I got the Palm Pre on day-one a little over a year ago. I was initially excited about this phone, thinking that it was going to allow me to do all sorts of things on my phone, and basically minimize the need for a computer to do things like read email, search the web, and buy/play music. While I was in fact able to do all those things, I was also very disappointed in the Pre. The big reason for my disappointment? Glitches!
The most memorable of these glitches happened when Cori and I went to Florida a few weeks ago. When I turned my phone on in Florida, the thing went crazy, registering “ghost-taps” on the touchscreen, which opened random applications, and even dialed some of my contacts. This happened over the course of several days and nights, and I actually woke up one night to find that my phone had dialed my brother and left him a 15 minute voicemail… I’ve also had some hardware issues, with the button used to turn the phone and screen off or on breaking this past week–meaning that I cannot turn the phone off or on. Yeah.
So I’ve been looking for a new phone to replace the Pre, and the top of my list so far is the Samsung Epic 4g, for Sprint. The Epic 4g is part of the “Galaxy S” line of phones from Samsung, which are all the rage right now for anyone not looking to buy an iPhone 4 (or 4g later this year). The specifications for the Galaxy S phones are pretty nifty, and the Epic 4g has a physical keyboard, which is a big draw for me (after my negative experiences with the “ghost-taps” on my Pre’s touchscreen).
Here’s a video preview of the Samsung Epic, which is tentatively set for release on August 20th of this year.
Like you, I purchased the Pre on or after launch day. I also had high hopes and am severely disappointed with it right now. The reason for my post is that I too am experiencing the random ghost tapping currently and it is about to drive me nuts. I’ve doctored, I’ve reset, I’ve turned off and removed battery, doctored again, performed interactive tests on sensors, etc, etc. Nothing is working and it’s out of warranty. Were/are you able to calm the ghost tapping? It’s totally unusable right now and I’m about to switch out and go back to a dumb phone until the Samsung Epic comes out. This thing makes me want to throw it against the wall!
Steven, the only thing I found to calm the “ghost tapping” is to either turn off the screen or turn off the phone completely. My phone went crazy a few weeks ago, was only usable for brief intervals for about a week, and then settled down to normal. It was fine for a few weeks, and then Monday of this week, it went haywire again. I have no long-term solutions, other than to try resetting the thing, or contact Palm directly for support. Let’s hope the Samsung Epic has none of these issues!
I was all set to get the Evo, but the three options for texting/typing (qwerty keypad, swype and regular tapping) you get on the Epic is really nice. On the Evo you’re stuck with just tapping. Also, I notice on those side-by-side comparison youtube videos between the Evo, and other smartphones, the color on the Evo’s screen looks all washed out.
UPDATE: According to Sprint’s website (http://now.sprint.com/epic4g/?INTCID=AB:UEU:HERO:081210:Epic4GPA:960×320), the Epic will launch on August 31st.
[...] Epic–epic win I blogged a few weeks ago that I was going to ditch my buggy Palm Pre in favor the Samsung Epic, Sprint’s iteration of [...]
hate to tell you all but I did purchase the EPIC and I have the same issues right now! wish i had stayed with a basic old phone!