The Palm Pre is an amazing web device, which is not a big surprise since it uses the Webkit engine – the same one Apple uses for the iPhone. We tested several complex sites with multiple sections and languages – IGN.com, ESPN.com and iGoogle.com – and the Pre rendered the sites perfectly.
Like the iPhone, you 'pinch and spread' to zoom in and out on the page, and when you flick down to scroll through a page, you can press again to stop quickly.
WEB: Best-in-class web browsing is a highlight of the Pre
The web features on the Palm Pre are the best we have seen, even compared to the iPhone and Hero. There are quite a few hidden surprises as well.
For example, you can add a website to cards in the main browser window so you can visit the site quickly.
Rendering is fast and never got bogged down unless - once again - we had too many apps running, which was a common occurrence during our testing (we think the average user won't try to run 30 different apps, start a new email message and browse the web at the same time – so it shouldn't be too much of a problem).
CARDS: You can add bookmarks and place then on homepage cards
We tested another 10 sites and never saw any rendering problems, even when we visited Twitter.com, Last.fm, Pandora.com and several other Web 2.0 sites that tend to break the browser on other smartphones.
SHORCUTS: Add your favourite sites to your shortcuts list
Really, there are only a couple of minor gripes – there is no 'global view' that we found that lets you see all open pages, and we would have liked a back button that shows previously visited sites so we could back up three or four sites before the last one we visited.
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Your comments (3) Click to add a new comment
pablo
Wednesday at 20:07 GMT
3. Palm forgot [or are incompetent] to load the right settings/application to get the information off the ms Exchange software and on to the Palm. Blog or forum it if you dont believe me. This is a massive downfall as I have MS exchange and even with that it needs an enormous brain IT guy to fix the trail and destruction this leaves.
4 hours on the phone to Geek squad - who couldnt sort it. Hours of my time on the forums and all because Palm cant load the right software on the phone.
This has put a MAJOR downer on this purchase. And left me with post-purchase trauma like no other.
We all love a new gadget but this experience is the worst it can get. Great product ruined by stupid incompetence that renders it near useless.
p.s. sim to sim transfers dont work anymore.
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carlossantana
October 31st
2. I got a Palm Pre in a O2 store in London. I was expecting a much better experience from a phone that have an average ownership cost of £700.-. Among an unstable/beta operating system and standard applications I would like to mention that:
- The phone’s plastic case is cheap and fragile. Even more, the entire phone looks (and is) fragile. I would like to see how many if these palm pre phone will be around in a year time.
- The standard microUSB port for both data transfer and charging needs you to open a plastic flap on the phone every time that you need to plug it to your PC. This flap is very cheap and it has the impression that it would last days attached to the phone. Therefore, think about adding a Touchstone Wireless Charger (another £40?)
- The phone stopped from working a day before I got it. When I slider closed the keyboard, the screen whet blank and the phone was not responding any longer.
Conclusion: I return it after 24hs and got another phone (not a palm pre this time). I have to say that the current Palm pre is a nice phone. But, there's no doubt that there's plenty of room for improvement in the webOS and its devices. My independent advice is: Wait for the next Palm Pre version.
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irwinhugh
October 29th
1. Purchased the Palm Pre from O2 store after explaining my requirements but when I tried to sync with my MS Outlook it failed to connect. The sales person was absolutely convinced that it would but when I spoke to the O2 techie in Scotland, he eventually confessed that I needed to purchase another package from a 'carrier' who would decode the info and forward it to the phone from my ISP. This rendered the 'fantastic' (sic) Palm useless for me and I ended up buying a Blackbury instead. Sooooo much more efficient and user friendly. So, my view is that Palm need to sort our 1. the connectivity without people having to have/obtain MS exchange and the outlets need to train their staff, properly.
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