Tell us about your Palm Pre experience

As we all know, the Palm Pre went on sale Saturday, and while there's no question about the smartphone's popularity in terms of interest, the bigger question is whether this enthusiasm turned into actual sales over the weekend. Well, if early numbers are to believed, things look promising for Sprint and Palm.

The two companies have yet to confirm figures, but analysts have called the Pre launch a success. J.P. Morgan reports that "sales in the first two days probably exceed 50,000," meeting its expectations but falling short of the 146,000 units sold of first-generation Apple iPhones.

Sprint's Market Street store in San Francisco saw a line about 10 or 12 people deep Saturday.

(Credit: Bonnie Cha/CNET)

However, an updated story by The Wall Street Journal says analysts are now putting the number of units sold in the 50,000 to 100,000 range. Not too shabby. Of course, now we have to wonder whether sales will continue to be swift and strong in light of the iPhone 3G S announcement and price drop of the current 8GB iPhone 3G.

Still, we imagine Sprint and Palm have to be pretty happy with the outcome. It's not clear how many Palm Pres were distributed nationwide for sale, but small lines were reported at Sprint stores and longer lines at Best Buys, since the electronics retailer was offering an instant $100 rebate. I did a quick drive-by of the Market Street Sprint store here in San Francisco on my way out of town and saw a line about 10 to 12 people deep around 9 a.m.

The response to the smartphone also seems largely positive. I checked my Twitter feed and Facebook throughout the weekend, and saw more praises for the smartphone than negative comments. However, it wasn't all sunshine and roses for everyone. By the end of Saturday, a number of user-reported issues started cropping up on sites like Engadget Mobile and Gizmodo, including heat-related screen distortion and random restarts.

CNET's own Jeff Bakalar, who waited two hours in line and had someone pass out on him, had his Pre for just a few hours before it started resetting every time he opened and closed the slider keyboard. Obviously, he's none too pleased with the situation and is hoping a fresh unit will fix the problem--if he can find one.

Meanwhile, CNET Labs' Joseph Kaminski had the opposite experience and is loving his Pre. He was impressed with almost every feature of the smartphone, from the hardware to the Web browsing to the speakerphone to Sprint Navigation. His only concern was the battery life.

Obviously, two very different tales, and now it's your turn, Crave readers. We'd love to hear from all you new Pre owners about your experience with the smartphone. It can be about your time waiting in line, any problems you're having with the Pre, how much you adore the smartphone, or any other thoughts you have about it. Just post your comments below.

[nobody-reallynobody]

I have no experience with it, nor do I desire to. It's ugly and big.<br /><br />I have something much better - an iPhone.

[techgeekdude]

Seriously, then why even comment here?

[mangalus3d]

You clearly haven't seen the phone in person...it's tiny.

[gfallar]

Apple heads are all the same

[bradford94]

the iphone is a big rectangular screen with a big rectangular piece of plastic on the back of it. honestly, how can you consider it better looking than the Pre?

[appraisalguy]

enough with the iwhatever kool aid drinking ... this is a discussion group for the sake of knowledge.

[rdean]

Belittling the competition of your favored device is stupid.<br /><br />If I were to try something like that, I might say the Pre makes the Apple iPhone look like a red delicious: big, mealy, and flavorless.

[ace10134]

Do you just love making yourself look like a retard?

[babjak]

"I have no experience with it, nor do I desire to." Hmmm then why are you reading this article? <br /> <br />Stay in your little box because it's "much better" in there for ya.

[JGA638]

Your screen name states it all!

[Dominick_7]

i= idiot, phone? Hmm yea sounds like it.

[Sinosure]

YES! I HAVE MY PRE &#38; I love it! It is a great piece of work! Hurry &#38; get yours now! I was at my local Sprint store here in Salisbury, NC at 7:15am! I was the FIRST ONE THERE! Later two more people showed up for the store's opening at 8am. I was second on the list, the two others were fourth &#38; nineth! I don't know what happened to who was on the list first. Our store had ten Pre's with nine people signed up. Three are gone now &#38; I got the first one! I got back here at the house at 8:25am. The process didn't take long at all. Plus with the help of the "set up" video of the Pre made it all the more easy!

