The book's compact size makes for easy storage, yet font and picture size are not sacrificed. Large section headings organizes the material, allowing for easy reference. On virtually every page, Baig includes boxes titled "note" and "tip" that disclose additional information. These boxes typically contain extremely useful information about shortcuts and warnings concerning memory usage, possible erasure of data, and other issues. While this supplementary material is helpful, the "note" and "tip" boxes look identical: both are shaded in yellow, use the same icon, and differ only slightly in font. Other equivalent "how to" manuals use different icons to clearly distinguish between the two, and therefore make it easier for the reader to quickly locate particular information. Having crucial information about potential dangers more prominently highlighted, for example, would be an important feature for many users.
Overall, Palm Pre: The Missing Manual is a valuable resource for first-time and experienced smartphone users alike. Its convenient size, full-color, glossy reproductions of photographs, and very user-friendly, economical writing make for a useful, if essential, manual for Palm Pre users. Baig's book indeed fulfills its promise of being the "manual that should have been in the box."
For more information, visit O'Reilly's Palm Pre: The Missing Manual site, or the Missing Manual page, which includes additional tutorials and downloads.
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