Comments on: Palm Pre to arrive June 6 for $200

Sprint will sell the smartphone for that price after a $100 mail-in rebate and with a two-year contract for a data plan.

its not only iphone, any phone should come out with something spectacular to beat Pre.... lets get one thing straight first, Pre is not a full-fledged multi-media phone (although its camera with Extended depth of field should surprise us all), and not a game phone. it is a "productivity, life managing, and people connection device"...... what do most - "most" being the key word - of you do / want to do most with your mobile phone given sound and video recording, gaming, camera, video player are now a tap away on your mobile phone ? barely gaming, video-recording, or sound recording. we communicate ie texting, email, chatting; we go through activities ie. scheduling. all is delivered with such super user-friendliness. so any phone can beat the Pre it has to have the ability of Pre first and foremost, iphone fun-factor, sony-ericsson powerful camera, Nokia or Samsung High-Defiition video wizardry. but that said, it's the moment of truth whether Pre - especially the synergy - will deliver what its promised.

The info coming out of the apple conference is a non issue for me. I've been waiting since the January announcement of the Pre at CES to buy this new phone from Palm.

[belcyn]

What is pricing for current Sprint customers? In my experience, the $200 price will only be for new customers. Existing customers will have to pay something in the neighborhood of $500 or more for upgrading (subtracting whatever upgrade credit you might have). Not a good price at all. Any idea of what will happen for the existing customer? Thanks-

[mzieman2]

I just got word from Sprint Customer Support and they informed me that the price of the phone without a contract will be $499.99, while customers upgrading after one year will receive a $75 instant rebate, making the phone $424.99. Existing customers, as always, do not qualify for the mail-in rebate. You also have the option of trading in your existing phone for a $50 subsidy, or of course, selling it on ebay. So yes, this is just a confirmation of what you've already hypothesized.

I'm right there with you man. Such BS, why do existing customers always get hosed?

[mottyman1]

if you are eligible for the $150 dollar upgrade you get new customer price including mail in rebate. At least if your a premier customer you do. I looked it up on the sprint site and all the phones with my upgrade price were the same as a new customer and included a $100 mail in rebate on pda's.

[diamondduq]

It's nice to finally have some release information about the Pre but May 6th would have been a better release date. June 6th is too close to the highly speculated new iPhone announcement as well as a slew of other new phone releases including the Nokia N97.

[kelmon]

If Palm announces an international release of the Pre within the next few weeks then I'll wait. However, I'm very much looking at getting the new iPhone when it arrives and if the Palm Pre is not available in Belgium by then (or due very shortly) then it's going to be an iPhone. Mind you, if it's going to be Windows-only then that'll be a deal-breaker immediately.

Anyone know what Palm's international plans are for the Pre and also whether it is going to have decent support for the Mac?

[kelmon]

Palm's web site seems unable to answer my question but something that I am concerned about is the little footnotes regarding GPS support, which is a big deal for me. For starters the site states that GPS coverage is limited by area and time (?), which rather makes a mockery of the Global aspect of the Global Positioning System. Further, it also states that it "[r]equires data services at additional cost" - why? This rather sounds like the data (presumably maps) is being transmitted via the cellular network rather than being installed on the Pre itself, which again sounds odd since it also states that a 3rd party application is needed that you would have thought would come with the necessary maps.

Something is rather odd here.

[seven7dust]

yup no word on Mac support yet !
but seeing how Palm is using drag and drop for file transfer
it might just work and Rubenstein was a ex Apple guy afterall

[ouijules]

I'm a software developer and I have an iPhone but somewhere along the way it has lost a bit of "magic" to me because of all of Apple's restrictions and not-that-common programming language. Although the UI is one of the best if not the best I feel very attracted to the possibilities and offerings from Android and now webOS. AT&T's pricing is also a very discouraging fact compared to T-Mobiles G1 "unlimited everything" plan. Hopefully Sprint will do the same with Pre here in Puerto Rico.

[fasteners]

My company both has Sprint and AT&T...By no means do I hold either in very high regards; both have their issues...I will say though Sprint has way more issues than AT&T; at least from my experiences...Their customer service sucks and we even have a sales rep and that person isn't worth a ****...Sprint continues to loose clients by the drones...If they or anyone else thinks the Pre is going to come save the day you're going to have a rude awakening...I don't even know why this device is even being compared to the iPhone...Let it get to market and let the real world decide if this device is worthy enough to be a part of the smartphone market...I personally think they are coming late to the game and the device has lost it's luster and therefore will fail...What I mean by fail is it won't have the success that Palm and Sprint think it will have...

[Scottrosenberg91]

I have been waiting too long for this device to be released to let apple rain on the parade. I'm not even thinking about waiting to hear about the new iPhone.

[DMAN3k]

saves me a cent to buy the dock and cover separately... interest concept...

[dmksaved]

just want to point out the sprint unlimited plan is $99 .
since being with iphone and AT&T I have 450 mins in my plan, 1500 text messages + the big thing I like about AT&T is Rollover mins.. I now have about 1500 rollover mins . No cell phone company but AT&T offers that . This is plenty of mins for me . I have managed it pretty well to get that many rollover mins .
All of this cost about $93 bucks a month with taxes , sprint is $99 + taxes is more. I switched from Sprint to AT&T when the iphone came out I have had the original 2G , now the 3G . I will never go back to a different phone or service. What other phone syncs with Itunes the #1 music, Video, App store in the world. does the palm pre do this?

