[dbpaddler]

wow. imagine that. a company giving their users more options to make their product more attractive to use. Bottom line is xD is on the way out and there is only company left that is using something other than the SD standard. You mention all the antiquated features of the Centro and why they didn't make it to the Pre. A card slot is hardly an antquated feature. Card readers have been around for ages, and if someone is going to sell one, they're going to give the customer as many options as possible even if most of them don't get used. But you think cards are so yesterday. We should just carry the connection cable and plug in everywhere we go. Cards are just such a silly concept anyway. Limited on board memory is where it's at. I can finally see the light.

Yeah, these formats are so unused that pretty much every digital camera kiosk in existence has slots for them. It's a good thing that no digital cameras were sold before SD became the leading standard.

You try so hard...

[Aero]

That's a prime metric among iPhones. It's not a prime metric versus other phones because almost none have onboard memory of any significant capacity. There's no basis for comparison. .

It is a comparison that is going to be in peples minds. Of the 100 articles I just googled on the Pre launch in financial market, tech sites and consumer tech sites, every one mentioned the iphone.

[Reeves]

wow. imagine that. a company giving their users more options to make their product more attractive to use. Bottom line is xD is on the way out and there is only company left that is using something other than the SD standard.

But you don't think a sizable number of people bought Fuji, Sony, and other brand cameras? Why can't they get a slot on the Pre to put their cards in too? Why can't people who bought headphone adapters for the Treo and Centro used their adapters or 2.5mm headphones on the Pre?

No device can be everything to everybody. You can say "Well, I'm not asking for that. I just want X what I want." But why is that more valid than what Y somebody else wants? It's not. Pre has what the vast majority of people need. Hopefully, Palm will target the rest of the people with future devices, but they have a winner right now.

You mention all the antiquated features of the Centro and why they didn't make it to the Pre. A card slot is hardly an antquated feature. Card readers have been around for ages, and if someone is going to sell one, they're going to give the customer as many options as possible even if most of them don't get used. But you think cards are so yesterday. We should just carry the connection cable and plug in everywhere we go. Cards are just such a silly concept anyway. Limited on board memory is where it's at. I can finally see the light.

A card is limited just like the Pre memory is limited. They're both finite flash storage options. You wanna buy and carry more cards. I prefer to swap files in and out for free, and leave the accessories by the computer. Palm thinks users like me are more plentiful and attractive right now. The market for iPhones vs. the market forany other phone with expandable memory has proven this to be so. They gotta go where the money is. Sorry, buddy.

[Reeves]

It is a comparison that is going to be in peples minds. Of the 100 articles I just googled on the Pre launch in financial market, tech sites and consumer tech sites, every one mentioned the iphone.

Every new feature handset or smartphone gets compared to the iPhone. The Bold, The Storm, The Touch Pro, The Omnia, The G1....all of them.

[joelpalm]

Not very important, I don't keep much on my card in the form of videos and music.

[Aero]

wow the poll had been closer split for some time and we had 48 newly registered "voters" come in vote this poll, in favor of "8 GB of on board memory is sufficient for me. " and never make a prior or subsequent comment? elves?

[Kupe]

wow the poll had been closer split for some time and we had 48 newly registered "voters" come in vote this poll, in favor of "8 GB of on board memory is sufficient for me. " and never make a prior or subsequent comment? elves?

Palm employees - they've been known to infiltrate these boards in the past to push their "buzz" on the unsuspecting.

[Pearl_Diva]

I suspect we have at least one active Palm employee posting. Either that, or some serious Palm fanperson. There's no other explanation for their "Palm can do no wrong" attitude. If it's someone who worked on the Pre, I must say they do a good job of defending their product.

[Reeves]

I suspect we have at least one active Palm employee posting. Either that, or some serious Palm fanperson.

I guess that's supposed to be me? Ok. I truly do wish I worked with the Pre in some capacity. So do most other people on this board. But no...the closest I ever came to this was doing a contract gig for a Nokia subsidiary (worked on SyncML documentation).

It's odd that I'd be called a Palm fanperson, tho, when I'm not the one with the multiple Palm models throughout the years, SD cards full of apps and whatever else, and long list of Garnet stuff I want brought over. The only non-standard apps I use on my Centro are UltimatePhone and KMeteo. Everything else came with it. I've never owned a Treo. I'm an absolute babe compared to the pissed-off lifers here lamenting the lack of a SD slot.

There's no other explanation for their "Palm can do no wrong" attitude. If it's someone who worked on the Pre, I must say they do a good job of defending their product.

Palm can do plenty wrong. It's called the last 4 years or so. Aside from maybe Microsoft or Motorola, no other mobile manufacturer has let their product stagnate more. There's a reason why I skinned my Centro with Ultimate Phone, after all. I am glad they seemed to have gotten it together for the Pre and WebOS, however.

But let me just say that if there are Palm employees wasting time here...please stop and get back to work. Pretty please?

[phone queen]

i think to fill up a 8gig u must really have a lot of stuff on that phone.....

