anyone have any experience with palm pixi?

[wellington1869]

anyone have any experience with the palm pixi?

so i have an opportunity to switch to a smartphone at work.

verizon has both palm pixi and palm pre available at great prices.

Pixi is FREE. I mean come on. Its cute, its small, it'll do everything we need.

Our needs are not great. We wont do 'multitasking' much on our phones. Mainly we just need occasional web and email via its wifi and 3g connections. Thats really about it. (other than voice). We're not looking for super powerful smartphones, just easy to use ones, and the pixi seems to fit the bill.

However, the palm pre is $49.  Great price, but will add up for the whole group. And i'm not convinced we need the extra memory or processing power.

Is the extra memory/processing of the pre really worth the extra $50?  

I know the pre gets the rave reviews, but I dont think we need it. Even the bigger screen doesnt seem worth it to me. Is the pixi unbearable?  Is there any overwhelming reason to get the pre instead? Even if we dont need the extra power?

[itlnstln]

Spend the $50.  The Palms are fairly underpowered for the (wonderful) OS they run.  The Pre is kinda slow as it is, and the Pixi was a damn waste of time.  That, and you'll appreciate the bigger screen.  Don't underestimate multitasking, either.  Simple stuff, like answering a phone call while listening to Pandora, will make you very happy you have it.

I just got the HTC Evo 4G, and while it does a lot of things better and faster than the Pre, I miss WebOS's ease of use at times.  I hope HP resurrects Palm's WebOS on smartphones in the future.

[wellington1869]

Spend the $50.  The Palms are fairly underpowered for the (wonderful) OS they run.  The Pre is kinda slow as it is, and the Pixi was a damn waste of time.  That, and you'll appreciate the bigger screen.  Don't underestimate multitasking, either.  Simple stuff, like answering a phone call while listening to Pandora, will make you very happy you have it.

alright, fine, sold.  

I just got the HTC Evo 4G

android?

I miss WebOS's ease of use at times.  I hope HP resurrects Palm's WebOS on smartphones in the future.

i think thats the plan. i hope so too, i really like the web OS interface. HP should market it like a more flexible (less walled-in) version of the iphone. Its just as pretty if you ask me.

[itlnstln]

Yeah, the HTC is an Android (2.1 for now) phone.  It has multitasking, but it's nowhere near as elegant as the WebOS implementation.  That, and some typical tasks (like deleting e-mails or texts) are much easier and more intuitive in WebOS.  Also, tasks (like deleting) are typically the same across all applications which is very nice.  That said, Android is much more powerful and has many more nice things that make it better overall, but I was certainly very happy with WebOS, I liked it a lot better that iOS.  It just needs a bigger, more powerful device paired with it.  HP already has plans to use WebOS in iPad-style tablets shortly.

[wellington1869]

 HP already has plans to use WebOS in iPad-style tablets shortly.

that sounds really promising

[wellington1869]

so i've been palm pre'ed. Its very nice, very slick. Really like it so far.

killer price, killer monthly fees, and the free mobile hotspot feature is a huge plus. Location aware apps, gps, all free. Slick-as-hell UI.  Touchstone (inductive) charger a sweet bonus.

HP is planning tablets with the same Palm WebOS.  I think they're going to be sweet. To my mind, WebOS is the real competitor (in look-n-feel and features) to the iPad/iphone.  Ie, its the same philosophy (easy UI, simple UI) but with all the advantages of open architecture (cheap hardware, tons of free apps, actual interface to the real world (easy to transfer anything you want onto (or out of) the palm)), etc.

Android is for the hardcore and tinkerers; win7 phone OS looks good but will bring up the rear as MS always does. WebOS is already there and already great, but lacks the kind of marketing finesse of Apple.

[itlnstln]

Glad you like it.  It's a great phone.

[wellington1869]

its so liberating having 24/7 access to the web

luckily we even got on the verizon unlimited data plan (tho gizmodo reports verizon may follow att and install bandwidth limits, well see). Until then though, its all the [strike]porn[/strike] netflix movies I can stream!

[wellington1869]

palm pre wishlist:
having used it for a couple of weeks now:

-still like it a *lot*. Its a very slick and easy to use phone and for the most part has just about everything I need in a smartphone.  I also especially like the "touchstone" wireless charger, a $20 option, makes it dead simple to keep the phone charged up/topped off.  Wireless charging rocks.

-the only thing i'd add to this phone: stylus and ability to write on the screen. I miss the old 'freehand notes' apps we used to have on the old palm pilots.  You can "sort of" write on the screen with the pre, but not really. the resolution isnt high enough and it wont take any stylus input at all.  I hope this is something they add in the next version.

-wish it could run ms mobile office apps. Doubt it will for a long time, probably android and iphone will get those first (assuming they're not locked into win7 phones).  Actually i'd consider a win7 mobile phone just for that feature (i use office for nearly everything work and school related, would be great to have those apps on the smartphone, especially things like onenote mobile).

but other than office, or stylus, its just about as perfect as I could have hoped for my current needs.  Some really nice location-aware apps are available too. and it was so cheap!

