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"6.7? What a crock!" on by c_m_f
Pros: Actual keyboard with tactile feedback AND high-res screen
Cons: EDGE only...fine for emails, not great for web
Summary: So the Centro, which actually does nearly everything the iPhone does at a fraction of the cost, yet has a real keyboard, expansion slot, and an operating system for which there is literally tens of thousands of programs, gets a mere 6.7? C'mon, CNET, you're showing your bias against the platform that invented handheld computing. The Centro can play movies, music, display ebooks, do Google maps, browse the web, interface with GPS units, organize your life, sync with Outlook (and most other PIM programs), share and sync via infrared, and all with a gorgeous 320x320 display (33% more screen than your typical Windows Mobile or Nokia smartphone) all for $99? Sorry...anyone who doesn't think that's a steal is somebody's fanboy.
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"Best phone in market for light PDA users" on by ppf2
Pros: Best phone for entry PDA phone users
Cons: Smaller keys than other phones
Summary: This is by far the best phone for light PDA phone users.
For me, I use the phone to run applications, play games, text message, and organize my life. It's perfect, I don't have a data plan 'cause I don't need to check email or surf the web on it. If this also fits your profile, this is definitely the best phone in the market right now. Yes, the Palm OS is old, but it's still more intuitive and easier to use than the Blackberry OS. And the iPhone is way too expensive for someone like me who doesn't care to check email or surf the net on a small screen.
The graphics are appealing, the call quality and speakerphone are better than most phones, the camera is good enough for what it is. The keys are small, but it's easy to get used to even with my large fingers. Plus the touch screen and navigation buttons help a lot. -
"Amazing Phone For the Price" on by bhartman35
Pros: Inexpensive, Feature-Packed, Lightweight
Cons: Palm OS is a little buggy, micro-SD required for real storage but not included
Summary: I just got my phone a few days ago. So far, it's been very good. Here's the feature breakdown:
-- QWERTY keyboard
-- Bluetooth
-- Voice Dialing
-- Touchscreen or keypad number dialing
-- Easily accessible phone log
-- Palm OS
-- Plays streaming, DRMed, and MP3 music
The first thing to say about this phone is that the keyboard is really helpful. Not only is it good for texting, but it also really helps for entering in Web addresses and in typing memos. Yes, the keys are a little bit cramped, but seriously, it's a cell phone! It's not meant for touch-typing.
The second feature, which is much-overlooked, I think, is the Palm OS. Having Palm on your phone gives you access to thousands of applications. There are all kinds of useful things you can put on your Palm -- from document viewers to games, from calculators to e-book readers. Just have a look at all the apps you can run on a Palm device. Really, it's quite impressive all that you can do.
The Palm OS also gives you access to something else: Palm accessories. While I was disappointed to learn that my old Palm cradle (from my TX) wouldn't work with the Centro, I was delighted to learn that my infrared keyboard would. This means that I can take my Centro to meetings and take notes with it, just like I did with my old Palm. (Try that on an iPhone!) If you're a longtime Palm user and have bought a few accessories, they might just work on the Centro. (I'd check first if I was you, though, of course.)
Of course, there is some bad news. The same OS that allows you to do all this stuff is also a little bit buggy. I've encountered my share of resets along the way while experimenting with things like DocumentsToGo. And for some odd reason, the Centro cycles not once, but twice. One reboot is bad enough, but having to watch it reboot twice is a little much. (Thankfully, this reboot process probably only takes 10 seconds or so.) Also (and somewhat inexplicably) Palm hasn't seen fit to include a reset button on the phone. You have to pull out the battery to reset it. (Since the battery cover doesn't have any texture to it, this takes some effort. My advice is to push down hard towards the top of the battery cover. It's not going to break on you.)
The other downside is that you have to get a micro-SD card for the Centro. It (maybe understandably) doesn't take regular-sized SD cards. You only get 64 megs of onboard memory, so if you're upgrading from something like a Palm TX with 256MB of memory, be prepared to feel a little claustrophobic until you get that new card.
The camera is passable for a phone. Not much to complain about there. And you can take short videos without a micro-SD card in the phone. By "short", I mean I took a 10-second video and it was fine. You might be able to fit more on the onboard memory (and probably can), but I'd still wait until you had a micro-SD card, since space is at a premium.
All in all, this is a great device. I'd recommend it to anyone new to smartphones who's on a budget, and certainly for anyone who's upgrading from a previous Palm device. Some people may feel cramped by the keyboard, but for me, the only things keeping this phone from being a 10 are the somewhat buggy OS and the lack of an included memory card.Updated
It's been brought up that the BlackBerry is a much better phone. While the Blackberry Pearl does have more features, the features that it has are not necessarily crucial to all users. The Pearl gives you a more up-to-date BlueTooth (2.0 as opposed to 1.2) a slightly better camera (2MP as opposed to 1.3MP) and GPS. If those things are critical to you, then by all means, you should get a Blackberry Pearl.
On the other hand, the Centro gives you a full QWERTY keyboard (i.e., no predictive typing), thousands more apps, a better browser, and access to compatible Palm accessories. So what you get out of the box isn't really the whole story when you buy a Palm.
