The Palm Pre is available now!

Palm Discovery would like to extend a BIG THANKS to Sarah McConnell and Amy Clark of Environics Communications for providing the product for this review.

Welcome back to Part 4 of a 5 part review of the Palm Pre smartphone! I will now proceed to spend some time going over my observations of the smartphone.

Before I begin my observations of the device, I want to take a moment to share with you my experience or exposure to the Palm Pre long before I even got the review unit. Recently when I visited Vancouver in late August I was quite amazed at how popular the Palm Pre was. Of course, I was down there when the Pre was just released so it’s understandable that there was a lot of buzz about it. Practically everywhere that sold the Pre, I could see people asking for it, or trying it out, or buying one (thumbs up). This is something I don’t ever recall seeing previously with any Palm device. And I think it’s a good thing. I think the marketing and word of mouth has finally caught on and people are at least aware that there is something called a Palm Pre out there. With the popularity of touch devices and smartphones like, ahem, the iPhone, iPod Touch, etc, I think Palm did a good thing with the Palm Pre since now, there is finally a good competitor to the iPhone that offers not only a fully “touch” device experience but also a very business-like smartphone experience with the QWERTY keyboard.

Here are my observations:

I Liked:

Sleek, sexy minimalist design

The Palm Pre certainly differentiates itself from previous Palm designs as well as from other smartphones currently out there in the market. At first glance, the sleek, sexy design entirely in black reminds me of other touch devices like the HTC Touch or the Touch Pro with its soft curved rectangular shape and lots of screen area. But then when you slide out the keyboard, it becomes something entirely new and different. The Palm Pre carries a full QWERTY keyboard so you can type that document without relying on special text completion software to determine your words.

The Pre also “curves” on the side when the keyboard is out, unlike most other smartphones with slideout keyboards that remain straight.

Large, beautiful 320×480 screen (even in direct sunlight)

One of the first things you’ll notice with the Palm Pre is the display. Coming from previous Treos with the square screens, it was quite amazing to view everything in a 320×480 resolution screen. Not only is it because of the bigger screen size, the display is much nicer too! In my video comparison of the smartphones in direct sunlight, amazingly, the Palm Pre offers a great display and even beats the Nokia E71 which I previously thought had a great display.

Multitasking capabilities with easy closing with the “Flick”

Compared to its main rival, the Apple iPhone or iPod Touch, the Palm Pre not only offers similar touch gestures and capabilities but with the much needed MULTI-TASKING support! With the Pre, you can surf the internet and open up various web pages, play your favorite music, open up your calendar and have many other apps open. To go to any one of them, press on the Center button and flip the screen until you get to the app you want to go and tap on it. Very easy. If you want to close it, simply press the Center button and “flick up” your finger. The app will fly up and be closed. I love it!

Palm Synergy (multi calendar support for Facebook, Google, Yahoo mail, MS Outlook)

If you have multiple calendars all over the web like Google, Facebook, and others including MS Outlook, you can now be able to have them all together with the Palm Synergy technology. Open up your calendar and you can choose to either show individual calendars or have them all show up on one screen! Perfect!

Touch screen and keyboard in one device

The Palm Pre can be thought of as having the best of both worlds, offering both a truly touch screen experience with the added benefit of a full QWERTY keyboard all in one device! Unlike many other touch devices which either restrict you to use the virtual keyboard or deal with numeric keys, the Palm Pre offers both without compromises. No more dealing with software that tries to figure out your words, type them yourself on the QWERTY keyboard.

3.0 MP camera

This is a huge improvement for Palm devices as it finally has a semi decent camera. Sorry people, 640×480 doesn’t cut it nowadays, even for picture blogging, especially when many other smartphones offer 5MP quality. At least no one will start laughing at the poor resolution of the Palm Pre camera. Whew!

Built-in flash

One of the most requested feature for any camera smartphone or cell phone is a flash for the camera. Thankfully, the Palm Pre has it! Coming from a Nokia E71 which has a built-in flash, I can’t stress how important it is to have one, regardless of how much it will drain the battery. Pictures quality is greatly improved with flash and I’m so glad that in addition to a 3MP camera, there’s also the flash.

