Palm Pre Phone (Sprint) Review

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(More customer reviews)Once upon a time, I was a major iPhone fan. Like many others, I had grown tired of ho-hum smartphones and wanted something new and fresh. Initially, I loved my iPhone. There was simply nothing like it, with its beautiful touchscreen interface and great packaging. Best of all, I'd been assimilated into a fun "iPhone culture." Yeah, I guess in a way I'd even look down my nose at others who did not own one. ;p
But as time went by, my happy relationship began to sour. Don't get me wrong... as a MEDIA device, it was beyond compare. It STILL IS. But as a PRODUCTIVITY device, it STUNK: the virtual keyboard drove me bananas, the calendar was hardly usable for my purposes, and the constant dropped calls in south Florida were infuriating. As the months dragged on, I began to resent my phone and despise AT&T. There was a glimmer of hope when the Apple's App Store made its debut, but instead of productivity apps I needed, it was flooded with junk with no easy way to sift through all the noise to find the quality apps. Though I must admit I was DEFINITELY addicted to a game or two! ;)
I wanted a phone that could serve me well as both a PRODUCTIVITY and PERSONAL device. So when the Palm Pre came out, I took a deep breath and signed on with Sprint to get one on launch day (June 6th).
Put simply? .............. I.
LOVE.
THIS.
PHONE.When writing this review I made the assumption that you, the reader, already knows the Palm Pre's features. What I did was just jot down my real-world experiences with the Pre to illustrate how freaking AMAZING it is...
IT AIN'T PERFECT, THOUGH! I'll definitely address those issues (caution, I'm pretty blunt).------------------------- FIRST, THE THINGS I LOVE -------------------------
1) MULTITASKING:
When I read about multi-tasking on the Palm Pre, it looked cool. When I played with the mult-tasking feature in the Sprint store, I thought it was really cool. But when I LIVED with multi-tasking, I realized I would never own another phone that doesn't do this. It doesn't always work perfectly... sometimes there are issues with lag but once you learn which apps are resource hogs you get the hang of how to operate with it.
Here's some real-world examples of how I use multitasking...
"Day-to-day"
I consistently have email, texting, Twitter, phone, and Epocrates (medical app) open at all times while I'm working. No need to search for buttons or menus. Just flick and I'm there.
"The Drive"
A while back my boss drove me down to New Orleans. I SIMULTANEOUSLY............
- Ran turn-by-turn navigation with spoken street names (thru car speakers)
- Ran Pandora (also thru car speakers)
- Sent MMS messages to my folks
- Tracked my wife's flight to Puerto Rico in real-time, using FlightView
- Viewed a PowerPoint presentation
- Sent that powerpoint presentation via email to a colleague
"Ordering Pizza and a Movie"
Just the other day my wife called me from the road to ask where she could get a movie rental and pick up a pizza in her area. I SIMULTANEOUSLY..........
- Ran my Google maps which found the nearest Blockbuster and pizza place to her,
- Ran Flixster and read Rotten Tomato reviews of different movies
- Texted my wife back and forth with my recommendations.
"Email + Messaging"
I can have both my email and texting apps open, and copy/paste from one into the other
"No Wifi headaches"
Here's a big one! I can enable/disable Wi-Fi without leaving the web page I'm on or the email I'm trying to download. Just touch the top of the screen for the menu and I'm done!2) REAL KEYBOARD:
When Steve Jobs told me I'd get used to my virtual keyboard on my iPhone, I believed him... but after a year and a half of ownership, I came to this realization: nothing beats a real keyboard. I'm 6'3" and 200lbs, and while the Pre's keyboard is small, after a couple weeks I got very quick and accurate on it... MUCH faster than I ever did in all the time on my iPhone. It's worth mentioning that the a virtual keyboard has already been created for it, adding the convenience of BOTH. iPhone will always be stuck with just a virtual keyboard. There's also a homebrew app called "AutoCorrect Edit" that allows you to customize your autocorrect dictionary and make typing shortcuts. Killer.3) CALENDAR:
You can sync multiple calendars to the Pre, and view them all simultaneously if you want... Google, Facebook, Exchange, etc.... they're all there. In addition to my personal calendar and my wife's calendar, I keep track the schedules of no less than EIGHT physicians in my fellowship program... all on my phone! Best part is I can view them all together, manage them, and update them from my device and send them to all the fellows and faculty in my program OVER THE AIR.
