I owned a Pre for some time on Sprint. I have been a pretty dyed-in-the-wool iPhone guy since the 2G. I really, REALLY wanted to love the Pre, but my main gripes were hardware, though the lack of CalDAV support didn't help either.
My main hardware complaints were:
- Slider gets loose after a while, twists like an oreo cookie.
- Plastic screen makes me very nervous. Is a major smudge magnet!
- Battery life is rubbish, and mine on Sprint got very hot while looking for signal.
- The USB flap is either an industrial design nightmare, or a really good selling point for the touchstone.
- Ringer switch was rubbish and often stuck.
Hardware issues aside, Palm's WebOS software is brilliant. It does multitasking way better than Android, and looks and feels quite nice. The notifications are great, unified inbox is great, merged (but not combined) contacts are great, etc. In many ways it makes iPhone's OS look a bit...stale.
App selection is VERY weak. The Pre community is a small but VERY active group. The ability to tweak and patch the phone is pretty wicked though if you're into that sort of thing. (I rooted mine and configured it so I could sync via WIFI using Amarok, etc.) This was a big plus for me.
As a fellow iPhone user, I could see being happy with the Pre if I got a Verizon one with free mobile hot spot, and kept my iPhone to use via wireless, but then I'd be carrying two devices to do what one does quite well for me now.
If Palm (or Preware, etc) came up with CalDAV support for the Pre's calendar app, I might consider getting one because the mobile hotspot feature is pretty awesome. (and did I mention free?)
Overall I'd say:
- Hardware: 2/5 (neat concept, poor execution.)
- OS: 5/5 (very excellent platform to live with daily.)
- Apps: 2.75/5 (hard to find big name stuff on the Pre, but unofficial stuff is pretty neat.)
- User Experience 3.5/5 (great OS, poor app selection, questionable hardware)
- Community: 5/5 (very loyal and helpful community)
Buy it if you want a phone that's unique and fun to hack. Don't buy it if you want something that will give you an uncompromising iPhone-like level of utility and range of quality apps.
-n8  |