The 411: Pre vs. iPhone, Limited Bluetooth, Amazon deals
Welcome to the 411, my new Q&A column answering all your questions about cell phones and cell phone accessories. I receive plenty of questions about these subjects via e-mail, so I figured many of you might have the same questions, too. At times, I might solicit answers from readers if I'm stumped. Send your questions and comments to me at nicole.lee@cnet.com. If you prefer to remain anonymous, let me know in the e-mail.
The Palm Pre's battery life is an issue, but is that enough to avoid it?
(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)I have the new Palm Pre and I am very concerned about the battery drain. The last phone that I had was the Instinct and was a smartphone and a good phone. But it was not an iPhone, so when the Palm Pre came out, I was happy that they had a phone that can holds a match to the iPhone. But the battery has me worried so I went out and got an iPhone 3G 8G and am trying it out. The iPhone is really a great device. But I have heard that AT&T has poor signal and service. I have been with Sprint for nine years and love their service and signal is dependable and the everything plan is great and affordable compared with AT&T. Do you have any help for me making this choose. -- Bradford, via e-mail
You'll have to decide which is more important for you--battery life, proper coverage, or affordability. As you've already mentioned, the Palm Pre has problems with battery life, and AT&T sometimes has poor coverage depending on your area (You should investigate this further in your own home and office instead of just relying on random hearsay though--you might find that you have good AT&T coverage in your area). It's also not as if the iPhone doesn't have battery issues either, depending on how much you use it. Since you seem to be more keen on sticking with Sprint though, I would suggest you stay with the Palm Pre for the time being, despite the poor battery life. Our own Bonnie Cha has released a brief how-to on maximizing the battery life on the Palm Pre. If that still isn't good enough, I would encourage taking a look at some of Sprint's other smartphones like the HTC Touch Pro, which might have a slightly longer battery life.
The iPhone OS 3.0 software adds stereo Bluetooth to the iPhone 3G, but only a limited form of AVRCP
(Credit: Apple)I picked up a Motorola S9 stereo headset for use with my iPhone 3G; I'm still running O/S 2.2.1, and the phone won't pair with the headset. I kind of knew I would need 3.0 to use as a stereo headset with phone features, but shouldn't it at least pair with a 2.2.1 iPhone? Even if not, will everything be all right then with 3.0? -- Frank, via e-mail
The answer to your question is simple: Yes, your stereo headset will work with the OS 3.0 firmware. Updating to 3.0 is fairly painless, though it is a big update, and we encourage you to back up your phone prior to updating to the new firmware. However, as we mentioned in our iPod Touch review and in our recent blog post about stereo Bluetooth, the iPhone OS 3.0 firmware has limited AVRCP (Audio/Video Remote Control Profile). This lets us play/pause music and adjust the volume from the headset, but not change tracks--we're only able to do the latter on the iPhone itself.
I'm currently looking to upgrade from my current VZW phone, and browsing the selection on Amazon I noticed their prices for significantly lower than at Verizon's site. Why is this? Will I still get to keep my plan the same and everything? And does is the warranty still intact? But mostly why are Amazon's phone prices consistently lower? -- Garrett, via e-mail.
From what I understand, Amazon and several other online vendors have deals with the carriers that allow them to offer such deep discounts. The plans are the same, and the warranty is intact, but these prices are typically only offered for new customers, not existing ones. Also, if you're changing providers, you have to do more legwork in calling up your old and new carriers to transfer your phone number. I can't give you a definite answer though, as I couldn't find the Amazon policy for this at the time of this writing. Have any of our readers bought a cell phone from Amazon before? Leave a comment and let us know.
Nicole Lee is an associate editor for CNET, covering cell phones, Bluetooth headsets, and all things mobile. She's also pretty geeky--she likes World of Warcraft, comic books, and shiny gadgets. E-mail Nicole.
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I have bought a phone before through Amazon. The transaction was as easy as going to the store. But, you still have to make a quick call to activate the sim card and *Always confirm plan and pricing with "Customer No Service" *2x(preferably with 2 different reps). My purchase was about 2 years ago, and Amazon used other "Authorized Dealers" as the actual dealers such as wirefly.com. They are able to offer larger discounts due to the Special* agreements you make of keeping your plan at a certain price without dropping it for a while, keeping your bill paid on on time, and not canceling. Don't even think of bailing on the agreement though or expect a very large contract termination fee (usually $250) ON TOP* on any Carrier termination fee if you actually cancel service. It is a good deal if you can abide by the agreements though. Good Luck.
P.S.--always email amazon or the authorized dealer to confirm any doubts or questions you have for *proof if needed
So taking that example, you would think that the iPhone would have about double the battery life just based on network differences alone, but obviously that's not the case. Well, according to the ATT site... if you use 3g you only have an advertised 5 hours of talk time (the same thing listed with the Pre with a 1150 mAh battery).
Me personally would take the faster data network any day. I turn the location based service on the Pre off until I need them, that seems to save a lot of battery when it's idle.
The main problem with the Pre is multitasking absolutely kills the battery and Palm doesnt have the equivalent of Apple's Notification Server that allows the iPhone to receive IMs and other notifications wthouy having to have all of your Apps running in the background draining the battery, RAM and processor power.
And people keep wondering why Apple doesn't yet allow multitasking of 3rd party apps!
-Mart
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I expect Apple to do a little better with the 3.1 update that may be here in September, but the 3.1 beta for the Touch is no better right now.
The Pre is great, Sprint's customer service has been exponentially better than VZW ( I switched) and the 3G service has been perfect. I live in a metropolitan area so I would expect the 3G to be perfect but still...
Oh and WebOS is the best phone OS there is =)! Here come the apps ahhh!!
I've used it for phone calls, texting, emails, and web and after a 18 hour shifts have 50% batt left over. True I had to turn of BT and use the Wifi but the phone is getting better not only with Batt but also with Apps.
The WebOS, as stated numerous times before, is amazing. I give it 6 months before we see a copycat. It's that good.
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by pep1018
July 11, 2009 2:01 AM PDT
- I can't say my main problem with the Pre is the battery life, though it hasn't been the greatest. I find the build quality is my biggest concern. If feels very cheap like a plastic toy and I'm affraid to drop it. WebOS has been fantastic and I'm sure I'll miss it if I decide to switch but I don't see the hardware making it through daily life.
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by lavern
July 15, 2009 5:41 AM PDT
- You're afraid to drop it? Well duh
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