USB Mass Storage support

Although it’s not a big deal, but in this day and age when most smartphones offer a USB mass storage support simply by plugging in the data cable to the computer, it’s nice to see that the Palm Pre can also support it. Compared to the earlier (well, not that early) days when a third party software solution (think Softick, etc) was required to access storage in the device, this is huge. I hated having to run the 3rd party program just so that I can access the files and in many cases, it was a paid software and not freeware.

Auto rotate

With most touch screen devices and smartphones, auto rotate is something that is expected. Again, we are talking Palm and considering that previous devices didn’t have this automatic capability (you had to manually rotate yourself), this is a welcome addition.

Built-in Wi-Fi 802.11b/g with WPA, WPA2, WEP, 802.1X authentication

I feel like I am repeating myself here for most of these pluses, but when you start to compare the Palm Pre’s features with those in previous Palm devices and models, you can understand why I am pointing them out. They simply were not there before and I’d like to give credit when it’s due. And it’s LONG overdue.

For the longest time, Palm smartphones did not come with built-in Wi-Fi. It wasn’t until the Treo Pro running Windows Mobile 6.1 did it come built-in. Even with the earlier Windows Mobile Treos, you needed a Wi-Fi card to get online. And even then, the wireless protocol and authentication was limited. It’s nice that it supports g with WPA, WPA2.

3.5 mm audio jack

Another big stink that many Palm users have been making for a long time was the lack of 3.5mm audio jack. The buck stops here as the Palm Pre offers 3.5mm audio jack. Okay, it stopped with the Treo Pro but I wanted to say it.

I Didn’t Like:

Cramped keyboard keys

Although it’s certainly nice to have both a touch screen and a slide out keyboard, I found the keys to be quite cramped. Mind you, with the Treo Pro, I was already complaining about the keys so it shouldn’t be that different since they are similar. I dislike these types of plastic keys as I personally think they make the Pre look “cheap” and don’t feel or offer a good feel when pressing on them, like those on the Treo 750.

I think if the keyboard was slightly pushed out further on the sides and take away the plastic on the edge that it could make a HUGE difference. I think that this may be my imagination, but I feel that the T and H rows are too cramped together as I have experienced difficulty typing those keys. Yes, it’s likely my imagination as the pictures don’t look like the spacing is any different from other keys.

No expansion card support

I understand that the Pre is meant to compete directly with the iPhone or iPod Touch, which offer no expansion card support but does Palm have to follow them? With most of my devices supporting expansion cards, I find this to be ridiculous. Sometimes it makes things so much easier if I can pop in a microSD card as opposed to connecting the data cable. This is one area where I think Palm went backwards.

Bluetooth currently limited to connecting to audio devices only

I tend to (laziness I guess) transfer files via bluetooth from my smartphones to computer and vice versa. So imagine my shock when I discovered that I couldn’t pair my computer to the Palm Pre! Correction. I think my computer could connect to the Pre, but for some reason, my Pre doesn’t show it and neither could I send a file to the Pre. I went to the manual and found that it currently only support audio devices like bluetooth headsets and stereo A2DP headphones. Again, this falls back on similar features(?) of the iPhone/iPod Touch. Can we get away from these copy cat ideas?

I do hope that in future updates that the Pre can connect to other bluetooth devices whether it be anothe smartphone, headphones, computers, etc. I have no problem transferring files between my Nokia E71, laptop, Treo 650, Treo 750 so why not for the Palm Pre and iPod Touch? Argh.

Currently doesn’t support video capture (update expected soon)

Palm, well, at least the Treos I know come with video capture so you can imagine my disbelief that there was no video capturing capability (yet). I must stress this because it seems some Palm Pre fans are giving me some heat for complaining about that. So, apparently, in an upcoming update release, video capture WILL be coming. Okay. But right now, it seems silly to only be able to take pictures with this beautiful screen. Oh well.

