Do You Have Palm Pre Hardware Issues?

My slider does have some twist play to it (more than some I've seen) and there is a slight gap between the parts. The gap doesn't bother me nearly as much as the wobble does.

I went to a Sprint store yesterday and talked to a district manager who told me that (despite what I had read on the internet) Sprint employees have been instructed by Palm NOT to open the Pre beyond removing the battery, so they couldn't fix the device itself. He then showed me his Pre (which was a pre-release device) which had noticeable less play than mine did. He checked three other devices (the display model plus two new Pres) and we found a similar amount of twist play on each of them.

This is obviously an out of the box problem that Palm has yet to address. I decided to hold onto the Pre I have (as I'm happy with it otherwise, and have already applied a Zagg skin to it) for now. If Palm fixes this problem in the next few shipments (I still have 25ish days on my return period, plus insurance), I may return to a Sprint store and attempt to have it exchanged.

Time for warranty exchange...

Sadly, whenever you have moving parts, you run the issue of flex/give, looseness, etc. All vendors suffer from this; Palm is not different.

The cracks and stuff are a problem. But anyone who has used a slider for a while will notice issues like this.

Not defending Palm; I think the materials are of a lower grade for cost purposes, and it's starting to become more apparent.

The real question is how will Palm respond? Denial, like Apple (remember the Mac Cube cracks?) or will they say, yes, and we are correcting and will swap out? I hope the later.

Had to give up after 4th Pre.

my first slider had much twist, as well as massive gaps which allowed you to squeeze together the two halves and cause it to click. i also had screen issues with it, as well as the plug for the power cord would not seat all the way in.

my second pre is more solid, but it still twists. the speaker phone on this one isn't nearly as loud, and my power button broken. it doesnt depress and i have to squeeze it hard as hell to turn the screen on and off. it also shut down twice from snapping it shut, but that was it, unlike a coworker of mine who's turns off after every snap shut.

i will be going in for a third one.

sigh....

I just exchanged mine today. I purchased from Best Buy about a week after launch and my phone quickly started to do the side-to-side shifting between the two halves. Was it bad? Honestly not at all. What did concern me however was the rate as to which the two halves started to move more and more. In less then two weeks of ownership, the slider/wobble on my phone was far greater then the demo model in the store.

Best Buy replaced it, no questions or hassle.

I have taken more of an effort this time to document for myself how the phone feels on day 1 and to see what it feels like by the end of the month. Besides that, I love the OS, I love the design (not perfect but headed in the right direction.) I love the way the communication systems integrate so tightly in the OS.

That is one broken down Pre you have there.

My pre (a day 1 pre) has a little bit of slide issue. The two halves don't line up as well as I'd like. But it's not bad enough to return. I did threaten to tun mine in over reception issues & go back to my Treo (but I knew that was anempty threat when I said it). Reception is still my biggest problem but the updates & careful choices of settings make it bearable. Once I get the SDK I'll look into my own fix.

No problems here - sure, it has a little give in the slider but that seems unavoidable given how thin it is. I have dropped it on gravel twice without any real damage.

I exchanged mine last week as I was being signed out of my Palm profile automatically on a daily basis which would cause me to loose any web bookmarks, message history, and unlink my contacts. The slider was certainly wobbly and it is even more so on the new one I just got.

dangnabbit....

I have been holding out for the Pre. I am currently on a BB Curve 8320 and while it bores me to tears it is reliable. I WANT to switch to the Pre. I love the OS and how it integrates into my work/personal life.

Watching dieter's video but more importantly the tone of his voice, I was reminded of the love/hate relationship that I had with my Treo 650 and 680. Or should I say my numerous Treos. I only bought one of each but exchanged them both numerous times. I think that in total I had 8 or 9. And no, I am not abusive...they would just stop working, freeze up and so forth.

I am the same person who treats his (boring and reliable) BB Curve the same way that I treated my Treo(s) and yet I get different results. Oh and I have yet to replace the Curve. (please know that I am not a BB fanboi and am itching to get something more robust, cutting edge, etc.).

That said, I will probably still take the leap and get the Pre.

But I have been warned....am I nuts?

I have the exact same problems as you. Gap Twist and Crack. Luckily my crack isnt nearly as bad as yours but mine is still bad and came out of no where. I babied this phone and kept it in its own compartment at all times, there is no reason for a crack. I went to the sprint store and convinced the manager that it was a defective unit, and he finally agreed to switch my phone. I bought it on craigslist and the original owner bought it from a sprint store (it was never opened) however it was activated on his line so he could get the rebate on the phone. Switching the phone to my line invalidates the sprint warranty. I had to go through palm and they are sending me a new unit and giving me an envelope to send mine back. But they are charging me 30 bucks to do this (you can send yours in to be fixed for free, but then you wouldn't have a phone for 5-7 business days from when they get the unit). Since I cannot be without a phone for that long and I wanted to be sure I got a refurb, I had to pay the 30 bucks. Unfair, but palm outsources their customer service to another country and they have no authority to do ANYTHING. All they can do is read stuff to you off of a screen. completely PATHETIC

So far so good with my unit. It has the tiniest of wobble but really sturdy, even when pulled out. No spots, no gaps between the two halves.

