[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Palm Pre: Why I'm on the Fence here

[Augustus]

The expansion card bit is a highly techie thing. The average joe does not really care.

I have never quite understood the need for a physical keyboard because it is just as hard typing on a physical keyboard as in a virtual one. But the virtual one has one advantage in that it makes the phone lighter.

Pre doesn't look all that great to me so far.

[prdamrican]

I personally am looking forward to the new Pre. I have had several Palm devices (both PDA's and Phones) over the years, and currently have a 650 as well as a Blackberry 8800. While the iPhone and the Storm look to be cool devices (I've played with both), I have (had?) been lusting over a Bold for some time now. While I like the idea of the fulls size touch screen of many of the current crop, I really like having a full qwerty keyboard.
So I have been looking at a few of the newest smart phone entries: The BB Bold, The Android G1, the Nokia n97, and now the Palm Pre.
While the lack of a media card slot seems a little short-sided on the outset, after a little thought on the subject I do not see it as an big deal, and certainly not a show stopper.
Like a lot of folks, I own a lot of gadgets, too many to even list. But, for instance, I have a 60g iPod, and an 8G iPod Nano. While my "big" iPod holds a lot more music than my Nano (pretty much my entire music collection), I find that what the Nano holds is more than adequate (it actually has 2G's free at the moment) for daily listening. And while I have a much bigger selection on my 60G iPod, there is a lot of music there that I just don't need with me all the time (ie Christmas music). And lately, I have not been using my iPod much at all since I got a new Slacker.com portable for Christmas (and slacker works great on the Blackberry now as well).
While I have become quite attached to my Blackberry, I have always had a fondness for the Palm devices (note: none of the Windows Mobile ones)... the simplicity of the devices has always been a selling point, even for an aging OS. Instant access to main functions, universal search (all Palms have always had this), a physical ringer/vibrate mute button to name just a few. And now the Pre brings it all into the 21st century... I am so ready...

[rayhomme]

Maybe you're right that the expansion memory is a techie thing. I'm not sure though.
For a buyer looking for a phone as a media player capacity is a big issue. Being stuck with what comes with the phone means when you run out of room buying a new phone is your only option.
Sure it's the same thing with iphone, but if all things are equal which would you choose as a media player: Pre or Iphone? It's a no brainer. You can't let a buyer say "Well, I can't even get 16GB on the Pre so I might as well go with Iphone".
Palm can't let any feature go uncontested. They've upped the stakes in many features: camera, open source, charging pad, keyboard, multi-tasking, but if they leave any feature a clear shortcoming they expose them self to criticism for coming up short.
The press is a winner take all animal, you can't leave any room to attack.
Honestly I think Palm should bypass the micro sd and put in a full SD slot. Those things are honestly very small. They might add a bit of size and weight to the unit, but hardly worth worrying about. Not when you consider that would give Pre the ability to add 32GB of memory. with the 8GB on board that would make for 40 media storage. That'd kick the Iphone where the sun doesn't shine.
What really strikes me as amazing is that Palm is sticking to the one carrier roll out. I believe that Apple has really screwed the cash pouch by sticking with one company. How many units could they have sold, and for how much, if they were available for use on all carriers?
How many people are there who wouldn't switch to AT&T no matter what?
The lock-customers-in model is obviously running on fumes. A company that refutes it from day one will prove itself a game changer, and being a game changer is the only thing that really gets any attention these days.
Rolling out on all carriers from day one might take a herculean effort. But it would prove Palm has an openness that Apple obviously lacks. It's the kind of move that could really pay off for a company playing for their survival.
Go long Palm, you've nothing to lose.
best,
Will Knapp

[malgeri]

I don't know what type of digital devices you use but I don't believe you can claim expansion cards are a techie thing. More like a necessity. As far as the keyboard goes I'm going to go out on a limb and assume you've never compared the two. I can type at least 4 times as fast on my Treo keyboard as I can on a virtual keyboard, and I don't think I'm alone in this. I'm looking forward to the pre but I'm not sure it's the perfect phone for me yet. What I'm really hoping is this is a great boost for palm and they're able to come out with several new phones one of which I can replace my Treo with.

[sjmuller]

I completely agree with the memory capacity concerns. I have been a devoted Palm user for 9 years now (currently a 2 yr old Treo 700p on Sprint) and I was so excited to hear about Palm's brilliant new OS. But while I bought the Treo to replace my separate PDA and cell phone, my next smartphone purchase will need to replace my mp3 player as well (the Treo, while expandable, is next to useless as an mp3 player). So when I read about the 8 GB capacity with no expansion options, my heart sank. I have 18 GB of music alone, not to mention numerous videos and photos I would like to view on my phone as well. I can't believe Palm would cripple their new device with such a limited capacity, especially with the low price of flash memory these days (16 GB SD cards for $25, 32 GB USB drives for $50). Was this an intentional omission in this first device in order to release a second device with greater memory at a later date? If so they had better hurry, Apple already has a 16 GB iPhone and 32 GB iPod Touch and a 32 GB iPhone can't be far behind :-/.
I am in such a conundrum right now. Should I wait for Palm's next WebOS device and hope it has more capacity, or at least an expansion slot, or suck it up and get the Pre and resign myself to giving up over half my music library? Or, god forbid, just get an iPhone (shudder).
Please save me from this choice Palm, increase the Pre's memory before its release!

[WayneDennison]

PALM makes TOO many mistakes with their designs (power and memory)

I will not go into what I have now...but after having 4 Palms, numberous replacements as a result of Power and memory problems, it would take a GREAT deal of Unbiased testing AND warranty to reconsider PALM again.