Also, there's calendar app integration... From my phone, I can add a flight directly to my calendar from Flightview. Or a movie I just purchased tickets for. Or dinner reservations I made using Open Table. All without opening my calendar. Easy. I can't wait until more apps offer this kind of functionality...4) USB FLASH DRIVE ABILITY!
A couple weeks ago, I needed to email some documents and spreadsheets to my boss. My laptop had an erratic Wifi connection, so I was stuck. What did I do? I simply plugged my Pre into my computer via USB, dropped the files onto my phone, and emailed them to by boss using Sprint's network! Plain, freaking, AWESOME! This is not mentioned enough in the reviews I've read.
Another cool thing: who needs iTunes? With drag and drop, you can easily transfer music (with album art!) and videos back and forth on the Pre. Seriously. A monkey could do this.5) AMAZON MP3 MUSIC STORE!
Love this place! Almost as much variety as iTunes, which is good enough for me. You can preview and download all the songs you want! I do wish you could see the duration of songs as well as the full title (for remixes and such), but overall I'm smitten with it. Not only that, they often feature entire albums for DIRT cheap. Best of all, UNLIKE iTunes, you can do whatever the heck you like with your music, and it doesn't have to be converted to a proprietary format! Beautiful.(P.S. I realize that music sold on iTunes is now DRM-free, but I still resent the fact that a good number of songs that I BOUGHT are stuck on iTunes unless I "upgrade." Hogwash.)6) TOUCHSTONE WIRELESS CHARGER!
This is basically a hockey-puck device that you set your Pre onto and it charges it using a magnetic coil... no wires! This is particularly great at night right before I get into bed: rather than fumbling with wires and the Pre's (I'd like to smack the Palm engineers for that last one), all I do is just set my phone down on the charger. Easy. And I have a full charge in around 2 hours. The Touchstone does more than just charge my phone, though...
- If the Pre rings while on the charger and I press "TALK", it instantly goes to speakerphone.
- If I'm talking on the Pre and then set it down on the Touchstone, it instantly switches to speakerphone.
- If I want more privacy and take my phone OFF of the Touchstone during a conversation, it instantly switches speakerphone OFF. Nice.7) CAMERA:
Outdoor shots are amazing. Shutter has almost no lag. Although my iPhone used to take better pictures in low-light conditions, when there's NO light, the Pre has a flash... my iPhone did not.
*** UPDATE! 3/1/10... ***
With its 1.4 update, the Palm Pre now shoots VIDEO! You can also EDIT the video clip and send it via MMS/email, or even directly post it to Facebook or YouTube! This function works rather well, and video quality is not bad at all in good lighting conditions. Awesome! ... So video recording took Palm 8 months, and I didn't even have to buy a new phone. Compare that to Apple, who released video recording after TWO YEARS, and you had to buy a whole new phone?! Get outta here.8) NETWORK AND PRICING... DO YOUR RESEARCH!!!!
My wife and I are saving a ton of money with Sprint. I know coverage varies from city to city, but for me, Sprint's been great. In my opinion, AT&T cannot support the deluge of iPhone customers. They pay a high premium to maintain iPhone exclusivity, and take another hit by heavily subsidizing the iPhone to entice new customers. Subsequently, improvements to infrastructure move at a slower pace than they should. Not only that, but iPhone customers have to pay a lot more per month than say, Palm Pre customers on Sprint! All Sprint plans for the Palm Pre include UNLIMITED data, UNLIMITED texts, and TURN-BY-TURN GPS NAVIGATION! With AT&T, you have to pay out the nose for those kinds of goodies. I price matched feature-for-feature with Verizon and I'm saving tons of money with Sprint. Do. Your. Research.9) HOMEBREW!!!
This is certainly one of the best aspects of webOS that I am saving for last. The Palm Pre has an OUTSTANDING homebrewing community. Best part is, you don't have to be a techie geek to be a part of it.
You may have heard of people "hacking" their phones in order to get them to do what they want. But unlike Apple, where "jailbreaking" is necessary to "hack" their phones, webOS users merely "homebrew" to "patch" their phones. This isn't just semantics: unlike Apple's constant Gestapo policies, Palm has chosen to embrace the homebrew community and welcome their innovation. The result? I can change the...Read more›

