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24 hours with a Palm Pre (Updated)

Ahhhh, the new Jesus Phone. Our savior come to save us from the oppressive Apple iPhone regime. How I love thee, let me count the ways…

Okay, so yesterday Palm and Sprint released the long awaited Palm Pre. When I say long awaited, I’m not kidding. They’ve been talking up this phone since the beginning of this year, and only recently did they finally start releasing some substantial info on it. I’m told and have read that there were some long lines outside of Best Buy, RadioShack, and Sprint stores (the three main places the Pre could be purchased), and that there was a major shortage of Pre’s at launch but that was not my personal experience; all I had to do was stop by the Sprint store just down the street from my work while I was on lunch break, walk in, say “One Pre, please.” and that was that. There were no lines, there was no one desperately offering me their newborn child’s soul in exchange for my purchase.

I like to end things on a positive note so I’ll start by pointing out what I don’t like about the Pre. Don’t worry, this won’t take long.

First, there’s the keyboard. Just like everyone else, I feel the keys are a little on the smallish side. They’re roughly the size of a Tic-Tac cut in half so that it’s almost square. Coming from the LG “Lotus” LX600 which has much larger keys, the Pre keyboard took some getting used to. Notice I say “took” though — I’m already to about 75% of the typing speed with the Pre that I was with my Lotus. All in all, this is a very minor complaint.

Next, I miss having a D-Pad. For those times when I notice I’ve made a typo, it’d be nice to be able to hit a back arrow to get the cursor to the word I wish to retype instead of having to try to tap the exact location with my meaty sausage fingers. It can get a little frustrating and more time consuming than it should be trying to coax the cursor where I need it to go so I can make my correction. I don’t know if I’m doing something wrong or if there’s some cool trick that I’m just not aware of yet (entirely possible since I’m still learning this phone). Hopefully I’ll pick up on some better method of moving the cursor in the near future. Still, this is definitely not a deal breaker issue for me.

My next grievance with the phone is that charging via USB seems to take infinitely longer than it does with the AC wall adapter. When I first purchased my Pre at the Sprint store it had about 50% charge left. That got me a few hours of play time before it started complaining about low battery, so I whipped out the handy dandy USB cable and plugged it into my USB 2.0 port at work. Almost four hours later, it still was only at around 70% charge so I plugged it into an AC outlet and noticed that it regained its charge much faster. I don’t know if the USB port delivers less juice than the AC adapter does (which would make sense), but it was a little annoying to have had it plugged into a PC for as long as it was without getting a full charge. Speaking of charging, one of the big new innovations of this phone is the inclusion of wireless electromagnetic induction charging technology, which allows you to set the phone on what Sprint and Palm call a “Touchstone”. With the Touchstone, all you have to do is lay the phone on top of it and it begins charging. There’s nothing to hook up (aside from the Touchstone’s power cord to a wall outlet — duh). It’s a neat and innovative feature but I’ve read that it takes much longer to charge this way and that your phone can get fairly hot while it’s on the Touchstone. I didn’t purchase a Touchstone because Sprint wants like $70 for them, and I’m certain I’ll be able to pick one up cheaper down the road if I decide I want one.

I’d like it if the speaker volume on the Pre were a little louder, but it’s sufficient for my needs so far. Ringers and speaker phone just aren’t as loud as I’d prefer them to be. Maybe Palm will address this complaint during one of the software updates that they have in the pipeline.

My last gripe is that Sprint and Palm didn’t include visual voicemail with this phone. That may seem like a minor issue to everyone, but it’s become a fairly standard feature on high end phones these days. AT&T’s iPhone has it, as does Verizon’s Blackberry Storm. Heck, even Sprint’s own Samsung Instinct line has visual voicemail, so it’s kind of baffling that they decided not to include this cool feature on the Pre. Maybe there was some technical issue with the Pre’s new webOS that prevented them from doing it — who knows. Oh well, it’s still not enough of a disappointment to prompt me to return my Pre.

So that’s what I don’t especially like about the Pre (so far). As I spend more time learning the ins and outs of the phone and its webOS operating system, no doubt I’ll discover other things.

Now onward to the list of things I like (love?) about this phone!

First, the screen is fricken awesome. It’s a 480×320 24-bit display and although the specs are the same as the iPhone’s, it’s a little smaller and therefore the pixels are packed more closely together. Photos and videos look great on it!

