dgoodson

Those of you who have Pres or looking to get or exchange one, be sure to check your device thoroughly because the build quality isn't the same on all of them. I went to the Sprint store today to exchange my phone because of the heat spot issues towards the bottom of the screen (that others have experienced as well, most notably when using Pandora or another app with a solid background), as well as a dead pixel. The first replacement unit the rep brought out had several problems with the build:

• The spacing between the top and bottom halves of the phone was 1/10 of a millimeter greater than my original phone. That gap's about the width of a toothpick and we could easily start prying the halves apart.
• The two halves wiggled easily. In fact, if you held one half and shook it left to right, the other half would rattle.
• Overall, the phone felt really loose. The sliding mechanism also felt looser in operation.

However, the there were two good things about the phone. One, the keyboard had a better feel to it. The keys were slightly more raised, and the keyboard had the same click consistency as the rest of the keys, whereas my original's keyboard was softer. Second, all the screens were perfect with no color distortion, dead pixels or heat spots.

The rep looked at couple more units that were exactly like the first replacement unit and finally found one that had a solid build like my original. The rep was as suprised as I was and showed it to a couple of his colleagues too.

All is not well though. The one solid phone that the rep found also exhibited the same heat spot issues as my original phone, but at least no dead pixels. I decided to just take the phone anyways and come back in a few weeks when they had a new batch. Now that I've had the phone all evening, the new phone is no longer solid. The top half now jiggles and feels loose, and when the phone is closed, when i hold the phone in one hand and hit any of the launcher icons, there's a lot of give because the two halves of the phone do not meet eachother at the bottom (so the phone is basically clapping every time i hit the launcher).

So folks, pay close attention because the quality control just isn't there now. I'm going to head back in 2 weeks and I'm hoping the new batches will be better. I still totally LOVE LOVE LOVE the phone, and hey I knew what i was getting into as an early adopter, so I'm fine waiting.

I think these quality issue really hampered some of the early Pre reviews. Prior to the Pre's launch I had read a number that said the phone felt flimsy or cheap, but when I picked up my unit this past weekend I thought what on earth are those guys talking about, this thing's as solid as a rock and doesn't feel cheap at all. But I have no doubt now that some of the phones that were reviewed were part of a bad batch.

PALM, if you're reading this, just be aware. Hope you resolve the production issues soon. :smileyhappy:

pandit.manish

I'd bet there will be recalls on this phone, it does seem they rushed to get it out before WWDC. I am very very happy with the phone, but if it falls apart due to shoddy hardware, even the best of the best software cannot save it.

ggtennis

Agree with OP. Nearly same story here. Picked up replacement headset yesterday because my original unit was overheating badly. To Sprint's credit, they attempted to take care of me. However, last night I noticed the wobbly pieces. In fact on mine sometimes the wiggle causes the phone to reboot. At least the heat issue is better. Still gets warm when taking calls, but it does not get anywhere near as scalding hot. Will wait another couple weeks and hope the third time will be the charm.

TheMatrix31

It's pretty crazy. Sometimes I won't notice the screen leaks, other times I do. I convince myself that they've "gone away".

I can't notice any PURELY dead pixels though....I'm not sure of the best way to check for them either. Sometimes I'll see dots then I'll realize that they're the sensors for the screen.

frank-barnett

Not sure if anyone saw this story on Techcrunch - but looks like Palm ordered 500,000, but due to build complexity, could only get 150,000 due to the complexity of the build.

Palm Pixie Is Real, But May Never Come To Market

It would appear that the 150,000 units they did receive also had issues.

rbgrules

I agree on the not all pre's created equal thing. Mine was loose and had so much space it it that while touching the screen hard the two peices clicked together. I took mine to a Sprint store and luckily they had one on hand and gave me a new one. The new one is what the build quality is suppossed to be. It has a bit of a gap but I think that's mostly just so the two halfs don't rub together and get damaged. It feel solid and slides easily. I have to say I do feel sorry for the person that came in after me looking to buy one.