While the Centro probably won't win any beauty contests, you can do a lot more with the Centro than you can do with a Blackberry.Updated
I wanted to put in one more update to my review to diagnose the double-reboot problem.
What I had to do to solve all my problems was a hard reset. Here's how it goes:
1) Rename your Backup folder. (Under Vista, this is under C:\Users\<Vista Username>
Documents\Palm OS Desktop\<Palm HotsyncID>Backup)
1) Sync your Centro. (I can't emphasize this enough! All your data will be wiped out by the hard reset.)
1) Take the battery out of the phone.
2) Hold down the power button.
3) Put the battery back into the phone, still holding down the button.
4) Release the button after the second time the Palm logo comes up.
5) When prompted, press up on the 5-way navigation button to hard reset. The Centro will hard reset, wiping out the old data.
6) Start adding programs back to your Centro.
After I did that, programs like Documents to go and VersaMail, that had been crashing before, now worked fine. The problem was a system preference left over from my old Palm. Doing the hard reset and adding the programs back on wipes out the old preferences so that you can start fresh.
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"this is an excellent phone" on by augustag
Pros: size, features, keyboard
Cons: battery capacity, EDGE data speeds, battery cover
Summary: Been using the Centro for 3 weeks, switched from a Sony Ericsson
W810i, and before that a series of Nokia phones - 3100, 3590,
8260. Wanted to upgrade to a PDA and considered the Samsung BlackJack
II, Motorola Q and Centro. After pouring over many reviews and playing
a bit with the phones in the store, I went with the Centro, size being
a major factor.
Here's my review of the Centro (AT&T GSM):
Phone:
So far the phone reception/sensitivity is as good as my W810i which is
excellent. It does not have the occasional static problem of the W810i
though. Audio quality is very good and the speakerphone is
outstanding. This is a great cell phone.
Keyboard and Buttons:
I've been very pleased with the feel and responsiveness of the
keyboard. Keys are very close together but worth the tradeoff for
device size. There is an occasional display lag after hitting a key
but it's been rare enough and short enough to not be an issue. Audio
alerts for incoming IM or Email messages are tied to the same sounds
settings that control the keyboard beep so you can't shut the beep off
without turning off IM alerts, a minor annoyance. The shortcut buttons
and directional pad are very sturdy and have a much better feel than
the Motorola Q. Many of the apps respond to the D-pad so the stylus
can often remain in its holder
Messaging:
Text messaging is threaded so you can maintain every message sent and
received from multiple people at the same time in a session
format. This is a key advantage of Palm, although Windows Mobile 6.1
supposedly has this feature. One annoyance of the IM client supplied
by OZ Communications is that it creates numerous log files in a folder
called IM_LOGS on the SD card. There appears to be no way to disable
this so you need to periodically delete the folder. Neither Palm nor
AT&T tech support could figure out how to turn it off. The IM client
sometimes has a hard time connecting if your data connection is not
good.
Software:
The look and feel is very similar to the Palm V I owned 8 years
ago. The calendar app looks like it hasn't changed in 8 years, still
easy to use. The task and memo apps look original also.
Email:
I had trouble making Xpress mail work with my Comcast email account so
I switched to the provided Versa client and that works
well. Retrieving mail sometimes takes minutes, even downloading just
subject headers. Not the speediest access, but adequate.
Internet:
The provided Blazer browser is basic but decent. Web transfer speeds
are slow as to be expected over the EDGE network. Centro with a 3G
interface will be a killer phone. Viewing content on a 320x320 display
is challenging but again worth the tradeoff in size. Being able to
touch a web link on a page is very handy. I've had some success
watching Youtube videos but occasionally the player just stops and I
get a timeout message.
Multimedia:
Centro comes with Pocket Tunes which rivals the Walkman software on my
W810i. Audio quality is good. Managing photos and videos and transfer
to and from the phone is easy using Palm Desktop. Picture quality with
the on-board camera is so-so but works in a pinch.
Battery:
Many people have reported that the battery capacity is weak and I
concur. Plan on charging the phone at least every other day for
moderate use (few hours of voice calls, few hours of web surfing, and
some email transactions), and every day for heavy use.
Build Quality:
The phone feels well built and solid with one exception. There's a gap
between the battery cover and the battery so typing on the keyboard
can cause an annoying creaking noise depending on where your fingers
are located. Palm tech support suggested putting a folded piece of
paper underneath the cover to close the gap and this solved the
problem. Otherwise the device feels solid and comfortable in your
hand.
Overall Recommendation:
This is a great phone and a good first PDA device. With the addition
of GSM 3G data and improved battery cover fit this would be a best in
class phone. -
"Consumer friendly phone" on by wjhumphrie
Pros: size, features, Palm OS, phone
Cons: charger (plug falls out in car)
Summary: Palm OS is simplicity, and the reason this phone shines. And it's an excellent phone! Replaced older Moto and Palm Vx for wife, great combo especially if you're a Palm PDA fan. Needed full keyboard, no problems with Centro, even for my large fingers. Synch with PC took 3 mins, easy for non-tech to use. This is the phone if you want a solid, user-friendly, well rounded smartphone.
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