There are still features that I’m on the fence about. The Palm Pre Plus is significantly different from my BlackBerry Pearl (which was decidedly ready for an update) but until the chance to review the Palm Pre Plus came along, I wasn’t really looking to try anything other than a newer BlackBerry.
Too Much Touching
I’m new to touch screens so I’m not sure I like the fact that all it takes is a touch or “tap” of my finger to dial or engage an app. I found myself accidentally dialing people when I really only wanted to scroll through and search. In some cases the tapping was laggy (or I didn’t touch/tap hard enough) and wound up tapping the wrong thing. (Or I am just impatient in my tapping). If you’re used to a standard button mobile or smartphone, the touch screen is something that takes some getting used to. I remarked to my hubby that it almost felt like I needed to know sign language in order to operate the phone… (slide finger this way to close an app, slide that way to switch between apps). If you don’t read the instructions that come along with the phone, you’ll slide and flip all day long and get nowhere.
High Level Security
While I appreciate that the Palm Pre Plus is very secure (you’re phone is locked immediately after the screen powers down (or goes to sleep), I don’t like to have to unlock my phone every time I want to do something (the default setting is 30 seconds). For instance, let’s say I forget to send my sister a text message after making a call to someone else. I come back 30 seconds later and I have to unlock my phone in order to send the text.
On the other hand, the security is nice if you have kids and don’t want them in your phone so I see both sides to this. Unless you set up a unique unlock code to your Palm Pre Plus all it takes is a drag “up” to unlock the phone. Not hard for even my 4 year old to figure out. So if you like the idea of locking your phone and having it locked constantly, take the extra step to create a unique code. Once you drag up initially, you’re prompted to enter your code. Now, I will add that the longest duration you can set before your phone locks is 30 minutes but I like having the option to not locking it at all if I don’t want to.
Ringtone Options
I won’t say that your options are limited but… well, they are limited. I love personalization so I like to give family and friends (frequent callers) their own ringtones. It’s fun and then I know who’s calling immediately and I don’t need to look at the phone in order to know who it is. Unfortunately, I’ve not found a reliable app to get ringtones. There is a website called Myxer that allows you to take your own favorite songs and crop them into ringtones or download the ones they have available. You can then save them to your PC and upload from there or send to your phone.
When it comes to saving ringtones or audio sent to your phone, I’m less than thrilled. My sister sent me a great ringtone for my mom through text and I could not save it to my phone. That’s disappointing because it limits my ability to personalize with audio. So far I’ve created my own tones and uploaded them to my Palm Pre Plus.
I’m hopeful that future updates will include the ability to save audio files or ringtones that are received through text and MMS messages.
Brian has checked out my phone and decided that not only a smart phone not necessary for him (he was considering this as his phone is also ready for an upgrade) but that he also doesn’t like the touch screen as well. He’s a big guy, with big hands and fingers. He thinks it would be difficult to work the touch screen. I can’ t say that I disagree with him. Plus, he’s not a “smart phone” guy and doesn’t need the ability to have email and more features than necessary.
Still, for my desires and needs, a smart phone is the way to go. I’ve liked the smart phone and while it’s easier for me to search the web and use the web through my phone and keep up with my business and social networking that’s really all I use it for. My phone is still primarily used for calling people and not a high tech hub like many other people rely on their phones for. I can see the need many people have for the different apps and features the Verizon Palm Pre Plus offers though and I can appreciate the convenience of having these features and apps. Still there are basic features (like the ones I named above) that put the Palm Pre Plus behind in terms of making me happy. I think that it’s important to get the basics covered (and working well) before rolling out hundreds of other features and apps.
I can’t say for sure if when the time comes to upgrade again, I’ll keep using the Palm Pre Plus or if I will go back to my BlackBerry. I became addicted to my BlackBerry quickly so I honestly think it will take longer than a month for me to be completely sold on the Palm Pre Plus.
**This is part of a promotion through Verizon Wireless. I was provided with a Palm Pre Plus and one month’s paid service to participate. No other compensation was received. As always, all opinions expressed and editorial are my own.