The Pre’s new operating system called “webOS” is very impressive too. It’s slick and responsive, and has a lot of innovative new features. Anyone who knows anything about the Pre knows that it’s capable of multi-tasking (unlike the iPhone) thanks to its implementation of “cards” to represent running tasks / programs. It may sound a little wierd but it works great! I haven’t pushed it too hard yet but I’ve had five programs running at the same time without any slowdowns or issues. Good stuff.

Another neat feature of the new system is that it’s all gesture based. There are no “back” or “OK” keys to deal with.  I’ll admit that the gestures took me a little bit of getting used to but after about an hour of experimentation I’ve become fairly proficient with the system. Also, when you make changes to settings they’re all saved and implemented right away (just like in Linux desktop systems).

Synergy — it sounds like something some bald headed, ass kissing corporate sycophant would mention several times during a mind numbing company meeting but  it’s what Palm named a fairly cool feature of their webOS. Synergy downloads all your contact information from places like Google and Facebook and aggregates it into your phone’s contacts book. What this means is that all I had to do was give my Pre my login information for Facebook and it automatically grabbed all my friends’ e-mail addresses and phone numbers, and it even assigned their Facebook profile pics as their contact photo in my phonebook. Very cool! Some folks have complained about Synergy not working correctly, but my experience with it so far has been terrific. It saved me from having to transfer a lot of information from my Lotus!

Next up is the phone’s web browser, which is top notch. Until now I thought that the iPhone and iPod Touch had the best browser out there, but that’s no longer the case. The browser included with the Pre is as good as, if not better than, Moble Safari on Apple’s gear. They’re both based on WebKit, so I guess technically they’re cousins. Either way, the browser is fantastic. When Flash is released for webOS later this year, it’ll put the Pre’s browser in a whole different class than Apple’s Mobile Safari (which Apple has stated will never support Flash).

Let’s see, what else to mention. Oh yeah, the GPS! Sprint includes their version of TeleNav for free on the Pre, and it works great. I went to a wedding yesterday and had no idea where I was going, so I decided to give the Pre’s GPS a crack at it. It guided me turn by turn to my destination with no problems. A Google Maps app also comes preloaded on the Pre but I haven’t really played with that very much yet. Getting lost should be a thing of the past now!

That’s all I can think of off the top of my head, so I’ll leave off there. I’ve only had a Pre for about a day now but I’m completely in love with this device. I’m looking forward to unlocking its full potential in the near future!

- UPDATE -

Haha, I should change the title of this article to “48 Hours with a Pre” because I returned mine this afternoon. Before I explain why I took my Pre back, let me first say that Palm has put out an absolutely amazing phone which is revolutionary in many ways. I can honestly say that the Pre is the coolest phone I’ve laid hands on yet, and yes, that includes Apple’s impressive iPhone series (on AT&T’s crappy overpriced network).

So why did I return my Pre? There are a few main reasons but the biggest was money. Even though Sprint’s plans are hands down the best value in the industry, their current plans can’t compete with my current Sprint SERO plan which comes to a grand total of $33 a month including taxes and the usual nonsense fees. As with their Samsung Instinct, Sprint refuses to allow the Palm Pre to be added to any account other than their “Simply Data” or “Simply Everything” plans. Both are very reasonable when compared to other providers — the Data plan is $70 + tax and fees, and the Everything plan is $100 a month + tax and fees. The Data plan includes 450 anytime minutes, nights and weekends at 7pm, Sprint’s GPS service, and unlimited messaging and data. The Everything plan is basically the same thing but includes unlimited anytime minutes. Both of these plans are a great deal when you compare them to AT&T’s ludicrous pricing and even Verizon can’t compete. However… my SERO plan has 500 anytime minutes, and unlimited everything else. The only thing it doesn’t include is Sprint GPS, which I can gladly live without. As I mentioned above, the Pre is a spectacular phone but I just can’t justify paying twice as much as I’m currently paying, especially for less anytime minutes. It boils down to this — if I didn’t have my SERO plan, I’d still have a Pre in my pocket.

Okay, so that’s the big dealbreaker for me. However, there are other things that influenced my decision as well. For starters, the keyboard which was supposed to be one of the Pre’s biggest selling points ended up being one of the things I most disliked about the phone. Sure it’s small, but that really didn’t bother me. In fact, I got used to it very quickly and could type pretty darn fast without any errors. No, my big beef with the keyboard was that it became tedious to flip it out any time I wanted to input information. As frequently as I was typing stuff in, I began to realize that it’s more efficient to just leave the darn thing open most of the time and that really sucks. Yes, I thought that having a physical keyboard on a phone like this was a must, but it turns out that a well implemented virtual keyboard would be better. You know what would be even better than that though? Having both! Honestly, I don’t understand why Palm didn’t include a virtual keyboard. I have a feeling the the Pre2 or whatever the Pre’s predecessor is will go either full virtual or have a combination of the two.

