Sprint sells the device for $200 after a $100 mail-in rebate, plus a two-year service agreement. Elliott, who was stationed at a store in lower Manhattan, said that by 11 a.m., there had been a steady line of customers at several East Coast stores he'd heard from.

In downtown Boston, there was still a line of about 15 people outside the Sprint store two hours after it had opened. According to Boston.com, the store by 11 a.m. At at a Framingham Best Buy, where the $100 rebate is automatic, a store manager was waiting outside before the official opening to give Pre buyers a ticket to come back for activation at 10 a.m. He said most Best Buys only had three or four of the devices, and characterized the first day of sales as a "soft launch." At 9 a.m., he still had tickets available for two Pres.

Sprint would not say how many devices were available nationwide, although the Framingham Sprint store had sold at lease 20 Pres in the first 90 minutes, based on the number of customers seen leaving with one device. Sprint will replenish its stock, depending on when Palm makes them available, the spokesman said.

Seven successful Pre buyers who were interviewed at the Framingham store said they wanted a new smartphone with a bright screen and a hardware keyboard. Of those, four said they were willing to switch from Verizon Wireless and AT&T to do so. All of them said they had tried the iPhone, or owned one, and wanted a hardware keyboard instead of a touchscreen, finding the touchscreen hard to use.

Some had more specific interests, including learning about the Pre to consider writing applications for it that Palm would sell in its application storefront, called the App Catalog.