So, I'm very please with this device. Hope the next update has improvements, rather than just a cork to plug a hole. LOL

My experience is pretty much the same as above. Tiniest of wobble between two pieces, but no other problems (yet).

so far my pre has been rock solid. i even dropped it from about 3 feet accidently ofcourse. and no scratches on the back from the drop. i have the touchstone back and invisible shield on the front. been real satisfied. i have the slightest bit of play when closed but i think that tiny amount would be there in any device that has moving parts. i'm actually satisfied with the build quality. so far. though if i was one of these guys that has had to return it 2, 3, or 4 times i know i would have said screw you guys i'm getting something else. on a side note i do like that the pre has insurance. not to do the comparison to the iphone but that is the competition for me, but the iphone does not have insurance. so that made a big difference in my buying decision. anyways i'm happy with my pre and its build. hope it stays that way.

My phone has worked flawlessly- bought from Sprint Store in Los Angeles. My wife's phone just got replaced- the app button area stopped responding. All of a sudden, it started working again, but the swipe area became unresponsive- which is when she replaced it. Anyone else have this issue? We have no twist or crack issues whatsoever...

I completely abandoned Palm and the Pre altogether when I went to exchange my clearly faulty Pre.

The radio was constantly malfunctioning and the battery drained very fast, I wanted an exchange only to be told I could get put on a 30 day waiting list...because so many other people exchanged their faulty phones...multiple times.

Palm should do a recall, but I don't care because I'm heading for iPhone-land.

Lined up and bought Pre on launch day. The phone I got that day had blotches at the bottom of the screen. I kept onto it until I was sure I wanted to keep the Pre. So I went back yesterday to my Santa Monica sprint store, exchanged it without any problems, but after playing with it for a few minutes, I realized it has a dead pixel. After seeing a bunch of people going through 3 or 4 pres, I think I am just going to stick with the one I have... I usually don't notice the pixel but it eats me alive knowing I theoretically paid over $500 for a devise that isnt well made. I mean come on palm, you dont have a person (or machine) at the end of the manufacturing process who checked for discoloration and dead pixels, etc. It makes me so angry that Palm acts surprised when I call their support while sprint store employees dont even think twice. I'm keeping my pre, but am a little bit peeved.

You guys are crazy. Yes, I have the "gap" as in the video and yes I have the small play side to side. All you people that keep complaining and breaking them are straight up clowns.

I have had my phone since the morning of release and have one small scratch on it. It's in my pocket, on my desk, floor, consule of car, and dropped on cement once. WTF are you all doing? Perhaps it is possible you got one bad Pre but for someone to say they exchanged 4??? YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE A CELL PHONE CLOWN! Stick to pay phones brother, stick to pay phones....

I don't have as large a gap, but do have some wobble and creakiness that's bugging me. I also have small gouge near the usb port that isn't as large as Dieter's. Everything else is fine. I'll still pursue a warranty exchange before my 30 days is up.

I am on my third Pre, got the 1st on the 6th of June (black box) from the Sprint store in Evanston and was perfectly happy with it until June 20, when the slider decided that it wouldnt open all the way. The second exhibited the spacing between the 2 halves within 3 days and was rapidly getting worse. The 3rd I picked up from the loop Sprint store in Chicago, that was on the 26th and this phone is twisting ever so slightly. Given all of that, I still think this is a great device. I have been with Sprint for a long time and have never had an issue getting a device replaced, so Im gonna stick it out with this one and see what happens.

I was first to get Pre at Sprint store in Ft. Wayne, IN on release day. Box had the black sleeve and Pre had flower on screen. Phone was excellent hardware-wise. Had slight discoloration circle in bottom corners that took a while for me to notice.

Also, after first time I plugged headphones in the external speaker starting bugging up and not working. I fixed it by inserting headphones in and out a few times to try and undo whatever it had did and it worked. I decided to casually bring it to Sprint after those two things and after looking at it they just gave me a new, never-opened Pre no questions asked.

This time I got the 1.0.2 one with the yellow sleeve around it and sunset picture on the Pre. I upgraded to the 1.0.4 OS and haven't had one problem with new Pre. It DID unfortunately drop out of my side holster this AM running into work and slid a good 2-3 feet on the asphalt. Got a nick along bottom where keyboard and screen halves meet and not-a-few little scrapes on the glossy stock back it slid on. I was quite disheartened, being first day I used phone (and I never took my original Pre out of snap-on case I got at Best Buy!)

Long story short, I'm on my 2nd Pre - but my 1st release-day one didn't have MAJOR problems. I love the phone and wouldn't go with anything else, even if I have to exchange it 4 TIMES! The back-up works seamlessly! Only thing I lost were text messages!

