Palm Pre 2 on Verizon Wireless for $149 Starting February 17th

In a press release today, Verizon Wireless announced that it will carry the Pre 2, HP Palm’s 3.1-inch webOS 2.0-powered smart phone, starting Thursday, February 17th. The Pre 2 will retail for $149 with a two-year contract and after a $50 mail-in rebate. Pre 2 owners must also sign up for a data plan; unlimited data plans will start at $29.99 per month.

Verizon Wireless is currently accepting advance orders for the phone. In addition to a refresh of webOS, the Pre 2 offers a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a 1-GHz processor, and a 5-MP camera. webOS 2.0 also supports Skype calls and a beta of Flash 10.1 in the browser.

We thought the Pre 2 looked remarkably similar to the original Palm Pre when we first learned about it in October. Still, we’ll have to get our hands on it and test out webOS 2.0′s chops before we can make a final judgment. How many of you will be swinging by Verizon to pick up a Pre 2 on Thursday?