Palm Centro Phone, Red (Sprint, Phone Only, No Service) Review

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(More customer reviews)Many have made disparaging comments in the past about where Palm has been heading in the past few years, and how little Palm has innovated. This is all true, but it doesn't detract from the great value the Centro represents right now. For a paltry $99 (as a direct-buy from Sprint), you get great yet simple-to-use contact manager, calendar, to-do apps, an easy to use phone interface (integrated with the contact manager) which can be customized to select oft-chosen numbers with single keypresses, dirt-simple camera and camcorder functionality, multiple email client support (including HotMail and Yahoo), dirt-simple MP3 music playing (with Windows Media Player synchronization), true web-browsing (at least compared to the limited WAP browsing you get from disposable phones), etc, etc. Plus you gain access to thousands of free and commercial applications which are surprisingly powerful considering the age of the underlying operating system. I use a program called HandyShopper for maintaining multiple shopping lists, and I couldn't live without it. iSecure is a free and easy-to-use program for storing passwords in an iron-strong (i.e., heavily encrypted) database. By nature of the Palm OS, the vast majority of applications for the Palm are easy to use; this is an advantage which too many critics overlook.
The Palm OS has some limitations (e.g., the limited multitasking in some scenarios can be problematic for some users), but Palm has set up the Centro so you can listen to MP3s or talk on the phone while performing other tasks, so this alleviates my biggest gripes in this regard.
I've only had my Centro for a few days, but I'm impressed by the screen clarity, the speed at application switching, the battery life, and, of course, the breadth of the included applications (including a limited edition of Documents To Go). (Disclaimer: I can't activate my Internet or email package for a few weeks since it would incur overlapping service charges, but the browser supports Google Maps and YouTube so I suspect the browsing experience will be rather good. Sprint's EvDO network is blazing fast, too! Although the Centro doesn't support WiFi, this should be considered a PLUS since WiFi is NOT secure, despite what you may have heard; any moron with a laptop, a WiFi card and any of the freely available sniffer applications can capture your SSL handshake authentication information when you connect to your bank while sitting comfortably in an airport lounge...)
As to stability, I have not had to reset my Centro yet (but time will tell). UPDATE: I found an instance where opening a file with an older version of an application caused a reset, but updating the application corrected this, and I lost no information.
Another thing that really impressed me is that I bought this phone as an upgrade to a 6 year old Samsung Palm-compatible PDA. I expected application compatibility to be strong (it was), but I didn't expect the migration of my old HotSync back-up to the new phone to be painless. It was. Despite having an older version of the Palm Desktop and applications that only run under Palm OS 3.5 or earlier, all of my installed applications came over without any effort on my part and (except for a trial version of PacMan) ran without a glitch!
My only major complaint of the Centro is the cramped keyboard. If you have short fingernails, the keyboard isn't for you. Fortunately, the on-screen keyboard is still available and lets me enter information fairly quickly.
If you are a Palm fanatic and are looking at upgrading, the Centro is a must-have, especially if you have a large collection of Palm apps and don't wish to re-enter all that information!
As nice as it is, the Palm OS will never compete with the iPhone's interface, but the Centro isn't $400 either. Plus, you can buy a spare battery for the Centro and replace it on a plane - try that, iPhone!!!
Addendum: I discovered a neat feature my old Samsung didn't have: If a number of events occur and you can't respond to them (e.g., you're away from your phone), when you turn on the display you're presented with a summary screen. For example, I recently turned on the display and was informed (on a single screen) that I missed two appointments (details shown), two phone calls (names shown), and that I had a voicemail message waiting for me! It's like having a personal secretary!

