[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Pre is Not the Homerun Palm Needed here

[omniobso]

David: Your bias is flagrantly obvious. And your grasp of the beginning of real 'mobile internet' devises is at best shallow. How you have been retained as a tech writer for a once respected tech publication is beyond understanding!

[daniel142005]

"provided Google can do a better job of rallying developers than it has been able to do so far."
There are plenty of good applications on the Android Market, but there are also a lot of crappy ones. Basically anyone that has $25 and a credit card available can upload their application to the Android Market, so you have a lot of newbie developers uploading apps that aren't up-to-par with reviewers that own iphones.
The iPhone has been out at least a year longer than Android and has had more time to get developers. Not to mention that Apple is well known for the computer market where as Google is more web based, so companies may have been a bit iffy to spend resources on developing for Android if they weren't sure if it would be a success.
Both Android and the Iphone have its issues, but are both way better than the pre already. I don't know what Palm was thinking when they released this device... especially when they decided to use the Sprint network, but with the reviews I have read, Sprint is probably the only network that would make a deal with them.

[Peteostro]

So I have an iPhone and love it. But i've been following the Pre since CES. I will be going to the store some time next week to check it out. I don't think Ill switch, but its good to have a phone the finally gives the iPhone a run for the money. I do not agree with you article though. I'm not sure the reviews you are reading, but the Pre is at least as good if not better than the iPhone. David Pogue, Engadget & gizmodo reviews all say at its as good as an iPhone if not better than it. I'd call this as close to a home run as you can get considering the hype.

[msbungle]

Weird. I read the review you link to above and I don't see much negative other than the hardware or the feel of the phone. This in itself will vary by user. The rest of the review is pretty glowing actually.

Is there such a thing as the "perfect" phone? No. Everyone will want something different.

So why will I go with a Pre? While the iPhone looks interesting and fascinating, I have found AT&T's service to be very poor in some of the places I travel often. Sprints is always "on" though.

[daniel142005]

To make what I said a bit more clear:
"I don't know what Palm was thinking when they released this device..."
I was referring to the fact that it doesn't support GSM and is a sprint phone, and that the keyboard seems iffy. I wasn't targeting their WebOS.
"but with the reviews I have read, Sprint is probably the only network that would make a deal with them."
I wasn't talking about reviews of the device itself, but for the Palm company. Their devices have been crap in the past so their track record isn't so great.
The Pre may be a decent phone, but they have bad timing and Sprint was not the best choice imo, although I guess its the only one of the major networks left. The iPhone already has competition, whether people acknowledge it or not... The G1 device (hardware) wasn't the best, but Android is more than capable of taking on the Iphone given it has the hardware to compete.
Guess time will tell...

[Peteostro]

Sprint has the phone for 6 months exclusive, then Verizon will get the pre and At&t with get a new palm device with the webos (the os used in the pre)

The Pre is not the only smart phone Plam will release with WebOs there will be a bunch of phones. Don't worry you will not have to be stuck with sprint.

[msbungle]

Once again Daniel, for my needs the EDGE network has shown itself to be total crap. I can't even download a webpage on it. My decision for this phone will be because it is on Sprint not because it is a Pre. Even iPhone users overlook all the dropped calls because their phone is "so cool".

I have a palm pilot sitting at home in a desk. I got tired of carrying 2 or 3 different devices and this phone would be ideal.

I'm not sure why anyone cares if people drop the iPhone for this.

[slappy]

So did Sprint and Palm fix the problem of not having the ability to use Voice and Data at the same time? Last I checked, if your on a call, all Data access stops and cannot be used till you finish your call.

[davesmall]

I have tremendous respect for Jon Rubenstein (former Apple Sr VP Hardware Engineering and the top hardware engineer at Apple and now Palm CEO). Any product with his name on it is bound to be well engineered.
I think Palm has the potential to move past Nokia, Blackberry, and all Windows Mobile devices. Palm should be able to give Google's Android a run for the money. I don't see this as a better choice than an iPhone though for several reasons.
The tiny keyboard is a negative rather than a positive. Those keys are just so extremely tiny and so close together. Frequent typing errors are inevitable. iPhone 3.0's horizontal touch screen will offer relatively HUGE keys with more reasonable spacing. The iPhone will doubtless present a highly superior typing experience.
The reviewers seemed to miss the fact that WebOS applications are really web apps tied to a browser. iPhone has web apps too, but iPhone also has a real SDK making it possible for developers to build more serious stand-alone software applications. For example, I don't think you're going to see Electronic Arts releasing the sort of games they're releasing on the iPhone. Web apps just aren't up to the task.
Battery life is a real question with the multi-processing capability Palm is offering. A changeable battery is no advantage over the iPhone (because for the cost of a new battery you can purchase an iPhone case with built-in second battery)
The iPhone App store is the very best thing that the iPhone has going for it. With some 30,000 apps and over 1 Billion downloads in just one year it's hard to see how any competitor is going to catch up. If I were to just delete all of the apps from my iPhone that were downloaded from the app store (except for real basics like the calendar app) then I'd be leveling the playing field with the Pre. And my iPhone would then be badly crippled.
These reviews should have all been written next week after release of the next generation iPhone. Comparing a Palm Pre that isn't even shipping with a year old iPhone design is ridiculous, especially when the next generation iPhone is just a few days into the future.

[kludgette]

Um...IPhones are ugly and are on the US's worst cell carrier.

Thank you Sprint and Palm! AMAZING product.

There's a lot of people out there that wouldn't own a Blackberry or IPhone for anything. If someone gave one to me for free, I'd give it away. Doesn't do what I want or need them to do.

[unevenload]

As much as I would like to try an iPhone I can't bring myself to switch to AT&T or buy a phone without a replacable battery.