The wait is over. The Palm Pre goes on sale this Saturday, June 6th. The Pre is $199.99 with a two-year Sprint contract and a $100 mail-in rebate. Barring shortages, you'll be able to pick one up at a Sprint retail store, Best Buy, Radio Shack, Wal-Mart, or online.
But will the Pre be the device that finally seriously challenges the iPhone and forever changes the smartphone landscape? We can't say for sure, but here at PCMag.com, the Pre has had us excited since we got our first look at CES back in January. Since then we've only had short, closely supervised stints with the Pre, so we couldn't wait to really get our hands on it.
The verdict from our PC Labs after some quality time with the Pre? We like it. We really, really like it. The Pre has a smart, slick design, an excellent touch screen, and a supplemental slide-down physical keyboard. But the Pre's positives are more than the phone itself; we also love the innovative, fun-to-use webOS interface, and the fact that the Pre ushers in a brand new, exciting smartphone platform. Check out our full, hands-on review to learn why the Pre earns our Editors' Choice award.
We also tested Palm's Touchstone, a cool—albeit pricey—accessory that uses a magnetic back to make the Pre look like it's suspended in mid-air and uses induction to charge it wirelessly.
The iPhone taught us that when it comes to smartphones, it's all about the apps. The Pre's SDK is still too primitive for complex programs, but there's already a collection of basic apps. Perhaps the most important title in the App Catalog is MotionApps Classic, the Palm OS emulator. If you're a longtime Palm fan, you'll want to check out our review to find out how the app will fare at running your old-school Palm OS apps on the webOS-based Pre.
Finally, since buying a phone also means buying into a network, we'll show you how Sprint's 3G service stacks up against AT&T's and Verizon's, so you can decide whether the Palm Pre is a good enough reason to switch.
But will the Pre be the device that finally seriously challenges the iPhone and forever changes the smartphone landscape? We can't say for sure, but here at PCMag.com, the Pre has had us excited since we got our first look at CES back in January. Since then we've only had short, closely supervised stints with the Pre, so we couldn't wait to really get our hands on it.
The verdict from our PC Labs after some quality time with the Pre? We like it. We really, really like it. The Pre has a smart, slick design, an excellent touch screen, and a supplemental slide-down physical keyboard. But the Pre's positives are more than the phone itself; we also love the innovative, fun-to-use webOS interface, and the fact that the Pre ushers in a brand new, exciting smartphone platform. Check out our full, hands-on review to learn why the Pre earns our Editors' Choice award.
We also tested Palm's Touchstone, a cool—albeit pricey—accessory that uses a magnetic back to make the Pre look like it's suspended in mid-air and uses induction to charge it wirelessly.
The iPhone taught us that when it comes to smartphones, it's all about the apps. The Pre's SDK is still too primitive for complex programs, but there's already a collection of basic apps. Perhaps the most important title in the App Catalog is MotionApps Classic, the Palm OS emulator. If you're a longtime Palm fan, you'll want to check out our review to find out how the app will fare at running your old-school Palm OS apps on the webOS-based Pre.
Finally, since buying a phone also means buying into a network, we'll show you how Sprint's 3G service stacks up against AT&T's and Verizon's, so you can decide whether the Palm Pre is a good enough reason to switch.
