Pre Reviews Begin to Trickle In

The Palm Pre is coming out soon and the big gadget websites are getting their reviews in:

Boy Genius Report loves webOS but feels that the keyboard is too small and that the Pre itself feels cheap and plasticky.
Gizmodo has a similar opinion.
Engadget puts up a huge three part review. They really loved the Pre but complained about glitches with Synergy and feel that Facebook integration fills your Pre with worthless contacts.

Update I: Boing Boing Gadgets has a much more complete roundup of Pre reviews.

Update II: Businessweek has one of the more negative reviews and it points out that MotionApps Classic application which allows the Pre to run PalmOS applications only has a seven day trial. This is disappointing as it becomes one more thing that users moving from older Palm devices will have to buy in order to upgrade to the Pre.

Update III: Associated Press has a fairly positive review with an interesting look the bugs which sap the Pre's battery life:

When I first got the Pre, I was dismayed by its battery life. I got less than 24 hours of light use out of it, and it would lose nearly a third of its charge if left inactive overnight. It turns out there's a bug that drains the battery if your Google instant-messaging account is connected to your AOL Instant Messenger account. Palm says it will fix that. When I logged Google out of AIM, I got much longer life.

I extended battery life even further by setting the Pre to receive my personal e-mail instantly rather than checking every 15 minutes. That's counterintuitive — usually getting the e-mail automatically "pushed" to a device consumes more power.

I ended up with nearly two days of battery life, which I think is acceptable for a hardworking smart phone. But it would be great if Palm made it easier to manage power consumption.

Update IV: Palminfocenter, one of the oldest and biggest Palm enthusiast websites, posts their exhaustive review of the Palm Pre.

Another Day, Another Netbook Wants to Run Android

Engadget has a mock up of a proposed future Android powered netbook. It looks beautiful but it is completely non-functional at this point. If they manage to pack the power this netbook claims (a TI OMAP3 processor running at up to 1GHz, 512MB of RAM, a 2.5 hard drive or SSD, and an 8.1 inch screen) in a tiny 1.76 pound package at a reasonable price, it will be compelling product even if Android isn't up to snuff. It's a good bet that five minutes after this machine comes out that someone will try to intall Ubuntu or Windows on it. Still, this machine is so early in the planning stages that it is unlikely to come out any time soon—if it comes out at all.