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Can the Palm Pre Plus REALLY Make Life Simpler?

I’ve had my Palm Pre Plus for two full weeks now, and I am getting comfortable with it. In fact, it has pretty much replaced my old phone. Unfortunately I haven’t figured out how to forward my old phone number to the Palm, but once I do, I’m ready to make the switch for good. That’s how much I like it.

They claim that this phone will simplify your life.  When I hear that about a device, I always chuckle.  I mean, really? But I have to say, the Palm Pre Plus is pretty sweet.  I’ve played with a lot of “smart” phones.  I’ve read a lot of reviews.  And this one’s right up there.

First of all, set up is a breeze. It walked me through setting up my email and any other online profiles I have (Facebook, etc.) and then it totally synced them all together.  I opened my Contacts and everyone from Gmail and Facebook were all there in one place.

Then I opened up the Calendar, and my Google and Facebook calendars were already imported and color coded.  My husband’s events are blue, mine are pink, and the kids’ are yellow.  Take a look at this week’s view.

calendar_2010-17-02_170004

To see more details about an event, all I have to do is tap on the colored box and I can see the time, location, and any other details I had put in.  (I can also take amazingly crisp screen shots like the one above by pushing a combination of keys.)

Speaking of my Palm calendar, it just sent me a reminder for my son’s basketball game at 5:45, so I guess that means I need to wrap this up and get going!

Oh wait.  I have one more cool feature to tell you about.  Universal search. Want to open an app?  You don’t have to find it in the menu (the Palm calls your menu the Launcher); you can just start typing the name of the app you want, and it pulls it up and you can click to open it.  LOVE that.  I don’t go searching in the Launcher anymore.

It also has the latest version of VZ Navigator, which I used just the other day.  I was able to search for the name of my destination, and it pulled it right up in a matter of seconds.  After a few quick taps, I was on my way.  A friendly voice directed me right to my destination. What a great feature to have on a phone.  (This feature is an additional $9.99 a month.)

At first I wasn’t sure I was going to like the pull-out keyboard.  I thought I wanted a completely touch screen phone, but now that I’m used to it I like it a lot.  It’s like having the best of both worlds.  I’d have to say this phone is designed more with the woman in mind.  The keyboard is case in point.  It might be harder to manipulate with larger hands, but I have no trouble.

Once again, as a participant in the Verizon Palm Pre Plus campaign, I get to give away a $25 Verizon gift card.  To be eligible to win the $25 gift card this week, leave a comment telling me which feature of the Palm Pre Plus that I’ve described would make your life simpler. The winner will be chosen at random at the end of the campaign.

Fine Print: I wrote this review while working on a Verizon Palm Pre Plus campaign by TheMotherhood.com on behalf of Verizon Wireless and have been given a Palm Pre Plus (and prizes for giveaways) to facilitate my review.

Join The Conversation

37 Responses

  1. Love how it synced and color coded all your calendars. That is totally up my alley! One of my fave features is the keyboard because I don’t like all touch. Do you find the keys big enough to avoid hitting the incorrect key? That was my main concern. I have the Voyager and love having the big full keyboard along with the touch features. I’m enjoying reading your Palm Pre posts since this is top of my list for new phone upgrade. Thanks for sharing! Still crossing my fingers and toes to win because it would be SWEET!

  2. I have no trouble hitting the right keys. I’d say that it’s not quite as fast as typing on my blackberry curve but fewer mistakes than typing on my iPod touch. I typed a whole post on this thing when I was on the plane home from blissdom. It’s very easy to use. I tend to type with my fingernails tho. And I have relatively small hands. A man may not find it as convenient as I do?

  3. I’ve had the Treo, now I have the Centro and I’m drooling at the thought of the Pre! I think the calendar function is superior to any of the other smart phones out there…glad you are spreading the word!

  4. I would definitely say the keyboard would make my life simpler. (I know your apps sound amazing, but I have those now on my iPhone) I love the textile sensation of a keyboard and you are right, that would be the best of both worlds!

  5. The keyboard and the calendar…it’s great to have the google calendar in carpool and at the kids’ events…makes it easy to update!

  6. Definitely having the regular keyboard gives it the best of both worlds. I have not switched over to an electronic calendar because there’s just something about the paper one I like. But your description is kind of compelling…maybe I should take another look.

  7. I would totally love having a calendar with me all the time! I need something like that.

  8. I use both paper and electronic calendar, actually. I love my Mom Agenda for my desk, but I like having an electronic when I’m out and about. And hub and I sync our calendars thru Google Calendar (which syncs with my Palm calendar) so that we don’t double book.

  9. LOVE my pre. Hubby & I were early adopters, so we are on the Sprint network, but besides the features you mentioned, I love running several apps at one time. I’m sending this from my phone w/ my twitter app and email open on other cards. Yep..this phone is fantastic!

  10. i could totally use the calendar function. i have my calendar on the computer but otherwise i totally rely on my brain. with another baby coming any day now, i’m not sure i should rely on my brain for much longer…

  11. I love the navigator feature of the pre. I have a pre and that is the one app I use the most. I also like the ease of the internet use with it. Google maps is easy to use and fast when trying to find a restaurant you want to eat at fast.

