Magus

you cannot logic

yes, true

he didn't say 'my mind could not concieve of any way that this could possibly have been a palantir'

he didnt know for sure

and he was saved by pippin

but in this case, it would have turned out wrong

which is the smart thing to do

he knew that it was probably one, but wasnt going to say for sure until it was tested

why do you need to have things be repeated so often?

he knew it was dangerous

his studying wouldnt have been safe, and so its a good thing that pippin did what he did

no one knew that could be done

yes, because no one had ever used one to read minds before

he isnt any hastier than an ent

that's what he was saying when he said he was going to prod it for its use

he was going to

thats the only difference; that someone else messed with it in an unsafe way

but pippin did it for him in the palantir's case

and took his time, studying, before coming to a conclusion in both cases

he knew what it probably was in both cases

he wasnt clueless in either case

it isnt different

but he knew what it most likely was

he went to study, to be sure

he didn't declare, 'This must be the one ring!'

look, when he saw an unmarked gold ring that makes you live longer, incredibly greedy, and lets you become invisible

but he didn't declare certainty until he had it

he had an inking, and wasnt clueless

he spends a lot of time hiding what he knows

gandalf doesn;t speak his mind often

but he thought it was probably a palantir

until then, it could be just about any other glass orb magical item

he didn't have all the information until he saw it used

you'd still say it that way

but you have backups

and that will be your first attempt

but if you think you know what something is

because he didnt know for certain

so?

he went to go study for about a decade, leaving the ring with frodo, knowing what it probably was

he considers things over long periods of time, to be safe, just like with the ring

he doesnt jump to conclusions

but again

along with all the other facts you stated

he considered using it, which implies that he had an idea of what it might be

how do you know he didn't?

he wouldn't say that unless he was sure, and even then might not say anything

your problem is that he didn't say 'Eureka! this is undoubtedly one of the eight mystical orbs!'

accidents are bad

that's called not getting yourself accidentally controlled by the dark lord