Smartphone/PDAPhone Advice

[BigDPW]

I currently own a Motorola RAZR phone and an HP PDA. The phone is fine and the PDA is getting old and less reliable. This summer I will be moving and joining an orthopaedic practice and figured it would be a good time to combine my PDA and my phone into one entity since they seem to be so popular, reliable, smaller now than 4 years ago.

I primarily use the PDA for calendar and epocrates (medical/pharmacy software). I occasionally use it for email and web surfing but not as often as for the work related stuff. I have never used text-messaging with my phone or camera stuff. I basically use the phone only as a phone and the RAZR works well for that.

My goal is to get a small manageable PDA/Smartphone to carry on my belt or in my pocket at the new job that has a QWERTY keyboard on it.

Any advice about which to get? Should I get a PDA phone or a Smartphone and what exactly are the differences? Should it have a touch screen or not?

I have browsed briefly but don't know alot about the phones I have been looking at (Motorola Q, Blackberry, Treo) but I am open to any suggestions/advice.

[Cringer]

The wife has a Treo 700p she has been real happy with. It is a little bigger then I would like to have though if I were to get something like that. Not exactly a pocket phone unless you have good size pockets. On a belt clip is doable though.

Remember when you look at Treos that they have the ones with the Palm operating system and the ones with Windows. SOme people prefer one over the other.

That is about all the help I can give out, I am no longer an expert.

[DaddyTorgo]

HTC Mogul or a HTC Touch

If you're using them for business, despite what Apple wants you to believe, you really can't beat WindowsMobile, even given all of it's issues IMO.

[Flasch186]

My Palm Windows crashes and acts weird all the time. I havnt used the Palm OS in a long long time so I'm not sure which is better but my 750W sometimes I want to throw. I have reset it a few more times than I would've liked.

[jeff061]

I have a Q, pretty basic, does what it does well. Nice and slim. But nothing fancy. I do like the full keyboard, I'm not a wiz with a numpad so it's much appreciated.

I have the newer Q now, whatever they call it. Runs Mobile 6 vrs the 5 on the original. Too be honest the differences in the software is negligible, but physically it's better put together and much more comfortable to hold.

[Arles]

I have the HTC Touch and love it. There are some nice utilities that make it perform like the IPhone in some areas. It's very stable, light and easy to use.

[oliegirl]

I have the Blackberry Curve and LOVE it. I've never had to reset the software, it's very easy to use - the hardest part was getting used to the trackball, but now that I'm used to it I love it so much more than having to use a stylus. Tons of apps are available for it, and Blackberry itself has a great support/knowledge base online...blackberryforums.com is a great one, as is crackberry.com. I used to have a Treo and hated it, very unstable environment and the keyboard was awkward.

[lordscarlet]

The HTC line is good. I love my iphone, but if you have a windows app to install, iphone is obviously not for you. I would argue it is suitable for business (compared to windows mobile, maybe not compared to a blackberry), particularly with the new apps coming up, but if you have a specific application you use for your industry you'll need a windows mobile phone.

[AZSpeechCoach]

I heartily concur with oliegirl. My Curve has been amazing.

[stevew]

If you need enterprise email, I believe that it may limit your options. I have a blackberry, but it doesn't have the full qwerty, I'd suggest the Curve like others have, simply cause it's on more carriers. If you have sprint, the Mogul looks pretty amazing as well.

I'd actually ask around the office, and see what some of the other guys are using at the practice. Simply cause it might be better for your specific situation.

[JeeberD]

My little ol' Palm Centro certainly gets the job done...

[Emiliano]

I second the BlackBerry Curve as well. I've been a Palm and Nokia user for years, but I gotta admit you can't beat the simplicity of the BlackBerry. I've been using it for a month now, and I'm very satisfied with it. Frankly, I was really surprised by the audio quality, which is always a question mark on smartphones. Push e-mails and web browsing are really fantastic with it, you'll learn to use 'em.