[SeanBlader]

Not a Palm employee, here. I voted that 8gb is fine for me. When the Pre is released it will be the first time in 13 years I've been off AT&T's network. The Pre will replace my Nokia N95-8GB, which has "The Italian Job" on it as well as Episode 9 of Firefly, and 110 MP3's and a few pod casts.

What I will lose by going to the Pre is a 5 megapixel camera on the back, a smaller camera on the front, FM radio, and my enjoyment of Nokia as a company.

What I gain is a multi-touch screen, a full keyboard, a prettier device, better web access, a cooler interface, and the platform to be able to develop my own software.

Why don't I have an iphone? I'm not a follower. I didn't want to get the phone that everyone was going to have. And while I don't dislike Apple, and I have all kinds of respect for Steve Jobs and his products, I've never owned any of their products, they're like a periphery company for me.

So in the end 8gb isn't a problem, it's an opportunity to leverage the power of the network. It's an opportunity for Sprint to make an impression with their capability. In the end what is actually on your phone that you absolutely can't get back next time you're at your computer? It can sync your call log and message history without a lot of bluetooth bandwidth, your address book will be synced live online, and any of your media, well it better not be the only copy you have, or that would just be dumb. And if I can plug a USB to SD adapter into my computer why can't I plug in a Micro-USB to SD adapter? There's your backup.

[hparsons]

No device can be everything to everybody. You can say "Well, I'm not asking for that. I just want X what I want." But why is that more valid than what Y somebody else wants? It's not. Pre has what the vast majority of people need. Hopefully, Palm will target the rest of the people with future devices, but they have a winner right now.

This one I agree with. I'm going to fall back into my usual "gotta have it soon" mode (but this time, "soon" is going to be immediate). I don't usually buy new devices as soon as they come out, but pretty soon after. This time, I'm going to make an exception, and buy immediately.

I personally think 8gb is fine for now. I have a 755p (after going to a Centro, I demanded a 755p back) with a 2gb card that I've never filled. But, it IS getting close. I suspect 8gb will do me for some time, but I also suspect that there will me a "next model Pre" that will offer expandable storage of some sort. When that comes out, my wife will get the Pre. By then, we'll be past our contract, and I'll negotiate with Sprint (again) and get that one discounted.

[Aero]

Palm employees - they've been known to infiltrate these boards in the past to push their "buzz" on the unsuspecting.

Thanks for the clairifcation

[darnell]

Does anyone know how quickly data can be transferred to and from the 8GB on the Palm Pre? With MicroSD cards transfer speed is not too big of a concern. If you can't move large files to the card quickly with it in the device, just use a card reader for fast file transfer. If file access times to Palm Pre storage are similar to access times of internal storage of other devices .

[sir_mycroft]

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but I thought it better than starting a new one.

Regarding expandable memory, all we need is something like this for micro USB:

Elecom MR-SMC03

Heck, make it a wee bit smaller, you might not even notice it.

[phone queen]

hey, that is cool...

[Captweez]

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but I thought it better than starting a new one.

Regarding expandable memory, all we need is something like this for micro USB:

Elecom MR-SMC03

Heck, make it a wee bit smaller, you might not even notice it.

If WebOS supports USB Mass Storage as an input, that would be very cool. I kind of doubt it will. I'd be happy to be proven wrong, but I doubt Palm will be writing any API's for a storage source other then the internal flash memory.

[crmealey]

8GB of storage is a lot of space for me. No doubt that there are a pile of people out there who could fill up 8GB a few times over right away, but I'm betting Palm has done some serious research on that decision, and they've got the 8GB built right into their obsolescence model with plans to release the 16GB or 32GB devices around the same time they bring GSM Pres to the U.S. (you know they will).

That being said, the lack of removable storage is a bigger concern to me. 32GB, 64GB, 10,000GB of storage without the ability to take it out and back it up somewhere is a little bothersome. I think that might be especially harmful to the business sector.

...but I still voted that I'm buying an 8GB Pre.

[stondimaql8]

How many people out there right now have 8GB or almost 8GB worth of stuff in their phones? Especially all that you will use on a day to day basis?

Considering that, I'd say 8GB is plenty for daily usage. And sure enough for those who insist that they would like to have more... You can just back up the rest.... I believe that, based on research, Palm must have recommended 8GB as adequate storage capacity for the masses. There'll always be exceptions...

At the end of it all... Most of us would surely WANT greater storage capacities, but not necessarily NEED it.

[schnoid]

How many people out there right now have 8GB or almost 8GB worth of stuff in their phones? Especially all that you will use on a day to day basis?

I really hate when people ask this... I've said this many times before, but you can't compare the Pre with every other phone! I do not have a good media player with a 3.5mm headphone jack on my 755p. I don't have multitasking so my music runs smooth when I'm using other apps and want to transition back and forth. I don't have GPS and don't need to store maps and other cached data. I don't have a full browser, and I don't have a 3MP camera! Why even ask if people have 8GB of data on their current phones? It's not even worth comparing. Besides having a ton of music and video that I would love to put on the Pre and use it as a media player, there's lots of other stuff that would need more storage space.