Next on my list of complaints is something that other Pre owners have complained about in the forums. It seems that some batches of Pre’s have a “light bleeding” issue where there are faint splotches of white at the bottom of the screen when it’s oriented in portrait mode. I noticed it on mine and at first I thought it was just the background of the programs I was in (it’s only apparent in some applications — other applications do not show it at all). Pandora is a probably the best example. I was willing to live with the discoloration, at least until the cause was more widely investigated and explained online, but this is one of the factors that influenced my decision to return the phone. It honestly wasn’t a big deal for me but I can understand why others that have noticed the discoloration have raised a stink about it.

The last big reason that I’ll discuss is battery life. Yes, I’m fully aware that a phone that can do everything that the Pre does is going to go through batteries more quickly than my trusty old Samsung A900 Blade did, but the Pre seems to be a very hungry little beast. I don’t know how long an iPhone lasts with moderate use (sending / receiving about 20 e-mails, maybe 30 minutes of browsing, and hour of Pandora streaming, some light YouTube streaming, about 30 minutes of talk time, and maybe 100 text messages). For the Pre, I was able to get around 9 hours of usage like that before it wanted me to recharge. That was starting out with a freshly charged unit. It was very shrewd of Palm to make the battery removable so you can swap in a spare, but I hate carrying around spares. I’d much rather be able to drop in an aftermarket extended life battery with twice as much capacity. I have no doubt that such aftermarket batteries will become available in the near future, but for now I’d have to settle for a spare stocker or carrying around the little charger with me.

There you have it. The main reasons I returned the Pre after owning one for only 48 hours. Again, I want to stress that the Pre is an amazing phone that I truly believe runs circles around Apple’s current iPhone lineup. That might change with the arrival of the 3rd generation iPhone, but for now that’s my take on things. I’ll say this — if I were a Verizon or unfortunate enough to be an AT&T subscriber, I’d jump ship and grab a Pre with Sprint’s Simply Data plan in a heartbeat.

As a stingy SERO user, I eagerly await the arrival of HTC’s Touch Diamond2 later this year. I doubt it’ll be as impressive or groundbreaking as the Pre, but at least I’ll be able to use it with my beloved $33 plan!

Fun with Sprint

Earlier today I decided to have a little fun with the folks at Sprint. They have a webchat window on the main page of their website that just begs to be used for nefarious purposes…

The role of “Agent” is played by an unfortunate Sprint employee, probably a fat trucker in a clown suit somewhere in India. The role of “You” is played by none other than myself.

