Comments on: Poll: Will you buy the Palm Pre?

With the press giving the Palm Pre favorable reviews, Crave polls its readers to see if more people will now buy the smartphone.

[myDrpC]

Hi Bonnie. I'm not sure if you really read each of these comments or not - however I hope you do.

I think you have a great following and good reviews - however, I also felt you were a little tough
on your review with the PRE. Most of the other reviews (NOT INCLUDING the BGR report which wasn't a real review), where okay - some a bit bias however most postive.

Considering the IPhone will NOT have a removable battery any time soon & NO keyboard, I having
trouble understanding how the you are having issues at all with the battery. Simply put, the battery
should be better the more you use it and with ALL smartphones which I'm sure you know, it takes some
tweaking to season the battery just right including changing features on the phone itself.

The keyboard basically is the same size as the Blackberry Curve which is very popular currently which
I also have now and will retire for the PRE.

Anyway, long story short - we should probably be more cauious about reviews and lean a bit towards... not all situations fit for everyone, however the PRE clearly has changed the game and in a class by itself.

It's Apples time to answer (which I'm sure they will) and this is coming from someone that will also be purchasing the HTC Touch PRO 2 and have the Touch PRO.

Plus, I a bit confused - CNETV had a video that said The iPhone sucks (more because of AT&T) and
and you were a bit upset because you couldn't hold the PRE which I understand, so I at least expected
a bit more support for such a first release ultra phone (more than smart).

Why is this phone SO UNIQUE... " There is NOT 1 smartphone out there that can connect to multiple
exchange servers including ALL windows mobiles devices today ", not to mention adding google and facebook as well. This phone clearly has more business attributes under the hood than social, course this is just my two cents and I'm sure not everyone agreeds with this.

Thanks for the review! We still support ya :)

[bonnie.cha]

Hi myDrpC,

I do read the comments and have seen all the ones in response to the Pre--good and bad--and take them to heart. And I appreciate your comments as well; you make valid points. Not all situations fit everyone and I tried to point that out in my review, saying that a broad range of Sprint customers will enjoy this device but I still have a little trepidation about the Pre as a serious business device ... for now. When and if Palm pushes out over-the-air updates to fix some of the issues, such as battery life (or any of the other features), I will be forthright and happily update the review and rating if need be. Also, like I said in the review, we're running a number of battery tests on the device and will update the review with CNET Labs results.

And I definitely agree that the Pre has changed the game, which I addressed in the bottom line when I wrote, "... Palm has developed a solid OS that not only rivals the competition but also sets a new standard in the way smartphones handle tasks and manage information." I apologize if that wasn't made more clear.

Again, thank you for the comment (and support) and thanks to all who have commented. Like I said, I am reading every one of them and welcome the open discussion and will try to participate where I can.

-Bonnie

[oneAwake]

Would you recommend the iphone as a business device? The Pre has the ability to setup 7 exchange accounts not even the mighty Blackberry can do that. As for the battery issue, Palm said leaving buggy AOL running will drain the battery, as well as having the Pre fetch for mail rather than setting up IMAP-IDLE-PUSH. It's the same technology Blackberry's use. IDLE is the reason Blackberry's have excellent battery life, it makes a huge difference. Lastly, you have to expect that a new device to the network will search and go through provisioning as well. Palm sent out an update a few days ago, to my understanding another update is scheduled for June 6th.

[chowza]

My iPhone was purchased unlocked with no carrier contract from the Apple Store in Hong Kong, and I use it with several SIMs I carry for several countries. The iPhone offers all the functionality I need, I'm not tied to any carrier anywhere, and I have no minute-based or other ricidulously controlling contract with anyone. On that basis, I'm quite happy with my iPhone and have no need to change to something else.

[kevsmyname]

I hate the way the N97 is never considered over in America I cant wait to get one in Ireland!

I think it wipes the floor with the Pre for features!

[Preloopy]

Yes, I will get one.... if they have any. You are so lucky to have got one before they came out. You are one lucky girl!