[wpbrown985]

I am hooked on the Pre. I have a I-phone, Blackberry, and now the Pre. When you use it for 20-30 mins going back to the I-phone makes me feel limited. I have not had any problems but I did notice a WebOS update was ready as soon as I connected to my Wi-Fi (64 meg download). The process was effortless. I wouldn't call it the I-Phone killer but I do think it is going to change the way the smart phone market moves forward. ATT and Verizon need it in their line up for it to be a big hitter. Also a few different phones on the market like RIM. All in All I give this phone a A+.

[polarbebe]

What is the deal with Palm Pre? Its interface is a 90% copy of the iPhone with: touchscreen, multitouch, flick to scroll and acclerometer.<br /><br />If you want an iPhone interface just get an iPhone.<br /><br />And why would anyone get a Palm Pre with its 18 apps? Apps let a 'smart' phone edit Excel files, have a talking dictionary, look at MRI images, play The Sims 3 on their phone etc.<br /><br />With no apps, the Pre is a 'dumb' feature phone with full internet capability.<br /><br />PS: For everyone who bought a Pre, Palm hasn't even released the SDK yet to most vendors, you can wait about 1 year for them to develop the apps to get anywhere near the utility of an iPhone or Blackberry (if the developers aren?t busy making apps for iPhone, Android and Blackberry already!)

[bradford94]

I think your forgetting that the iPhone had 0 apps at launch so maybe you should think before you comment. As for the Pre a ninety percent copy of an iPhone? not really. The Pre has a completely revamped UI that was built from the ground up for multi-tasking and depth. It has a gesture area with implies discreet but effective touch screen controls that never needed to appear on the screen in the first place. AND you aren't constantly backing in and out of applications. And the Pre as a dumb "feature phone"? Is it just me, or did Apple just put a f***in compass in a PHONE?

[Ray180]

Would I rather have a phone that takes 2 years to figure out cut and paste and still has no clue how to multi-task, or would I like a phone that nails those and other things right from the start? Hmmmm....

[jmey]

Maybe you should refresh your memory and remember that Palm came out with most of the iPhone's 'precious little features' you describe YEARS ago.....(ie TOUCHSCREEN, 30,000+ available applications, INCLUDING MRI images, dictionaries, emulators for gaming, etc.)<br />AND maybe you should ALSO remember that this is Pre 1.0---did iPhone have 30,000 app with their first iPhone-i dont think so. Reality check for you and many other readers. Stop force feeding bs to the masses and fact check yourself before writing incredibly numbing and factless statements.<br /><br />Lets also say that for the record, I use and have used all OS's including--RIM, Symbian, Winmo, Palm OS, Android and now WebOS. Palm has released a product with an operating system that keeps them in the game.<br /><br />Move over Apple---there is a giant market and Palm is ready to take it back with WebOS and its GROWING app catalog.

[gfallar]

As someone who has a top ten iPhone app in the app store and uses an iPod Touch every day, there's at least one compelling reason for anyone with human adult size fingers to go for a Pre... <br /> <br />Typing on an iPhone is torture!

Why would I want to get an IPhone when I can get something better?

[JGA638]

So many people with iPhones really have no idea about technology or where it's been for the last 15 years. Sure the iPhone is cute with lots of foolish(some that I like) apps, but it doesn't do crap for someone who needs a phone to make a living. Honestly, Palm's marketing position should be focused clearly on RIM and NOT Apple. The comment regarding "90% copy" is partly true -Palm is basically challenging Apple to come after them for stealing because Palm knows Apple stole from them originally.

[djf69]

I think one of the big differentiators for the Palm Pre is that the new WebOS is made specifically FOR a phone. The iPhone's OS (as most others like Windows Mobile, etc.) are computers OS's tailored to the specifications of a phone. So really, most phone OS's weren't made for the phone. And yes, I don't know who verifies claims, but Apple's iPhone did not have the first touchscreen interface. Palm's had pure touchscreen capabilities long before Apple even entered the phone market. Remember, Palm was a juggernaut in the late 90's with their Palm Pilots which all had touchscreen capabilities. The newer things, such as shrinking and zooming in via touch is Apple's credit. But as far as a touchscreen, Palm definitely had it first.

