Palm Pre Trvth

Here's an update on the Palm Pre, now that I've been using it for a little over 2 months.

Over Easter weekend, I used it on a trip to southern Illinois. Throughout the trip I used it for GPS, streaming music from the Internet, streaming that same music from the Pre to the bluetooth speakers in my car, and as a phone (all at once). With the Pre plugged into the adapter in my car, it's power draw was close to break even; the battery actually went down a little (from 100% to 80%) during a 2.5-hour drive. Additionally, it got a little warm while charging and running all of these radios & apps at the same time. Once I arrived at my destination, I was able to use WiFi connectivity for faster Internet.

Having always-on Internet in my pocket changes the way I use the Internet. When a point of trivia arises, instead of thinking "I could google that", I just go ahead and google it. I carry my Pre loose in my pocket, though I did apply a full-body Zagg (indestructible, thin, nano-tech) skin.

Pros:

Always-on Internet, with easy access to Google, Wikipedia, Youtube, etc.

True multi-tasking, with notification area for updates from running apps

Automatic, background syncing of contacts, etc. with Internet services; no backups required. If you lose your device, a replacement device will have all of your apps/contacts/etc. automatically, within a few minutes of activation.

GPS with Google Maps built in, 802-11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1

Accelerometer for game control using tilt, shake, etc.

Attractive 3.1" 480x320 display w/3D graphics and 16M colors

Touch-active screen with multi-touch (pinch/spread to zoom, etc.)

Proximity sensor disables touch screen when you hold the phone to your ear

Video playback

Desktop-style web browser

Appears as a removable USB drive if you connect it to your PC, allowing file transfer via drag-and-drop

Ability to use the cellular Internet connection + WiFi to create a mobile WiFi-anywhere hotspot supporting up to 5 other devices (Verizon charges for this, and I haven't actually tried it). Laptop owners who don't mind the cost should love this.

Linux under the hood, with easy access to a root prompt for tinkering; WebOS is a joy to use

Well-developed community of users whose work provides features and enhancements otherwise pricey or not available

Palm App Store & community app store on the device; all software added wirelessly. It's possible to own a Pre and never use its USB cable.

3M-pixel camera with flash and video capture

Regular software updates from Palm (from v1.3.5 to v1.3.5.1, and then to v1.4, since mid-January)

Best cellular connectivity I've had (I no longer need to leave the basement at home when a call comes in)

16GB storage

QWERTY keyboard

Hardware mute, LED notifications, hard volume buttons, all work even when device is sleeping

All-day battery life when you're not torturing the device; I torture mine daily, but I also charge it nightly, and can charge it at work if necessary.

Optional Touchstone charging system (wireless magnetic inductive coupling); I have one at home, and another at work.

Cons:

Biggest problem - the keyboard sometimes bounces and/or drops keypresses, making proofreading a necessity

Lack of a 5-way navigator (up/down/right/left/OK), making editing out those typos more awkward

Touchstone charging devices are sometimes flaky, charging to only about 90% before losing connectivity; I have 2 of these, and one is flawless, the other flaky

Aggressive power-saving; when the device auto-sleeps, the GPS stops updating and needs to re-sync on wake. The background "cron" service also sleeps, though this is moot unless you're tinkering.

GPS draws a lot of power; continuous use of GPS (not plugged in, auto-sleep disabled) yields ~2.5 hours battery life

Streaming music from the Internet and re-streaming it via Bluetooth uses a lot of power; continuous use for music like this (not plugged in) yields ~4 to 5 hours battery life

No expandable memory, though I use a tiny fraction of the 16GB capacity; if I added movie-length videos this might matter.

[Edit -- writing this review was a good exercise; I now feel even better about owning/using my Palm Pre. If the keyboard were more reliable, this device would be nearly perfect.]