CGK

Interesting - note in this one week review over at zdnet:

One week with my Palm Pre-cious reveals the good and bad | Smartphones and Cell Phones | ZDNet.com

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ericshmerick

Hopefully we don't ge tangled up in this 'wobbly slider' craze that Nokia owners have. I can't begin to tell you how many Nokia N95/N85/etc owners return perfectly good phones b/c they are obsessive about the slider wobble. All slider phones will have some play to them. Otherwise they wouldn't slide open.

I do, however, worry about cracking my screen. All the time.

groovy

I've never owned a slider so I can't say if this is more or less durable. Mine does wobble (I shouldn't say wobble, it's moves under the right conditions) but we're talking probably fractions of a millimeter so I'm not terribly bothered by it. Can anyone else share their experience on other sliders??

aggie

mine has a bit of wobble but not near as much as my N95-4 or N85 had. I did return one of my N95's to Dell as the wobble was horrible. The second one I got was still wobbly but i just did the fix with the tape on the slider rails. The Pre's isn't near as bad as the Nokia's slider. I can live with it.

groovy

I think tape on the slider rails officially makes you a geek.

wicketr

There is a little wobble to mine, but not something I'd say is bad or defective. They probably could have gone with a sturdier slider though. Its not something I have complete confidence in.

aggie

heh, maybe so but i just couldn't stand it rattling back and forth while i was using it. it wasn't that hard to take apart and put a sliver of tape on the rails

jerich007

Have to agree, it seems there's a fit and finish issue here. Mine has a creakiness to it when I pinch gently on the top left corner of the phone. There's no give when I pinch on the top right corner. No dead pixels or heat distortion though. I'll see how it looks in another week. There's another thread on this where some guys are saying there's a screw under a warranty sticker that can be tightened to fix this. I'm waiting to see if it worsens and exchange it, rather than risk voiding any warranty. Still love the phone though.

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osidak

hardware issues are not written off by early adopters

They have had a long while to perfect the case and the electronics inside are nothing that hasn't already been put to use somewhere else.

issues that early adopters should expect are software related.

hot spots, cracking screens, poor build quality is nothing more than poor design and going too cheap.

I want this phone but I going to wait and see what happens. Maybe Pre v2 or v3

ImmaSlave4U

I don't seem to find any issues with my hardware...and I bought mine on launch. Everything looks fine and dandy!!

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GodAres

I bought my phone on launch day from a Best Buy and have zero of the issues I've seen people stating on forums. No light leakage, no dead pixels, in fact I thought my slider was too TIGHT when I first got it. After almost a week of use I can now slide the phone open one handed and that is exactly how I wanted it. I can move my two halves side-to-side by about a millimeter with the slider closed but I never notice this unless I'm trying. Pushing on my screen does not produce any noise or "clicking" unlike my HTC Touch Pro which it replaced. And my Touch Pro was better than a friends that had a much more loose slider which left a small gap between halves (even after replacing his unit twice for other issues)! Maybe I'm just lucky with hardware, but I'm loving my Pre.

Hurricane350

Ditto. Bought my Pre at Best Buy (Braintree, MA) on launch day and have had zero issues. I must be lucky

rahrah12

This is why I'll wait before I exchange my Pre for a newer one...so far mine is working great, but it does heat up a little.

As long as no issues come up with my current phone i'll keep it for awhile rather then risk getting something worse...

Urkel

Just because a product is built poorly doesn't mean there will be recalls. More than any other tech industry, the cell market knows how to shift all blame to the consumer.

Anyway, i was examining my phone yesterday and noticed the same flaws:
- Large gap between plastic shell
- Creaking when lightly squeezing the phone
- VERY cheap plastic back cover (and also a terrible latch)
- Terrible door for USB (thinking of cutting the darn thing off)
- Slider that is destined for failure

As a phone I think it's an incredible design but the parts and build of it are VERY cheap so even if you dont recognize the problems now you definitely will notice it before your contract is up.