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Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 25 seconds

I Hate to Say This, but ……

I choose to live in my home state, South Dakota. It’s a wonderful place full of smart, courteous, hard working people that produce an economy that, compared to the rest of the US, is almost recession-proof. I have no complaints about my income-tax free home state but I do wish that AT&T would hurry and add primary coverage so we could get the Apple iPhone! I’ve seen it, often --- in fact, I actually own an iTouch, the cellular-less first cousin of the iPhone. But, alas, no iPhone for us.

But, as I tweeted two weeks ago I DO have a brand-new shiny Palm Pre that I’m pretty impressed with, so far. It’s been out only 15 days and has only a paltry 30 or so applications in its store. That said it’s interesting to note that Pre owners have downloaded over 750,000 applications in those 15 days. I know I certainly did my part!

Here’s my take on the Pre --- set up was an absolute breeze. I directed it to my Exchange server and was getting email in minutes. Full synch, utilizing Microsoft’s Active Sync, took a while, but then I have several thousand contacts and a crazy calendar. But it’s all there, in the “palm” of my hand. I love being able to run multiple applications but I have run into a “Unable to Launch Application -- Please Close Other Applications First” message a time or two. I’ve tried every way imaginable to crash this phone and I’ve yet to succeed.

Strong points:

• The camera is excellent (but I miss having a zoom lens).
• Video playback is stunning, but with the battery situation not of much value.
• Web browser is hands down the best I’ve seen on a mobile device.
• Location services are very impressive and turn-by-turn directions are accurate and snappy.
• Interface is super-intuitive.

Weak points:

• Battery life is horrible. I cannot make it thru a day. When traveling (and unable to charge) I’ve taken to turning the device completely OFF to conserve power.
• Screen size is a tad too small for my liking.
• Keyboard --- big kudos for BEING there, I just wish it were a bit larger.
• App store is laughable when compared to Apple’s --- however, it’s growing every day.

Bottom line: I’m keeping my Pre. I hate to say this, because I REALLY want these guys to succeed, but …… I can’t recommend it to you unless, like me, you’re geographically restricted from the iPhone. Maybe the Pre2?

The Progressive Accountant
Greg LaFollette, CPA.CITP, is the executive editor of The Progressive Accountant. He has been involved with public accounting for nearly 40 years and to ensure he stays completely current with the needs of the practicing accountant, he is also a senior manager of tax and technology consulting with Top 25 firm Eide Bailly LLP.
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