[ecb1171]

I disagree with the post above. Palm didn't copy the iPhone interface, they improved upon . I think that there are ways in which webOS is already superior to the iPhone and many ways in which webOS is equal to the iPhone.<br /><br />That being said, it's useless to compare the 1.0 Pre to the 1.0 iPhone 3G or even the 1.0 original iPhone. Do I think that after a year webOS will be equal to the iPhone's Mobile OSX, yes. But if I'm a consumer buying now, I have to compare webOS at it's current state against the iPhone OS. it doesn't matter that the 1.0 Pre is more stable than the 1.0 iPhone . Currently, the iPhone is more a more stable and mature platform in regards to hardware, software and apps available.. <br /><br />Personally, the potential of the Pre is what's most appealing to me. For a 1.0 OS, it's very stable and already some things better than Mobile OS (Synergy, better Calender app, IMAP IDLE...) <br /><br />If the Pre came out at the same time as the iPhone 3G it would be a different story, but Palm is late to the game and needs to be very aggressive in doing the following:<br /><br />1) Making sure there is enough inventory to supply both to new customers and to do replacements on the many phones with hardware issues<br /><br />2) Putting out OS upgrades to make webOS more solid and to improve features (though I don't think there are too many features missing)

palm copies apple copies palm ..... look, everybody is copying everybody the question is who can take it to the next level.... apple did with the iphone.... now pre did it successfully too.... heck apple are being/have been sued by a number of companies for taking on board multi-touch, fast web-rendering without their consent... (in case you dont understand what it means, yes those features didnt come from apple)....

[mogley2005]

" Its interface is a 90% copy of the iPhone with: touchscreen, multitouch, flick to scroll and acclerometer." <br /> <br />SERIOUSLY??? Ever heard of a Palm Pilot? Practically invented the touchscreen concept. And honestly, are you saying that because I can take my finger and move it from left to right on the screen that it is copying the iphone??? Really? I will give you credit for the acceleometer, didn't know anyone that had that before the iphone.

[faz]

Hi - webOS is a Rock Solid Platform, Honestly like other OS WebOS is also missing some features <br />it definitely need ateast 2 - 3 Months I am not talking about the APP Store the OS it self need 2 - 3 Month for some major Updates hopefully Palm is ready user Forums and they should know which features are more important to Roll out ASAP . <br /><br />One more thing is What happened to all the standard Palm Treo features which made the previous phones successful and made us all Palm Fans???<br /> <br /><br />· Ability to mask txt messages or have phone display ?one new text message? versus displaying the actual message and sender.<br /><br />· Indicator light to flash on phone when you have a missed call or text message<br /><br />· Ability to forward/resend/save txt messages<br /><br />· Ability to change font size of messages<br /><br />· Ability to highlight and copy txt messages<br /><br />· Ability to change ringtones for txt messaging .<br /><br />Best Place to go and check what major Updates required for Pre .<br />is : http://forums.palm.com/palm/board?board.id=webossoftware<br /><br />Thanks<br />Faisal

[ace10134]

you can highlight and copy txt messages. <br /> <br />The other things, they should have included.

[sixpack5967]

Thank finally with some intelligent to say. Thats what i thought these forums where suppose to be for. Instead I have sift thru a bunch of useless bickering about my iphone is better, good for you but I don't shell out the money you do every month either. Now with said on to the real issues, my pre works fine, no defects no over heating or anything else. But how palm missed not being able to forward a text is a huge over site, I thought they tested this thing.

[jmoriconi]

