Comments on: Five of my favorite things about the Palm Pre

CNET editor Bonnie Cha lists her top five reasons for loving the Palm Pre.

[palmprerocks01]

the iphone is kinda slow as u said is not due to atnt's network(ok sometimes it does get slow, but not always). the slowness with webpages is due to the iphone 3G's processor speeds. these processor speeds have been resloved with the new iphone 3G S, but i really dont think that the iphone 3g S will be that of a success, cause the iphone is getting OLD. its too common among people now. yeah companies like samsung and lg tried to make touch screen phones to compete to the iphone 3G, but i believe Palm has really done a good job in creating a phone that is the FIRST competitior to the iphone 3G. sadly i just switched to atnt, but if i had just waited a little bit and knew about the pre earlier, i would switch to Sprint... Sprint is about to have alot more customers in the time to come..

[slapppy]

Here are my favorites of the iPhone 3G S:

Optical Grade Glass Oleophobic Coating Screen - NOT PLASTIC
CPU/GPU same as the pre
Open GL/ES 2.0 Optimized by iPhone OS
iTunes seamless integration
Movies
Video PodCast
Audio PodCast
TV Shows
Music
Music Videos
iTunes University
iTunes Latino
50 thousand apps and growing fast
REAL High End 3D accelerated Games
High End Applications
Dock Connector API and I can't wait to see the 3rd party hardware stuff coming this summer. This alone pushes the iPhone way beyond the wanna bees.
BT API
MobileMe with Locate me and Remote Wipe
Apps open and switch instantly now
Superior battery life by a huge margin

[bankerdanny]

Nice list (again) but not what she asked for.

[fliparagon]

The great thing about BOTH the Pre and the iPhone is how it has raised the bar for Smartphones. A coupe of years from now, who knows what Palm, Apple, or even BB will put out. I'm excited to see what will come down the pipeline then.

[alexacker]

Bonnie,

You first a write a not-so-good piece about the Pre and now it's a 'top 5 list' about the things you love. Huh, I don't understand?

Alex

[alexacker]

[Posted other post too fast...]

Bonnie,

Bonnie,

You first a write a not-so-good piece about the Pre and now it's a 'top 5 list' about the things you love. Huh, I don't understand?

Does this mean that if you had spent more time with other products, you would have changed your negative reviews on them too?? How do we take you seriously as a reviewer now?

Alex

[bonnie.cha]

Hi Alex,

I don't think my review of the Pre was negative. I think it's a great device and I think a majority of people will be happy with the device. All these comments prove it. However, as with any other smartphone, there are highs and lows. Here, I'm highlighting what I loved about it and tomorrow I'll post a blog where I think the Pre needs to improve.

There's much more to love about this phone than not, but as the ratings went, I didn't think the hardware deserved anything above a 7 and at this time, same with performance. As I've said numerous times before in other comment sections, once we get final CNET Labs results and new features are added, I will happily reassess the ratings. Same with any other phone that gets new updates and features (and for those who are wondering, I will check out the updates on the G1 and BB Storm and update our reviews). I appreciate your comment and hope this helps clarify a bit.

Thanks,
Bonnie

[Bombones415]

Bonnie, you are a straight shooter, that's why you are my girl. I really look towards reading or watching your reviews. We all work for a living but seem to enjoy what you do. Cheers.

[picusaurio]

As user of Treo 650 for 5+ years I love Palm products and have a dozen of apps that work great:
Bible reader, Guitar tunner, games, etc.

I was sad to know that PalmOS was to be discontinued. If Pre offers a good level of compatibility with its emulator software, they'll convince me to buy a Palm Pre unit in the near future.

Also the Palm app store will be a huge driver of WebOS success in the long run.

[MisterNolan]

No tethering :(

Its the main thing i use on my HTC Touch besides calling and texting.

:(((

[sahilk]

have you ever bothered trying the iphone keyboard, its actually pretty good, and will only get better with 3.0 horizontal

[Dan7637]

dimfield there is a faster processor in the 3G S
http://www.iphonehacks.com/2009/06/iphone-3g-s-specs-reveals-faster-600-mhz-processor-and-256mb-ram.html

http://calvininjax.wordpress.com/2009/06/08/apple-announces-faster-iphone-3gs/

plus iPhone is not the only phone that doesnt have flash so why not ***** at those other phone makers as well instead of bashing Apple

[dimfeld]

No, I was right the first time. According to those links, the iPhone 3GS has a ~600 MHz processor, which is exactly what I wrote, only I went into more detail. This is an upgrade from the 3G's 412 MHz processor and the iPod Touch 2G's 532 MHz processor. The articles you linked say the exact same thing that I wrote. Read more carefully next time.

Incidentally, the Pre has the same PowerVR graphics coprocessor found in the iPhone 3GS. That makes me wonder if the 3GS is using a similar TI OMAP part like that in the Pre. In that case they would have similar processing power capabilities. The Pre would probably appear to run slower if this is true, since it would be running more tasks at once. But there's no way to know exactly what it's using until someone actually gets a 3GS and disassembles it.

