PC Mag weighs in on the Pre (review)

[ImmaSlave4U]

I know a ton of reviews have been posted, and reading another one might be uninteresting, but I think the more positive reviews we have the better...and here's another one from the folks at PCMag.com: Palm Pre Feature Face-Off - Palm Pre (Sprint) - Full Review - PC Magazine

VERY GOOD

Bottom Line
The Palm Pre is the sexiest handset since the iPhone—and it also marks the dawn of a major new smartphone platform. Although it lacks third-party apps and has some battery life issues, it's much more fun than any other phone Sprint offers.

Pros
Excellent design. Very cool interface. Synergy feature consolidates e-mail, contacts, and calendars. Syncs with iTunes just like an iPod.

Cons
Very few third-party apps at launch. So-so reception. Short standby battery life. Limited IM apps.

[notabun]

I think it's silly when any review knocks an app store when a first version of a phone rolls out. I'm sure the apple app store was tiny when first released.

[cbloom164]

Cons
Very few third-party apps at launch.

Did the iPhone have a app store when it launched? I don't think it did right away. (I could be wrong so don't flame me if I am!) The problem is that the iPhone and its infrastructure is now the benchmark for all future products. So when anyone does a comparison this is to be expected. However, Rome was not built in a day as the saying goes. Check back in a year - that would be a more fair criticism/comparison of the two "apps" stores. In the short term, at least the iPhone will have more apps. Given enough time and if the Pre / WebOS (PALM) does as we all hope, this may not really be a issue for criticism.

I would expect many of the best iPhone apps(hopefully not the worst) to be ported over to the Pre. If the Devs can make money then they will bring their ideas/apps over to the WebOS world.

[dkotoric]

guys quit comparint the app store of the pre to the when the iphone came out, the iphone really had no competition, the pre needs apps and its needs apps quickly to compete with the Iphone. Do you really think a iphone user who has a bunch of apps is going to make the switch if there is nothing available.

[DougB541]

This is the first i've seen of "so-so" reception. Everyone else said its great.


I also so this Palm Pre editorial:
Pre is Not the Homerun Palm Needed - Business Center - PC World

But if you read the bottom he clearly admits he is biased to the iPhone.

This quote got me though:

From what has been shown so far, the real coming battle will be Google Android vs. iPhone and in that contest, it’s possible that Google OS devices could come out on top. Palm, meanwhile, could end up being left way behind, provided Google can do a better job of rallying developers than it has been able to do so far.

I can't take that review/outlook seriously....but it popped up in my Google News feed...which i'm sure will pop up for other people. Unfortunate.

[DougB541]

Originally Posted by dkotoric1

guys quit comparint the app store of the pre to the when the iphone came out, the iphone really had no competition, the pre needs apps and its needs apps quickly to compete with the Iphone. Do you really think a iphone user who has a bunch of apps is going to make the switch if there is nothing available.

But at the same time....It has some of the more realistic apps at launch.

Its not a gaming device...we know this, if you want games, this is not the phone to get. So subtract all the games on the App store. Then you are left with apps that will get used more than just once ....very few. And then a CRAP LOAD of apps that get used once or twice and never again.

Sheer number honestly does not impress me at all.