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Product: The Palm Pre, sold
by Sprint
Features: 3.1-inch touch
screen with full QWERTY keyboard. Has built-in GPS, a
three megapixel camera with LED flash. Can tap into
nearby Wi-Fi and has eight GB of memory.
Price: $199.99 after $100
mail-in rebate and two-year service contract
Ups: This is a beautiful
phone with a great interface. The operating system's
synergy is convenient: For example, it easily manages
multiple e-mail accounts, imports contacts from Facebook
and Google, and has a layered calendar for Outlook,
Facebook and Google events. I'm also a fan of a camera
with flash, and how you can have multiple programs open
at the same time. And for iTunes users, the phone will
sync up with iTunes when connected to a computer.
Downs: The keyboard is
tiny, and I used my nails to type. Still, it's better
than having no physical keyboard.
Because it's new, there
are not many applications available to download in the
app store, but that can change in time.
Currently the Pre doesn't
have a way to edit or create Microsoft documents like
Word or Excel; this function reportedly is coming soon.
It also doesn't record video — something that pretty
much every other average phone on the market can do.
(Sigh.) Palm said they may look into adding video
recording in the future.
Bottom line: This is a
fantastic phone; I preferred many features on the Pre to
the iPhone. Took me about 15 minutes to become
comfortable using the unique touch-screen controls, but
I have had no problems or quirks interacting with the
screen. The battery won't last more than a day —
especially if you're running all its awesome features at
once. If you're a Sprint customer, this is a must-have.
But considering how often it should be recharged, I
think it's worth the investment of $69.99 to get the
convenient Touchstone Charging kit, which lets you just
recharge by laying it on a magnetic docking pad.
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