I'm on cloud nine with my Pre. I would buy it again in a heartbeat if I had it to do over. That said, there were some negative points:<br /><br />- Battery Life: Not as bad as some p/reviews had led me to believe. 6-7 hours of somewhat heavy use will bring my battery % down into the teens. I suspect people reporting less than 3-4 hours of standby must not have gotten the memo about the IM bug. If your battery depletes painfully fast, perhaps you should disable IM until this is resolved.<br /><br />- Screen Distortion/Discoloration: Extremely minor issue for me. I only noticed it when viewing the screen at an extremely off-angle, which really highlights any nonuniformity in brightness or color. There is an almost imperceivable yellowing/dimming in a couple of spots toward the bottom of the screen, but not enough to make me want to RMA it or even notice it during normal use.<br /><br />- Speaker: I fully appreciate the technical limitations of such a small speaker, but a little more volume would have been great. Works fine in fairly quiet settings, but can be a challenge to make out what people are saying even over the drone of my car's air conditioner. Surprisingly, others I've shown the phone have remarked at how loud and clear the speaker is. Maybe I'm going deaf?<br /><br />There are of course numerous minor gripes about the minutiae of the operating system, but I have full confidence that Palm can and will resolve these with updates. If I'm wrong about that, then I'm certain 3rd party developers will gladly step up to the plate and offer alternatives for the bundled apps. Speaking of which... I sure wish they'd release the SDK- and not just Mojo, something lower level as well. All it would take is one good game to demonstrate the power of the OMAP 3430/PowerVR SGX530 processor and the Pre's user base would explode. I suggest anyone who doubts that the Pre's hardware is up to the task of gaming do some searching for demo videos of what the PowerVR can do... quite impressive for what it is.

[dralinusa]

Look people this is the way to tell your review abt you phone, not like other dumb losers out there who just want's to bash Palm or say apple.

[ace10134]

The screen distoration is due to the phone charging and generating a lot of heat, btw.

[chamoruguy]

everything you said was spot on. <br /><br />Another thing about it is how warm it gets. I did the webOS update and it took about 25% of my battery and my phone got really warm. I will definitely be buying the newer version hopefully next year with better battery life and more memory. Also get those SDK kit in developers hands ASAP so we can start seeing some more neat tools.

[ajr65]

Got mine yesterday morning. I gone through it pretty thoroughly and happy with it. I have had absolutely no problems using the keyboard. It is small but got used to it pretty quick. After 1 day I was able to do lots of multitasking on it easily and quickly. I do have friends with that have there iPhones and they seem so much like toys then rather a useful tool.

[ace10134]

Yep, iPhones are toys, WinMo and Palm Pre phones are for getting real things done.

[nskousen]

I got a palm pre on Saturday morning after being #27 in a line of 42 and I showed up 40 minutes before the sprint store opened. So I didn't have to camp out. So far, I really like it. Here are my thoughts:<br /><br />Pros:<br />- OS seems fast and responsive... much better than Windows Mobile<br />- The browser is awesome. Love it.<br />- Seamless integration with Gmail and Exchange Server<br />- Decent intro apps - Pandora is great!<br />- WiFi, Bluetooth<br />- Very intuitive - easy to navigate and the notifications are slick<br />- Consolidated Calendars - this works so well. <br /><br /><br />Cons<br />- Slider is hard to open, especially with one hand<br />- Things get a little slow when running some apps in the "background". While streaming pandora it takes a little while to pull up e-mail.<br />- The phone gets pretty hot after charging on the Touchstone. <br />- It would be nice to have audio notifications of incoming e-mail, text messages, or im's. Maybe there is a setting but I can't find it or it is really faint. <br />- Imports all your gmail contacts so anyone you have ever e-mailed or who has ever e-mailed you. Not a big deal if you don't scroll through your contacts and just use the Global Search. However, it would be nice if you could just sync certain contact folders or groups.<br /><br />Overall, I really like this phone and am very pleased with it. I hope Palm is successful with this phone. I think it is better than an iPhone but I've only played with an iPhone... never seriously used it.

[bonnie.cha]

Hi nskousen,<br /><br />There is a way to get audio notifications for e-mails and missed messages. If you go into the E-mail app &gt; Preferences &#38; Accounts, and go to each of your e-mail accounts, there should be a "Play Sound" option that you can turn on. The same for the texts and IMs, go to the Messaging app &gt; Preferences &#38; Accounts and turn on "Play Sounds" for new messages. Hope that helps and thanks for your comments.<br /><br />-Bonnie

[nskousen]

Bonnie, thanks for the tip. They were turned off.

[geeman68]

Try placing your thumb in the middle of the screen and sliding open the keyboard that way. I find it opens much smoother and easier that way.<br /><br />The phone does get pretty warm while charging, so I hope the innards can take the heat. <br /><br />Just wait until Macromedia gets Flash working for the PRE. Talk about an abundance of games that will become part of the PRE app store!

