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Starting tomorrow people nationwide will be able to purchase the new Palm Pre from Sprint if they can get their hands on one. The Pre with it’s WebOS is said to be more user friendly and advanced than the iPhone, Symbian OS, and Blackberry all put together. A friend of ours at Gazelle happened to get his lucky hands on the device last week and was kind enough to share his thoughts with us. Below are some key points that he gave to us regarding this new device.

Design: The phone has a nice “hefty” feel to it, and a solid slider that reminded him of a Mogul or a Tilt. He states that the keyboard is bit packed but manageable. The top row of keys are a bit close to the bottom of the slider but overall a solid build.

Features: The webOS makes the Pre a multitasking monster. At one time he had over 16 different apps/menus running on the phone before the OS told him to close some stuff down. The menu icons and touchscreen are very simple and easy to work with as well.  Contact Synergy (something he liked most) - the Pre can draw contacts from gmail/facebook/chat and sync them with your phone contacts seamlessly from one conversation to an other. For example, he explained he was chatting to a friend on Google chat and continued the text conversation through standard text messages without interruption. Camera - the 3.15mp camera with LED flash is nothing to brag about but does the job for a simple point and shoot. The ability to sync with iTunes he see’s as a huge plus for the Pre.

Negatives: Here are the main points that he did not like about the phone: Battery Life was his main disappointment. He said the phone died before the day was over and even sooner when running multiple apps. The Pre does not support flash yet but he thinks that problem will soon be solved with an update. No virtual keyboard, if you want to type you have to slide it open.

Round-Up: His conclusions on the Pre were very positive saying it is probably one of the best multitasking phones available. He also says the WebOS makes the Pre one of the easiest smartphones to use. Personally he likes it better than an iPhone but holds his beloved BlackBerry just as close to his heart.

I wanted to thank our friend here at Gazelle for taking the time to speak with us regarding the new Palm Pre. Time will tell if this slick impressive slider can give the iPhone a true run for it’s money. With a ton of new devices coming out this summer (iPhone/N97/Omnia HD/Storm2) the Pre will have to live up to it’s expectations. The Pre will be available tomorrow at Sprint, Best Buy, and Radio Shack for $199.99 on a 2 year contract.