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Before I bought the Palm Centro I read several reviews. Usually they refer to it as an entry level smart phone,
which means it is still probably better than a regular phone. Despite
the misnomer that the Centro is lacking in features, that does not seem
to be the case at all. I have the AT&T
version, which is the same as any other, which has all the organizer
functions of any Palm. For those of you not used to a Palm, those
functions include calendar, address book, memos, and to do lists. All
those functions have the ability to mark a record as private, and to
synchronize with your computer, by either USB or Bluetooth. The Centro
has a full keyboard and touch screen input as well. The Centro also has infrared beaming capability, which is useful in sending information
from one device to another to send your songs to your friends for free, kind of neat.
The Centro has the ability to do word type documents, has Google Maps,
and a music player. A nice feature is if you have someone's address in
contacts, you can map it from the contact and get driving directions to
or from another location. You can also open e-mail from contacts, or,
from e-mail, choose a contact address. The functions are very
functional and useful.
I looked at Blackberries, Palm, and Iphones
before deciding on what to get. I didn't like the Blackberry Pearl
because it does not have a full keyboard. I was interested in the
Curve, but it is a little larger than the Centro and heavier. I chose
the Palm because I had used the operating system for many years, so it
was familiar and an easy transition. I also like the size of the Centro
and that it is relatively cheap.
As a phone, the clarity is the
best of any cell I have had, so can't complain there The size is small
enough to easily carry in a shirt pocket, not some huge brick like
phone. I really like the full keyboard for typing, even though the
letters are not for fat fingered people. There is also a touch screen
keyboard if you are into that kind of cool stuff. The camera is decent
at 1.3 mega pixels, but obviously not up the Samsung Memoir with 8 megapixels etc. I also like the documents to go function which includes Word, EXCEL, PowerPoint and a pdf reader.
E-mail and web functions work pretty well. E-mail and web packages are
getting more expensive, but are usually about $25 to $30 per month
depending on the carrier. I also like that I don't have to use the
internet (or pay for it) if I don't want to unlike some other phones. The Palm operating system
is great. It really should have sold better than it has.
Unfortunately, this may be the last device to use this OS. But with
over 2 million Centros sold, it should be around for a while. The
phone itself is easy to hold and use and has both a keyboard and a
touch screen. I think it is a bit slick for the full keyboard, but you
can get covers that help you to hold it better to type. Like the Iphone, there are literally thousands if applications available. For entertainment, I've added Spider, Free Cell
and Scrabble. I also have a dictionary at my fingertips. Memory is
pretty sparse, with only 128MB of storage to begin with, although it
will accommodate a 4 gig micro SD card for music, photos and videos.
Battery
life, like any smartphone needs to be improved. If you use voice and
data, you will have to charge the phone every day. The only good
battery I have ever seen is on the blackberry, but even it is not
spectacular. So, get a spare backup if you are a heavy user.
In
summary, I find the Centro does everything it claims to, and it does
them well in a cheap and functional package. It is usually available
for under $100 with a two year contract. I got mine a bit cheaper
because I know someone that worked for AT&T and wanted to get rid
of it cheap and without a contract. Although I know some earlier Palm smart phones
had issues (that is why T-Mobile no longer carries them), I've had my
Centro for quite a while now and have had a good experience with it.
It is not as nice as my G1, but a lot cheaper!
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