[JGA638]

"- Slider is hard to open, especially with one hand"<br /><br />I haven't bought yet but played with a unit yesterday -I didn't have any issue with opening the slider. In fact, I thought it was pretty smooth. I've heard some complaints about the plastic being "sharp" and would agree, however it's ridiculous to think anyone could get injured -unless you have hands of silk.

[Spoons]

I originally thought the slider was hard to open one-handed, but I've since realized I was doing it wrong. I'm right-handed, so what I had been doing was to let the phone rest, face up, on the fingers of my right hand, while at the same time, pushing up on the bottom edge of the device with my thumb. This turned out to be a little tricky, becaue the slider would stick, and or the device would try to jump out of my hand. <br /> <br />Here's the better way to do it: rest the device on your fingers, but then place your thumb right on the screen (near the middle, or slightly lower). Squeeze the device slightly, and push open. Works EXTREMELY easily. I guess that since this is my first touch-screen device, I had been afraid to just let my meaty digits dig in to the thing. You may also find that your little finger automatically slides down to the back bottom edge of the device, holding it securely in your hand and anchoring it so that the thumb can push against it. <br /> <br />Sorry for all to whom this is blindingly obvious, but I really did have problems opening it one-handed for the first couple days. <br /> <br />P.S. Love my pre.

[indyraider4]

I would like to thanks spoons about the slider tip. I almost dropped my pre once and seriously considered exercising my thumb.<br /><br />About my pre experience. I went to the sprint store midday of launch and they had sold out of their 35 phone inventory within an hour of opening the store. I played with the two working models which were connected with touchstone. I was put on the waiting list and a few days later I went back in and they brought two pres out of the back (One other person in my family was getting a pre). We set them up, tranfered contacts, and was ready to go in less than 10 minutes. However I didn't go, I sat at a table and started to play with it. I lost track of time and left 30 minutes later, after completely mastering the device. I became comfortable with the gestures and hidden features in 30 minutes. When I went home, I got my ipod touch to play star defense and kept trying to use the gestures and features of my pre, on that. For the first time, I felt restricted on an apple device. Being an apple fanboy, this was weird. When I finally remembered there was no gesture area on my ipod touch, the switch between the two was easier. However, with my pre, I have been able to leave my ipod touch at home and just carry one device throughout the day, something I couldn't do with my old phone. Palm has really blew me out of the water, and this device is a great alternative to the iphone. It is geared more towards business and social connectivity, while the iphone is more for entertainment. In my opinion, the pre wins because of multitasking and the keyboard, but both are very strong devices. Honestly, if you would have told me that the pre is a new apple device and OS that apple is releasing for beta, I would have believed you because it works so fluidly and beautifully, on par with the standards of apple, in both hardware and software.

[drmatthewchan]

It was sold out by the time I made it to the store, but was able to play with the demo units in the store. I must say, the UI is the most intuitive and responsive I've ever seen on a smartphone. I was able to sync the phone with my MS Corporate Exchange account and within seconds all my email, contacts, tasks and calendar events were on the phone and ready to be accessed. Looking up contacts in the global address book was even faster than on my current WinMo phone. The internet browser was very impressive and I had no trouble at all browsing complex pages. Multitasking makes you feel you're using a desktop computer. Furthermore, even with several apps open at once, the device didn't slow down at all. <br /> <br />The keyboard IS small and the buttons aren't raised high enough to my comfort level, but I got used to it in a few minutes. I love the size and how it feels in the hand. I found that whatever features the phone has, it makes use of them very well and executes all its functions efficiently. I probably stood there playing with the demo unit longer than I should, but it convinced me that this was going to be my next smartphone purchase. I'm looking forward mostly to medical software being available and anticipate that it won't be too much longer until it is. Excellent work on a remarkable handset, Palm &#38; Sprint!

[ace10134]

umm, you put your Corprate Exchange account on a demo unit for all future consumers to use???? Hopefully you cleared the phone before you left.

[drmatthewchan]

Yes, I did delete the account before I left the store :).