Anyway, my advice is to check if the software you have to use will work with the BlackBerry. If you need a full QWERTY, you could also consider the 88xx series, slightly bigger, no camera, more "professional" look.

[Icy]

I just bought an HTC Dual touch and it's awesome. It runs windows mobile that is compatible with mos tof the software available. It's smaller than a PDA, exactly same size than my old motorola cell phone so it fits in my pocket while having a big screen enough for PDA usage. It has a QWERTY keyboard (make sure about it as there is also a version wih the standard cell phons one).

Here is more info and pics:

http://www.htc.com/us/product.aspx?id=8812

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by JeeberD

My little ol' Palm Centro certainly gets the job done...

I love my Centro, too.

The downside is that you have to go with Sprint to get it.

SI

[JeeberD]

I thought that AT&T supported the Centro as well?

[sterlingice]

Maybe they do. I thought it was a Sprint exclusive, tho. But I could be wrong.

SI

[Klinglerware]

Originally Posted by JeeberD

I thought that AT&T supported the Centro as well?

Yeah, there is a version out for AT&T and Sprint. You could probably get an unlocked AT&T version phone and use it on another GSM carrier like T-mobile, if you are so inclined (but if you are going the unlocked route, you might as well get a better phone).

[Klinglerware]

Dola - I'm not bashing the Centro. The Centro is attractive because the carrier subsidy gets it to a very attractive price point. But with that said, if you are not going to go through a carrier to buy a phone, with the expense you are going to incur, you might as well get a phone with a bigger feature set/nicer specs...

[Scarecrow]

Originally Posted by JeeberD

My little ol' Palm Centro certainly gets the job done...

+ Eleventy Billion


Especially after the iPhoneImitation hack

[sterlingice]

But I like Palm OS (and I decided against a data plan)

SI

[BigDPW]

Originally Posted by Emiliano

I second the BlackBerry Curve as well. I've been a Palm and Nokia user for years, but I gotta admit you can't beat the simplicity of the BlackBerry. I've been using it for a month now, and I'm very satisfied with it. Frankly, I was really surprised by the audio quality, which is always a question mark on smartphones. Push e-mails and web browsing are really fantastic with it, you'll learn to use 'em.

Anyway, my advice is to check if the software you have to use will work with the BlackBerry. If you need a full QWERTY, you could also consider the 88xx series, slightly bigger, no camera, more "professional" look.

Looking at the 88xx Series and the Curve Series they both look to have full QWERTY right. I want to make sure I am not missing a difference there between the QWERTY feature on the two...

Also thanks for all of the replies so far!

A couple of questions:
- Can I check any email account (yahoo, my ISP account, etc) that I want with a blackberry or does it have its own account that I have to access and use?
-Any thoughts about which phone will give me the best reception/coverage/sound quality between the blackberry, Q, and Treo?

[BigDPW]

Also are any of these wi-fi compatible so I can sync it at home/work without having to dock it?

[oliegirl]

Originally Posted by BigDPW

Looking at the 88xx Series and the Curve Series they both look to have full QWERTY right. I want to make sure I am not missing a difference there between the QWERTY feature on the two...

Also thanks for all of the replies so far!

A couple of questions:
- Can I check any email account (yahoo, my ISP account, etc) that I want with a blackberry or does it have its own account that I have to access and use?
-Any thoughts about which phone will give me the best reception/coverage/sound quality between the blackberry, Q, and Treo?

I have 3 email accounts set up through push email on my curve, messages are automatically sent to my curve, and I can reply, create, etc...all from the pda. When you delete, you have an option to delete just on the handheld, or on the handheld and your mailbox. You will need a data plan if you are going to set up email as it does go through the internet to get the messages, but BB has the reputation for being the best when it comes to mobile emailing, etc.

Definitely check the medical software you mentioned and see if it's available on Blackberry.

