I live in a household in a wonderland of cell phones. Recent past phones, 2 generations of Motorola Q’s, HTC Moguls ppc 6600 and 6800, HTC Touch. Current phones: Wife with LG Lotus, 8 year old son with the Samsung Highnote, an extra line with an HTC Diamond and mine; the new Palm Pre. I guess you can figure out that I’m a Sprint customer by now.
Having recently switched from the Diamond to the Palm Pre, it didn’t take a lot of time figuring out the Pre would be much more user friendly. Regardless of both being touch screens, the Pre was built for true touch use with no need for a stylus.
The Pre’s OS is MUCH quicker and friendlier than any Windows Mobile phone I’ve ever owned. Multi tasking is its best feature in my book. Calls a clear (hasn’t dropped a call yet).  If you are a Facebooker, the Pre automatically imports your Facebook contacts to your contacts list (really cool). The 3 megapixel takes sharp 3 megapixel pictures but the phone lacks video. I was left wondering about this non feature. Video and music playback was ipod worthy and even used to sync with Itunes until Itunes came out with firmware to stop it.

What I liked
OS, future application support, stylish looks, great rubberized keyboard, clear 3 megapixel camera, Video/multi media playback was excellent, there’s a mirror on the back for picture taking when you expose the keyboard  (clever), cost per month with the Sprint NOW plan is a lot cheaper than other phones in its class. From what I hear, it has tethering capabilities but I have not tried it. The GPS looks beautiful but please see the “What I didn’t like” portion for the rest.
What I didn’t like
Regarding the GPS, it looks beautiful but it also crashes to the phone that you have to reset the phone in order to get a GPS signal again. Phone feels very plastic-ee, It doesn’t look cheap but doesn’t feel that sturdy. Charge cable is proprietary and the widget that you have to pull off to expose the plugin always gets caught between the plug and the plug in. It’s flimsy, it’s already broke once, they should have just built the phone without it! The sloping edges of the phone doesn’t play nice with screen protectors and leaves bubbles around the edges. Application content will come but still limited. No video…This should be on the list of bare minimums for every phone.
Final thought
I like it. It’s better than any of the phones I’ve ever had. It does what it says it’s going to do so I am satisfied. It’s not an iPhone killer like some of the hype has led the consumers to believe, but it is worthy for those who wish to save money and still have a pretty useful piece of phone wear. I think if it had a chrome bottom plate, it would feel and look a little sturdier. I recommend it.


Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 199
Recommended for: Professionals On-the-Go - Internet and Email is a Must!