	You: Hello Jessica, you were just helping me pick out a new phone but we seem to have been disconnected.
	Agent: Ok, sorry .
	Agent: Let’s move this chat to the bottom of the window. It will be out of the way and I can stay with you in case you have any questions or any concerns. Just click on the “Yes” button below and we can continue.
	You: Okay, that would be wonderful.
	Agent: Thank you!
	Agent: Just to check, are you a current Sprint customer?
	You: No, I am not. I just moved from Europe last month.
	Agent: Great!
	Agent: How many lines are you looking for?
	You: I am pleased to say that I took the citizenship exam and passed everything except the pledge of allegiance.
	Agent: Wow! Congratulations!
	You: They make those tests very difficult. I was going to consult my brother Bruno when it came time to recite the pledge but he is back home in Lichtenstein and I did not have a phone to call him.
	You: That is why I would like your help choosing a new phone.
	Agent: OK.
	You: Can we do this together Jessica?
	Agent: What features are you looking for?
	Agent: Sure.
	You: There are several features I am in need of. Would you like me to list them?
	Agent: Please.
	You: First, it is important that I get text messaging.
	You: My sister Frieda is pregnant back home in Lichtenstein and the doctors have her in bed.
	You: She is too weak to talk on the telephone, so instead she wishes to text message me.
	Agent: OK, we can find a good text messaging phone.
	You: Excellent!
	You: I am excited at our progress so far!
	Agent: We have the Samsung Rant and right now it is free.
	Agent: The Samsung Rant packages ease of use and great all-in-one features with a smooth slide out full QWERTY keyboard, a 2MP camera, an integrated calendar and scheduler, and a full media player.
	You: That sounds interesting. Who makes this Samsung Rant?
	Agent: The full slide out QWERTY keyboard allows you to send emails, picture messages and texts faster. With a web browser, IM, Sprint TV, Sprint Navigation and picture mail support, the Rant keeps you connected. Additionally, the built-in “Google” menu allows you to quickly access Google Search, Maps, Gmail, and YouTube instantly.
	Agent: Samsung.
	You: Ahh, I see.
	You: Are they a reputable company?
	Agent: Yes, they are.
	Agent: Before we continue, I want to make sure you have everything you need to complete your order, and that I am able to assist you step by step.
	Agent: You must be at least 18 years of age and have a valid social security number.
	Agent: You will also need a valid credit card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, Diners Club) or a debit card with a Visa or MasterCard logo.
	You: Jessica, I feel that we can do business together. I am 33 years old and I am a man, so I can enter into a legal contract with you and your associates.
	You: I also have a Diners Club card, so that is covered as well (we love Diners Club back home in Lichtenstein).
	Agent: Do you have a valid social security number?
	You: Yes, the nice people at the citizenship office were kind enough to provide me with social security numbers.
	Agent: Great!
	Agent: SO what do you think of the Samsung Rant?
	You: Back in Lichtenstein these numbers are tattooed on all newborn babies but they explained that I cannot reuse my Lichtenstein number.
	Agent: Really? WOW!
	You: I was disappointed because the number on my arm has been very lucky for me.
	You: Yes indeed Jessica!
	You: That is how I ended up in America!
	Agent: Great!
	You: I played the Lichtenstein public lottery using the numbers on my arm and won a small fortune.
	You: My life is very pleasant now but I’d like to be able to communicate with my family back home.
	Agent: Would you like to get started with your order?
	You: I have a question about Samsung before we continue.
	Agent: Sure?
	You: You told me that they are a reputable company, and I trust you because you are from Sprint and Sprint is a very reputable company.
	Agent: Yes, that is correct they are a reputable company.
	You: However, I’m concerned about purchasing from Samsung because they are based in Korea.
	You: As you probably are well aware, political relations between Lichtenstein and Korea are very strained at present.
	Agent: OK, One moment please.
	You: I’m worried that purchasing a Samsung Rant may be viewed as unpatriotic.
	Agent: Ok, do you want an LG phone?
	You: Oh, that’s much better.
	Agent: OK, we have the LG Rumor 2.
	You: Is that a telephone?
	Agent: Yes.
	Agent: The Rumor2 is a great phone with a full QWERTY slide-out keyboard that is not available in Sprint stores. It has great features like a 1.3 mega pixel camera, micro SD slot, MP3 player, and GPS navigation via Sprint Navigator.
	Agent: The Rumor2 also features Bluetooth, a wireless Web browser, e-mail, and instant messaging (with AOL, Windows Live, and Yahoo).
	Agent: You can slide out the hidden QWERTY keyboard and turn the phone horizontally to easily send e-mails and texts.
	Agent: The Rumor 2 gives you up to 5.5 hours of talk time.
	Agent: The Rumor 2 includes ‘Threaded Text’ messaging and ‘One Click’ access which the Rumor does not.
	You: That sounds like a very nice telephone.
	You: I see that it has a QWERTY keyboard but I am unfamiliar with that term. Does that mean it only has those six letters?
	Agent: No that means that the keyboard has the same format as most computer keyboards.
	You: Very nice!
	You: Do I have to pay anything extra for the additional letters?
	Agent: NO.
	You: If so, it’s no problem because I still have much of my lottery winnings left.
	You: I’m very thrifty.
	Agent: Would you like to proceed with the order?
	You: That’s great news Jessica! As your George Washington said, “A penny saved is worth two in the bush.”
	You: I learned that on my citizenship exam.
	You: Will you give me one moment to consult with my wife?
	Agent: Sure,
	You: I need her approval before I can say yes.
	Agent: Ok.
	You: I will be right back. Will you promise to wait for me?
	Agent: Yes.
	You: Okay Jessica, I’m back!
	Agent: Great!
	You: We have a small problem though.