As for syncing, I use Google Calendar, they have a download that will allow you to sync your calendar wirelessly, I haven't connected by BB to my laptop in weeks. Google also has a killer GPS download that is free. I used it the other day in an area I had never been in before and it worked flawlessly, very accurate directions as far as how far between turns, etc...

When I had my Treo I found it very clunky, and just not a very user friendly phone. I get much better reception and call quality on my BB.

I can't recommend BB enough, as an admitted gadget junkie I've tried a lot of pda's and BB is by far my favorite. We have AT&T and my unlimited BB data plan is $30 a month, well worth it if you ask me.

[Cringer]

I thought there was a more recent thread on this stuff but I can't find one.

I am probably looking at getting the Sprint version of the Palm Pro, just wondering if anyone has given this a shot yet. The unlocked one has been out for a while, but the Sprint version just came out last month I think, and from what I read has a faster processor (400MHz to 528MHz now) and more user memory (from only 100 MB to 300 MB now). The only real competition for me would be the HTC Touch Pro, and if anyone has that give me your thoughts. I want the Windows OS, since the ability to open and edit Office docs is something I want.

The Pre is out of the question for me I think. No Windows Mobile Pro 6.1, and just looking at that keyboard slide out and how close the top keys are to the edge makes me think I wouldn't get my big fingers any where near them. My wife is planning on getting one though, but she may change her mind with no Windows on it.

[GreenMonster]

I have a Diamond on Sprint, and I love it but I am a bit of a cell phone geek. I would have gotten the Pro had I been able to wait another 1.5 months for the hardware keyboard. The stock roms on the phone leave some to be desired but you can find almost any program you want. I actually run a custom rom with Windows Mobile 6.5 which isn't due out for a little while still.

Since you will be doing Office documents I would get the Pro, more power, better keyboard, and all the Windows Mobile goodies. PM me if you have any more questions, I know entirely to much about Sprint phones.

[AZSpeechCoach]

Mrs. SpeechCoach had been making some noise about using her long overdue upgrade to get a Blackberry. When we went to the T-Mobile store, I thought she was going to get a Pearl Flip. She went with the Curve 8900. She now has a better phone than I do. Here's the question: Would it be ethical of me to swap sims while she sleeps? At the worst, the Blackberry Onyx with 3G hits T-Mobile before the end of the year, and I can upgrade then.

[Cringer]

I think that is up to your wife.

[Klinglerware]

Originally Posted by AZSpeechCoach

Mrs. SpeechCoach had been making some noise about using her long overdue upgrade to get a Blackberry. When we went to the T-Mobile store, I thought she was going to get a Pearl Flip. She went with the Curve 8900. She now has a better phone than I do. Here's the question: Would it be ethical of me to swap sims while she sleeps? At the worst, the Blackberry Onyx with 3G hits T-Mobile before the end of the year, and I can upgrade then.

Yeah, it looks like T-mobile will be filling out it's roster of 3G phones as the year goes on. There are some nice ones coming soon...

[Cringer]

Anyone getting the Palm Pre? I still have not upgraded my phone and this will be considered now I guess. I was going to get the Pro, but the fact that WinMo 6.5 should be out by Fall and Palm won't give an upgrade for it kind of turns me off to the Pro for now. I think I am now into 'wait and see' mode for Sprint phones. The HTC Touch Diamond2 will hopefully be released before summer is over, but if they don't announce something soon I may forget about it and go with a Pre depending on how that ends up looking. Either way I won't jump into Pre just because the timing is off and I would want to wait a couple of weeks so I don't get screwed on changing my plans mid-billing cycle.

What I find interesting about the Pre is this backlash that seems to have surfaced lately online and in news stories. Some of it seems very biased, too. Trying to pick on things that make no sense to pick on (ex. ripping it for no flash video support, which no device in production right now has and IIRC they said it would down the road.)