Sorry Palm, you lost a loyal customer with one to many fatal crashes.

I do not like the current trend of Cameras in my PDA...I do not use it enough to justify having a camera.

[eaceac]

I have had a palm pda and a centro. I miss writing recognition being easy to get to. Am I the only one?

[johnrichard]

Dear Melissa,

Where on earth did you learn to write? No offense, but you should get a refund from your college.

[mskar]

I bought my original Palm IIIc because I was tired of buying a new calendar every year. But after going through 4 Palms in less than 7 years, I gave up.

I broke down and bought a Treo after a 3 year hiatus, since I had no portable phone book or calendar system. I DO like the Treo search feature. I prefer graffiti and shortcuts over a small keyboard.

Palm failed by making their basic programs TOO simple (what, I have to write the whole name in the calendar every time?). The Palm is unusable without a program like Agendus where popup menus allow you to easily link names and events together - hold your stylus on a name and a menu pops up to schedule a meeting, call or to do, as well as dial.

I couldn't use a Palm without that ease of use. We'll see what the Pre does...

[mskar]

I think they're refering to the graffiti function.

[tallyhoo]

Has anybody considered the HTC Touch Pro? It may be the answer to several posters' conundra: it has an SD card slot and a full 5-row physical keyboard (dedicated number keys across the top row)! It is available from several carriers and based on reviews I've read, it sounds like the best all-in-one handheld out there.

[doctorberen]

I had been a big fan of Palm in the past and I've bought several devices from them, my last one being the Treo 650. But when the antennae broke of, I got an iPhone.
I've been disappointed and disillusioned with palm. It took them forever to update their OS. And their Treos look old compared to the iPhone. Honestly, I have written then off and didn't expect much from them.
So I was really surprised when I heard about the Pre. It looks like its going to be a great phone!
But I don't know. The Pre will use a totally different OS and the old palm OS applications will not be compatible. I'm all for competition but there will now be the following phone OS: Palm OS, iPhone, RIM, windows mobile, Symbian, Android, and the new Palm WebOS. That's seven different phone operating systems and I'm sure I forgot about a few.
I'm afraid this will spread developers out to thin.
I'm not sure if Palm should just have gone with the Android.

[TheTomster]

Sorry Melissa,
I think you are wanting a perfect phone, by what you say. I really look forward to this phone. I LOVE my current Palm phone - the Samsung i500. I think that 8 Gigs will be more than adequate for all the songs I'll want to load.
Also, transferring via USB rather than use a card is okay with me. It is just another way to connect and transfer.
I have held off replacing my i500 until seeing what phone Palm came out with next. I am going to buy this phone when it comes out.

[Sashimi]

I use the Air Sharing application for the iphone.It moves everything very well.I have the original phone and would not give it up for anything on the market.original battery still going and with all the applications no one else comes close.

[jjamrio]

I also want the microSD option. In addition, the Pre appears to be missing the easily assignable function key which I used effectively in all 3 prior versions of Palm that I had. In my current Centro version I use it to start my Nuance Voice Control program that allows me to Call,Text and Email by voice that in the case of the latter two is turned into text.I like a lot about what I've seen to date on the Pre,but the absence of those two features may cause me to not use personally and not to adopt as our company phone. The phone designers get wrapped up in all the sitting at the table features and fail to realize that this is a PHONE and that the ability to use it as such without having to look at it is invaluable.

[m3km]

The iphone in it's current form is more like a toy in terms of functionally. The thing is like a delicate slippery piece of jewelery when you hold it, it doesn't feel fast and i can whip it out in a flash to do stuff with it. never mind the keyboard it is not sure type, most of the time it corrects the spelling for me, and my touches rarely gets every letter right, unlike real keyboards.
One last thing i notice is the Pre has sorta a task switch which lets me go back to the last application faster. On the iPhone you have to go to back and re-run the app to go back (for ex, after a program launches a weblink to safari) it's a pure pain in the butt and NOT-Business friendly.
Bottom line iPhone seems like a toy when i use it. The Pre seem to fix those problems, I'm probably getting the Pre knowing how great Palm makes user interfaces. (been using the Treo 650 for over 3 years, best interface for speed for any phone I've used/tried).

[m3km]

I think Palm is trying to replicate the way Apple sells their iPhones, make more money that way. The market research probably shows they'll mmma

sell this the most people, even ones that prefer a Expansion option. (such as me) lol. I'll probably get a 16 gb option which they'll come out with fi they dont'fold

[guyanonym]

Will, did you not hear that the Pre is a Sprint exclusive?

[rayhomme]

Sashimi,
Yes, I saw that it's Sprint only. That's why I'm criticizing that move. I say that they could do so much better with a broad channel roll out. They should have subsidized phones on ALL the carriers and a full price phone for those who use different carriers or travel overseas etc.
This would be a bold marketing move which will strongly differentiate Palm from Apple.
All these phone makers say they aren't going head to head with Apple, when in reality that is exactly what they are doing. They are reacting to the expectation that they "have to" have a touch phone, yet they lower expectations (in both features and marketing) to avoid looking like coming up short against Iphone (and thereby hopefully keep their jobs).
There's a story about when Bill Gates first got his hands on a Macintosh. He went right into the office and said "We have to have a Mactintosh on the PC". They did that and by matching the features of the Mac and bested it in some key areas (like open hardware availability) they stole Apple's lunch.
Palm has to man-up to the fact that the Iphone is the challenge. It has to be at least as good as it in all features and beat it in as many as possible. Only that way can it really hit a home run.
Open distribution and expandable storage are just a couple of features that Apple can't (or won't) compete with so Palm should take full advantage of them.
best,
Will Knapp