	Agent: What is that ?
	You: My wife is very angry with me because she says that LG is also a Korean company.
	You: She is afraid that we will bring down the wrath of the Secret Police if we purchase the LG Rumor2
	Agent: Ok, I went ahead and looked up Sanyo just incase.
	You: Do you have any telephones made by Sprint?
	Agent: Sanyo is made in Japan.
	You: Yes!
	You: Sanyo is a very honorable company!
	Agent: Great!
	You: My uncle has one of their phones and he is very pleased with it.
	You: Japanese products are very reliable.
	You: Can you tell me more about your Japanese Sanyo phones?
	Agent: Yes, they are. We have several Katana phones.
	Agent: Are you on the phones page?
	You: I’m on the Wikipedia page for LG right now.
	You: I will go back to the phones page if you’d like.
	Agent: I sent you the Sprint phones page.
	You: I see it!
	You: Can you see my computer?
	You: Do you like my background?
	Agent: When you get it you can click on the Manufacturer and view the phones in order of Brand.
	Agent: No, sorry I can’t see it.
	You: My background is from our family picnic last year in Lichtenstein.
	Agent: I can only send you pages and sometimes see the Spritn page number you are on.
	You: Sadly, dear Grandpa Rudolpho passed away shortly after our picnic.
	You: I’m still very emotional about it.
	Agent: I am so sorry to hear that.
	You: Thank you Jessica. I appreciate your sympathy.
	You: You are a very good customer service employee.
	You: I hope that some day you win the lottery as I feel you are very deserving of it.
	Agent: Thank you. My grandmother also pass recently.
	Agent: Well I hope so too.
	You: My sincere condolences.
	You: Did you get one last picnic with her before she passed on?
	Agent: No.
	You: That is very sad.
	Agent: Did you see the Katana phones I spoke of ?
	You: My Grandpa Rudolpho loved the zoo.
	You: We took him every Sunday.
	You: His favorite exhibit was the pandas. He would sit and watch them for hours.
	Agent: That must have been great.
	You: It was. He used to feed them popcorn and sit and smoke his pipe.
	You: I’m sorry, I need a moment to regain my composure.
	Agent: Sure.
	You: My wife is bringing my hankerchief.
	Agent: I am sorry.
	You: Oh no, she brought me the one that Grandpa Rudolpho gave me last Christmas.
	You: Now I am twice as sad.
	You: It has a little panda sewn in the corner.
	You: He would want me to carry on though, so please, tell me about your Katana.
	You: Jessica? Are you still there?
	Agent: I am here sorry.
	You: I hope my tears have not offended you.
	Agent: No, you haven’t.
	You: Thank you Jessica.
	You: Now, does the Katana have a QWERTY keyboard?
	Agent: No, it does not.
	Agent: The only other phones that have it are the PALM, HTC and BLackberry phones.
	You: Hmmm. I liked the idea of having a full computer keyboard for my phone.
	You: Are those other phones very big?
	You: I’m sure they must be if they have a computer keyboard attached.
	Agent: Kind of big.
	You: As big as a laptop?
	You: I purchased a laptop with my lottery winnings and I love it.
	Agent: NO, they are all handheld devices.
	You: I take it with me on the boat from time to time.
	You: The waves help soothe my soul.
	Agent: That is Awesome!
	You: Oh wow, they must be very tiny keys!
	Agent: Do you see them?
	You: Wait — do those other phones have all 26 letters of the alphabet?
	Agent: Yes.
	You: Excellent! I think we’re making good progress.
	You: As with the Samsung, I am not forced to purchase the additional keys separately am I?
	Agent: That is correct
	You: Oh very good indeed.
	You: My mood has gone from sad to happy very quickly.
	Agent: Great!
	You: It’s all because of you Jessica.
	You: I feel that I can trust you!
	Agent: I am glad that I can help you.
	Agent: Which phone are you interested in?
	You: Well, I have heard of a Palm Pre.
	You: Oh, wait!
	You: I have found one on your list that looks very attractive!
	You: If I get this one, I will be the envy of all my friends at the golf club!
	Agent: Which phone is that?
	You: It says “598U by Sierra Wireless”
	You: It’s very shiny.
	Agent: That is not a phone.
	You: I can just picture the looks on my golfing buddies’ faces when I whip that out on the course!
	Agent: That is a mobile broadband card.
	You: But… it’s in the list you sent me. Did I make a mistake?
	Agent: It is use to connect your laptop to internet.
	You: Oh, I already have one of those.
	Agent: It is considered a phone line, but can not be used as a phone.
	You: It says “Links-key” on it.
	You: That little guy lights up all the time. I love it.
	You: Unfortunately my golfing buddies were not very impressed by it when I showed them.
	Agent: Do you see any other phone you would like?
	You: My neighbor was telling me about a telephone called a “Palm Pre”. I’d like one of those please.
	Agent: Thank you for your interest in the Palm Pre. It will be available to Sprint customers in the first half of 2009. We will be disclosing product pricing closer to the Palm Pre?s availability.
	Agent: Please visit www.sprint.com/palmpre, to learn more. Click ?tell me when it?s out? to sign up and receive an email notification the day the Palm Pre is available for purchase.?
	You: Does that mean I cannot purchase one from you Jessica?
	Agent: You can once it is out.
	Agent: You will be notified and they you can come back online and order it with me.
	You: I don’t know how long I can wait; my pregnant sister is very impatient.
	You: I think I will pick out a different phone for now and then purchase a Palm Pre from you with my lottery winnings when it comes out.
	You: Is that okay?
	Agent: Yes.
	You: I’m having a hard time deciding. Which of the phones on your list is the best?
	Agent: I would say the HTC Touch Pro.
	Agent: I have this phone, it is great!
	You: Is that your professional opinion or personal Jessica?
	Agent: The Palm Treo755P Smartphone delivers everything you need in one go-anywhere Palm OS device. It combines a smarter phone with wireless email, a built-in web browser, and rich media capabilities–all at blazing, broadband-like speeds.