[rjolley]

I'm seriously considering a Pre as my next phone. I have a Diamond right now and while it does the job, I have too many issues with it running slowly and needing a reboot to get things working right. So, when I give up on it and move to a new phone, it'll probably be a Pre. Just need for the software to get there. From the previews I've seen, the new OS looks good.

[jeff061]

I read a review on the Pre. Feeling seems to be solid and worthwhile. Not near the hype level, but that would be damn near impossible.

I considered going after the Pre, my contracts been up for awhile and I am waiting for a phone I like. I think I'm still going to wait on a Android based phone that doesn't suck.

[ISiddiqui]

I'm thinking of either getting a Palm Pre or a Blackberry Storm 2 this fall when they both come to Verizon.

[Cringer]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

I'm thinking of either getting a Palm Pre or a Blackberry Storm 2 this fall when they both come to Verizon.

Palm Pre won't be on Verizon until 2010 if it happens. After Verizon started trying to save themselves from customers jumping to Sprint (no other reason they would announce such a thing IMO), Sprint came out and said they 'have the Palm Pre through 2009.'

For the most part that confirms an exclusivity deal for 6 months (6-9 is usually Sprints normal deal from what I read), that puts the Pre on Verizon in 2010.

hxxp://www.mobilemag.com/2009/05/29/verizon-bound-palm-pre-confirmed-by-sprint-spokesman/

[ISiddiqui]

Well, then January of next year then. 6 months isn't much.

[Cringer]

It's not long, no. For me though it would be, I really need a phone within a couple months. My phone is acting weird sometimes now, I will need to upgrade plans no matter what phone I have in a couple of months, and I will need something that is much better then what i have for keeping track of contacts, texts, and accessing email and web pages. A Samsung Upstage doesn't cut it. I have used Sprint for 10 years now anyways, it's not like I need to switch for a Pre though.

[Voo]

Originally Posted by rjolley

I'm seriously considering a Pre as my next phone. I have a Diamond right now and while it does the job, I have too many issues with it running slowly and needing a reboot to get things working right. So, when I give up on it and move to a new phone, it'll probably be a Pre. Just need for the software to get there. From the previews I've seen, the new OS looks good.

I highly recommend you check out xda-developers - Xda-developers for tips and upgrades for your diamond. Im currently running a wm 6.5 rom on my HTC Touch HD, and I'm pretty sure there are a few 6.5 roms for the diamond as well.

[rjolley]

Yeah, I'm on there from time to time to pick up things. I haven't tried 6.5, but I may be worth it. 6.1 has some issues that are annoying. Maybe 6.5 will iron them out. Any idea if there's a list of changes?

[JeeberD]

I'm going to get the Pre when I'm able...

[Cringer]

Ah, what I have been waiting for. This is an actual, nothing held back from the reviewer review. Unless the Diamond2 gets a release date announced over the next 2-3 weeks I will probably end up with a Pre now. This review is thorough and answers many questions I had about it. The negatives were either known (no SD expansion slot) or expected (Palm always has battery life issues) and keyboard size, and some negatives even have a chance of being fixed in firmware updates down the road (flash video and video recording). The positives are huge for what i am looking for in a phone right now though...

hxxp://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/palm-pre-sprint/4505-6452_7-33490473.html?tag=smallCarouselArea.0

Very long review so these are selected parts, read the whole thing if you want more as this isn't even half the review....

The tiny QWERTY keyboard isn't going to draw any praise, nor is the lack of an expansion slot. We're also disappointed that the Pre lacks some basic functions, such as video recording and voice dialing, though Palm has said these features can be added later through an over-the-air update. Battery life is also a concern, as the smartphone only lasted about a day on a single charge, which, in all fairness, is about the same as the iPhone. All that said, the Pre's "Deck of Cards" multitasking functionality and notification system are what make it special and they are areas where the Pre beats the iPhone or any smartphone on the market right now. In addition, personal-information management is completely changed (in a good way) with the Synergy feature.

