I would like to first of all thank CNET for the opportunity to blog on the site day by day on my experiences with the Palm Pre. I would also like to thank Sprint for sending the device my way. Without the above two being in cooperation none of this would be possible.
My name is Matt Lutker (22) and am an avid Smartphone and PPC user of two years. My main uses on a Smartphone is text messaging, email, and internet browsing. I enjoy hacking my devices to the fullest to get the best use out of them, this includes custom roms, applications, registry tweaks, skins, themes, and so on. My love grew for Smartphones through the Windows Mobile Operating System and at that point got contacted by puertoblack2003 to be the co-founder of a site we decided to call SmartPhoneJunkie in quarter one of 2007. At SPJ we have support, freeware, themes, skins, and many more of your Smartphone needs. I'm very excited about this opportunity to not only test the Palm Pre but also the new WebOS operating system. Im sure it will be great and cannot wait until i get a chance to see what it really can do. You can keep up with me on Youtube as well which i will link here in this blog. (iamdasht19) also on twitter (dash_spj)
Here is the video that i did of my unboxing on youtube followed by some additional thoughts:
The design of the device is very smooth and elegant with a pinch of sport. The slide out keyboard on an angled cut Is a great addition to help shield from the sun when texting outside. The phone is made very solidly and quality wise have no major problems.
The things that bother me about the design is the battery cover, no status lights, and the cheese slicer angle under the keyboard. The battery cover can be taken off by pressing the little tab in on the bottom of the device and then sliding up. Ha, easier said than done. The easiest way that I have found to get it off is to get my nail under the cover and then work it to the top when it will than pop off without any troubles or damage. (hopefully will be fixed in future models) For status lights, I've always been a fan. I set my phone down at work quite often and go do something on the other side of the office, I can't hear the phone over there since it is louder in my area. (other phones ringing non-stop) All I have to do on my pro is glance over and see if the icon for a notification is flashing or not. I can't do this on the Pre which means you have to physically turn the screen on to see if you have anything missed.
It's a small turn off (but not killer) but we do have a led circle on the front which I'm sure in no time will have script wrote to make it work as a status indicator.
Expandable memory is always nice to have. Unfortunately the Pre relies on the 8gb internal memory as its only source. 8gb is plenty on a device for some but what about the ones that want to add music or movies 8gb really isn't too much. I would have loved to see even an 8gb and 16gb version, this device is supposed to be the Iphone killer so why not give the option for the extra memory to help make it happen? This could turn off many people and have them go with or stick with the Iphone over the Pre.
These are my initial thoughts immediately after the unboxing of the Palm Pre.