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Life starts after five o'clock. Not coincidentally, that's also when the Palm Centro smartphone comes alive. Not only does the Palm Centro handle all your favorite voice functions, but it also offers text, IM, e-mail, and web access, all in a body that's a lot smaller than you'd think. Add in such features as a 1.3-megapixel camera, 64 MB of internal memory, Bluetooth 1.2 support, a microSD expansion slot, and a full QWERTY keyboard and you have a terrific smartphone for all your messaging and personal needs. In short, there's no better way to stay in touch.
Design The Palm Centro boasts a sleek red housing that measures a mere 2.11 by 4.22 by 0.73 inches (W x H x D) and weighs 4.2 ounces. It's notably smaller than many competing smartphones, yet doesn't sacrifice functionality at any point along the way. Users will also love the 320 x 320 touchscreen (up to 65,000 colors), which offers a crisp resolution for photos and videos. And thanks to the full QWERTY keyboard, you can say L8R to those tricky keys on your old cell phone.
Phone and Messaging Functions The Palm Centro smartphones offers a ton of ways to stay in touch with friends, whether you're calling Brian, firing off a quick text to Jen, instant messaging Chris, or shooting an e-mail to Kat. From a phone perspective, the Palm Centro lets you dial people right from your address book, set up three-way calls from the touch of a button, or use the speakerphone to talk hands-free. The keyboard, meanwhile, makes it a breeze to type complete messages whether you're sending text, pictures, or even audio or video clips. Plus, the Centro keeps all your messages in a chat-style view, so it's easy to keep track of the conversation.
Want to keep up with all the latest gossip when you're away from the computer? Turn to the Centro's instant messaging functions, which support all your buddy lists on AIM, MSN, Yahoo, and others. Similarly, the Centro lets you access your personal e-mail accounts, such as Gmail, AOL, and Yahoo. As a result, you can reply to invites and answer e-mails when you're out and about.
Web Functions Whether you're keeping up with friends on MySpace or looking up directions to the new bistro across town, the Centro's touchscreen and keyboard make it fun to navigate around the web. The Centro includes a fast built-in web browser that lets you check out photos on Flickr or watch videos on YouTube, with broadband-like speeds on the EV-DO network that are guaranteed to impress. No more waiting around for your favorite sites to load. The Centro is also compatible with Google Maps, making it simple to get directions or see which freeways are clear and which ones are parking lots. Google Maps shows you red, yellow, or green traffic routes in real time.
Organizer Functions The Palm Centro includes a complete organizer for keeping track of all your daily, weekly, and monthly responsibilities. The contacts list gathers all your friends' phone numbers, addresses, and more, while the calendar keeps you from missing upcoming meetings, events, and parties. You can even enter a friend's birthday in the contacts list and will automatically show up in your calendar. As with the best organizers, the Centro also offers a to-do list that lets you check off items when they're complete. As a result, it's easy to keep track of what you did and still need to do. And should you come across a tidbit that doesn't have a logical home, simply turn to the memo function, which lets you store random information such as hot spots in Vegas or the names of movies you'd like to rent. Say goodbye to carrying around crumpled scraps of paper in your pocket or purse. Finally, it's possible to save a copy of all those names, numbers, appointments, photos, and videos on your computer thanks to the sync function.
Multimedia Whether you want to take pictures, play videos, or listen to music, the Palm Centro has got you covered. The 1.3-megapixel digital camera (with a 2x digital zoom) lets you shoot pictures and send them to friends, store digital albums, or shoot videos. The built-in MP3 player, meanwhile, lets you take your tunes everywhere you go. With 64 MB of storage, there's plenty of room for your playlists, plus you can add up to 4 GB more with a microSD card. And thanks to Pocket Tunes Deluxe, you can play the songs you downloaded from places like Rhapsody or Yahoo. As a bonus, the Centro supports a ton of fun stuff from Sprint, including the ability to watch such TV channels as CNN Mobile, Fox Sports, the Weather Channel, the Disney Channel, and E! Entertainment. There's never a dull moment with the Palm Centro around.
Other phone details include a removable lithium-ion battery that offers 3.5 hours of talk time and up to 300 hours of standby time; a Palm OS 5.4.9 platform; and support for Windows XP and Vista and Mac OS X 10.2 and higher.

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