We have to say the Pre's display is one of the main highlights of the phone. It measures 3.1 inches diagonally, so it's smaller than the iPhone's and some other touch-screen devices, such as the T-Mobile G1 and the Samsung Omnia, but what it lacks in size, the Pre makes up for in quality. The 24-bit color HVGA display is vibrant and sharp with its 320x480 pixel resolution. Images, text, and Web pages all looked amazing. We'd say it's on par with, if not just slightly crisper looking than, the iPhone's screen. The Pre's display has a built-in accelerometer so the screen orientation will automatically change from portrait to landscape mode when viewing photos, videos, and Web pages. The accelerometer is fast and changes pages without any lag. There's also a proximity sensor, which will automatically turn off the display when you lift the smartphone to your ear for a phone call.

We'll say it outright: the Palm Pre isn't the most intuitive device to use, at least at first. When you fire up the smartphone for the first time, there's a brief animated tutorial to familiarize you with the various gestures, such as swiping right to left in the gesture area to return to the previous page. The gestures are also illustrated in the quick start guide, but even so, it takes some time to learn all the various commands.

The first time you boot up the Palm Pre (which takes quite a while, by the way), you'll have to set up what's called a Palm Profile. It takes a few moments, but is worth the time, since it gives you access to several key services, including backup and restore settings, remote erase in case of a lost or stolen phone, and over-the-air updates. The latter will become important as Palm pushes out firmware updates that include new features and any bug fixes for the device.

E-mail delivery was almost instant (you can also set different retrieval intervals), and an action, such as deleting a message or moving an e-mail to a folder, is reflected on both sides whether you do it from the Pre or your computer. We were able to download and view attachments as well as send them.

With the e-mail set up, all relevant Calendars will also be synced to the Pre and brought into one calendar view via Synergy. Appointments are color-coded to help you differentiate between the different accounts. Alternatively, there is a drop-down menu from where you can view each calendar separately. Again, like e-mail, the synchronization of our Outlook and Google calendars was seamless. We also created new events from the device, which automatically synced back to our Outlook and Google calendars

With all the data that the Pre can handle, searching for items could be a cumbersome and tedious task, but universal search takes care of that problem. From anywhere on the phone, you can start entering a search term and the Pre will look through your contacts, applications, the Web, Google Maps, and Twitter. The feature worked well when we searched for contacts, businesses, and more general terms, but it's not quite as robust as the iPhone's search in that it doesn't search e-mail headers, calendar, notes, or the music library.

If there's one area where the Palm Pre holds the edge over the current iPhone, G1, and other smartphones, it's in its multitasking and notification capabilities. The much-talked-about Deck of Card feature works well, allowing you to keep multiple applications open and running in the background while working in another. Like on a computer, you can minimize and maximize tasks by using the center button and swiping through the various cards. In addition, the aforementioned quick-launch bar makes menu access and launching new apps a snap.

The limit on the number of cards you have open will depend on which applications you are using. The more memory-intensive ones, such as complicated Web sites, will take up more memory and consequently reduce the number of apps you can have open. A notification will appear if you've reached the limit and recommend you close other applications to open up memory. We got this alert twice during our testing period, and it was while we had several Web sites active and also had three or four other apps open, so you still get a good amount of multitasking. We even got up to 12 active cards at once.

We were quite impressed with the Pre's GPS capabilities.

The Pre's browser is quite good. Based on WebKit, it renders sites onscreen as you would see them on your desktop, and pretty quickly at that.

Overall, we were happy with the Pre's browser in terms of navigation and functionality, but there were a couple of misses. One was the lack of an onscreen keyboard. Without it, you can't type URLs or enter any text into relevant fields when you're viewing sites in landscape mode, so you'll need to switch back to portrait mode, which is annoying. Also, there's no Flash support at this time, so you can't view Flash videos within the browser. However, Palm announced its commitment to Adobe's Open Screen Project back in February and promised to bring the Flash 10 Player to its WebOS devices by the end of the year.

