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Pleased With the Pre's Strength and Build - Part 1

I've been very impressed with the quality and sturdiness of the Pre. As much as I love this phone, I have to admit, I've already "dropped" it three times... Still working.

Erica Mueller
2 min read
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It's day twenty-seven of our relationship. The Pre and I are getting along just swimmingly and I fall in love a little more each day...

I'm not the super geeky girl who can tell you how to install homebrew apps or hack your camera's default settings, but I've been around electronics long enough to tell you, the Palm Pre is one rockin' hot gadget.

I've been very impressed with the quality and sturdiness of the Pre. I'd originally looked at purchasing the Centro but was advised against it. Too many people told me it felt toy-ish or plastic-y. Knowing myself, and how rough I am on my gadgets, I was about to opt for a Blackberry...

Then Palm and Sprint rescued me via CNET.

As much as I love this phone, I have to admit, I've already "dropped" it three times. Shame on me, I know. But, it is just a wee bit slick. Every time it's taken a fall it's just slid right off the chair or couch - wheeee! CLUNK! Of course I grab frantically for the phone, sliding it open, checking it's pulse to make sure it hasn't actually killed itself this time. Whew! Still working.

Some people worry about the phone's stability when the keyboard is in the open position. While I feel a little give, I never feel like it's about to snap off. The smooth glide of the device is enough to tell me it's built sturdy. There's no wobble or jerk in the track.

I like that the keys are rubber instead of hard and slick like some of my previous phones. A good grip lends to the accuracy of my typing and when the keys are small as the Pre's this is really important.

I was pretty concerned that I'd find the keys too small, and that I'd be annoyed with them after a while, but so far so good. I'm actually getting familiar enough with the keyboard that I can almost type without looking.

More of my impression of the actual hardware tomorrow!