[David Dudley]

Bought one but I am mostly unhappy with it's lack of performance. When importing contacts from Google GMail, you are left with a huge mess of contacts that is nearly impossible to sort through. If the interface was snappier, this would be less of a chore.<br /><br />The iPhone is much faster, more responsive and you can see for yourself if you browse through your contact list. Just drag up and down on each phone and you'll see the huge difference in performance. I imagine the new iPhone will be even faster.<br /><br />Sadly, I am going to return my Palm Pre as it just could not live up to the hype.

[ace10134]

What, did you have a crapload of apps running in the background? Obviously. Maybe you should learn technology more.

[budderocks]

I don't understand what you are talking about when you talk about draggin up and down. I have used both phones and they seem about the same when you are dragging through a long list. Also, on the Pre, that is not the fastest way to your contacts. It is easiest and fastest to just start typing the contacts name and BAM, there it is. I dislike having to scroll on any phone to find a contact. <br /> <br />I can understand complaining about something if it makes sense, it just sounds like you did not really know how to use the phone. <br /> <br />IPhone and Palm Pre are both fine phones. I like both, and they both have their plusses and minusses. The biggest minus that the IPhone has, though, is that it is on AT&#38;T. Not only are their plans waaaay more expensive than Sprint's plans, but their coverage is not too good if you leave populated areas (Although AT&#38;T is much better than T-Mobile). I travel 100% for work and my AT&#38;T co-workers are always needing to borrow my phone when we get off of the beaten path. <br /> <br />I ramble. <br /> <br />Basically, don't bash something you weren't sure how to use. Customer loyality is great, but when you become a snob about it - you start to look unintelligent. This all reminds me of people and their loyality to car brands, theirs is the best, and every other car in the world sucks. Everyone has good things

[gba2000]

Must be your phone or something, everyone needs to borrow my att phone when we travel.<br /><br />exception for Verizon

[emike2k3]

So far I'm loving my Pre! It's got a few niggles here and there but that's to be expected from a first generation device. I'm not worried about those few things as I'm confident that Palm will be rolling out some updates soon to address those. As far as apps go? Heck, it just launched and already more apps are showing up with more to follow soon.

[drawman7]

I'll start by saying that I am not an early adopter of new technologies or gadgets. I usually sit back and wait for all the bugs to get worked out before jumping on the gadget bandwagon, but I was desperate for a new phone, and didn't want to migrate to AT&#38;T... So I got a Pre on Saturday.<br /><br />I am surprisingly happy with the Pre, both software and the hardware, though the ergonomics of the keyboard are indeed a little awkward. The phone is understated and not so conspicuous, which I like, and it works well. The applications are responsive and they multi-task. The graphic design and user interface are clean and intuitive, (once you learn the back-swipe gesture to return to the previous screen). For example text messages are organized by user, which is really nice. They are more like conversations. Attaching photos, is also relatively clean and easy.<br /><br /> I was able to link the phone to several email accounts without any problem. The screen and camera work well. <br /><br />There are a few things about the phone that I like to see improved. The lack of voice activated voice dialing is somewhat problematic, especially when using bluetooth in a car, since the phone directory requires you to type or scroll through lists of contacts. Probably the biggest flaw in the phone. Maybe I just haven't figured out to do it.<br /><br />I am also irked by the inability to get rid of some of the Sprint pre-loaded applications like the NASCAR application. Maybe there is a big market segment of NASCAR users who want smart phones that's been under-represented. I don't know; I'm just not one of them.<br /><br />Otherwise, applications seem to be coming on board, more quickly than I thought they would. I'm not looking to use my phone for science experiments, or tuning my guitar, or games... so I'm okay with just having a aps to explore. GPS works great.<br /><br />I would also like there to be better integration between Ical/Entourage/Mac. I haven't fully integrated my calendar into the phone, since it will involve upgrading my operating system to 10.5. Hopefully better mac integration will be developed for us non i-phone folks. And a stopwatch. We need a stopwatch!<br /><br />All in all, however, I am very happy.

[cmk_78212]

The user interface has been great. The mp3 player is easy to use and sound great (on head phone). I have it synced with my yahoo mail and with MS Exchange and both work well. The Sprint turn by turn was worked well. So far the battery life has been poor and barely seems to be good for one day of moderate use. I have dimmed the screen. I have turned off Wifi. Maybe I need to stop the continuous sync and set it to every 15 minutes.