  12. I got a chance to look one of these Palm Pre Plus’s over at the sprint store when my husband’s parents bought new Blackberries (they were on sale). I have to admit, I am still using an old flip phone with no camera and I am slightly jealous that my husband is using a Blackberry. I really want a Palm Pre now that I got to hold one and check it out. Verizon would be a much better carrier than Sprint though (at least for this area) so this contest would be ubber great to win!

  13. The calendar for sure – I have a calendar on my computer and an actual planner in my purse…and somehow manage to not check either of them even though I’m on the computer a lot. I find I end up leaving my purse at home and just taking my wallet and then forgetting that something is going on, but we always have our phones, right?

    I have a question – if you enter (and win) a gift card, are you still eligible to win the phone at the end of the giveaway? Because as much as I would LOVE a giftcard (I have Verizon) I would really really really love the phone.

    1. Good question. You can enter each week and you have the same chance of winning each week. I will use a random number generator. So if you win a g.c. one week, you could still win the phone the last week. 🙂

  14. I love the calendar sync function! I also think I would really like the pull out keyboard. I don’t want a touch screen phone because I’m partial to the keyboard on the berry. But this would be the best of both worlds.

    And I’m looking at new phones now since my mother’s dog decided by bberry would be a good chew toy!

  15. I really like the color coded calendar, that would really help with all of our functions and appointments.

  16. I think the calendar feature would be just wonderful on this phone. I could keep up more easily with my husband’s deadlines for is theses, doctor appointments for all of us, playdates…so many things!

  17. I love the Palm O/S on all their phones, but Verizon may NOT be the superior choice many think. Much of the business and technology press has repeatedly said that if Verizon were to get a blockbuster smartphone, such as the iPhone (or Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus, if Verizon sells high volumes), their service would be as bad or worse than AT&T.

    In other words, AT&T has been a victim of their success in choosing to sell the iPhone, who’s massive sign up’s caused the AT&T technical slowdown, while Verizon’s failure to sell a great phone, with massive volume sales, has kept their service better.

    In short, massive smartphone subscriptions for AT&T has slowed down and consumed bandwidth.

    A late 2009 Nielsen study and report stated:

    Nielsen claims that AT&T’s network would actually be BETTER THAN Verizon’s(VZ Quote), and if Verizon had the iPhone it would be experiencing similar problems.

    Verizon has been desperately searching for a blockbuster smartphone; the Motorola Droid and Palm additions are recent attempts to find a winner smartphone and it’s still too early to know if they’ll add huge subscriptions/new accounts.

    If this happens, Verizon will, no doubt, loose its service benefits very quickly, while the customer will be locked into a 2 year contract.

    In recent months and years, I’ve used both Verizon and AT&T, as well as other tech companies services. In comparing customer service, Verizon is by far, the worst of them all.

    Consumer beware: Verizon recently DOUBLED ITS EARLY TERMINATION FEE TO $350 form $175. Since this coincides with the recent additions of the Motorola Droid, Palm smartphones and rumored addition of the iPhone later in 2010, this could be Verizon’s preparing for their anticipated slowdown and degradation of its service and resulting customer dissatisfaction.

    Recently, a high level Verizon technician admitted to me that their quality of wireless service could change in a few short months….

  18. The calendar. Oh, the calendar. I NEED that calendar!!

    I am drooling over the Pre and trying to justify adding a data plan just so I can have “that” calendar!

    1. Same here, I love that calendar feature and the Palm Pre, overall. There was some news that AT&T will probably get the Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus soon. If they get it or Sprint gets it, I’m sold on Palm.

      Given my horrible experiences with Verizon, I just don’t want to use them. Even when my recent case was “escalated” to their highest level of tech support, the voice mail system did not work at all, FOR MONTHS, and their own employees were frustrated – how ironic for a telecom company to have a non-functional voice mail system which disconnects all incoming calls!

  19. I think I would really like the pull-out keyboard! I have an iTouch and while the on-screen keyboard is fine, I think I still like having actual buttons for a keyboard!

  20. I’m one of the few people I know who don’t run to the cell phone store for a new phone every year. However, I have been very intrigued by the Palm line of products. I’m still on the edge of deciding whether to get a smartphone or not. The Palm Pre Plus has both the pull-out keyboard and touchscreen, which is the feature I’m most intrigued by on the phones I am considering.

  21. Lovin’ Calendar–the way it is automatically pulled in from Google calendar is awesome! But, I have yet to try VZW Navigator and combining it with Google Maps is a sure fire winner!

  22. For me the calendar function would be the best!
    I never use the calendar on my phone because it is so cumbersome.
    I just got DH to switch to google calendar, so having everything in one place would really rock!

  23. I was concerned about the calendars, because I’d heard that it didn’t work well with Google Calendars. That is a *must* for me, as our entire family uses it to coordinate our schedules. Glad to see that it was easy for you!

  24. At first I thought the calender would be the most useful for me but now that I think about it I like the keyboard. I text like crazy and I’ve tried touch screen keyboard and I hate them. Having a touch screen with a full qwerty keyboard is just awesome. The small size just keeps the whole thing nice and sleek in my opinion.

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