[troyrader]

12 years on sprint. Happy customer. Massive improvements in customer service in recent months. Amazing in fact. Long time hater of att. Love the iphone. Was willing to become an att customer for the iphone. Pre looks good so far. Just waiting to touch the Pre and read a few hundred reviews of it in the coming weeks. Also waiting on new iPhone details. Will buy one or the other in August.

[tek-ed]

I can't abide by the closed architecture of the iPhone and the Pre...too many restrictions which allows me too little control! I personally like the HTC products...currently using the HTC Tilt on AT&T. I love the fact that there are tens of thousands of apps available for this device for *FREE*. Plus, it integrates seemlessly with my Exchange mail system...allows me to remote desktop into any of my computers either at home or at work, an I am free to load whatever apps or files I want on this thing! That's the most important thing....I don't have to go to any stupid online store to get what I want to use...
Ed

[carbine68]

Some journalist you are don't retract what you have already said in your video. Its an ok phone but its slow and its on Sprint. Enough said.

[quantumsingularity3]

I definitely do not plan in purchasing the PRE because I do not want to have to extend my contract with this failing company. Granted, I do have my complaints about Sprint. Their network is decent at best since when I'm attending class on campus, I either get no signal or I go into roaming but all carriers have holes in their network. The real problem is the bureaucratic customer service that I have to endure time and time again. I am just sick of being transferred 3 - 5 times in order to get support over the phone. And when an issue can't be solved, they make a "trouble ticket" and say it will be resolved in 72 hours....which never does.

[quantumsingularity3]

I definitely do not plan in purchasing the PRE because I do not want to have to extend my contract with this failing company. Granted, I do have my complaints about Sprint. Their network is decent at best since when I'm attending class on campus, I either get no signal or I go into roaming but all carriers have holes in their network. The real problem is the bureaucratic customer service that I have to endure time and time again. I am just sick of being transferred 3 - 5 times in order to get support over the phone. And when an issue can't be solved, they make a "trouble ticket" and say it will be resolved in 72 hours....which never does.

[Tinman52]

I'm on VZW and waiting for the Storm2 next year when my contract's up. I'm still very happy with my Dare atm too.

[Doax]

So far my wife is sold on the Pre, shes upgrading from a Centro so shes all about getting the newest palm device. Also she would be used to the keyboard size which I'm kinda wary about. Either way we've already made phone calls to Premier Phone Upgrade and inquired which they said we'll have to go to our local Sprint Store for but they offered us the Touch Pro for the price of the Pre...$100 off was tempting but not enough.

Me however I'm not sure if I'll upgrade to the Pre. We already have an Family Everything Data plan so I'm already paying for data. But I'm going to hold out till I see hers, its sad to say that I'm actually holding my breath waiting for the Instinct 2 to come out. So unless the Pre steals me away from my patient waiting I'll most likely not make the move into the Pre. I know that the Instinct 2 and the Pre wont be on the same level, but as it is right now I have a G1 for my work phone so I've already gotten the smartphone base covered and now I really just want a full featured dumbphone as my personal one.

When it comes to peoples issues with Sprint coverage you have to understand that its totally handset dependent. I have a Sanyo SCP8400 right now that is bulletproof everywhere I go. But I've tried out two Instinct S30s and a Rant both made by Samsung that have had reception issues. When it comes to data plan prices Sprint cant be beat, cus I just was weighing on bailing and going to some other carrier but once I looked at their plan prices I laughed and decided to stay with Sprint.

So good luck to everyone on getting a Pre on launch day, or soon afterward.

[oneAwake]

With respect to your poll, "Going to wait till it comes to another carrier." Should be removed, looks like Verizons CEO will have to eat crow. I doubted Verizon was getting the Pre in Jan, my doubt has been confirmed.

[ejmarin1]

Ok, I'm baffled by CNet's Pre review. Bonnie Cha says the Pre is a game-changer, but then gives it a 3.5 star rating, which ties it with a Samsung Rant, and makes it not quite as good as a Samsung Instinct (4 star rating). I can't quite grasp that.

[polarbebe]

I'm also baffled by that comment. Its not a "game-changer", I played with it today at the Sprint store. The iPhone was a game-changer in 2007, every phone after that has copied the iPhone with touchscreens and app stores. What has the Pre introduced that every phone will be trying to copy? I can't think of ANYTHING.

