Pockets, and other worst-case scenarios

Apparently the folks following palm_inc on Twitter must all work in the Abuse Department (made infamous in that old Monty Python sketch). All we asked for were a few creative ideas for real-world tests to subject the Palm Pre to make sure it was ready for all the folks anxiously awaiting its arrival. Yes, we expected the blender and the toilet, but we didn’t expect the Spanish Inquisition-worthy suggestions about how to stress test the Pre. Such as:

@sil: put it in a small cloth bag with a bunch of keys and some coins, and then shake the bag for eight hours. That's my pocket.

@bcj_tweets: How about strapping it to your sweatiest arm and take it for a jog. http://tinyurl.com/cmalua

@VSmirk: greasy fingers (friend chicken, anyone?), with earlobes and shirt collars rubbing on display ...

@thynctank: a little running of the rhinoceri on the weekends, a little suborbital rocketry every Wednesday. Mostly just daydreaming, though.

@intolerable: 15+mile wilderness/bushwhack hikes in cold/snow/rain... i use my treo all the time on such trips and hope to use pre soon!

@dweiums: Hmmm. . . crash it while biking. That has worked 2 times for me. I now have insurance ;D

@AtomicAgeZombie: How about the "Drunken Fumble" test?

@ProfJonathan: Dropping from, say, belt height. Repeatedly. On all kinds of hard, unforgiving surfaces. In the rain. (See why I use a hard case?)

@jhoff80: I think the best torture test would be shipping one to me, and seeing if it can withstand the tortures of UPS or Fedex en route.

(If you’ve had experience accidentally stress-testing your phone, share the tale via a comment below or a tweet to palm_inc on Twitter.)

Jon Zilber

Comments

[fccf]

once i had my gsm in external (open) pocket of my backpack. getting out of a cab i've made a swing with the backpack to put it on my shoulder and the phone crossed the street sliding on the asphalt

[Azijn, Netherlands]

Spill a glass of water on it!

My Treo 500 survived.

[JayCanuck]

Some more ideas for ya to mill on:
http://www.precentral.net/how-should-pre-be-stress-tested

I hate being one of the guys who links offsite, but it's really worth it, with many more ideas (especially in the comments) and it'd take way to long to copy and paste each idea and would take up too much space in Palm's comment area, lol.

[Mike]

How about dropping it off the jetway of a 737. I did this once. Fortunately my treo was in a silicone case. Not a scratch on the phone and the screen didn't crack. The hardest part was asking someone to go under the plane and get my phone!

[Wayne Dailey]

Set the Pre on an outdoor table or on the dash-board of a car, in the sun for an hour during a July mid-day in Yuma AZ, and then use the display to look up phone contacts outside in the sun.

[Chris]

How about, you send me one, I will let you know how well it fares in a soldiers pocket.

[MZL]

On more than one occasion when walking home after an evening out, I've managed to drop my current phone (a 1st-gen iphone) instead of putting it in my pocket with a perfectly synchronized step kicking the phone just before it hit the pavement. In other words, give it a hard kick sliding the phone about 3-5 meters on asphalt. The result: slight scratches on the back.

[Wayne]

I'm an Asst. Chief of a fire department and my Z22 died after a day of training and one fire. Of course this was after almost two years of dedicated service! It wasn't the heat since it was in my shirt pocket, and I'm not sure what killed the screen, probably something to do with humidity or it getting bonked about when we were making our fire attack. The screen is now barely visible.

I'd love to stress test the Pre in the same conditions!

[BIP]

To be honest, one test I would like to know is how many people put their phone on their lap while driving, forget that it is there and watch it fall to the concrete when you step outside of the vehicle.

[BIP]

It looks like a river stone, but can it act like one?

[F4]

The always classic let it take a swim in the toilet. I killed to Touch Diamonds that way within 2 months.

[Jonnyblackfoot]

plumbing and the toilet bowl flushed...both me and my phone soaked but not with water

[Raza Imam]

Forget Howard Stern...

I did a post about how you guys can use mommy bloggers crack into non-smartphone users.

iPhone = Entertainment Blackberry = Business
Palm Pre = ________________

Raza Imam
www.PalmPreReviewer.com

[Leon]

Shutting it in the engine compartment after an oil change. Did that to my treo several times.

[Shannon Wilckens]

If you really want to see how it will stad up in a normal household try mine:) I have 4 girls and 2 cats and a spouse in the Army! One of my girls is ADD/ADHD. She is Hyper and rough! So far I have tried out 6 phones.. Needless to say I am on the go all day from 7 am to 5 pm..

[Rob]

My phone slipped out of my pocket during a heavy snowstorm in Colorado a couple of years ago, landed in a snowdrift, and managed to stay there for a couple of days before I found it. The phone still works, though, and it was because of that that I've kept it to this day.

[matt]

Drop your phone in a snowbank in january and wait till april when it melts to see if it still works

[Riz]

^I second the kick-step!^ I once did that jogging back to my apartment. It was more like a punt. Skittered my Treo halfway across the parking lot. Still worked fine afterward, and left with more "character" to boot...

[jk]

Drop it in a bucket of water.

[Hannah]

Falling backwards while...slightly intoxicated... into a curb, all while the phone is in your back pocket. It suffered only minor cosmetic damages. The Centro continued to work. Also I drive around in the hot sun of Houston with the top down and the phone in the center cup holders.

[Bobby Smith]

Here's the test I've seen repeated over and over already (on many different phones); it's a version of the drop test. Fumble/drop the phone and try to soften the blow to the floor with the top of your foot. . . only to accidently kick the phone across the room, into a close wall, . . you get the point.

[Jawshwa]

Ok, go to a bar, get drunk, then have to pee REALLY bad. Head to the urinal when your amazing beautiful girlfriend calls, and in your drunken stuper think you can hold the phone between your shoulder and ear while you unzip. Then watch your phone slide down the back of the urinal and into the water, the screen glowing for 1.3 seconds then turning off and going dead...

I did this to my Treo 650, fished it out, took it apart, dried everything with alcohol, put it back together, then used it for 2 more years! Needless to say I did NOT tell that story when I finally sold it on ebay hehe.

[Mark B.]

Give it to my 5 year old daughter! She loves stress-testing phone devices and every possible button, function and espically the touch-screen!!!! My existing Treo continously PASSES her daily stress-test. I can only hope that the Pre is built with the same durability as the existing treo devices.

[Damond]

I drive a semi... I've been getting in or out of the truck with my 755 in a holster... it survived...

[Dale]

Leave it on top of the vehicle. At about 45 MPH, have it come off the top of said vehicle. Centro in a hard case survived with only cosmetic damages.