The Palm Pre has got a solid set of multimedia features....... It's not quite as slick as the iPhone's Cover Flow feature, but it works.

There are several methods for getting media onto the smartphone. First, the Pre has the capability to act as a storage device, so you can sideload music and video by connecting the smartphone to your computer via a USB cable and selecting the USB Drive option from where you can then drag and drop files.

the Pre also works with iTunes, so you can sync any non-DRM tracks (no videos) to the smartphone. There's some question about whether Apple will eventually put the kibosh on this, but for now, we're happy to report the iTunes synchronization worked and it was easy as pie (and yes, it worked with the most recent iTunes 8.2).

The 8GB memory cap really became an issue when we were transferring our music library.

While you can't purchase tracks from iTunes, the Palm Pre works with the Amazon MP3 Store, from which you can download songs over the air using your Amazon account. There is no support for Sprint's Music Store. Be aware that while you can preview and queue up songs for purchase on Sprint's 3G network, you must be connected to a Wi-Fi network to actually buy them and download them wirelessly. The iPhone 3G allows you download songs over Wi-Fi and 3G.

There are several streaming-video options on the Pre. There's a dedicated YouTube app right on the device and access to Sprint TV, which includes programming from a variety of channels, such as CNN, Bravo, Comedy Central, and Sprint Exclusive Entertainment. A select number of channels also offer live programming, and there is a Sprint Radio channel for streaming music.

The Pre's music sound quality was quite good. Needless to say, we're happy that Palm included a standard headphone jack........and while there are no audio settings or EQ presets, we thought songs sounded rich and we noticed a good amount of bass.

The Pre comes equipped with a 3-megapixel camera and an LED flash. The camera functions are about as basic as you can get......Picture quality was quite impressive, though we thought otherwise at first. It takes a few seconds for pictures to render on screen, so immediately after taking pictures the photos looked extremely blurry. In reality, they were extremely sharp and colors were vibrant and rich, without any weird orange or grayish tones. Also, there was barely any lag from the time we pressed the capture button to the moment the photo was taken.

The Palm Pre App Catalog is still in beta and will only have about a dozen titles at launch.

We also like that Fandango and CitySearch used the phone's GPS to customize the app to pull in local theaters and other businesses. In addition, with Fandango, you can watch previews, buy movie tickets, and, once purchased, the Pre will create a calendar entry to block out that time--very smart.

All that said, we're disappointed by the sparse selection of apps........Palm has touted the fact that developers can create apps based on standard HTML, CSS, and JavaScript technologies as one of the advantages of WebOS; and developers will be given access to the features of WebOS, such as the notifications service, to use with their programs. We're sure the catalog will fill out in the coming months, but at this point, Palm's got a lot of catching up to do.

On our end, the audio was clear, with very little background noise. Voices sounded rich, not tinny or digitized as on some cell phones. Our friends also reported good results and more than once, we got an "I'm impressed" comment about the audio quality.

When we used the speakerphone, it didn't surprise us that call quality diminished a bit. Voices sounded slightly far away, and in louder environments, you definitely need to have the volume set at the highest level. The problem then is that audio can sound blown out. That said, we were still able to hold a conversation and our callers didn't even notice we had turned on the speakerphone during the call.

Battery life is an issue and probably one of our biggest concerns. The Pre comes with a user-removable 1150mAh lithium ion battery with a rated talk time of 5 hours and up to 12 days of standby time. While CNET Labs is currently conducting its series of battery drain tests on the Pre, we managed to get in one talk time test and the Pre met the claimed 5 hours.

Also, Palm acknowledged a problem in which the AIM client is drawing power, especially for users with a lot of buddies, and said it will issue a bug fix. We're glad a fix is coming, but this is not exactly how you want to kick-start your product launch.