I was first in line at the Sprint store on release day to get my first Pre. I have swapped onto my 2nd Pre. My first one had the oreo cookie twist problem and the side volume down button basically stopped working altogether.

The 2nd one still has the oreo cookie twist, but the volume buttons both work. Although they seem hyper sensitive. I can turn the volume down with exceptionally light pressure. While sometimes the volume up doesn't register until the 2nd press. So I find myself frequently turning the volume up because it's been accidentally turned down.

Thinking about it, I wish that Palm had made the slider go along landscape mode.

1) keeping the edges farther apart increases stability
2) typing into web comment boxes would actually be readable while typing
3) the keyboard would be a little bigger

I wonder if that would have been a better design.

It's very simple, take care of your phone, I have no doubt some people are being careless with their phones.

as a follow-up comment to my previous post above ...

I have had slider-phones before so I am aware that there is some giveway and a breaking in period of sorts, but again, I suggest that it shouldn't come tight and compact and then be wobbly after just two weeks of medium usuage. I made my decision to switch 1) becuase of the rate of decline and 2) when I was doing the back-swipe motion, the top half of the phone started to move with my thumb. That just didn't seem right. New phone, just few hours owenership, is nice and sturdy and just the slightest bit of give which should be expected. No dead pixels.

BTW ... I love the Palm Account automatic backup. Seconds after setting up new phone, it had restored all my settings and apps wirelessly.

I think my first Pre was the best. It felt very solid. I traded it because of the non-disconnecting blue tooth issue. The second (and third) also have that problem, but the second had a really bad oreo twisting issue. This third one has a slight twist problem but not enough to fight over. (They refused to give me the original one back because it was already in the system as defective.) But I still love the Pre and decided to keep it, canceling my AT&T account (goodbye 5000+ roll over minutes) in lieu of Sprint.

So far my phone has been rock solid with no hardware problems. I've had a few sw glitches, but that's normal in being an early adopter. Sometimes I have to bite my tongue when I read about these cracks and other issues, because I remember how the 66.6% of 360 owners swore up and down that the 33.3% experiencing issues were exaggerating.

I hope that one or two runs were bad and that accounts for the majority of issues. This is a very, very nice device and I'd hate for their success to be marred by a systemic build error.

My Day-1 Pre is a black-sleeve/flower-box model and has served me well until recently. It has no gap, crack or twist. The only thing I've noticed is that the thin strip of glossy black plastic on either side of my keyboard is getting gouged and scraped by the slider mechanism. I've started being even more careful when using the slider but I'm not all that worried about it anymore since I'm waiting on a brand-new replacement to arrive at my local Best Buy to fix the PRL-Update/Airplane-Mode problem.

I'm on my second Pre but I still think it's a great device. The headphone jack sensor on my first Pre stopped working so my first Pre thought I had a headset plugged into the jack even when I didn't. Thus, I couldn't make a phone call by holding the Pre up to my ear and couldn't stream bluetooth stereo music to my Motorola S9s. However I could use my bluetooth headset to make a phone call and could listen to music with a wired headset. My local Sprint store swapped the phone for a new Pre free of charge and haven't had any issues with new one and it's been about 2 weeks. The most common issue I've been reading about online is screen cracks. In fact a local radio talk show host in my area-Mark Belling-commented on his show recently about being on his third Pre because the screen cracked on his first two. My wife, who just picked up her new iPhone 3GS, is always quick to point out Pre issues (she thinks I should've got an iPhone too). However, I just read the new iPhone may have overheating issues so it doesn't sound like the Pre is alone regarding quality control issues. And keep in mind that both the Pre and iPhone are high profile smartphones so every defect will be highly publicized all over the web vs. less popular phones like a Samsung Instinct etc which is a good thing because hopefully it causes the manufacturer to pay attention.

I'm considering switching to Sprint with a Pre tonight, but my only reservation comes from so many hardware issues. It seems to be a great platform, but I don't like the idea of being stuck with something that I have to carry like an egg for 2 years (though they seem to have problems even when babied), or else having it break and having Sprint deny warrantee coverage.
The other dilemma stems from the fact that if I switch and the Pre's hardware doesn't pan out, I can exchange it within 30 days, but Sprint doesn't have any really competitive options. At least to me, Windows Mobile doesn't seem very attractive as a touch based device and Sprint doesn't have any android phones yet.

I wanted to share my hardware experience with everyone and serve a heads-up that might help some people. THERE IS A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TWIST AND WOBBLE PROBLEM AND SLIDING OPEN AND CLOSED WITH THE MICRO USB CABLE ATTACHED. I know some of you uber-users might be able to proof this out. My finding is that if you open and close the pre with the micro usb cable attached there is something internal that is being stressed. It wants to stick a bit and once you get past that stick it feels as though you've forced something in way it wasn't designed to be forced.

