Palm Pre: 5 reason to want, 5 reasons to avoid

Should you, shouldn't you?

Palm Pre: 5 reason to want, 5 reasons to avoid

15 October 2009 11:00 GMT / By Stuart Miles

After what seems like an eternity of waiting the Palm Pre is finally here in the UK, but should you sign up for the new webOS-sporting smartphone available from Palm? Here are five reasons you should sign on the dotted line, and five reasons why you should steer clear.

Five reasons to want the Palm Pre

1. It's not the iPhone

iPhone, iPhone, iPhone. That's all everyone talks about. Now is your chance to get a handset that offers plenty in the smartphone department which isn't made by Apple and doesn't come with that Google Android OS.

2. It can multi-task

That's right, none of this "let me just close that app to run this one" nonsense, the Palm Pre is a fully multi-tasking smartphone that allows you to do lots of different things at the same time just like you can on a computer.

3. It comes with a cool new OS that has plenty of potential

The webOS is just getting started and it already has lots of cool features like the ability to marry up all your contacts and their social networking details. Then there is the funky calendar features and all those apps to download to make it even better than it is when you get it out of the box.

4. It's got a QWERTY keyboard

If you're not into that finger stroking malarkey, then you'll be happy to see that the Pre has a QWERTY keyboard for you to press down on. Oh, and it slides out too so its smaller in your pocket than a BlackBerry.

5. It's great at browsing the Web

One of the stronger points to the Palm Pre is the in-built browser that will have you gliding your way around the interweb faster than you can press go (well maybe not that fast).

Five reasons to avoid the Palm Pre

1. It's the first handset

First, handsets are always the guinea pigs of the family. Just look at your older brother or sister (if you have one) to prove that point to yourself. The original iPhone wasn't great, the T-Mobile G1 is shocking and even ubiquitous devices like the iPod didn't even come with iTunes. Bring this back to Palm and you only have to look at the latest webOS handset the Palm Pixie to see that better things are in store.

2. The keyboard is fiddly

You might get a QWERTY keyboard, but it's a fiddly experience and anyway what's wrong with your finger and a decent touchscreen? Unless your finger skills have nimble ninja status you are going to struggle.

3. You'll have to be on O2

That's right, O2 is the exclusive carrier for the Pre in the UK and that means that you have got to put up with their current data outage and coverage issues. They are already struggling with the iPhone, so what's the service going to be like when they add yet another high-powered browsing and app-focused handset into the mix?

4. It's got poor battery life

You'll love using it, but probably only till midday, as that's when the battery will run out. Okay, it might not be that bad, but like the iPhone and Android powered devices, the battery isn’t the best in the world. Especially if you download an app that has memory leaks, then you'll be able to see the battery gauge actually move as you watch it.

5. The App store is pathetic

"There's an app for that", well actually there might not be. While Apple now offers over 85,000 apps, Android is picking up pace, and BlackBerry slowly making up ground, the Palm App Catalog has been one of the slowest to get going. It might have been announced 10 months ago, but the app choice is still very limited. 

 
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Comments

  • app store wasn't open (or announced) 10 months ago. the phone was publicly released in May of 2009. It's now october 2009 - do the math.... Posted by joe, US
  • The Pre might be clever but it is not a very pretty phone is it? Posted by Forum Cat, uk
  • The Pre is extremely pretty. More so than the iPhone, in my opinion. Posted by Matt Sliepka, U.S.A.
  • try holding and using an iphone in your hand, then try the pre... the pre fits perfectly, nice and round (and pretty). the iphone slab is just awkwardly large and flat and unwieldy...
     Posted by xplode, sweden
  • If you think UK's wait is an eternity, those in Asia Pacific Region are waiting for even longer than eternity (if that exists) for their Palm Pre. Posted by Kelvin Wong, Singapore
  • In retort to your Five reasons to avoid the Palm Pre

    1. It's the first handset: Right, but so that means that NO ONE should buy the first round? Doesn't that mean that eventually the thing won't be successful and they'll stop having it? There are many automobiles that suffered that fate, as well as just about every kind of electronic you can think of. I don't think that's a solid answer.

    2. The keyboard is fiddly: This was the single thing I had issues with when even considering coming over and guess what? When you have ONE handheld device that you have to use, you get used to it. Not rocket science just an understanding that not everything is like everything. While there are a couple of keys I don't care about and/or use (the & is one I like to use and just use and now). A tiny little but of education via the "what the holding the orange button and shift button do via the manual" and I was good to go.

    3. You'll have to be on O2

    I'm using Sprint ?

    4. It's got poor battery life: With a small tweak to the brightness level and changing Email query to 30 minutes or longer, I get about 6 hours of use time at any time time. Add on an extra electrical/charger cable either via the car or the one I got with one of the two of our handsets and a MiFi and I'm good to go - just plug it in when I'm conscious and no worries. Quickly coming to an end are the days of "this handset does everything and I'll have INFINITE batter life" so I'm just learning a new habit of sitting down and plugging in or having an extra charger available. It's by NO means a dealbreaker.

    5. The App store is pathetic: It was and is growing. Everyone talks about the "40,000 apps on the iPhone Store/iTunes" I don't know about you but at $1+ each, I can't spend two of our vehicles worth of trying out apps much less the time it takes to "play with them."

    I know I'm not the typical user, but if we put aside some of the hiccups with the rebate form and some of the boner customer service reps (that ever company sadly has) it's a great phone, especially for those who need to share, like to group and gather information and for those who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

    Thumbs up for the Pre, and please chime in with your rebuttal.

    Thanks!     Posted by Mike Wilkerson - 2GuysTalking, USA

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