Then I wrote: "So you don't need the flash. Doesn't mean that other people won't find it useful." I didn't even say anything about the iPhone there. Simply that just because you don't find the Pre's flash to be an advantage, doesn't mean that it's not a valid consideration for other people. That hardly qualifies as "bashing Apple" and I don't appreciate your characterization of my words.

Finally, I wrote that between the Pre and iPhone 3GS, I'm leaning toward getting the iPhone. Does that make me a Pre fanboy? The iPhone 3GS and Pre both appear to be good products, each with advantages over the other, so it just depends on which features matter more to a particular person. Just because the Pre isn't the phone for you doesn't mean it's not the right choice for someone else. Likewise, just because the iPhone isn't the best choice for a certain person doesn't mean that it's not what you're looking for. It's largely a matter of priorities. Stop the selective reading, take off your blinders, and realize that it's possible for there to be multiple good products in the market.

Anyway, I'm happy to have a well-reasoned debate, but unless you come back with something better next time, I'm done with this conversation.

[give_it_a_rest]

Can we still post our favorite things about the pre, or have the fan boys run this into the ground as usual...

[kledanhoj]

I bought a Pre Sat.. Never owned an Iphone but bought my boy an IPOD touch which is essentially the same thing.
Here are my favorite things and what I am a little disappointed in..
Favs..
1. Multi-tasking - I love this feature and how easy it is.
2. Closing applications - This may not be mentioned much but if you inadvertently launch an app, you don't have to wait around for it to load to close it, just tap center button and swipe it away.
3. Camera - takes great pics for a phone.
4. It's on Sprint - I know some folks may have differing opinions of networks but Sprint is less expensive and they have the NFL sponsorship. huge deal for me because I am an NFL junky.
5. the gesture area- I'm getting used to it and I am liking it more and more..
6. Querty keypad - some folks have differing opinions but I have had no trouble

Not so favs -
Memory - or lack of expandable memory - I was a little bummed about this but I had a 2Gb Micor Sd on my old phone and I hadn't filled it up over the past 2 years. I figure 8 Gs ought to be fine, time will tell as I don't know how many apps I'll eventually want to install
GPS - GPS sounds great and the phone actually uses the satellites but it doens't work without data coverage which caught me offguard. Why wouldn't it work in the boonies when you really needed it? I'm guessing thats the same for other GPS enabled phones but I could be wrong.
Limited media file support - I have a bunch of WMV files I'd like to be able to view without having to translate them. Maybe it's a matter of time before there is an app that plays multiple media formats.
Importing contacts - well, this one I got a work around to but at first was a little annoying. I couldn't delete contacts that were tied to Googletalk. I fixed it but I think you ought to be able to get rid of any contacts you want


I'm sure there are some things I might be missing but bottom line is I really like my phone. I don't really care if it wins any head to head battles of functionality, it works for me..

[cloudstrife1ph]

haha!!! you made me laugh on the part that you will never have an iphone if they will not release a hardware keyboard. at least there's still few people who doesn't drool that much on the iphone because it's the "IT" phone today...

winmo, android, and maybe pre ALL THE WAY!!! leave the iphone for non techie and fashionistas today....

[Dan7637]

iPhone ALL THE WAY!!! leave winmo, android, an pre for the slow & crappy OS loving, google integration freaks, next joke "iPhone killers" today

[cw9311]

everyone is complaining how the iphone has tons of apps and the pre only has about a dozen but think about this how many apps did the iphone have on opening day or even for the first year.

[J0Sh_0hh]

all yall! damn, just need to be quiet bout the iphone, this palm pre right here is the best phone out its already been said, "CES 2009 award", what you know about that!

ya thats what i thought iphone lovers, ya before this phone i thought the iphone was the best phone, even beating nokia,(surprizingly)but now that this phone is out, it just knocks it out, one punch to head!

[canberra_photographer]

Oh come on, the keyboard is not a plus. The keys are smaller and packed tighter than any of the virtual keyboards on phones from Apple, HTC and Samsung.

[mrolesen]

@shalero I can understand how you'd think that from the pictures and reviews, but in my experience the keyboard has been a joy. I switched from an LG Voyager which had a nice big keyboard with a whole line for numbers, and I don't miss it one bit.

The Pre's keyboard layout works great with the '@' ',' and '.' buttons easily accessible with one push. Also, the small size really helps when using just one thumb to type. I have no problem typing with 2 thumbs.

Don't get me wrong, the iPhone is great, and the virtual keyboard has tons of positive aspects, but that doesn't mean the Pre's keyboard is bad.

[miked91709]

I own a Pre and with its universal search feature with combined synergy is the best I have ever used. I had an I Phone and tried every other smart phone out there before buying my Pre. I change phones six months and It looks like ill be holding on to this one for many years to come, thats how great this phone performs.

[lgsf]

1. Multitasking (love the webOS)
2. Real keyboard (I hate on screen typing)
3. Coolness factor (amazed my girlfriend thinks a phone is cool)
4. Form factor (feels great in hand and like a real phone when opened)
5. Optional replacement insurance. (phone replaced for $100, not an option with an iPhone)