[bonnie.cha]

Hi cmk_78212,<br /><br />One tip Palm gave me about optimizing battery life is to actually turn ON Wi-Fi when possible. The Pre is more efficient at pulling data over a Wi-Fi network rather than over a cellular network, so it puts less strain on the battery. I tried it and it definitely makes a difference. Also, if you don't need GPS all the time, turn it off until you do. I'll be doing a quick video with some battery tips soon but hopefully this helps in the meantime.

[cmk_78212]

Oh, and I don't have AOL or google instant messengers running.

[sgrmba]

I love my Pre!! It brought my Gmail contacts in without problems. My calls are clear as a bell. The out of the gate apps are exactly what I wanted/needed. (Everyone seems to have forgotten that it was months before Apple brought the App store up - I am a Mac user so I have no bias against Apple clearly.) The interface is slick and really easy to master. The apps run fairly quickly. I get real-time notices about my emails. The more I use the keyboard the better I get with it. The people that I showed the phone to are amazed at the screen's clarity and resolution. Took some photos with it - they were excellent for a cell phone. I had an iPhone for about 2 months for work - changed it out for a Blackberry. It didn't perform well for me as a phone - I would get a notice about an voicemail but the phone never rang. Plus I am terrible with virtual keyboards. I figured if the Apps are really what I liked about it then I just buy the iPod Touch and I get the apps I like without the AT&#38;T monthly fee (which since the phone wouldn't work - makes sense where I live). <br /><br />All in all - I am so glad I bought this phone!!! Give it a chance folks, give it a chance.

[geeman68]

Hey! There's a concept I didn't even really think about. Get the Pre and buy an iPod to get all the cool apps and stuff without the insanity of ATT lock in. :)

[scottc127]

Your suggestion with getting the iPod touch is exactly what I did. I thought this would be a good experiment because the only difference was the calling features and the camera (which I didn't really care about). I have to say that after I played with my Touch for a while, I was starting to get the itch to buy an iphone... until I started to type. I must not have very good hand-eye coordination because I kept missing letters. After having it for 2 months, I still can't get used to it. Maybe I'm more used to doing 2 thumb typing on my Treo, not sure. <br /><br />Anyway, after playing with the it, I found the ipod touch (and thus the iPhone) to be a fun device that is easy to use and really cool. But I found myself putting the thing down and getting my Treo whenever I needed to get something done (e.g. actually reply to emails, set up meetings with colleagues, etc.). I think if I were a high school kid looking for a cool phone, then the iPhone would be it. But, I'm the ideal candidate for the Pre: business user with a current Sprint contract that expires in June. Getting the Pre for me is a no brainer. I had planned on getting ordering one online on the 6th, only to find out Sprint wasn't taking online orders (which they announced a couple of days before). Nice job Sprint. No big deal really, I can wait a few days.

[GilbertMendoza]

I love my Pre. It's the best smart phone I've ever used. I love the multiple mail box support for MS Exchange servers, Gmail accounts, etc... The linking of duplicate contacts between multiple systems is sweet, calendar integration is awesome, and hello!! this UI just rocks! I control everything with one thumb literally faster than anything I've ever used. Opening apps, switching apps, closing apps, surfing the web, all multitasking with one hand. The only apps I would like (but can wait for) is the shopping assistant available for android... and an SSH client. More apps will come, but this phone is complete just the way it is.

[chernysh]

Switched over from Verizon.<br /><br />Got to the store at 6:30am with my wife, we took Pre's #5 and #6. There were at least 25 people there, and the store sold their entire inventory of 40 within the hour.<br /><br />Absolutely no problems with the phone itself, but porting one of the numbers from our Verizon account occured at the same time Sprint's servers crashed. This left me without a working phone for 24 hours, and without my phone number for an additional 24. All is OK now, and Sprint has upgraded me to a non-advertised plan that is like a "fave 5" with 3 numbers. This is free for both of our lines as long as I stay with them.<br /><br />Overall I'm satisfied, I love the Pre. My friend (who has an iPhone 3G) saw it today and said he wished he had waited.

