Lauren, I just love the phrase, “classic Palm look.”

This is the problem WinMo has right now. Here is what would have been a great phone at this time last year. So, they are already a year late with the hardware. And, it costs $250. The iPhone 3G is $199. Forget the cost of the data plan. All people will see is this one costs more and does less.

Sheesh.

Doug

Hmmm… I guess I really dont agree with that Doug. ‘Does less’?

I agree it would have been more succesful had it come out sooner, but this is a great phone, and if you go into carriers, there really aren’t all these super phones out there that even compete with it.

This is more of a warped opinion from some of us trapped in the blog-o-sphere that have seen all the fancy phones coming down the pipeline for the last 6 months and somehow think they are all here and available(Yeah you can get some of them in some countries for a premium, but…)

Comparing it alone against Sprints other WM and Smartphone offerings it wins hands down against the Mogul and Touch, and the Ace is the only other QWERTY besides the Curve and the Ace is a Standard device(they pulled the Q9C for good now I believe).

This competes rather strongly and I and am sure others want this form factor over the [insert carrier name here]‘s iPhone knockoff or in fact the iPhone even. Go check it out, I thought it looked better in person too..! Id take this usability wise over any other phone out there. 1 Handed use is awesome…

Birdsoft, I will agree with you that this is probably the best Windows Mobile phone that Palm has made in its Treo line. And a year ago, when it was going to go up against the Mogul, it was a worthy competitor.

But I really think the market has changed considerably in the last year. More people are turning to finger friendly interfaces, and Palm — as usual — seems left behind on this one. Their Treo, when compared to the iPhone, Diamond, Omnia, and Xperia (not to mention the new Blackberry Bold and Thunder) just looks clunky and outdated.

Sorry to say, but I really think this one could have been a huge hit last summer when it was originally rumored. Now, it just does not seem like it will compete against these high-tech heavy hitters.

Doug

Fair Enough, I just think the online world is overselling this “finger friendly” idea. It is popular BUT Ive been in numerous carrier stores lately and 3 of the 5 times I was there I either saw or heard discussion of people returning their iPhone or iPhone knockoff mainly because that form factor wasnt really for them… There will still be MILLIONS of users who want a front facing keyboard, and the only one that competes is the Bold, and Im sure many would take this phone over that in a heartbeat… But Im in agreement, it would have been even bigger a year ago. And fortunately until fall, it isnt competing with any of those phones yet(except the iPhone on AT&T). And I have a feeling that there are gonna be some expectation let-downs on all of those other phones….

Birdsoft, I do agree with you that a lot of people still really favor the front facing keyboard. And you are right, this is probably the best in class in that category.

Let me put it to you this way. Last year, I was prepared to purchase the Treo 800w over the Mogul. I ended up getting the Mogul because the Treo obviously never released. This year, the Treo is not even on my radar.

I have actually been strongly considering going with the Sprint Instinct and seeing how that does. It’ll either be that or wait for the Diamond. Not sure which yet.

Doug

Dude, wait for the Diamond….I think…?

See now you definitely fall into category B…