I came to this conclusion after exchanging my launch-day pre for an issue seemingly NOT related to the twist and wobble. My earpiece (the one on the handset) stopped working. I could make calls and receive calls but could only hear and be heard with speaker phone. Also the proximity sensor that turns off the screen during calls was NOT functioning at all. I'm confident now that this is related somehow to sliding open and shut while plugged in with micro usb.

The GREATEST sprint store in the known universe Northville MI Haggerty and 8 Mile and the awesomest store manager Roland did a wipe and tested while I paid a ticket and got some coffee. Came back and he provisioned a brand new pre for me.

If you can exchange your launch date pre DO IT! Build IS better; keypad, oreo, gap...all much better.

They can stop making all other phones. The palm pre is the end game. Awesome.

Detroitkruk

I bought my pre on day one. Only problem I have is a stuck pixel I can see while rebooting. It's not there any other time. I have not tested a all black wallpaper though. It doesn't bother me as I can not see it any other time.

This is Pre #1 for me, but my slider's an oreo, my wavw area is yellow, dead pixels run rampant, but at least webOS rocks. Although having just got myy pre yesterday I'm a bit bummed. Oh well, I'll be getting another one soon.

But for everyone saying this is a normal occurrence on sliders, you've either never seen a Pre slider gone bad or a normal slider. Even feature phones don't have anywhere near this much play.

My launch day pre works great. I occasionally have some issues with it shutting off when the bottom of the pre impacts something or it closes too fast. This seems to be due to battery becoming loose as if you open it up and pull out/put in the battery the issue is resolved.

I have a day one Pre and I haven't had any quality problems. I am not, however, happy with a number of other issues such as the lack of a bulk empty trash feature, no voice recorder and a marginally usable keyboard.

ZERO issues here :)

Mine works great. I think a lot of people who have working ones would have less incentive to comment or reply as well.

That said, I've done validation on pre-release and bleeding edge hardware, and there is ALWAYS, with any manufacturer, a big risk with grabbing first run devices. The fact is, in the insanely competitive mobile market, you rush to get these things out there in the wild making money for you and competing before they're obsolete. The users do a whole lot of the QA on the hardware, and the companies rely on reports in order to improve their build process. Generally, about 2 years in to a model, you'll get a pretty solid, reliable phone. But when they're not even a month out of the gates...

I'm not sure but I do believe "Q & A" issues would be "questions and answers." I think you may mean "QA" which is "quality assurance" or "QC" which is "quality control."

I've got mine from Day 1; No screen protector; Dropped 3 feet onto concrete :( (little gash on the side, no scratches)

No problems - Very satisfied!

BTW my Red Centro had gashes and the Red color chipped off to reveal a white base. Good thing about the Black Pre - Gashes stay Black! I really have to stop dropping my phone on cement!

I am on my 3rd pre. The first one had a dead pixel and the discolored screen at the bottom. It was a black box pre. The 2nd one physically was sound, but the bluetooth had no range. 2 feet at best. I couldn't put the phone in my pocket without it diconnecting. It was a yellow box pre. My 3rd one seems fine. Great screen. Sound physically. Bluetooth is better, but still not great range. Yellow box pre. I'm adding the insurance before my 30 days are up. At least for a few months. Love the phone, though.

now i knoe what the "oreo" affect is.

had mine since day one. keep it in my pocket with no protection from the wallet it shares space with (they both are in the same pocket).

dropped once from a chair.

no crack no splits no scratches.

knock on wood.

Currently own 5 PreS on various lines- one and only had random shutoff issue- solved with paper wedge above battery. Another has slight wiggle to slider- but this isn't a defect this is true of every slider keyboard phone I have ever had, even my touch pro.

So in 5 palm Pres bought at various times in June, all are in as good condition as any cellphones I have ever purchased.

I have not had one issue with my pre. I guess I am one ofthe lucky ones. I have had nothing but praise for the phone and i have shown everyone i know the phone. I gave my blackberry to my husband, now he wants a pre.

my old phone the blackberry 8830 is made up of plastic and metal pieces..most phones are. the storm and the iphone are the exception. but they have problems too. nothing is going to be perfect 100 percent of the time.

the pre may not be perfect, but it is perfect for me. I love it.

I got my Pre 2 days after launch and got the yellow/white box one with 1.0.2 already loaded on it. The only problem I had with it was the battery issue where it would shut off if you closed the slider a little too hard or set it down wrong or something. I took it into the sprint store, they gave me a new battery and it's been running perfectly ever since. I'm happy I got this phone, I love it.

So yeah, for me, still on my first phone but am on my 2nd battery.

Let me preface this by saying I absolutely love this phone.

I got my first Pre on launch day at 8 am, the hardware on that phone was incredible, except for the screen bleeding issue. That actually never bothered me until I started reading these forums, then it annoyed the heck out of me. So I exchanged that Pre for another, which has MAJOR hardware issues.