[sweaty_taco]

I'm not sure what the whole point of your post is, but you are wrong on the price. Sprint has an Everything Plan starting at $69.99 for 450 minutes.

This includes the following.

* Unlimited data: Web surfing, email, BlackBerry Internet Services (BIS), GPS Navigation, Music Premier, TV Premier, NFL Mobile Live, NASCAR Sprint Cup MobileSM
* Unlimited Direct Connect: Direct Connect and Group Connect (for capable phones)
* Unlimited messaging: Text, pictures and video
* Talk: Unlimited mobile to mobile, night calling and weekends starting at 7 p.m., nationwide long distance and no roaming charges

[alsbob23]

Bonnie,
Any word on a retail price? As an old SERO subscriber, I'd be willing to pay retail on the unit so that my plan doesn't get screwed up. I'm thinking a $500 price, any word?

[bonnie.cha]

Hi alsbob23: I'm trying to find this information for you and I'll update the post when and if I get a response from Sprint.

[CDubber]

REBATES SUCK!

Just another consumer scam. Nice work Palm/Sprint.

[Ronita28]

Freaking Awsome.. Finally the day has come when I can set my calender to beat the geeks and go purchase my Palm Pre ASAP!

I am thrilled to have a confirmed date! I was considering the iphone but having had a touch screen phone without a keboard has turned me sour. I want the option of a keyboard and I dont think the iphone will provide that. How long does it take you to text or reply to an e-mail from your touch screen phone?

Inquiring minds want to know...

[lisbeth28]

I can not wait to get this phone. My #1 concern are there going to be enough Palm Pre's to go around? This phone is being hyped and I would hate to get to a Sprint store to be put on a waiting list.

[honuman32]

Finally the release date! Sheez....the anticipation for this phone went beyond the pale for me. Maybe Palm needed all this time to get their ducks lined up properly but from January to now felt like an aeon. I've been on Sprint and I've been happy with them (surprisingly enough) and I didn't want to switch out but the iphone had been luring me (all the obnoxious fanboy rhetoric aside). I know the iphone is a great phone but I want a physical keyboard and when I heard that it didn't have cut and paste (something the new iphone will have I know) I figured I'd wait to see the Pre. My biggest concern now is that it's successful for Palm so the phone will get the company support it needs like apps and customer service.

[troyrader]

I've owned a Palm OS device since 1998, and have a 700p on Sprint today still. Had decided to get the next rev iPhone when it comes out, but the Pre has my attention now too. I'm not in a major rush, so I can wait for user reviews and feedback on each, to come out. I can get over the rebate, but that was a dumb move. My major hesitation with the iPhone is that it is on at&t. That fact alone is *almost* a deal killer for the iPhone for me. Sprint's data side has been so much better for so long. My 3 kids each have a Touch, so there is an attraction to having all the apps (games) I've bought for them, on my iPhone for no added cost (apple licenses those for 5 devices, last I knew). But I could get past that if the Pre is solid. If you can tether the Pre, that would be great. Rumors have swung back and forth on that. Lack of SD or microSD or higher memory options is a bummer. The iPhone is REALLY sharp. If the Pre is good, I'm leaning slightly that direction. If reviews are not as positive, I could lean back toward the iPhone. A virtual toss-up for now, with slight leaning toward Pre. Pricing and features look good so far.

[miles4444]

Finally its coming and will not be waiting to here what Apple is doing with the iPhone.

[swenk22]

I have a family/biz plan w/att that I'm happy (and contracted) with. I've not got the iphone cause it can't do what my palm tx does (yet). If the pre was available w/att and it does what my palm tx does (plus advertised) I'd be getting the pre soon.

$300 bucks? I'm a little disappointed. I am with sprint and have a treo which i hate. I was all set to switch to an iphone when CES hit and i've been waiting for the pre ever since. Unfortunately, i don't really feel excited right now. $300 is too much. yes, I know, rebate. but it's $300 out of pocket RIGHT NOW and then you get $100 back in 8-12 weeks if you remember to send in your rebate paperwork!

Plus the thought that they might try to screw me over with a $75 subsidy because I'm a current customer doesn't make me feel happy inside. I'll cancel my service at that very moment, walk across the street to AT&T and become an iphone user.

[1914inches]

Ok, so i called Sprint and of course spoke to some guy in India named "Steve". ANYWAY. I asked him what the retail price for the Palm Pre would be and he had no idea what i was talking about. He did not even know that there was a press release today stating that the Pre would be $199.99 pending $100.00 mail in rebate. ***! So still i am without the knowledge of how much it would be for existing customers extending two year contract. I know i get the full $150 upgrade discount but whats the price? $399.99?, $499.99?Come on Sprint we have had 5 months of this run around, lets get with it and train your customer service reps better. In fact bring em back to the States please!

Just so everyone knows: If you qualify for $150 off then you get all the additional instant discounts and mail-in-rebate just like a new customer does. End of story, you can relax now. :)

Also, I personally hate Mail-In-Rebates myself, but when other carriers offer a gift card, at least Sprint cuts you a check and the store employees will help you make sure you fill it out correctly.

[1914inches]

Thank you, now if only "Steve" could have told me that earlier! lol