Opinion: The Palm Pixi

[RichC]

After a few days of very little hype (and heavy discounting) concerning the Palm Pixi, I've been wondering if I should opt for this new smartphone as a Centro replacement for my daughter. I don't like the idea of committing to another 2 year contract with Sprint, especially after enjoying this past week playing with a Verizon enable HP Mini 311 netbook ... very nice and impressive coverage. Nevertheless, she needs a new phone and I'll probably have her on our plan for the next couple of year, or until her residency. I'm still wondering if it is worth it ... even at $45 if I have to commit to another 2 year hitch? (maybe I should opt for an unlocked model on ebay?) Thoughts?

[norami]

Amazon has the Pixi for $24.95 with no activation fee. They have the Pre for $79.95, again no activation fee.

I'll have an article posted about the latest Palm "stuff" later today at Bright Side Of News*

John O

[RichC]

Originally Posted by norami

Amazon has the Pixi for $24.95 with no activation fee.
John O

Only glitch is that the Amazon deal is with NEW activation ... not a replacement on an existing plan ... correct?

[TazUk]

The Pixi looks good, but I think they should have included Wi-Fi as with the Pre OS updates are done over the air.

[jfa02]

They should have taken the cdma and gsm pro"chassis" put the webos operating system in there and rolled it out as the pixi. They could have modified the pro chassis to be a full screen with either a slider keyboard or a slab with an on screen keyboard and called that good for the pre and post instead of taking to long to deliver the webos and the hardware and wasting money on goofy advertising . I fear that even with what appears to be a decent successor to the palm os that palm has consigned themselves to the fringe of the smartpohone market instead of what I would have hoped for which is a return to prominence.

[RichC]

Originally Posted by jfa02

They should have taken the cdma and gsm pro"chassis" put the webos operating system in there and rolled it out as the pixi. They could have modified the pro chassis to be a full screen with either a slider keyboard or a slab with an on screen keyboard and called that good for the pre and post instead of taking to long to deliver the webos and the hardware and wasting money on goofy advertising . I fear that even with what appears to be a decent successor to the palm os that palm has consigned themselves to the fringe of the smartpohone market instead of what I would have hoped for which is a return to prominence.

Yup ... and they are not all that ready to embrace open development of apps either and instead have pushed people into unauthorized apps. The perfect example is the MyTether app which after the 1.3.1 webOS update has been compromised.

Besides ... they have been way to slow to bring back simple features like calendar (datebook) search, audio and video recording and photo editing. BUT my biggest gripe is not necessarily a Palm Pre/Pixi issue, but the fact that Sprint requires a premium data plan for all phones on my account just because I have one Palm Pre. (ie. I have 5 phones one of which is a webOS phone, but now my Sprint plan is higher and extra phones on my shared plan that were $10 extra are now $20 extra significantly increasing my monthly bill)

[thomasz]

Well, this handset I love Palm Pixi that runs on the Palm webOS platform, so it does things no other phone can do. Take the Palm Synergy™ feature, which brings together related information and presents it in one simple view. Or the App Catalog, which gives you a choice of titles to download, many of which are integrated with other apps on the phone. Visit real websites, not just the mobile versions. Palm Pixi gives you the experience you expect, and lets you scroll and zoom using natural, intuitive gestures. Yeah, it's so hot, wonderful phone, plz enjoy this shop Accessory Geeks. tks

[RichC]

I'm sensing Palm might have built a lemon ... at least from a user's perspective. Those who have played with different smartphone models are not speaking kindly of the new slightly lower priced webOS model. I feel for Palm who is facing some stiff competition ... I don't think I'm going to commit my daughter to two years with this hound.

From the WSJ:
The Pixi's internal changes are much tougher to accept. It lacks Wi-Fi capability and so must rely solely on Sprint's 3G network for its connection, which I found to be frustratingly slow at times. This littler phone also runs on a weaker processor than the Pre, a decision that Palm says helped cut costs and make the Pixi small. But this processor's speed is slow enough to notice immediately and it robs webOS of its lightning-fast speed. The Pixi's progress indicator—a spinning, white circle—appeared on my screen too often.

LINK

[jfa02]

Thanks for your input It sounds like a pass for me as well and I am leaning against trying the pre in a gsm flavor I dont like the slider to start oiyt with and the lip on the edge of the kb does not help either. So its sounding like no more palm products for me unless they come up a third device with a larger screen and either an external kb or and on screen keyboard If they took the pro format and got rid of the kb they could put a 3.8 in screen with webos and it would for me probably be perfect (maybe)

[comiken205]

Wow, I've read other reports that it is not as slow. I played with the Pixi and it is a fast as my daughter's Pre. Yes, once you start opening multiple cards it slows, just keep the cards to a minimum. I liked it and my wife is going to get one as soon as she can.