That Pre, after only owning it for less than 24 hours, had a very loose slider. I never dropped it or anything, just went from sturdy to loose instantly. It also made a clicking noise when I pinched the upper right hand corner (right near the power button). So I returned that one.

KNOCK ON WOOD, the one I have now is almost flawless. Screen looks great, hardware pretty tight and, of course, the OS is, well, sick!

I have had people that are IPhone owners/lovers actually gawking at this phone stating: "what phone is that?" or "Is that the Pre??" All this phone needs is some more apps (a good Facebook app would be nice) and I'll be happier than a pig in sh--. Keep at 'em Palm!

Ilm on my second Pre. The first one had a really terrible slider, a lot of stuck pixels and a weird bubble on the LCD. This one seems much better.

I'm on my 5th pre!

1 - Big bright spot on bottom right corner
2 - A 2inch x 2cm bright line across the right side of the screen
3 - Huge gap and wiggle, 8 dead pixels scattered around, 5 dead pixels on camera
4 - Huge gap and wiggle, 1 bright spot/light leakage along top middle of screen, 1 bright spot on bottom right of screen, 1 bright spot on bottom left of screen
5 - Small gap, little wiggle... one minor sized bright spot at top middle of screen, light leakage next to USB port, bright spot along upper left of screen

As you can see, from my luck so far... their QA/QC is CRAP! I love the OS though. Also, with my luck so far, Sprint's customer service is CRAP! Providing excuses from "You can only exchange at the store you purchased from" to "This is your third exchange, we'll have to charge you a restocking fee." Are you serious?? A restocking fee for a defective unit? What... are you planning to resell a defective unit? They BS too much. I'm thoroughly tired with Palm's lack of QC and Sprint's horrible customer service (in store). The only thing that keeps me here is the OS and the plan pricing. Glad to see others are having better luck!

Precentral needs to make a questionnaire/survey with questions like date of manufacturing etc., packaging and choices of problems and severity, and to graph the results to see if there is any connection between build quality and date/packaging.

Zero issues since purchased on launch day from Sprint Store.

Yeah, an official Precentral poll/survey would be awesome. As for me, after having issues with my Pre in just about every department, I just dropped it from about 3 feet onto a rug... and it cracked. >_> Although reading these comments, I'm glad to see so many people are having better luck after trading their initial phone in. Because as much as I love my Pre, trading it in 4+ times and paying that damn restocking fee doesn't sound good.

QA not Q & A

day 1 purchaser here and no problems. no gap..no crazy wobble, no cracks, no dead pixels but i definitely don't abuse my phone.

i do however use it A LOT..the slider count tells me i've opened the thing over 4700 times and it's held up. so i don't know what's going on with the disparity amongst pre owners..but i'm very satisfied with the build quality.

could it be better? yes. somethings could stand to be improved but my experience is nowhere near anything like i see happening with other users.

Stop your whining already people, just take it back to Sprint and get it replaced. If you were looking for a perfected phone then you should have waited for the next batch to come out. If you all remember, most new items had there flaws, the Xbox360, PS3, hell even the iPhone did. Just hang in there and just have it replaced as it goes bad...and stop whining like you are in the school yard.

My PRE has been exceptional. No issues whatsoever with plenty of abuse. I've gotten a little road rash on the edges from inadvertent drops, so I'm waiting anxiously to get one of the Innocase Surfaces by Seido (www.seidoonline.com) as soon as they come out on July 10th.

FWIW, this type of question is prone to bringing out the pessimists. A vast majority of us have loved this new phone but many won't take the time to write about it.

purchased my pre at launch, no problems, have dropped it twice and no damage to speak of, however i do think that my phone is possessed and wants me to take out my neigbors dog, i called sprint about this and they dont currently have an exorcism policy in effect, how rude lol

Not exactly fair of Dieter to mention the crack but not to mention that he put it in his beach bag. He mentioned that fact during the recent SPE podcast.

He probably forgot, but it seems like an important omission.

I had to replace the first one I got due to the slider getting off track often and getting to the point of constant resetting of the devise with any bump, but the replacement has been solid for a week now. :)

Had to return my Pre 9 days after launch date after seeing the article about screen cracking. Didn't have major issues with the phone but didn't want to take any chances.

So here I am back on my Q9c and unable to return to my SERO plan. (Have Everything Plus now) I'll be willing to try the Pre again if they can get these hardware issues fixed.

Summary: I have no major defects. I've opened my Pre slider 2,176 times since purchasing my Pre on June 12th in a yellow box.

I keep my Pre in my pocket, no screen protector, and I have no major problems. My slider has a slight wobble, but I don't consider it to be a defect. The slider motion could be more smooth, but not a big deal. My screen looks absolutely amazing; if I had a dead pixel I'm not sure I would even know. I keep two microfiber clothes around and I polish it daily, so far.