	Agent: The new HTC Touch Pro brings together a full suite of personal and business use features, used with the ease of a full touch screen interface.
	Agent: With the improved TouchFlo interface, Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system, and a full QWERTY keyboard that slides out to the side of the phone, typing out long emails or quick text messages never have been easier.
	Agent: The Touch Pro has a 3.2 megapixel camera, a MicroSD card slot (expandable up to 8GB), Sprint Music Store, Sprint TV, Sprint Navigation, and instant messaging. It also has wi-fi access to make browsing the internet a breeze.
	Agent: Please disregard the first information sent about the Treo 755.
	You: Oh, thank you. I was very confused for a moment there.
	You: You type very fast! I guess you must get confused sometimes too, huh?
	Agent: How does the HTC Touch Pro sound?
	Agent: Yes, I do.
	You: It’s okay to make mistakes! We’re all human Jessica. Well, not my cousin Antwon.
	You: He’s only partially human but we’re not allowed to talk about that.
	You: I like the Touch Pro but I have a question about it.
	Agent: Sometimes I save my phone information and send it when needed. Sometimes I send the wrong paragraph.
	Agent: Sure?
	You: You mentioned that it can be used for both personal and business reasons.
	You: Now, I have my own business.
	You: I sell aquarium fish in my back yard.
	You: I started the business shortly after I received my lottery winnings back in Lichtenstein.
	Agent: OK, that is great!
	You: It was very expensive to have it all shipped across the ocean via FedEx, but I did it because I had the money.
	You: Anyway, on to my question — can I use the Touch Pro for business AND personal at the same time?
	You: Or would I have to purchase two telephones?
	Agent: Absolutely, no just one phone.
	You: That’s great news!
	You: Also, can it get websites on the internets?
	Agent: Yes, it can.
	You: Excellent!
	You: Okay, I just sent my wife out of the room because I have a very personal question to ask you.
	You: Can it get… adult websites on the internets?
	Agent: You can get any wesites.
	You: I think we can definitely do business on an HTC Touch.
	You: I could take it with me to church and access certain websites when I get bored.
	Agent: Yes, you can.
	Agent: When you have decided on your phone, please click on the ‘Buy with a New Plan’ button next to that phone and then click on ‘Select’ to place it into your shopping cart.
	You: Does the HTC Touch Pro have a mute button though?
	You: That will be very important during church.
	Agent: Yes, it does.
	You: Do you ever access websites during church?
	You: You know, to look up hymn lyrics and stuff.
	Agent: No, Sr. I Pay attention to the word.
	You: Oh, I do too.
	Agent: Great! Would you like to get started with your order?
	You: It’s just that sometimes my mind wanders. I take medication for it.
	Agent: I see.
	You: That’s one of the reasons I wanted to come to your great country! I want your doctors to cure me!
	You: You have excellent churches here too!
	Agent: I must advise you that my chat will soon expire. We must continue with the order process.
	You: Okay Jessica, I understand and I appreciate all the help and personal advice you’ve given me so far.
	Agent: Great!
	You: What do I need to do now to purchase my brand new Sprint telephone?
	Agent: Well we can go page by page.
	Agent: When you have decided on your phone, please click on the ‘Buy with a New Plan’ button next to that phone and then click on ‘Select’ to place it into your shopping cart.
	You: Okay, I’m looking for the HTC Touch Pro that you’ve helped me pick out.
	Agent: Great!
	You: I found it!!!
	You: I’m so excited!!!
	Agent: please click on the ‘Buy with a New Plan’ button next to that phone and then click on ‘Select’ to place it into your shopping cart.
	You: What’s the difference between the Touch Pro and the Touch Diamond?
	You: Does one of them have more keys?
	Agent: The Slide out keyboard.
	Agent: The Diamond doesn’t have one.
	You: Oh, I don’t want that one then.
	You: I definitely need QWERTY!
	Agent: Great! Have you clicked buy with a new plan?
	You: It’s much easier to type when you have a keyboard.
	You: I’m trying to find that button.
	Agent: Go ahead and hit select.
	You: Please be patient with me Jessica.
	Agent: OK.
	You: We’ve come so far together, don’t give up on me now!
	Agent: I am not, just letting you know what you must select.
	You: I did it! I clicked on the button you told me to!!!
	You: I’m so excited!
	You: I feel like I’m going to faint!
	Agent: Excellent, are you at the Services page now?
	You: It says “Sprint” up at the top. Is that the right one?
	Agent: Do you see the plans page or services page?
	You: It also says “Simply Everything”.
	You: Does that sound right?
	Agent: Perfect, did you hit select on the plan that you want?
	You: Uh oh, I think I messed up.
	You: You said the HTC Diamond is the one that doesn’t have a keyboard, right?
	Agent: Right.
	You: Oh no, I feel horrible. I messed up.
	You: I selected the Diamond. Where’s my panda hanky? I feel like I’m going to cry again.
	Agent: Okay just hit the back arrow and go back and select your new phone.
	You: I hope this won’t negatively affect our friendship Jessica.
	You: Can you forgive me?
	Agent: Are you going to set up your services?
	You: I don’t think I can. I’m feeling very sad and weak and I might faint.
	You: All this pressure is getting to me.
	You: I feel like I’ve let you down.
	Agent: Well when you are ready please come back and order online, phones are cheaper than in our stores, you won?t pay the activation fee and is free shipping.
	You: On top of all that, my dog Mr. Gingercoat just ran away with my panda hankerchief.
	Agent: Is there anything else I can help you with today?
	You: No Jessica, you’ve been wonderful.
	You: You will always have a special place in my heart.
	Agent: My name is Jessica. Thank you for visiting Sprint.com today. We appreciate your interest and look forward to meeting your wireless needs in the future.
	You: What do I do now Jessica?

