I haven't even laid a finger on the device yet. With that said, with every phone I have ever owned that has a keyboard, or any new one I've played with that has one for that matter, there is always ALWAYS a certain amount of time it takes for one to get acclimated to the device. Saying the keyboard is bad when most likely they just got the thing and played around with it for a day (at most) is not accurate. Every phone sucks with typing until you get used to it, even the touch screens.
EDIT: Although, I have noticed that Palm devices often do have very squished keyboards, but we shall see. I think I will be annoyed with the typing on it for a week but it will still be beautiful and amazingly better than my Instinct. Which, by the way, loves to warp text to various parts of the page while I'm typing and loves even more to randomly delete parts of my message -_- grrrrr...not condusive or practical at all.. I think this Pre with its keyboard and touch screen similar to that of the Iphone will be far more practical than just a touch screen device. It's just really difficult to send long emails having to try and tap away at a screen.
Just an FYI the editors at BGR are all apple fanboys, so a putdown is what I would expect for apples direct competition.
Also I can say this because they are always pushing apple stuff, you only have to read a few articles to confirm this. They are deffinately not unbiased.
As I said on the thread, it's odd that a couple of BGR's Pre pix look to have a matte finish and the other is glossy.
EXACTLY - I said this in the forum. I thought the Pre was supposed to be shinny. This one looks really dull and cheap. Wonder if it is really an older demo model.
How can BGR be worthy of a Pre?? That said, the photos are beautiful!
Regarding the keyboard, I experienced the same issues initially when trying to get used to the Tilt. It takes a little time to get used to a new Precious.
The thing is that they are trying to type like its an iphone, since if you cant use it like an iphone its not an iphone attitude they have.
If you have big fingers you will just need to type with teh tips of your thumbs. Solved. When you type with the softer pad of your thumb, you will have to press harder and more buttons will be hit.
It seems as this particular Palm Pre does in fact look much different in certain ways. The speaker hole in the bottom was something I have yet to see and then the finish on the phone doesn't look glossy at all.. so that makes me wonder about the quality of the hardware they were given as well as the software then obviously. I wonder if Palm purposely gave the Apply Fanboys at BGR a Sh*t version of their phone so they wouldn't have all the ins and outs available to them. God knows they would probably go running back to Apple like Igor to Dr. Frankenstein..
"MASTEEER MAAASTER!!!! I have it for you HEEEEHeheeeHEEAAAAH!!"
rofl...
I'm pretty sure almost every iPhone user had some problems adjusting to its "virtual" keyboard at first. Then some of them like it or even love it later, with time, practice and heavy use. It's the same for all smartphones, it takes time. After all, it's not a comfortable normal-size PC/MAC qwerty keyboard, it's fricking small!!
The keypad on my Treo Pro is similar right? You just gotta relax and hit the buttons! Don't use the tips of your fingers... then it works fine.
Hmmm... I wonder what the size difference is in going from the small Samsung Alias keyboard to the Pre? I can fly on my Alias right now and can't wait to get my hands on a Pre.
Rather that coming out with a smaller version of of a webOS device, I'd like to see an enterprises version. Slightly bigger to hold a keyboard with keys spread out more, larger battery, SD card, etc. Metal case and glass screen that will hold up to abuse. An enterprise version of webOS so Enterprises can easily manage thousands of the devices, etc.
Maybe the Pre really isn't all we thought it was now that we are getting some real reviews. Behind the iPhone, this report says. And plasticky? Sounds like he's saying it's got an aura of cheapness.
Real reviews my ***, get over to a Sprint store and check out the Treo Pro, the Pre has the same type of casing.
As someone said you do not type on that kind of keyboard as you would a virtual keyboard. I would not leave it up to BGR to give an honest review. This is partly the reason Sprint and Palm haven't given review units to the media, there are a lot of Apple-holics out there. That being said, as you can see in this link: http://www.mobilecowboys.nl/images/upload/palm%20pre%20en%20palm%20pro.jpg the keyboard on the Pre is more spaced than the Treo Pro.
Great photo; thanks for this.
Yes I see that thanks for the image. That is bigger then the treo pro board and I type just fine on that. I am not sure where people say its smaller. Although alot of the people that are reviewing it are iFanBoys.
Yes, dont take BGR for real unless its an apple product, he probably has a pre release model. If he even did a real review, its really short for a brand new device. But since "its second to his iTool" I dont blame them for putting it down.
In complete honesty, I don't see a problem with the keyboard. Amazingly, the Centro actually has my favorite keyboard of any celphone anywhere, even HTCs and blackberry's. The only one that might "tie" with it is the Sidekick's. Why? I love the whole gummy keys thing actually, because I prefer using my nails for precision, and I rarely make typing mistakes with it and type more quickly or as quickly as any other phone. Also an advantage not spoken frequently about: you can type with one hand on it.
I'm not concerned about the plasticky feeling. I mean, come on. It's obviously a plastic phone. Do they expect it to not feel plasticky? Lol. It doesn't seem like "cheap" plastic from what I've seen and heard.
Whoa now, I have a question...is that little whole at the bottom the microphone?! One of the reasons I was "first" excited for this phone was because I hate all those tiny phones (like my blackberry) that don't reach anywhere near to your mouth when you talk. This phone had a slider design so I thought I'd be getting a great screen, keyboard, and a more comfortable fit when talking all in one. I'm not a loud talker, nor the kind of person that likes making a scene and screaming my phone conversations in a crowd. If the microphone is beneath the screen, and this phone is even smaller than most other phones I've had with this problem.....then suddenly that's a huge drawback for me :(
Seems very Treo Pro-ish. It will be fine. Use it for a week and you adapt.
I used and owned about every physical QWERTY cellphone out there and I have to say that Blackberry has this one down, in my opinion. So, I'm not expecting too much when the PRE finally comes out. I'm sure I'll get used it and maybe even learn to love it. As for other aspects of the PRE, I will wait till I get my own to pass judgement on it. Even though, BGR might have some merits in his initial review NO one is going to love a cellphone completely. It's human nature to find fault in everything.