Palm Pre Review

BATTERY
    The 1150mAh battery life is about the same as the T-Mobile G1 running Google Android.  Depending on how much you use the the Palm Pre, you can expect to recharge the device at least once a day. You'll definitely want to get the Touchstone magnetic charger and leave it docked there for a significant portion of the day.

BUGS AND WISHES

• No on-screen keyboard, handwriting/character recognition, or any kind of input option other than the hardware keyboard
• No voice dialing or voice recognition
• Bluetooth stack doesn't support file transfer
• No video recording capability.  No video emails or video MMS messaging
• No predictive word/phrase completion
• Back gesture sometimes doesn't register
• No voice recording capability
• Can't open or save PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint files from the Browser
• Can't select multiple email/SMS messages for deletion
• No confirmation for deleting emails
• No categories in Exchange
• SSL with a custom Exchange server certificate didn't work for me
• Can't send or receive Exchange meeting requests
• No file manager included
• Can't use stylus for more accurate screen interaction
• Can't search calendar, tasks, or documents
• Replying to IMAP account emails puts the Reply tag on the sent message, not the message you replied to
• Cut/Copy/Paste only available in text fields.  You cannot copy content from other places like web pages
• Occasionally shuts off at random times
• Keyboard cannot be used to navigate the device. You have to take your finger away from the keyboard and touch the screen

In terms of hardware design, some of the problems are:

• Sharp edges on the sides of the keyboard
• Impossible to keep the screen clean
• Charging the device on the Touchstone can make it very hot
• Screen is prone to scratches

PURCHASING

PROS

• Small, comfortable form factor with slide-out keyboard

• Excellent task manager interface

• Synergy keeps multiple accounts manageable

• Syncs with multiple Exchange accounts, Google sync, and Facebook

• Over the air system updates

• Over the air backups

• Touchstone wireless battery charger works great

• Capacitive screen is very sensitive and uses multitouch

• Attractive interface

• Very fast working camera

• Better than Google's Android

• A few nice functional advantages over Windows Mobile (some of which Windows Mobile used to have in older versions)

• Accelerometer for rotating screen in the web browser and photos apps works well

CONS

• A number of functional limitations compared to Windows Mobile and Symbian S60

• Doesn't work with managed Exchange accounts

• Tiny keyboard buttons are difficult to use

• Exchange syncing has many limitations compared to Windows Mobile

• Can't open WAV voicemails or video emails

• Can't sync with Desktop Outlook   

• No video recording 

• No voice recording, voice recognition, or voice dialing

• No Flash support in the browser

• Multitouch screen is impossible to use with one hand

• Can only use large inaccurate fingers on the touch screen

Value
Ease of Use
Features
Overall

What do these ratings mean?

OVERALL IMPRESSION

    Of course, to a Windows Mobile user, all of that stuff is child's play since we've had those capabilities since the turn of the century. Yet, there are still a few really nice features in the Palm Pre that I wish were in Windows Mobile (or would come back to Windows Mobile.)  IMAP Push, reply status syncing, multiple calendars, multiple Exchange accounts, and better Facebook integration would all be nice to have, but the biggest thing that I like about the Palm Pre is its task management interface.  

    Overall, it seems Palm is keeping its Treo Pro around for the higher end customers who need more functionality with Windows Mobile. That's a good thing, but if you're more into a flashy animated touch screen interface or you're stuck with using iTunes, the Palm Pre is a good contender.  For a version 1.0 mobile operating system, the webOS is quite nice.