Life with the Zune

It’s been close to two months since I purchased my 120 GB Zune from a Best Buy down in Naples Florida, and I figured I’d share my feelings about the whole “Zune experience” since I haven’t updated my site in forever.

First, a little background. When I started working out in November of last year, it quickly became obvious that only the coolest of the people at the gym had MP3 players prominently displayed from armbands. It’s a status thing; the nicer the MP3 player you have, the more serious you are about your physical wellbeing. Okay, so I just made that up. I really just wanted to be able to jam out to the “Numa Numa” song (otherwise known as “Dragostea Din Tei” by O-Zone) while I worked out

Now, everybody knows that anybody who’s anybody uses Apple’s iPod line for all their music listening / “I’m trend-whore” image projection needs, and like a good little sheep I decided to pick up an iPod of my own for the gym. I decided to go with the highly exalted iPod Touch model, which I felt was a nice little device despite being horribly overpriced (it wouldn’t be an Apple product if it were priced reasonably). I especially liked the web browser. It remains the best mobile browser I’ve used so far, though I’m hopeful that Sprint’s new Palm Pre will allow me to stop praising the Touch when it comes out later this year. As much as I liked the Touch’s innovative interface and browser, I have to tell you that I absolutely loathed iTunes. I’ve never liked Apple’s software (yeah, I’m talking about YOU Quicktime) but I found iTunes to be a really poor excuse for a music manager / storefront. First, it ran really slowly and had tons of lag on my humble Core 2 laptop, something I found very surprising. Second, the pricing scheme for songs is ludicrous. I know there are plenty of folks out there that feel that $.75 – $1.25 for a song is reasonable, but I humbly disagree. This is one of the biggest strengths of the Zune, but I’ll get to that in a minute.

