Precentral reports:
A fair number of individuals are reporting screen cracks originating from the center button, and then spider-webbing up the device. Thankfully, Sprint seems to be on the ball with the problem, and most folks are reporting replacement devices being handed out without having to go through the TEP or paying any deductible.
This is certainly not a good sign, with devices barely out of the box already showing some pretty severe durability issues. These are also not devices that are being dropped, and most folks are reporting just pulling the device out of their pocket only to see the massive crack. If you’ve encountered a cracked screen of your own, or know someone who has, please let us know in the comments! If this turns out to be a widespread problem, it could spell very serious trouble for Palm and Sprint alike.
And somewhere in the streets, Steve Jobs is dancing.
June 18th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Seriously, it’s probably a bunch of Apple lovers who have some extra cash to spend on a phone that actually shows competition towards their beloved iPhone. They’re buying these phones and pushing them to the point of breaking (which iPhones will do as well), just to make Palm look bad.
Don’t get me wrong I love the iPhone and iPods. Apple has great products, no doubt. I just hate most owners of iProducts. Look at some facts and realize that Apple does in fact get quite a few of their ideas from products that already exist. They improve them a little, a lot, or not at all and distribute it as their own. When the iFans catch wind of these other products they bash them on the web saying how they copied Apples ideas. When the HTC Touch was released I saw many iLovers scream “COPY CATS” followed by “That phone sucks” (kinda odd that it sucks if you also see it as a “copy”). However, they fail to realize that Microsoft and other companies have had touchscreen PDAs and smart phones way before Apple and HTC in fact released the Touch before Apples release if the iPhone. Agreed the iPhone is cooler, but it’s for a different type of customer.
Either way. I’m glad Palm took a few gestures from Apple. Apple took enough from Palm (proximity sensor, ambient light adjustment, contact search, the way you 3 way call…) Palm made a phone that is similar to the iPhone so they could share in the profit. Apple has had its fame and they shun any other company that wants some. Their iFans are ignorant about their schemes and tend to bash any product similar, whether it was released before the iProduct or not, claiming they copied Apple.
The ignorance of most Apple product owners is the only thing holding me back from buying into Apple. That and AT&Ts has crappy service in my area compared to Sprint. The iPod isn’t enough to sway me to the dumb side, so I bought a Zune long ago when they were release. It was cheaper and did what I wanted w/o having the Apple ignorance attached. Microsoft isn’t a whole lot better but at least their head isn’t up their own a$$ looking for more ways to screw consumers out of more money for simple products. They do however screw businesses. LOL
So why don’t all the iFan dipshits cool off and stop doing things to sabotage competition for a company who is already doing all they can to sabotage the same products.
Apple and iPhone had its moment of fame, let competition begin again and lets let technology progress, not stay the same after three generations.
June 18th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
You better think twice because this cracked screen issue is for real and there are many reports even on this precentral.net site for the pre fanboys. This, if not corrected very quickly will probably be the final blow for Palm. Read the reports here: http://www.precentral.net/psb-pre-screen-cracks-emerge
Even though you spited yourself by buying a Zune a complete failure for M$. (Maybe you like to rent your music)? You don’t need to buy another inferior product just because you don’t like others who buy them.
The Pre has been rushed to market to try to save Palm but the results are clear that it is not up to snuff and the negative reports are coming in heavy on several fronts! Why spend more and get less???
June 19th, 2009 at 5:38 am
Rent music? No I buy all my music the way it used to be done, on CD. I then rip them to MP3 and copy them to any MP3 player I want to use.
Even if the screen cracks are real I haven’t seen the slightest hint that mine will. It’s a great phone that does what I want, the Zune does what I want as well and I have yet to have a problem with either. So how are they inferior if they do exactly what I want/need? To me, they’re great.
Think before you speak. Not everybody cares about most all of the games and fun stuff that comes along with the iPhone. As I said, it’s a great phone, but I don’t want one. The HTC and Pre do exactly what I want and need but are much smaller and easier to carry in a pocket or case.
Enjoy your brick and I’ll enjoy my “inferior” phone.
