Palm Pre Reviewed

mlingojones writes "The Palm Pre doesn't come out until June 6th, but the Boy Genius Report not only got their hands on one but also posted a review of it. They liked webOS, but not the hardware (especially the keyboard). Overall, they feel that 'once people are able to play a real unit themselves, there will be more than a lot of happy Palm Pre customers.'" On the downside, this review says the keyboard is lousy.

Comments

vs iPhone

[Norsefire]

After reading the review and watching this video I'm disliking my iPhone even more. Mulitasking alone sets it above the iPhone; it's very frustrating having to close and reopen applications anytime you want to do something, however I frequently have iPhone apps crash due to memory shortage so I have to wonder how stable it is with multiple apps open. The keyboard does look like a deal breaker though, granted the iPhone's keyboard isn't perfect and even less so when the iPhone assumes you're a moron that can't type and "corrects" what you meant to type with a completely different word (if I wanted the word it suggested I should have to press what comes up to select it, not the other way round). I doubt it will be an "iPhone killer" though, not because it's an inferior product but because the iPhone already has a hugely established userbase.

Re:vs iPhone

[sootman]

... the iPhone's keyboard isn't perfect and even less so when the iPhone assumes you're a moron that can't type and "corrects" what you meant to type with a completely different word...

Well, maybe your phone is right about you being a moron, because you can go to Settings -> General -> Keyboard and turn off auto-correction.

Owning a BlackBerry (work) and an iPhone (mine) I infinitely prefer the iPhone's keyboard. (And before my iPhone I had two Nokias with physical QWERTY keyboards so I'm not just preferring the iPhone's because it was my first exposure to a full keyboard on a phone.) You can type faster and with a lighter touch since you don't have to physically press each key, and holding the phone with one hand and typing with that thumb is a whole lot easier. And whoever thought of putting keys in anything but a straight line (BlackBerry Curve 8830, Palm Pre, and the number pads on my old Nokias) should be shot.

That said, I really hope Apple allows background apps soon, if for nothing other than Undercover. The Pre looks nice and they're doing some cool things but I won't be getting one since a) I don't have any worthwhile contacts in social sites that I need my phone to automagically gather and b) I don't need to carry around a calendar. Mainly, I'm happy that the Pre is out to give Apple some much-needed competition and force issues like MMS, video recording, background apps, etc.

Re:vs iPhone

[Mr_Silver]

the iphone doesn't win on features, it wins on status symbolism ($800, really?), flashy advertising, and eye candy.

Speaking as someone who has used and evaluated most Smartphones released in the past three years, whilst the iPhone is most definitely not perfect - it does a lot of things right, far more than the three points you quote above.

In fact, it sounds like you haven't actually used an iPhone to be able to accurately comment about it.

disclaimer: i don't even own a cellphone

I rest my case. Why you got a +5 for guessing about something you freely admit you've never used and hence have no authority to comment on is beyond me.

Actually it does win on features

[SuperKendall]

the iphone doesn't win on features

It wins on features hands down - the features people actually use.

Just the other day I was asking to see someone's Storm, and asked where the browser was- they didn't even know! And after using it for a few minutes I could see why, there was hardly any point.

The iPhone makes things usable that a lot of people would otherwise never use - and the same goes for apps, I think Apple probably has surpassed the old Palm V installed and use app count at this point.

You can decry the iPhone as a creature of marketing all you like, but you're only deluding yourself and will never understand the real reason why anything succeeds or fails.

That said the Pre looks like an excellent phone and I think will do very well. This is because they understand the iPhone is about building a great phone and not about marketing, and the Pre looks to go into the same space with a different take on it that I think can carry a large bit of the market.