Although the iPhone seems to be the phone that garners the most attention these days, there is a newcomer that has generated its own fanfare and expectations in the form of the Palm Pre from Sprint. The Palm Pre’s debut at the CES 2009 show provided many cellular phone and gadget fans alike with a taste of its various features and the performance it could deliver. It's time to take a closer look. This is the first part of a two-part review.
The Palm Pre from Sprint has finally been released this summer, and is available for all who wish to make it theirs from Sprint for only $199.99 with a two-year contract from the carrier and after a $100 mail in rebate. You can also pick up the Pre at many large retailers such as Radio Shack or Best Buy. Basic accessories that come with the Pre are an AC adapter, USB cable, carrying pouch, and headset.
Is the Palm Pre worth its price tag and is it better than the iPhone? That of course depends on personal preference. The iPhone's name alone is enough to sell plenty of units, but the Palm Pre is definitely not far behind, and is particularly fantastic and above the rest in terms of its multitasking capabilities and notifications system.
It does lack some features that may steer the business person demographic away. It does not have voice dialing, an expansion slot, or an on screen keyboard, which is a shame since its full QWERTY keyboard is a bit diminutive in nature. The Pre is also lacking in terms of performance due to its rather short battery life and sometimes sluggish reaction time.
The Palm Pre is packed with several features, though, that are sure to keep the casual smartphone admirer satisfied, and, for the manufacturer's and carrier's sake, hopefully help boost fledgling sales and bring them closer to the ever-changing competition.
As mentioned, the Palm Pre from Sprint comes chock full of features sure to keep any user of the device busy with their eyes glued to the screen. In terms of its actual phone-related features, the Pre comes with a speakerphone, conference calling, TTY compatibility, airplane mode, silent ringer, and speed dial. One negative mark against the Pre is that it currently does not allow you to use voice dialing or visual voice mail.
If you happen to run a business or are just popular and have several contacts, the Pre does the job in terms of managing them. You can store as many contacts as you can fit in the 7GB of available memory in the Pre. Under each contact you can list their various phone numbers, street addresses, email addresses, and IM screen names.
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