June 19th, 2009 at 11:08 pm
i love this phone to death, but my wife’s cracked tonight. a small crack, but still a big deal – and it has been absolutely babied. there has been quite a lot of infuriating apple fanboyism surrounding the pre’s launch, and i wish i could still blame either that or abuse – but this thing is real.
June 20th, 2009 at 10:01 am
Hey, everyone. I just bought the pre a week ago and it developed the spider like crack originating from the center button. I never dropped the phone or did anything to damage it. Sprint is being very uncooperative and saying that my insurance and the 30 day warranty do no apply to the crack! I’ve gotten the run around from numerous sprint stores, employees, etc and I’m about to cancel my account. I can’t deal with them anymore.
June 21st, 2009 at 5:31 am
My Palm Pre developed has also developed the same internal cracks all coming from the center button despite being babied and never dropped. A Sprint representative says that it’s likely to be a Palm Pre defect but they are also giving me the runaround and not being cooperative. Sprint’s customer service, the phone is otherwise in brand new condition and this happened 4 days after owning it. Shame on Sprint and Palm for not being honest, they know they have a problem and a defect.
June 21st, 2009 at 7:08 am
It’s the same problem new iPhone user were having with cracked screen. They put the phone in their front pocket and sit down, not realizing how much stress the material can put on a phone. Their screen cracks and they blame the manufacturer.
June 21st, 2009 at 1:01 pm
@Gen:
How could you possibly know it’s “the same problem”? I’m reading about cracks developing on phones that have been nothing but babied.
Having said that, it’s impossible to know how widespread the problem is, since internet postings tend to concentrate the discontented and magnify trouble.
The issue for Palm is on of managing perceptions– even if cracked screens are infrequent, if the idea that they are prone to cracking takes hold it could dampen enthusiasm, and Palm has precious little margin of error at this point.
June 21st, 2009 at 4:19 pm
Dips….you are a total idiot!…..so the Pre has some screen cracking issues and you say,
“Seriously, it’s probably a bunch of Apple lovers who have some extra cash to spend on a phone that actually shows competition towards their beloved iPhone.”….and then you proceed with a tirade against iPhone owners to vent your own hate agenda. My Jewish grandfather broke his glasses the other day….should I assume that it was probably a bunch of Germans who had extra cash to buy the lens factory…etc etc…then continue on to talk about the holocaust? .do you see the stupidity in that type of logic? How are us Pre owners any different than the iPhone owners if you say dumb things like that? Maybe Palm has a problem and it will be resolved with an even better screen and all will be well shortly. Thats what I’m hoping for.
June 21st, 2009 at 7:07 pm
Hey yall I had the same problem with my palm today, I went to the races for fathers day and first off my phone died before I got there only after an hour of taking it off the charger all night(suspect)??? Then when I get home there is a spider crack coming from the button going up, and not only does it make my phone look phucd but now my onscreen buttons will not work at all. I hope Sprint can resolve this, cause $500.00 on a phone is stupid and the rep at the store claims he never heard of this but no sooner than 30 minutes later another lady walks in saying the same thing, so now I know sprint knows whats going on….
June 21st, 2009 at 7:41 pm
adda, if you have a Pre and are tracking this somehow, you would know more than me. All I did was go to the link that mrcaps left and read a few pages in that forum. When I did that, I saw people were carrying the Pre in their pocket when it cracked. You can’t carry these new thin phones in your pocket. If they are breaking on their own, that’s another issue.
June 21st, 2009 at 7:43 pm
Opps I put adda name in the above post by accident, it’s mine Gen. 🙁
June 24th, 2009 at 10:40 am
Same problem here. I was actually using my phone when it cracked. I was looking at a web page and the screen just started cracking.
June 25th, 2009 at 11:38 am
Sprint has admitted to me that the problems come from the keyboard I cannot tell you if there is an interaction with the command button the screen cracking is real and it’s too bad as the Pre is a nice phone. Hopefully the problem is limited to the first batches of phones and is not a design problem.
I won’t be replacing my Palm Pre until Palm addresses the issue and they seem to be in denial right now.
June 26th, 2009 at 3:18 am
Mine cracked tonite…totally unusable now.
Friggin PISSED.
They better give me a new one tomorrow.
