My Top Five Palm Pre Accessories

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By Dieter Bohn | Tue, 18 Aug 2009 11:54 am EDT |

My top five Palm Pre Accessories are very straightforward - I like to cover the basics first. Our Palm Pre Accessories forum have been very active with accessory talk and I figured I'd chime in with my top picks. Far be it from me to dictate what you should get for your Pre, but what I'm listing here are the five things that, for me, are essential for my Pre experience.

Let's see what we've got, shall we?

1. Touchstone (duh)

I have a sneaking suspicion that Palm intends for every Pre user to have and use a Touchstone. The door over the charging port is so fiddly, the battery is slightly sub-par (let's be honest), and the standard battery door is a fingerprint magnet.

Compare that experience to the Touchstone experience. No plugs whatsoever, a nice matte-finish battery door, and charging your Pre is as simple as setting it on your desk or nightstand. I couldn't imagine using a Pre without a Touchstone.

Not to brag, but I do have two - one for the office and one for home. If I could get the thing to work reliably in my car I'd have three.

[Touchstone Kit Available now for only $49.95, standalone Touchstone is only $39.95.]

2. Seidio 1350 mAh Battery

I just mentioned that the Palm Pre's stock battery is sub-par. That's mostly true - it's barely sufficient for me to get through a day of moderate use. I'm not ready to compromise the Pre's super-small form factor by going to the bigger 2600mAh extended battery, but the Seidio 1350 mAh battery suits me just fine.

It's basically the difference between biting my nails at 8pm, hoping that I can read that last email and knowing that I'll be able to make it home with some charge left. Under heavy use I still need to top off throughout the day, but I still have the original battery as a spare in a pinch.

[The Seidio 1350 Extended Battery is available now for $44.95. Real road warriors might consider the bulkier but longer-lasting 2600 battery.]

3. Screen Protector

Yes, it's true, I scratched the screen on my original Pre. Since then I've learned my lesson and applied a screen protector. Some people prefer to go with full-body protection, but I'm comfortable just protecting the screen.

[SPE Screen Protectors are Available for $14.95 for a three pack.]

4. Car Charger

Detecting a theme here yet? Power management on the Pre is a big deal. I have plenty of micro-USB wall chargers hanging about, but I needed a decent car charger that works well with the Pre.

Keith's review of the Palm Car Charger inspired me to pick one up and I agree - it's small, it works. It's also nice that it's a standard USB port if I want to use it to charge another gadget.

[The Palm Car Charger is Available Now for $19.95]

5. Bluetooth Headset

Glory be, the Palm Pre has a 3.5 mm headset jack that works with standard hybrid headphones, but I prefer to use Bluetooth with the Pre since it's so convenient to toggle off and on.

I can't recommend 'the best' headset anymore than I can recommend 'the best' smartphone or 'the best' car. It all depends on your personal needs. Noise cancellation nuts should take a look at the latest Jawbone Prime headset, but the lack of buttons on that kit bother me. Big talkers will probably want the sound quality and battery life of the Plantronics Voyager Pro

I use two different headsets. When I'm biking I use the Plantronics Voyager 855 Bluetooth Stereo Headset. It gives me A2DP music over Bluetooth (yes, I leave the lefthand earbud out for safety!), but isn't great for noise cancellation or sound quality. For day to day I use the Motorola H15, it's neither the latest nor the greatest for noise reduction and sound quality, but I can't let it go because I love that when you close the microphone, the little sucker turns off.

[See all Bluetooth headsets in our store.]