So, after playing with the iPod Touch for all of 24 hours, I decided it wasn’t for me and returned it. Just for fun, I loaded it up with a bunch of weird photos I grabbed off of Google (firemen hosing each other off, lolcats from icanhazcheesburger, etc.). I figured that whoever they had inspect and “recondition” the unit for resale would appreciate the gesture.

After returning the iPod, I took my time and researched alternatives. Creative’s Zen seemed like a winning replacement (and was actually priced reasonably), but after a couple weeks of reading up I found the Zune. I had heard of it before but quickly dismissed it because of all the negative stuff I had read on Digg about it. That was my first mistake; Digg is notoriously populated with Apple fanboys who would rag on anything released by their savior’s nemesis Microsoft, regardless of the product’s merits. So I read about the Zune and was impressed with the relatively low price ($250 for my 120 GB model with the AV kit as opposed to $250 for the 8 GB iPod Touch that I returned). Further, the Zune Marketplace completely blows away Apple’s iTunes software in pretty much every possibly way.

Physically, the Zune isn’t much to look at. Mine is all black and about the same size as the Touch (close to the size of a deck of cards), although the Zune a bit thicker. The screen is big and beautiful, though it’s smaller than the Touch and doesn’t utilize a touchscreen. Instead of directly touching the Zune’s screen to navigate, there is a touchpad and two buttons below the screen. It may not be as elegant of a system as the iPod, but it gets the job done and doesn’t leave fingerprints all over the place. I dig it.

A major difference between the Zune and the iPod Touch is their choice of storage media. The Touch utilizes solid state flash memory as opposed to the Zune’s rotating hard drive (smaller versions of the Zune are available with flash memory). Some could argue that this gives the Touch an advantage because it can be tossed around without harming data, but I think it’s a wash. Flash may be bulletproof media but you won’t find a 120 GB flash-based iPod any time soon because it’d be far too expensive to manufacture. Further, the hard drive in the Zune seems pretty resiliant if you ask me. My buddy Dustin has dropped his 120 GB Zune several times at the gym, yet it’s never shown any signs of data corruption or anything like that. [For the record, I've been much more careful with my Zune, even before I got the protective neoprene armband for it!]

Both the Zune and Touch feature built-in WiFi radios, but the Zune allows you to download music from the Marketplace wirelessly and is capable of wireless syncing. I don’t believe you can do either with the iPod. The Zune also has an FM receiver, which I believe the Touch lacks (I’m too lazy to research that though, so feel free to correct me if I’m wrong). I haven’t listened to FM radio in years, so that’s a largely pointless feature for me.

The 120 GB is a great MP3 player in and of itself, but where Zune really shines is the Zune software and Marketplace. I fricken love both. First, the software is fast, responsive, and is visually superior to iTunes. To be honest, it doesn’t look reminiscient of Microsoft’s traditional color themes and layouts at all. In fact, if I didn’t know better, I’d never guess that it has any relation to Microsoft. There are no visual clues that would tip you off, unlike many of their other products. So the software is fast and looks pretty. That’s all well and good, but as I mentioned earlier, Marketplace is the true crown of the Zune experience. For only $15 a month, Marketplace lets you download as much music from their vast libraries as you want and share it amongst up to three of your computers and three of your Zunes. That means that for $15 a month, you and the rest of your family can potentially consume all the music you want. While it’s true that everything you download is protected with DRM (and therefore not able to be arbitrarily copied), a Marketplace subscription gets you 10 free song downloads a month which are NOT protected by DRM. If you wanted to download 10 songs to keep from iTunes, it would cost you around $10 (give or take). Should you find something you want to download without DRM but you’ve already used up your 10 free downloads, you can still purchase music for prices that are comparable to iTunes… but you already know how I feel about that. The Marketplace also has hundreds of free podcasts, and thousands of movies and TV shows available for download. I haven’t downloaded any video yet because it’s not included in the subscription price, but I’ve browsed through the categories and they have some pretty slick stuff available like Battlestar Galactica and The Office, just to name a couple.

So there you have it; my thoughts on Microsoft’s excellent Zune player and Marketplace service. It may not have all the bells and whistles of the Touch, but without a doubt, the Zune is one of the best investments I’ve made in a long time — certainly much better than the time that I sent all that money to the deposed ruler of Nigeria after he promised to make me a millionaire overnight. If you’re shopping around for an MP3 player and music download service, have a look at Zune. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Oh, and don’t send money to Nigeria.

Read more about Zune at Wikipedia: CLICK HERE