Welp..it's been a week and I'm on my 4th palm pre! Two of the phones I received had problem with their ear speakers. I couldn't hear or talk to anyone without using the speaker phone. These were brand new out of the box phones too. The other phone I returned had a flimsy back, which didn't appear to be connected correctly.
Apparently this problem with the ear piece is common (according to the net). Though sprint never tried to troubleshoot it. They just swapped me another phone. Hopefully this is my last pre!