HTC Touch Pro 2 vs. Palm Pre (Plus)

A

Aptiitude

New member
Hi everyone,

Been a while since I've visited here, but I need your help!

I recently joined a new company and am able to order a smartphone. We can choose any of the major networks, and any of the phones (from a company list) available on those networks. Most new hires go for the iPhone now that that's available, but if I wanted to be stuck in a featureless box I would've plotted to terrorize the USA so I could live in Gitmo.

I've narrowed my decision down to the HTC Touch Pro 2 and the Palm Pre (Plus, if I use Verizon).

I'm also open to the Pixi Plus and its nicer keyboard, although I'm hesitant due to the slower processor, smaller storage, smaller screen.

Originally I thought I was set on the Pre Plus, since it is mobile hotspot capable. Then I found out that costs $40/month, which is ridiculous. So now the decision is a bit harder.

Obviously I would use Verizon if I'm just using the phone as a phone. But I'm not sure about their capabilities as far as tethering hacks. If it's possible to tether on Sprint and not on Verizon, that would be enough to sway me. (I'm fairly good with phone hacks, so I'd be willing to attempt any special customizations in order to tether.)

What I like about the Pre Plus:
- Capacitive touchscreen
- General aesthetics
- Polished UI, good multitasking management

What I don't like about the Pre Plus:
- App availability
- Smaller screen
- Poor battery life?

What I like about the Touch Pro 2:
- Bigger screen
- Bigger keyboard
- App and customization flexibility
- More geeky-looking :cool:

What I don't like about the Touch Pro 2:
- Resistive touchscreen
- Seemed a bit sluggish in the store (especially the browser, although maybe upgrading to Opera would help?)
- Poor battery life?
- Comes with WinMo6.1? (Although maybe it's easy to upgrade to 6.5?)

What do you guys think? Is there anything specifically I should know about that might tip me one way or the other?

What are your general thoughts on the phone and Verizon vs. Sprint?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!
 
You did not mention one of the weaknesses of tp2, that with the droid and palm pre the bar is being set higher for form factor, i.e. low weight and thinness. If that does not bother you. I would say tp2. I am dual booting android on tp1. I often use windows mobile for great programs like Garmin XT and Kinoma. And my mobile shell interface more than holds its own against android. If you add the ability to dual boot android into the mix, tp2 easily smokes palm pre in terms of aps, not to mention quality of construction and the HTC / XDA community.

And with palm there really is a question of whether they will survive long term. Palm is a favorite stock of professional short sellers, a very astute group.

My guess is that usable android for TP2 is weeks away
 
Not a big deal. As a geek I kind of like having functionality in a not-so-trendy package. (If I could, I'd buy an OQO with a built-in cellphone.)


Interesting. I did not know this was an option.

So do you find the resistive (and non-multitouch) touchscreen to be particularly limiting?

Any idea on tethering possibilities?
 
I would go with the Palm Pre Plus here. Its far more elegant with a much better notification system. As for apps, even Palm WebOS gets more of the modern mobile apps than Windows Mobile---yes there are more apps on the WebOS Catalog store than on Windows Mobile Marketplace.

The Pre Plus is more responsive than the Touch Pro 2 for the following reasons:

Capactive vs. Resistive. Capacitive is more responsive and is more expensive. You get what you pay for.

512mb of processing vs. 288mb. More apps to multitask, able to handle more complex apps and webpages.

Cortex A8 based processor at 600Mhz vs. 528MHz ARM11 processor. That's like a Pentium M vs. the old Celeron. The Cortex A8 is capable of superscalar, while the ARM11 is not. Superscalar means the processor can process more than one instruction per clock cycle.

Linux vs. Windows - I got much better trust in Linux kernel development than on Windows, which is just a mess. WebOS, like Android, LiMo, Moblin, Maemo, are based on Linux.
 
Good points.

But do you think the TP2 might still be better from a flexibility/customization standpoint? Even in terms of hardware, the TP2 has a memory card slot, and the Pre doesn't.

Hmmm...
 
Resistive is an overall drawback. Googling something called advanced configuration tool and playing around with the screen sensitivity settings helps. Wifi tethering is built into Mightyrom, the most popular rom for Windows Mobile (WM) / tp. From what I read not a problem in android either. Bluetooth tends to be the last thing they get working in android for WM. From what I read wired tethering is doable in both android and WM.
 
Damn it I am so torn.

It is really coming down to capacitive touchscreen (Pre+) vs flexibility (TP2).

I dunno, maybe I'll go with the Pre, and get a WinMo7 phone when I am due for a new personal phone this fall. But then again, I really do want to be able to tether, and if I'm on my company data plan I won't want to get a personal data plan.
 
I forgot to mention the one feature I miss by having TP and not TP2. TP2 is supposed to have the best speakerphone ever put into a cell phone.

Much of this is taste, why not try both with the two to four week trial period. Take em for a test drive, kick the tires. Some of these phones with plan are getting as expensive as cars so why not. Good luck
 
I feel that doesn't outweigh the Pre's basic advantages, plus the fact that it overall is more easier and elegant to use. There is no disconnect for example, the WebOS apps in terms of visual and feature integration with WebOS not unlike Windows Mobile apps with regards to TouchFlo.

Never buy a Celeron when you can buy a Pentium.
 
Unfortunately I don't have that option, as the ordering is done through a special company portal.

I ended up going with the TP2. I recognize that the Pre+ would've been a far more elegant experience, both from a hardware and a software view. But from all the reading I've done on the web, there seem to be far more possibilities with the TP2. All the different ROMs I could use, all the little hacks. I enjoy that stuff, even if it is sometimes a pain in the ***.

Thanks for the advice, to all who replied.
 
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