Sprint employees told to to go into my GPS options and turn everything off; also they said go to email options and switch all accounts to 30 minutes or more. I had complained about battery life, and a Sprint corp store employee gave me a free battery to compare with my current batter. With their battery power saving scheme I get maybe 24 hours of use.

I could complain about software, but this article isn't about software.

Two words dead pixles. They are annoying as heck, only one can be seen when the screen is on normally but if there is a black or dark image on the screen you can see about 5 more that aren't displaying properly. I haven't contacted sprint yet but I know I need to.

I've had my Pre since launch date and have no major hardware issues, but while operating the slider a tiny piece of black plastic came out which has caused a little play in the slider...but not really noticeable. I've dropped it in a shallow puddle and it's slipped out of my hands a couple of times so there are a couple of nicks on it (luckily on the backside). My screen is ok and I don't use a screen protector kit...just the case it came with. What's most annoying to me is that periodically I find the phone has shut off and I can't tell because the screen is black and there is no indicator light telling me my phone is actually on. Also, when charging it gets very hot which is somewhat of a concern...never had a phone get so hot before! Despite these issues, I'm not going to return the phone but the honeymoon has worn off (I really hate to say considering how loooong I waited for it to come out).

Let me get this straight, I've got a little play in my slider and a small gap neither of which affect the functionality of the device. But I should trade it in for another one anyways. I can't imagine being anal enough to do that. If the defects don't hinder the operation of the product I would never trade it in.

No issues with either of my Pre phones. We got our phones on day 2, and have not had an issue with either one.

My first Pre had the slider problem where the two halves separated. It was so bad that if I had my finger on the top edge when closing the Pre would pinch my finger. I still have remnants of a blood blister where skin was pinched between the two halves. Fortunately my replacement has no issues.

well my 2nd pre is getting returned tomorrow because of the huge gap and wiggle but it didn't have the heat issue or the dead pixel like the 1rst palm really needs to address these issues better get the insurance on this phone I will be getting best buys insurance it covers more and no deductible I will keep taking mine back until I get one that will not have any issues starting to wonder if I should have went with the iphone now =( come on palm fix this!

I took my Pre back after two weeks (June 20th). I am now (once again) very happy with my Palm Centro (just got a newly refurbished one) and will see if Pre is ready in 90 days or so (after SDK is released and Palm PIMs are improved). I might wait for a new WebOS product, preferably a non slider design.

I have been using Palm since 1998 and with Nextel/Sprint now for 11 years as well.

I just don't think Pre is ready for prime time and I don't want a higher bill (for Everything plan), non-polished PIMs and to be an unpaid hardware/software beta-tester. I wish the Centro or Treo Pro could run WebOS for the simple fact the OS would be updated and new apps would be written for it. I keep reading the Pre forums to see if it has gotten better so I can give it another shot later.

my guess to the screen cracking issue is where the cut it for the charger hole its ruff and when you pull the plug to charge it its like when you have a chip in your car windshield just spreads from there they cut part of the screen glass to do it just not a good design be careful taking out that plug

I've been thinking about getting the Pre, but, I mean all this hardware problems, I don't know what to do, I like the Phone, Love the WebOS but is it worth it to buy a phone that is going to give me such a hard time... what should i do ?

I submit that those who are happy with their Pres are far less vocal than those who've had problems. I'm sure that there have been legitimate difficulties, but that's to be expected with any new device.

I bought my Pre on release day (white box) and have been absolutely thrilled with it. No problems whatsoever, and I use it *constantly*. In fact, my only complaint is the battery life, which I've been able to extend somewhat by changing my display settings, etc. (also picked up a spare battery & charger, so I always have one ready to go)

Overall, though, I think it's a brilliant device.

My phone is doing the exact same thing as yours does Dieter. I also have the exact same crack on my phone. I have been very careful with my phone since Day 1 June 6th. It would appear that there is a build issue and that Palm needs to address these issues. I hope that Palm will step up to the plate and continue to replace phones that have these problems. I went to my Sprint store and am currently on a waiting list to get my phone replaced. At the time there was a long line so as I was waiting I took out my Pre and began to fiddle with it. Several customers then came around me and I began showing them my problems but always maintained that I love the phone and software. The interesting thing was that when the Sprint manager saw this he came to me and amazingly I was bumped to the beginning of the line. Which in this case put me on a list to get a new phone in the next shipment. I must be honest..I never bashed the phone or software. I love the phone and software. Is it too much to ask that the phone stay together?

My pre hardware works great! I have no issues on the slider. It is sound and sturdy. I take my pre to the gym daily and workout with it and use it at work ALL day. I have dropped it on multiple occasions. No big deal. the slider isn't an issue for me. I got my pre opening day.
For someone to actually take the phone back broken 4 times in a month...is a little odd. Man, what are you doing with your phone? 4 in a row? seriously. The Pre quality control isn't that bad. Do you work for Apple? My phone is way more sound (operating system) than any of my previous Treo's. and I have had them all.
I am sure there are hundreds of thousands of happy pre owners who aren't having these problems with the slider...although I am sorry to hear that you guys are. I am sure thats frutstrating. Otherwise its a magnificent phone in my opinion. I use it 24/7.