The Palm Pre's sales package contents are similar to the Palm Treo Pro. The smartphone ships with an AC adapter, a Micro-USB cable, a wired-stereo headset, a soft-protective pouch, a recycling envelope, and reference material.

[Cringer]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Well, then January of next year then. 6 months isn't much.

6 months might not even be correct now I guess.

Hesse, however, told technology website CNET News on Friday that Sprint's exclusive U.S. deal to sell Pre went beyond the end of 2009, dismissing the notion that Verizon could have the phone in just six months.

I would guess they have it for nine months based on that, but who knows. I am not sure why it's a big secret? If it was for longer then a year though you would think Sprint would scream it from the roof trying to get people to come over from other providers.

[FBPro]

Curve has far fewer problems than any other smartphone and can do just about anything you need one to do.

[stevew]

They finally released another firmware for the Storm. I love this phone personally. I don't think any piece of hardware is gonna be perfect. But I bet if the storm 2 reduces some of the flaws of this device(limited app memory and slowish processor) it is gonna be a winner.

[GreenMonster]

Originally Posted by rjolley

Yeah, I'm on there from time to time to pick up things. I haven't tried 6.5, but I may be worth it. 6.1 has some issues that are annoying. Maybe 6.5 will iron them out. Any idea if there's a list of changes?

xda is mainly a GSM developer site for CDMA you want to check out ppcgeeks. I have a Diamond on Sprint and I have been running 6.5 roms for a month or two now. Every release gets better, 6.5 has a lots of new and updated features along with much better battery life. I really like the Titanium start menu, its pretty sweet when you get all the panels the way you like.

[rjolley]

Yeah, I'm thinking about trying one of the ROMs. I usually don't messed around with them, but I figure I can try it out.

Is it pretty easy to do?

[GreenMonster]

Originally Posted by rjolley

Yeah, I'm thinking about trying one of the ROMs. I usually don't messed around with them, but I figure I can try it out.

Is it pretty easy to do?

The 1st time you do it, you may be a little nervous but the directions are really good. After you do it once or twice, the only thing that stops me is the time it takes to set it up with all my programs and settings and stuff although there is great auto installer that I have just started using. I usually use Mighty Roms, but his 6.5 isn't the best yet I would say try DryBonz or IndiaGroove. After using a custom rom you will never want to use a stock rom ever again..

[dervack]

I plan on getting a Pre in the next couple of weeks myself.

[Voo]

Originally Posted by GreenMonster

The 1st time you do it, you may be a little nervous but the directions are really good. After you do it once or twice, the only thing that stops me is the time it takes to set it up with all my programs and settings and stuff although there is great auto installer that I have just started using. I usually use Mighty Roms, but his 6.5 isn't the best yet I would say try DryBonz or IndiaGroove. After using a custom rom you will never want to use a stock rom ever again..

Also before you do it, you may want to grab a backup utility like ppcpimbackup so you can import your contacts and messages on the new rom.

[rjolley]

Thanks for all of the info. After a bit of work to get the phone unlocked (issues with the newest ROM from Sprint), I got the HardSSPL installed, then the Unlocker, then, finally, Groove 5.

So far, I like the eye candy of 6.5. I'll put it through it's paces over the next couple of weeks to see if things perform better. Just need to install SensorLock, gAlarm, and that free Texas Hold 'Em, and it'll be all set.

Thanks again

[Cringer]

Apple throws a punch to the gut of Palm I guess. New iPhone 3G S comes out June 19, although a few of the new features of the 3.0 OS won't work until end of summer at earliest because of AT&T limitations.

-The current iPhone 3G drops to $99 today. That hurts Palm Pre.
-New iPhone has voice call (and iTunes control) and video. That hurts Pre
-Oh, and for the losers who don't know where north is, a compass.
-Other features I didn't find as big deals, though I might be forgetting something.

[Cringer]

Oh, and the phone is overall faster at everything I guess.