[microsoft windows]

I'm not much of a fan of little PDA's. Their screens are small and hard to read.

[EverythingIBM]

I'm not much of a fan of little PDA's. Their screens are small and hard to read.

Not to mention they're so limited. A laptop is a better idea. More choices for connectivity too. 3g, ethernet, wireless, and of course dial-up... man it took like an hour to download a 10MB DOS game back in the day from the-underdogs.org (later .info). The one I remember in particular was "master of magic," it got to 99% and then quit. Had to redownload the damn thing. Those are dial-up demons... you can hear them screeching when you first connect.

Cellphones are a huge gimmick. Especially those expensive "3g" wireless connections (it's like an inverse of the G3... iMac G3).
You get brain cancer, waste your time, your money, etc etc etc. They should only be used for business use or important things. Not where to find the latest designer clothes, or that EB games is selling a rare copy of lands of lore 2.

[wellington1869]

my god you guys are idiots.



crack me up though.

[wellington1869]

speaking of brain cancer, so I had my palm pre with the wifi (thats "wifis") turned on, and the mobile hotspot going, and then I get an incoming call, and I had to stick the damn thing to the side of my face to answer the phone.  Pretty sure I lost a years worth of brain cells right there during that 1 minute.

[Findecanor]

I agree with what MW and EIBM are writing here, actually, irregardless of whether they stand by their words or if they are just joking. Nettops and pads are better for email and web browsing, especially as you get older and your eye sight gets worse. You can also install an open operating system on them.

I think that a phone should be used for concise, brief and information-rich two-way communication, and nothing else.
I don't have a mobile phone. I don't want one, because I see how it is dumbing down the people who use them. Cell phone users tend to forget such skills such as being able to meet at a prearranged place and time. Cell phone use even changes the way people talk -- even the word "uhu" has deteriorated into a one-syllable "uuuuuh". Cell phone users tend to close out the world around them, forcing everyone to listen to them shouting to a friend about the lousy one-night stand they had last night, or be so immersed in texting or browsing that they bump into people ... or moving vehicles. I once had to stop a woman who was texting (or whatever she was doing) while walking ... straight out into a railroad crossing, even though there was a loud bell ringing. She did not look up and around herself to understand that what I had done had most likely saved here life -- she just stopped, and continued texting.

[wellington1869]

all i can say is,  after 2 days with my palm, i cant believe i went this long without a smartphone. I use it constantly. And I sold my netbook.

I will say that the likelihood that I will be run over by a bus while crossing the street has risen a 100-fold.

[microsoft windows]

People can use phones for whatever they want. It's their business. Remember, all I said was I wasn't a fan of little PDA's and phones.

I personally hate smartphones and those QWERTY phones. My fingers are way too big for those tiny buttons....

[instantkamera]

I agree with what MW and EIBM are writing here, actually

oh?

 ...irregardless ...

ahhh, that explains it.

I think that a phone should be used for concise, brief and information-rich two-way communication, and nothing else.

says the same guy that said:

You can also install an open operating system on [netbooks]...

Open in one respect, not in the other.

I don't have a mobile phone. I don't want one, because I see how it is dumbing down the people who use them. Cell phone users tend to forget such skills such as being able to meet at a prearranged place and time. Cell phone use even changes the way people talk -- even the word "uhu" has deteriorated into a one-syllable "uuuuuh". Cell phone users tend to close out the world around them, forcing everyone to listen to them shouting to a friend about the lousy one-night stand they had last night, or be so immersed in texting or browsing that they bump into people ... or moving vehicles. I once had to stop a woman who was texting (or whatever she was doing) while walking ... straight out into a railroad crossing, even though there was a loud bell ringing. She did not look up and around herself to understand that what I had done had most likely saved here life -- she just stopped, and continued texting.

Cool story, bro.

Seriously, I think blaming any technology for human stupidity is ridiculous, and I think making generalizations about the mental capacity of all cellphone users is pointless.

And, if cellphone use does manage to pick off those few Darwin Award candidates who have escaped the wrath of natural selection thus far ... so be it.

[microsoft windows]

The only cell-phone users you can make generalizations about their mental capacity are those who use their phones while driving.

[audioave10]

I agree...as many of them can't drive without the phone either.

[wellington1869]

its a funny thing when using a phone (or god forbid, video), you're 'transported' to another place. Definitely not the time to be driving.

I'm all for the cellphone-in-car ban that they have in NY.

[instantkamera]

yeah we have that here already. And yes, that is generally a retarded thing to do. But with those people, if it's not cellphones, it's something else. Some people should not be licensed.

[wellington1869]

i heard a campus rumor today that HP is gonig to cancel the palm smartphones and focus on the palm tablet.
Which makes no sense to me.  If they're sticking with the tablet the smartphone shouldnt add much more to support. The tablet is essentially a larger sized smartphone, with both running the same WebOS.

[instantkamera]

I think EIBM is trolling you in real life now ...

[wellington1869]

I think EIBM is trolling you in real life now ...

lol maybe.