Buzz about the Palm Pre is not hard to come by. Although Windows 7 stole a lot of early thunder at CES 2009 – I think the clear buzz winner was the Palm Pre cell phone.

I dismissed the Palm Pre as an option for my next cell phone, then I saw this Palm Pre Video on engadget.com. I am very impressed and love that it has both a touch screen and a slide out keyboard. The number one feature of any phone to make my “next phone” list (besides having to be offered in a CDMA/Verizon flavor) is that it supports Microsoft ActiveSync with Exchange.

The Palm Pre website says that it supports Exchange ActiveSync (YAY!) and its release will be exclusive to Sprint which is a CDMA based network.

That means it is only a matter of time (hopefully) before Verizon has a version available.

It is speculated that the release date will be March 15, 2009. According to Palm, the release will be in the first half of 2009. My fingers are crossed.

I’d like to recant my prior statement about the HTC Touch Pro2 being my next phone. I think the Treo Pro will be the winner.

For the bulk of the last 5 years, I’ve been using the Treo line of phones. It stated with my 650 and then the 700w and 700wx. I really like the form factor of this device. It works very well for me.

Overall, I am just fed up with the Storm. It is SO slow. It literally takes 2 seconds for it to figure out that the device is no longer being held on its side (switching from landscape mode to portrait more). Even longer if I accidently pick up the device upside down (which I do quite often). The keyboard is nearly useless for me in landscape mode because the keys are so small. Unlike the tactile feel of the keyboard on the Treo, I cannot type anything without looking AT the device (a real pain for trying to dial while stopped at a red light).

I’ve sent an email to Verizon Wireless customer service, asking if (since Alltel is/has merged with Verizon that I can use the Alltel phone on Verizon service. Or perhaps the Sprint version will work. (they both use the same CMDA network that Verizon does.

We’ll see. I’ll keep you posted.