Unlocked Pre 2 Now Available in the USA

Posted By: Kris Keilhack Thursday, November 18, 2010 8:34:54 AM

palm pre 2 unlocked This week has been one of widespread Pre 2 availability, as the new flagship WebOS device is now officially on sale in unlocked GSM form directly from HP for $450. The Pre 2 is now available on both HP's Small Business and Home web stores, with orders promising to ship within 24 hours. Surprisingly, Palm's own website has not yet been updated to show that the device ready for sale.

Like its predecessors, the Pre 2 is only offered in the US with AT&T-friendly 850/1900Mhz bands, so T-Mobile customers are out of luck, as are global travelers if they want 3G service in most other countries outside the USA. With no official announcement made thus far of the availability date of the Verizon Wireless version of the Pre 2 or of a update rollout schedule for legacy devices, the Pre 2 is currently the only way to get a taste of WebOS 2.0. Also worth noting, this event marks the first time a domestic Palm product has debuted in an unlocked from since the Windows Mobile-based Treo Pro in September of 2008.

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out of stock

rpa @ 11/18/2010 10:27:42 AM #

Checked hp web page....would be a good alt phone for my iPhone. Our of stock!

RE: out of stock

hkklife @ 11/18/2010 10:44:20 AM #

Eh?

Just added it to my cart here (nooooo interest in buying it on my part, of course!) and it says it's in stock:

In stock: Usually
ships in 24 hours

Waitaminute--Rpa, aren't you in Hong Kong? That probably explains it. Were you on the HP Asian site or the US site?
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->Verizon Moto Droid + Verizon Palm Centro-> Verizon Moto Droid X + Palm TX

RE: out of stock

rpa @ 11/18/2010 10:57:18 AM #

On the US site.....I checked a few minutes ago and it is now in stock (and HP has a refreshed webpage for it). I called their sales to see what GSM bands it supports but their Palm expert was out to lunch (literally) and they will call back. I would be surprised if it is a dual band unit as most phones these days are quad band.

RE: out of stock

hkklife @ 11/18/2010 11:02:27 AM #

http://www.palm.com/us/products/phones/pre2/index.html#tab2

Straight from the horse's mouth:

Network specs Unlocked

Dual-band UMTS/HSDPA (850/1900 MHz)
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)

Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->Verizon Moto Droid + Verizon Palm Centro-> Verizon Moto Droid X + Palm TX

RE: out of stock

rpa @ 11/18/2010 11:07:42 AM #

hkklife: thx. Tempted to try it out for old times' sake plus my Centro back up phone is near EOL.
iPhone 4 + Centro backup

RE: out of stock

hkklife @ 11/18/2010 11:27:58 AM #

No prob. Glad to be of assistance.

I actually sold both my Centro "backups" and am trying to dump my old 755p now. I still have both my TXs and intend to keep those for PIM/PIC/legacy purposes until I am dust myself.

I actually got an 8GB iPod Touch recently to use to test the waters of the iOS world but have no plans to leave Verizon & Android for AT&T/Apple. But after using iOS 4.1 for a few days, I will gladly admit that Google and Palm have a loooong way to go to match the ease of use AND the PIM capabilities of iOS. It's no Garnet, but Apple has a better stock set of native applications and better calendar and contacts apps than either Android 2.2 or WebOS 1.x (haven't played with 2.0 yet of course). Stuff like the little "bounce" at the bottom of a menu desperately needs to be added to Android (does WebOS have this yet?). Oh, and iOS' onscreen keyboard is more accurate on a 3.5" screen for my fat thumbs than the stock Droid X multitouch keyboard on a 4.3" screen!

But the mandatory iTunes integration is just horrendous, especially for Windows users. iOS needs to be untethered from the desktop (unlikely), stuck in the cloud (no time soon), and unshackled from DRM (yeah right!).
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->Verizon Moto Droid + Verizon Palm Centro-> Verizon Moto Droid X + Palm TX

RE: out of stock

rpa @ 11/18/2010 12:04:54 PM #

Agree your comments on iOS. I went to a MacBook Pro at the same time and the integration to the MBP is smooth. Running the sync thru iTunes is OK....a walled garden for sure but IT SIMPLY WORKS. My iPhone is an unlocked GSM version (thanks to the Apple HK webpage) and I use T-Mo when in the US. I believe Android would have a much smaller following if the iPhone was available unlocked in the US as most consumers would find the Apple ecosystem appealing if they had access w/o needing to go the AT&T route.
iPhone 4 + Centro backup

RE: out of stock

Gekko @ 11/18/2010 1:03:13 PM #

>I actually sold both my Centro "backups" and am trying to dump my old 755p now. I still have both my TXs and intend to keep those for PIM/PIC/legacy purposes until I am dust myself.

IMO always keep at least one backup phone for each line of service. i learned this the hard way.

RE: out of stock

rpa @ 11/18/2010 2:47:37 PM #

Always good to have at least one backup....you never know when you will leave a phone in a taxi, drop it in the toilet (I know a few people who have had this experience) or whatever. With a GSM service, just dry off the SIM card and slide it into the backup phone.
iPhone 4 + Centro backup

RE: out of stock

RobertoV6 @ 11/18/2010 3:01:30 PM #

Just ordered mine with Priority Overnight for $9.70.
Hopefully I'd get it by saturday.

RE: out of stock

LiveFaith @ 11/18/2010 5:27:28 PM #

Get one and use it Kris. I like mine OK. Rather have a 4'' tablet FF, but the thing is running my biz well. WiFi Tether + 1 ghz makes a capable device.
Pat Horne