June 26th, 2009 at 5:16 am
Had my pre 10 days- screen just cracked. Had it in my pocket and was simply sitting down. If a piece of hardware cant handle that than it is absolutely worthless, Sprint or Palm better be replacing this phone
June 26th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
I would love to know how PreCentral got thew idea that Sprint and Palm are adressing this problem- they most certainly are not. They call it physical damage and are charging for an entire other phone. Even with insurance there’s a $100 deductible, if they remain to not deny this issue, I, along with everyone else I hope will be pitting against this phone and moving to the iPhone- I recommend everyone against the Pre until they make a statement
June 27th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Mine cracked in less than a week. The only stress it has been under is being left in the car for an hour while I was at the store. Started small and then GREW fast. Sucks to pay that kind of money for something that becomes unusable in record time.
June 28th, 2009 at 1:43 am
Same problem here! Bought the phone last Saturday and one week to the day the screen shows an internal crack. Front pocket of my pants and I am a 52 year old network administrator that is so laid back that I wouldn’t bend over to pick up a stray quarter. I feel like a sucker and am awaiting word from Sprint customer service.
I hate feeling like this.
June 28th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Crack appeared on my phone after 3 weeks of use today. It was protected at all times in my side palm case. Sprint said that they don’t replace cracked screens because their policy is that a cracked screen is physical abuse. This is BS. I didn’t leave the store until they gave me a new phone. Go to your store and just stand there until they fix it. Direct them to the forums or simply google this issue. It is a major issue and Palm and Sprint are ignoring it, calling their customers liars, and losing them by the boat load. I’ve been with Palm since the beginning and had HIGH hopes for this phone and the re-emergence of Palm. Sadly I thing this is the final straw…
June 28th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Just found out that the screen is cracked. Eberywhere!!!ahhhh
July 2nd, 2009 at 12:34 pm
I’m not sure how you can say that Sprint is on top of the problem. Every Sprint rep I’ve talked to has said they’ve never heard of this problem, its not on the “Known Issues” list, and that I’ll have to go through Asurion and pay the $100 deductible associated with the TEP plan.
How the heck do I get a replacement for this obviously flawed device?
July 2nd, 2009 at 1:12 pm
my son has the same problem. He owned it for about 10 days, pulled the phone out of his pocket and the screen was cracked from the center button and spidered out.
I called Sprint and asked to talk with someone in the rentention department because general customer service cannot help you!! I spoke with a manager who told me a supervisor would call me back to speak to me. She NEVER called. Numerous calls and hours spent talking to different people at Sprint I was told that Sprint repair stores will NOT touch the Pre to try and repair it. So…I called Palm and reported what was going on. I was told that they have seen some of the blogs but not all that many. My last call to them I was told that engineering is supposedly now looking into this problem. In the meantime I strongly suggest that anyone with this problem call Palm. Their telephone number is 1-408-617-7000. My understanding is that the only way you will be able to get a replacement phone at no cost to you is if Palm determines this is a manufacturer’s defect.
Palm needs to hear from all of you!!!! CALL THEM AND COMPLAIN. THEY ARE ASSUMING IT IS ONLY A SMALL PROBLEM AT THIS POINT. CALL!!!!!!!
July 3rd, 2009 at 10:58 am
I had the same cracked screen problem. Best Buy said that physical damage is not part of their guarantee and there is nothing I can do other than pay the $100 deductible. I asked him what he would do if he were in my position. Without batting an eye, he said “I would get an I-phone!”
July 4th, 2009 at 2:04 am
My pre screen cracked after 6 or 7 days, it was replaced under TEP at no cost because it was within the first 30 days after purchase. If you do more than make a call or two while the pre is plugged in, it will heat up pretty quick. I think that the heat causes a weakening around the center button and the bottom of the screen, which leads to the crack issues. So don’t surf the web while the pre is charging and you should be all good.
July 6th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
yes i have a palm pre which i 29 days old and yesterday when i pulled it out of my pocket i noticed a crack on the screen and my phone has not been dropped or anything like that.
July 7th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
totally just opened my phone from pocket one day, and screen was cracked???? i know i didnt drop or step on it.
July 8th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
The same thing happened to my phone and it started as a small crack at the center and then went up on the entire screen. I am very angry that this has happened because this phone is a big investment. I will try to contact sprint because obviously many other palm pre owners are having the same problem.