Since these forums are open to anyone, how do we know that at least some of the reports aren't Apple plants?

just got my 2nd pre replacment and its not loose at all and no heat issues either im happy now glad I bought it at best buy they were great to work with still dont like were the charger plugs in though ill be watching for cracks

Haha, no, we're not apple fanbois. I am far from a fanbois. I'm extremely excited that Capitalism is alive and well in our Country and somebody finally stepped up with a formidable challenger to the Axis of AppleT&T.

Nobody is complaining about the operating system. The phones work fantastic. Its just quality control doesn't seem to be a huge priority for palm at the moment... Again.

I've owned a palm phone for over five years now. The first two years it was a Treo 650. Because I had to replace my 650 (through sprint giving me a new refurb under normal wear and tear) every 4-5 months for a variety of issues, I assumed I was just rough on phones. That's until I upgraded to a Treo 700p and I didn't have a problem with it for the entire two years I owned it.

I'm happy that some of you guys with better built pre's are speaking up, because that gives me hope in returning my phone for a new one. Hopefully the vast majority of them out there ARE good phones.

I bought two pre's last week for my wife and I (yellow sleeve, white sunset box), and we too have the screen separation and wobble exactly as shown in the video.

To address other comments, we're not being "rough" on our phones. In fact (before I knew this was a quality issue) I pointed out the separation to the sprint salesman before I even walked out of the store. He stated it was normal due to the curvature of the slide.

I suspected then and now know how much bull@*&$ he was full of, but at the time I was just glad to find two Pre's for sale without having to go on a waiting list.

I'm hesitant to take them back because honestly it's not that big a deal, but mainly annoying. Especially when I picked up my Mom's new iphone 3gs this morning and could immediately feel a difference in quality of materials. I still love my pre in every way, but there is something about picking up a good iphone and then picking up my lighter pre with a wobbly screen that has a decent gap down the middle of it. Just a little annoying that so much thought and expertise went into making this an incredible phone only for it’s Achilles heel to be its production quality. Here’s to hoping we don’t have to wait for the next generation model to come out before these problems are fixed.

If you're on the fence for the pre, get it. You won't be sorry. Just make sure to pay the $7/month for the insurance and sprint care. You'll still be saving a fortune over AT&T.

At first I had the gap between the front and back halves. Pinching the halves together (clicking) caused a crack in the front bezel. Now the crack traveled in a crescent shape and I have lost a small chunk of my Pre. This is not a functional problem but cosmetically it sucks.

I also have the twisting problem and I tore that stupid micro-usb port cover off within minutes of having the phone.

It is important to note that WebOS rules. The phone hardware would have been incredible if they had just spent an extra $20 per unit and increased the build quality.

I will still say that it is the best phone I've ever had and I've had PalmOS, WinMo and BB phones in the past.

I've been with Palm since the pilot days. I've used the treo phones with ATT and in the 3 years i've used the palm phones i've had a couple heart stopping drops, etc. but they've always survived and worked well.

I was excited about the Pre as I was looking at the iphone. I was hesitant about Sprint, but went ahead as I really wanted the Pre. Like many others I've scoured the boards for possible issues that others were having that might creep up. I saw people complaining about cracks and assumed that it was someone not taking care of their phone until...

It happened to me. I'm at day 29, bought a case, and have never dropped it or banged it, yet I have a crack on the side right by the battery/usb charge door, just like in this video. My crack is just on the side but seems to be lengthening at a surpisingly quick pace.

Now I'm worried... about quality issues that I'm experiencing when I thought others were just careless or psychotic. 3 days after buying and reading some of the issues I went back to Sprint to add the $7 insurance coverage. I'm glad I did, but this is a build quality issue people. I can't explain this away and I love my pre phone... this is killing me.

I purchased 4 palm pre phones last Friday. I am returning all 4 for poor quality, poor recption, etc. Sprint's service is crappy as usual. I have been with sprint for 12 years and I thought I was use to their crappy service but Sprint has proven me wrong. On one of numerous calls to complain about no reception at my work location, Their follow-up was a message on my voice mail (because I have no recption) stating that they would call back. Then 3 hours later I received another voice message stating that this was their 2nd and final attempt to reach me and if my service issues were still a problem to call sprint customer service. All I can say is buyer be ware, These palm pre phones are not what they are claimed to be. Business owners who purchased the palm pre for internet access to any remote desktop app you will find out that this is not available. Although they claim the pre has windows xp it does not have all capabilities of windows xp. Activex is also not available so viewing IP cameras is not possible. Good luck to all of you who wish to keep your palm pre, you will need all the luck you can get.

I dropped my Palmm Pre on carpet and now the keyboard doesn't work!!!!! WTH! I am a tad bit ticked off! My treo could withstand any minor drop, but this phone costs too much to be too darn sensitive!