Auto rotate doesn’t work on main screen and some other apps/screens

Again, I’m already sick of saying the same things. The auto rotate feature doesn’t seem to work on the main screen (sigh, same as with the iPhone/iPod Touch) as well as some other programs and apps. Thankfully, it works on the web browser which is where it really counts but it would be nice to be able to have auto rotate support more apps and screens.

Slide out keyboard doesn’t slide out as smoothly as I’d like

Perhaps this is limited to the loaner unit I was reviewing but I am having some concerns of the slide out keyboard of the Palm Pre. And if you remember the history of Palm and slide out features in previous Palm devices, you may also have a concern too.

Flash back to the old days (again, it’s not THAT old) when there was the Tungsten T, T2, T3 and Zire 71. Although it was COOL to have that slide out design, many owners of such devices (including me with the Zire 71) found out that over time, the internal data cable in those devices would bend and break. It ended up being a huge problem as many had to get their devices repaired through places like Shawn’s UsedPDA. Thankfully, Shawn’s services are very reasonable and he’s great. Anyway, back to my concern.

The Palm Pre unit that I was trying out, didn’t seem to slide out very smoothly and I found myself pushing a bit harder than I would have liked. With my previous experience with sliding and moving parts on a device, I am slightly concerned about how the slider will work over time. Again, I do not have any research on this but merely this is my opinion. I certainly hope that the slide out keyboard won’t experience similar problems but time will tell. I just wanted to voice my concern now so you have an idea.

Help requires the internet

Okay, this one boggles my mind. Yes, I know it’s called WebOS but does it HAVE TO connect to the internet to get the Help screen? Come on! I got the surprise when I was accessing the Help screen obviously when I was not at home nor near any wi-fi hotspot. I get this message that it requires me to connect to the internet. What?!!!

Let’s think about this. When I need to access the Help screen, it may very well be at a time when I am not at a location where I can get internet so what happens now? I am shocked that I needed to have access to the internet when I need to access the Help screen.

I was a bit angry over this so I wasn’t in any mood to try out if the other features of help such as the video tutorials or anything else was accessible without the internet so I can’t comment. All I can say is if it’s not accessible then it’s aboslutely ridiculous and I’d suggest loading a pdf file of the manual on your Pre just in case. Sheesh.

No hardware buttons except Center button

Yes, I am aware that the Palm Pre is a “touch” device but I am someone who does prefer buttons over a touch screen. Sometimes, I’d like to use buttons to navigate around rather than flicking my finger or dragging it around the screen. So I am a bit disappointed that there are lack of directional buttons and no Phone SEND or END button. I think at least the SEND and END button should be available. During a call, I was at a total loss on disconnecting the call. But again, that’s my opinion based on my preference for keys and buttons.

Sharp edges of the device

I have found that the edges of the device, especially when the keyboard is extended or slid out can be rather sharp. I’m not saying that I can cut my finger by running it over the edge, but it is a lot sharper than I’d expect. Yes, I guess if I own a Palm Pre myself, that I’d probably try to file the sharp edges away. It is a slight concern for me and hopefully, future models’ edges aren’t as sharp.

Yes, I can be quite picky about some things, but isn’t that the reason why you’re reading my reviews?

Hopefully, this list of both the “likes” and “dislikes” can give you an idea of what the Palm Pre’s strengths and weaknesses are. Of course, these are my own personal observations and opinion and I’m sure that many will disagree with me. Regardless, I enjoyed the Palm Pre with all its shortcomings.

This concludes part 4 of a 5 part review of the Palm Pre smartphone. Part 5 will conclude with my final thoughts of the Palm Pre smartphone. Check out Part 1 which provided an overview of the Palm Pre smartphone. Part 2 covered the software with videos showing how it looked from the inside. Part 3 focused on the camera and compared images taken by the Nokia E71, Treo 750 and Palm Pre. Part 5 will conclude the series with my final thoughts.

Enjoyed this review? Check out the many other Palm Discovery product reviews of PDA and smartphone products here.

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