As the sale date for the Palm Pre approaches, the smartphone received mostly positive -- and in some cases glowing -- reviews solidifying it as a viable iPhone challenger. Plus, beyond the feature comparison, competitively priced service plans from Sprint make the Pre a more affordable alternative to the iPhone.

The sleek design and new operating system webOS are positioning the make-or-break Pre as the first viable competitor of the iPhone.

Industry watchers say key Pre features lacking in the iPhones include the pull-out keyboard, the capability to multi-task by having multiple applications open at once and a removable battery.

Also receiving kudos are the copy-and-paste function, universal search, over-the-air sync with Google calendar and Microsoft Exchange and iTunes music library synchronization.

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