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The revolutionary Palm Pre will make your life simpler by always being one step ahead. The Palm Pre will pull each of your online calendars into a single, easy-to-view screen, so you'll always be on top of your appointments, and it will automatically link all your contacts from different sources, letting you easily find what you need when you need it. Whether you are sending emails or text messages, browsing the web, listening to music, or simply making a phone call, the Palm Pre makes everything easier than ever.
Palm Synergy Brings Your Calendars and Contacts TogetherThe Palm Pre features Synergy technology, which gathers all your information from different sources and puts them together in one place for you to see. Instead of having your information scattered in different screens, the Pre automatically brings them together so you can easily find what you need. If you have calendars from Microsoft Outlook, Google, and Facebook, Synergy will automatically gather all your appointments and put them into one easy-to-view calendar, so you won't miss an appointment again.

The Pre also makes managing your contacts simple -- not only will it gather your contacts from different places such as Google, Exchange, and Facebook, but if you have the same contacts in different places, this revolutionary phone will automatically link them together so they show up just once. And all your conversations with the same person will automatically be gathered into one chat-style view. For example, if you start a conversation via text message with someone, the Pre lets you quickly reply via IM or email.

Sleek, Attractive Design with Easy-to-Use KeyboardThe Palm Pre features a sleek design that looks great and fits easily into your pocket. It measures 2.3 x 3.9 x 0.67 inches (WxHxD) and weighs just 4.75 ounces. The pebble-shaped phone has a beautiful 3.1-inch touch screen with a vibrant 24-bit color 320x480 resolution display that lets you watch videos in full widescreen format. When it's time to write an email, you don't have to settle for a small onscreen keyboard. Simply slide out the QWERTY keyboard for fast and accurate text input. The Palm Pre has 8GB of built-in memory and uses a standard 3.5mm stereo headphone jack so you can connect any headphone you want.

3G, Wi-Fi, and GPS Keeps You ConnectedThe Palm Pre is smartly connected to the Internet all the time, so you'll always have quick access to your email, calendars, and other information. When you are on the road, the Pre connects to Sprint's 3G network for Internet connectivity wherever you are. Sprint's 3G network is America's most dependable and provides outstanding speed and performance. If you are home or near a Wi-Fi hotspot, the Pre can also connect to it for even faster connectivity. And with GPS functionality built in, the Pre will let you look up directions or nearby points of interest even if you're not sure where you are.

Live Email that Connects with Microsoft Exchange ActiveSyncThe Palm Pre features live email, which means that whenever you get a new email, it is pushed directly onto your phone. You don't have to wait manually push a refresh button or wait for a scheduled sync. And if your email has attachments, you can view audio, video, images, and other documents directly on the Pre. For business users, the Pre can connect to your work email through Microsoft Exchange Activesync, making things easy for your IT department.

WebOS Operating System Lets You Multitask and Do MoreThe Palm Pre runs Palm's new webOS, which lets you keep multiple applications open at the same time and move easily between them. Each application is represented by an on-screen card. You can flip through the cards, move them around, or throw them off the screen to close the application.

The webOS features universal search capability, so if you need to find anything, simply start typing. The Pre will first search through your contacts and applications to see if it can find what you're looking for, and then it will offer to search Google, Google Maps, Wikipedia or Twitter. No matter what you're looking for, the Pre will quickly help you find it.

If you receive a text message or have a calendar appointment coming up, the webOS will let you know you with a small, unobtrusive notification on the bottom of the screen. You'll always know what's going on without being completely interrupted.

Take and View Photos, Watch Videos, and Listen to MusicThe Pre lets you take great pictures with the built-in three-megapixel camera with LED flash. You can also watch widescreen videos on the beautiful screen, or buy songs from the Amazon MP3 store and listen to them with the built-in music player.

Download Applications Directly Onto Your PhoneThe Pre's App Catalog makes it easy to download new applications by simply browsing for them and downloading them directly to your phone. By downloading additional optional applications, you can do more with your phone.

Automatic Over-the-Air Back UpThe over-the-air Palm Services automatically backs up your data and lets you restore it -- all without connecting to your computer. If your phone is lost or stolen, you can even remote erase everything on it. Additionally, the phone will automatically receive software updates so it will always be up to date.

* Activating and Setting Up the Palm Pre on First UseAfter receiving Palm Pre, it needs to be set up and activated. Activation requires a few steps. First, turn on the phone by pressing and holding the Power button. You will be prompted to choose English or Spanish. The next screen will check for voice and data activation. Once ready, tap Next. You will be presented with a Terms and Conditions page for Palm Services. Tap Accept to continue. At this point, you'll need to slide out the keyboard to create a new profile. Enter your name and password. The next step is entering your email address. You'll enter the same password and email combination you first entered, and then tap Next to continue. The next screen will confirm your profile and you'll receive an email from Palm. You'll have to accept various terms and service, and continue to tap Next when necessary to continue. When prompted, you'll have to choose between two location-based service settings. Either enable Auto-Locate, which provides for seamless use of location services all the time, or tap on Ask Each Time, which gives you a prompt every time an application requests the phone's location. Once done, you'll go through a tutorial and at the conclusion of the tutorial, an onscreen prompt will let you know that you're done. First Use set up is now complete and your Palm Pre is ready to go.

What's in the BoxPalm Pre smartphone, standard lithium ion battery, AC travel charger, carry pouch, USB cable, 3.5mm stereo headset.

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