[jazzywest]

Love the Palm-Pre - I was first online - waited 4 hrs to make sure I got my hands on one - <br />and how it feels is just simply amazing how they designed the Palm Pre to comfortably in my hand and performance is super - very please overall - my only complaint is the lack of ability to change the sounds for tex/email - a soft "ding" and optional vibration is all you get with the phone by default - I guess this will be one of the future apps that will be out in the future - First phone I ever owned where I could not change the email/text message sound or the volume - bit annoyning - other then that - I am very please a Happy Sprint Customer.

[michael24j]

bought my pre sat, was #6 in line at ten till 8am. i have had no problems with the phone and love it. i have some small complaints like the speaker could of been louder, unable to fw txt msgs and that is about it so far.<br /><br />although i was disappointed that Sirius was not on sprint tv for the pre...i used it on my centro all the time....so hopefully that will get sorted out, esp since it was included in the literature that came w the phone as being available...<br /><br />still learning my way around the phone and getting use to it. Overall it is a great device w no problems on my end.

[KayTeeTX]

I'm about 96% in love with my Pre - it is extremely well designed, and I would not trade it for my friends' iPhones. The features are innovative and easy and fun to use. A few of the things I'm not in love with: <br /> <br />* Browser seems very sluggish - I'm not on a 3G network in my area, so that is part of the problem. But my previous phone, on the same network, loaded pages way faster. <br /> <br />* Battery could use some work - it runs down faster than I'd prefer (even with wi-fi, and GPS turned off). However, this is my first SmartPhone, so this could be an issue with phones of this nature. <br /> <br />* The phone was a day old, and already indicated that there was an updated OS available. It also requires a high speed connection to download the updates, which Sprint doesn't have in my area yet. So I'll have to find a wi-fi hotspot to get my update. Not cool. <br /> <br />* I went by the pricing that Sprint announced earlier in the year, and also on their website. Read the fine print very, very carefully. Because I had not had my previous device for 22 months, I was only eligible for the $75 upgrade and NO MAIL-IN REBATE. I've been a Sprint customer for 8 years, and paid over $500 for this phone. I could have gotten the same deal at Best Buy. Sprint Corporate is notorious for not giving a rat's rear-end about its customers though, so I'm not sure why I'm surprised. The only reason I am staying with them is for the Pre (and because I have not had service problems in 8 years). <br /> <br />So far, those are the worst things about this phone and its carrier. I can't believe I spent $500 for a phone, but I'm not sorry. It's worth it.

[WiiZKiiD]

Wait... isn't having updates a good thing?

[Incrocio]

I was just down at the Sprint store and played around with the phone for about a halfhour or so... Just as a point of contention today is the first business day after the 'weekend' launch of Sprints hope for a future and NO PHONES AVAILABLE??? In my opinion this is a really stupid way to take advantage of the consumer and really just stick another thorn in the side of a 'Loyal sprint Customer' again... 12 years I have been with Sprint and my loyalty has run out... I am so disappointed with my 700p that I am ready to jump ship if neccasary as soon as I find a suitable replacement for my phone... Never the less, however,I think my treo os is gonna be a hard one to beat.... My biggest letdown is the fact that the pre doesnt seem to have the 'on demand' handspring program I have so become addicted to... This feature is very important to me do to the fact that I travel greatly and am constantly in a flying environment with no phone or wifi coverage at all.. With 'on demand' I can download all the current news, wx, stokpics,etc and place the phone in airplane mode and still have all that updated info at my fingertips... This program as of right now IS NOT available on the pre.... HUGE.... Plus it seems that there are no emoticons or the simplistic way text messages are arranged intuitivly as on the treo os... So--- Am I dying to get one??? NO--- I think I may revisit the treo line and rethink my wants and must haves before getting rid of my constantly crashing and rebooting 700p... OH!!! Where is the video recorder?? Now the Iphone has one... Is it too much to ask for???

[wmurch3]

I got my Pre a few days ago and love it! The interface is so smooth and rich. I especially love being able to stream Pandora in my car with turn by turn navigation going at the same time. The only downside right now is that I have to wait for some good 3rd party apps to come along but I have my iPod Touch to keep me busy with games and what not. Once some good games and apps come along - so long ipod touch.