I'm on my third Pre, the first one I got wouldn't play any media so I returned it to the store I got it from which by the way its 2 hours from my house. Its a a secondary dealer but it was the only store near that had them in stock....so after all that a week later I start to get white spots on my screen, I take it to my local sprint repair store and they tell me to take it back to were I bought it to get a brand new one because I'm still within my 30 days...long story short they get me a refurb phone that won't receive mms and the slider is sticky and the buttons aren't quite right, so I call sprint and they say I should have gotten a new one so they call they store and tell me the store has its own return policy and they only do 1 exchange then its all refurb after that! What a rip off! I wish I would have just got on a waiting list at a local store instead of spending 20 hours driving back and forth to a store that just ripped me off...and sprint can't make it right by giving me a new phone

Vocal minority here. I just got my third Pre. First was a launch day yellow box 1.0.2. It worked fine and never exhibited the slider issue, or cracks, but it had a small cluster of stuck pixels. A few weeks later I received my replacement. It was completely dysfunctional. The first warning should have been when it wouldn't connect home on activation. It never got better. And it began to exhibit the twist and separation issues by the second day. A week later I got the new replacement (and, I might add, experienced problems getting the second one out of the system. It was cursed) and it is great. Except that I have just spotted a single, rather annoying, stuck pixel...

I hate to say it but for all the positives the Palm Pre has the negatives outweigh them. The Pre was a good idea trying to rescue Palm from the land of the dead but either a bad design and/or bad manufacturing has in my mind doomed the Palm Pre.

1st Pre from Best Buy...camera worked and then...3 weeks later it stopped working altogether.

2nd Pre from Best Buy...phone will not work unless its on speaker phone.

3rd Pre....I will let you know.

Craig...huge palm fan

My first Pre rebooted very frequently, especially while on the car charger -- which it NEEDED if you used the Sprint Nav app for more than 45 min or so. I returned it after it also developed a crack emanating from the charger door -- I feared it would spread like the one in this article's video did.

My second Pre was a "refurb" or "bounced" phone from my third-party -- but authorized Sprint retailer and repair center. It had the loose slider, and I couldn't live with it, especially since some folks say the wobble only gets worse. There are some people on precentral.net who claim they have been able to tighten it (very careful operation), but they admit it's risky the way one has to do it. It involves gently bending some rails and sliders with the battery cover and battery removed. I would never risk that.

Not sure if I'm going to try a third one. Looking at iPhone now....we'll see.

I have no problems with my pre. I got mine the 17th of june.

Hey, am I nuts for keeping mine? (actually I'm getting a replacement for the one I have - a first day release one) All other phones I've owned -non palm- have never had QA issues, and I've abused them.
The Pre on the other hand is like a super model - looks great,you treat it how it looks - with kid gloves... but still it's inner flaws will still come out.
My pre has no wobble of the 2 halfs, no crack, but has shut down on me a number of times, and now the volume control doesn't work! But gee, doesn't she look great!? Why do I keep it? I'm waiting for the apps. Maybe if I can improve it's 'personality' I'll have a love/love instead of love/hate relationship. The Blackberry or I-Phone WILL be my next phone if Sprint/Palm don't get their act together.

I'm going to replace my phone for a second time in 60 days. The first time, the camera stopped working after 3 days. Now, I can't hear from the phone's speaker (have to use hands-free head set) and my google search results only come back in French. I do expect a reset to fix the problems, but I can't keep doing that....

Umm.. Ive had these same issues.. and today I just found out.. its like thousand others.. isnt it time for a Class Action lawsuit against Sprint, Bell Canada and Palm ? I dont understand why everyone is simply taking it in the ass..

I've had my Pre for nearly 4 months without any trouble...
until now.

My headset jack seems to be stuck- as if there's a headset plugged in at all times. It's probably a mechanical failure of the little pin that disconnects the built-in earpiece. It's driving me mad though- the only way to talk on the phone is by speakerphone mode or with a headset plugged in. Going to bring it to SPrint, see if they'll replace it.

I got hit twice with hardware issues. Volume Rocker issue and 2 days later the 3.5mm jack-disabling-speaker issue. This is only my first Pre; gunna get a replacement tomorrow.

I love webOS but I think I regret buying the Pre--and of course I realize this after my 30 day trial period. If problems persist, gunna play hardball to get a new make/model...these hardware issues are kind of a deal breaker :(

My Pre has been mechanically working fine for 3 weeks, then one day the Oreo effect started, at first it wasn't a big deal but then 3 days later when I slid the keyboard a FLIPPING screw CAME loose under the screen. This screw is now jammed up my keyboard/slider, bell is sending me a replacement unit and the rep said do to so many repairs I will be waiting up to 3 weeks, so I guess im going to install the on screen keyboard now.

I love the pre but this screw that has become dislodged is really freaking annoying and quite frustrated.