I had a pre like 2-3 months ago and sold it due to the fact that it felt more than a fancy cell phone than a smartphone to me. Of course that was before webOS 1.2 which enabled web downloading, universal copy-paste, and email searching among other updates. Now when i saw that, i was kinda bummed i sold it in the first place. i LOVED everything WebOS does, from how it handles sms, emails, web browsing, contacts and more.... But what does bother me when it comes to picking up another Pre and sticking to it is the apps. I dont mean in numbers, i mean in quality, and usefulness. The SDK is a joke, you cant make anything better than webapps and full screen widgets because you can only use Javacript, HTML etc. so apps that really excel in functionality or get the hardware involved (accelerometer for one) are slim to impossible to make with the current tools provided. Kinoma Play developers and Coreplayer stated that they cant make WebOS versions of their award winning apps because of this, and the developers of Documents To Go also stated that their WebOS variation of the app will have to be delayed till Palm updates their OS of gives them the tools for deeper access (looks like they hit a dead end)
GPU access is impossible as well, and this affects battery, performance, and heat since the CPU is doing all the work.I have no idea what Palm is planning to do... either stay with the "simple yet limited" point of view, or give us a hardcore OS and SDK so it can really be up to par with Android, WM, and Apple
As of now i chose the Hero and i am extremely happy i did, it has everything i loved from WebOS contact-facebook integration and much better mind you, excellent photo app, better music player, tons and tons of apps that really get the hardware involved like Layar Reality Browser, Barcode Scanners, METAL DETECTORS, and more. The browser isnt as fast or smooth as WebOS but its more capable ATM with flash.
I wouldnt count out WebOS ATM but at its current state, its not for me. Still ill be looking at the Pre2 vs HTC Dragon next year and see where it is before i upgrade since i know WebOS has TONS of potential but not really there today or soon