[forsgump]

I wonder if this phone will be all hype until a bit after it's released then fade. Even though I have an iPhone, I am not a fanboy and believe that *real* competition is good for consumers, so I'm rooting for the Pre (or something) to succeed, even from my contract-locked cell.
Anyone remember the Storm that was supposed to be the killer... Just an also-ran now.

[rachiebee]

My issue with Bonnie's review was the rating score she gave. 7 out of 10? SERIOUSLY? According to her review of the Pre, if we are to compare the ratings of sprint phone's, I should buy the Instinct or LG Lotus before I buy the Pre. That doesn't even make sense. How did it not at LEAST get 8 /10? I just can't believe that. Was the battery REALLY that bad? Bad enough to eclipse the amazing new WebOS, etc?

and I constantly follow CNET's reviews when new phones come out because I trust what they have to say. But this is just crazy to me. Sorry, Bonnie. I don't get it. I understand being "real" with people, but why such a crappy rating score?

[bonnie.cha]

Hi rachibee,

The rating was actually 7.3, which, I know, you might think is still low. To us, a 7.3/3.5 stars rating is very good and a recommendable product. I also wanted to clarify the scoring against other phones. When I'm comparing the Pre to other handsets, I'm doing that against other smartphones and not to every cell phone on the market, such as the LG Lotus and Samsung Rant (for ejmarin1). We do this with all cell phone reviews where we compare similarly featured phones to each other to have a level playing field. So based on that, the subratings for the Pre went like this:

Design: 7
Features: 8
Performance: 7

The battery life was a big enough issue for me that I thought it deserved a 7 but like I said earlier, we're still running battery tests and when Palm issues updates to fix some of the problems (such as the AIM bug), I will certainly adjust the rating and include an Editor's note saying so. Likewise, if new features are added, we'll revisit the Features subrating as well.

Hope that clears up a little bit of the confusion.

Thanks,
Bonnie

[talmy]

No Pre for me, but then I'm not a cellphone user. I do use a PDA but last year switched from my aging Palm Tungsten E to an iPod Touch. For me the Touch is the only PDA still being developed as the Palm PDA line is basically dead.

If I were a cellphone user, I'd certainly have bought the iPhone. The Pre would have been too late to market.

[SiliconValleyJoe]

When it comes to service, I have to agree. Apple got itself stuck with a bad service company.

ATT is claiming to up the speed and so on but who cares about speed when the call bandwidth is so congested that either it is slow or the calls are dropped.

Apple has to start turning the screw on ATT else it is going to risk losing a lot of people. ATT has better pay attention to its service now and start working hard at increasing bandwidth so that people do not drop calls. What is the point of hogging one of the few premiere device and then choke it to death?

We have complained to ATT several times, sure hope it is listening.

[isc_dpm]

Apple rules!!!
Multitasking makes slow the devices... until we get super fast processor... we can have that...
nothing can beat Iphone now with the 3rd gen... face it!! is friendly and the best part you can have an ipod touch with the same apps without contracts... Windows is windows and I dont trust in windows OS... I wasn't sure with the 1ft gen of the iphone but they are improving a lot! and that means they will get better and better... sorry windows... one day you will see a window app for a couple $$ hehehe

[aman_8505]

Pre is wack....did u see those lines with about 5 ppl waiting for the phone lol. the Iphone is the best out there right now (ie app store will destroy any competition out there), after wwdc the iphone is gone be that much better, sprint is like the GM of phones "just a piece of ****"

[trippendicular57]

Pre is "wack"? Do you have one? Have you run it through its paces? If not, then pipe down.

Or are you just bored sitting in your cubicle at the AT&T call center, trying to avoid dealing with customers who hate your service?

[robschoenfeld0511]

I still think Bonnie is Apple Biased I'm sorry she only seems to praise phones with half eaten fruit on them. However they do have other editors with opposite opinions so it keeps everything pretty well balanced. I hope that Iphone v3.0 was worth selling your soul Bonnie. I'm sure we'll know when your NDA ends.