I played with one once and I didn't like it so much.
I suppose (simple matters of taste aside) it depends on your perspective. I'm coming from a Palm Centro running the old and busted Palm OS, so to me, the Pre feels like the ultimate new hotness. But, compared to (for example) an iPhone, it probably doesn't look like anything special.
I liked it a lot more than the Android phones I played with. The Pre felt slick, intuitive and natural, whereas Android felt clunky and cobbled together. Android has a tone of potential, but in its current incarnation I just wasn't seeing it.
Those were pretty much my only choices, since I'm stuck on Sprint. No way in h-e-double-hockey-sticks would I even look at a Windows Mobile phone, and the iPhone, locked as it is to AT&T, is simply unobtainable for me in this stage of my life. But, for now, I'm quite happy with the Pre. It's a really nice device.
I've actually played with all three (iphone, android, and webOS) and I find the pre to be the best out of them. That's why i got one. The *MAIN* reason i say this is multi-tasking. Once I got a taste of it on my phone, i cant imagine a phone without it now. It's way too common these days for me to be surfing the web, listening to music, checking email, texting, and playing a game or something like that all at once.
In andriods defense, though, I haven't played with the newest version (the one on the nexus one), which supposedly was a game changer for it.
Though, palm is apparently into some rocky times, they released their earnings yesterday and it wasn't that good. If I end up losing webOS, i'll likely move to android in the future, to see about the changes that've come about (that and I have a geek-love for google)
Edit: Also, as with anything else, anyone's preference between android, iphone, and webOS is obviously personal preference (or hardcore fandom, which each device and company have, but i honestly wish THAT could be killed off)
YET A FURTHER EDIT: Anyone ever hear of or see emblaze's first else? It's a new smartphone coming out later this year, and it just *OOZES* style from every single pore that a phone doesnt have.
I dont know all the specs on it, but if it can compete with the big players functionality-wise, it may be something worthwhile
Linky dinky