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There are throngs of third-party applications for Palm OS. When I pressed the red button to turn on the screen to check the time, only the keypad lit. The screen had failed completely. My most recent Centro was literally brand new when it failed. I've been put in some very awkward social situations because of an inability to access my contact list or make calls.
A moderate 3G signal yields a download rate of about 30K/s (0.24 megabits); I've seen upwards of 100K/s (0.8 megabits) with a strong signal. Some users report that activating push email can cut it dramatically. A problem arises when the phone thinks you've plugged in a headset when you haven't. The solution is to plug and unplug a headphone connector until the jack works again, but as with the data connector, this is only temporary.
You might wonder what issues have led to these replacements.The data connector on the bottom of the phone is prone to weakness and moisture damage. The symptoms are that the speaker phone icon disappears on connected calls, and neither you nor the other person can hear each other. A second failure point is the headphone/microphone jack. When the connector fails, the phone will enter a Hotsync loop, repeatedly attempting to sync itself with a nonexistent data cable until the phone battery dies.
Opera Mini 4 is a must-have replacement, but while it succeeds in rendering pages properly, the Centro's screen is so small that web browsing becomes a just-in-case feature rather than something enjoyable to use.* Touchscreen functionality is awkward for similar reasons. I've had two Sprint plans, each with a Palm Centro, for 12 months and 18 months. The keyboard has plenty of tactile feedback for accurate text messaging even with my large hands. Leave that off, disable Bluetooth, and have the phone automatically turn off at night, and you can see up to a week of standby.There are a few advantages to the Centro:* The base of applications is huge because Palm OS has been around forever.* It's faster in use than most of the Windows Mobile phones, stable, and simple to operate. With Sprint, you can have a replacement in-hand within a day regardless of why the phone failed.About a year ago, I wrote this review of my Centro: "Sizewise, it fits easily into a jeans pocket, though the finish is so slick that it's easy to drop.
Call quality is high. Texting is excellent, save for one quirk. No Google Talk yet, but that and the other services are available with a third party program called Mundu. Two separate Sprint repair reps have acknowledged this to me. Where most phones will split an overlong message into two, the Centro just refuses to accept any characters beyond 160. I'd had it for a day and a half.
Battery life is about a week on standby. What's painful about all this is that I actually like the phone. On the merits, the phone deserves 4 stars. The problem will appear again. It is possible to slow it down if you install too much garbage.* You can tether the phone to a laptop with PDANet or USB Modem if you have an unlimited data plan, and you won't have to pay the monthly PAM ("Phone As Modem") fee. It looks about five generations removed from iPhone, but the usability is still quite good.
Sometimes the phone can appear to boot properly, but begins to loop if you attempt to access particular applications. In that span, I've replaced the first Centro once and the second Centro four times. When you plug a headset into this jack, the phone automatically disables the onboard speaker and microphone. Since Palm is unwilling to address any of the issues above in a hardware update, I can only say that if you must have this phone, buy the $7/month Sprint replacement package. Phone functionality and the contact list are well-implemented, though I wish they'd use more of the touchscreen to show the button icons.Battery life varies with the features in use.
Pretty costs more. After twice pulling and replacing the battery for a soft reset, the phone no longer works in any dimension. The Treo line is mostly equivalent to the Centro, except with a larger keyboard and screen, better battery life, and Wifi. As I could still receive calls, the rest of the phone appeared to work. Resetting the phone rarely fixes the problem, and once it occurs for the first time, it will happen again. If you're in the middle of a sentence, that can be annoying.The Sprint version of the Centro comes with instant messaging for AIM, MSN, and Yahoo. The first Centro from the later contract was used for 45 cumulative talking minutes and spent its entire lifespan in a leather case on a desk.
Palm's warranty turnaround time is upwards of three weeks. This is also common; soft resets sometimes fail completely, and you have put in a different battery to make the phone try again. * Minimal eye-candy. If you intend to use a belt holster, the Treo is preferable."
These phones are not dropped, abused, or exposed to moisture beyond that of a jeans pocket. This is easily enough to replace hotel broadband and the like. * It's a competent personal organizer.And a few disadvantages:* No Wifi receiver.* The integrated browser ("Blazer") is awful. Were I prone to emergencies, having a Centro as my sole phone would be very uncomfortable. The OS feels very 2001 because. And yet, I can't give it that rating because I can't trust it. Like your contacts list. that's when it was made.
The Palm operating system is graphically dated, but very intuitive and quick to use. Sprint's coverage of the Atlanta-Midtown area is excellent; I've only had two calls drop in the entire span I've used my Centro. I do almost all input and navigation with the keypad or the stylus. The advantage of the Centro is that it's pocketable.
But it's so slow to bring up the box that says "press center button to unlock" that you can press keys that get acted on BEFORE the unlock screen comes up. The centro is the most annoying phone I have ever had. I converted from treo to a centro. And you can't just press red, center quickly, because it throws away the center key press if you do it too soon.And If you press the keys too fast, sometimes the keystrokes get lost, but other times you'll think it hasn't registered the keypress (the phone will lock up temporarily, and miss keystrokes), so you press it again, nothing, again. Problems include a too small keyboard, annoying tendencies to reset itself, but most of all it's annoying because it's slow and inconsistent.The stupidest example of this is the unlock. You're supposed to press red button, center button to unlock. And then the whole series of keystrokes will play back - perhaps hanging up your call. This happens with screen input, too.If it only lost keystrokes, or was consistent about whether it kept or dropped buffered keystrokes, you could adapt, but since it makes you guess, it's really annoying.It also hangs up when you plug in the headset sometimes, so you have to plug in the headset first, or do without.I can't wait to replace this phone.
Syncing the phone and to my PC is a breeze. She told me I needed a Palm Centro.she was right.I've had my Palm for about a week, and I seriously wonder how I lived without it. After MUCH research, my fiance and I decided that Sprint's family plan would end up being our best choice. For my purposes, though, it is perfect.
I walked into the Sprint store and told the saleswoman that I wanted a phone that would act as a PDA that I didn't have to have a data plan for. When I moved to an area with horrific Verizon reception, I started researching different plans and phones. Acknowledgement of shortcomings:Let me say that I am a 26 year-old, high school teacher. Yes, the keyboard is small. Of course there's a learning curve with every new phone, but I had most of it figured out on day 2.
I do not use this phone for business, if I did, it's possible that my review would be different. However, the size of the phone is worth it. I knew that I wanted a smartphone, but couldn't see paying $30/month just to OWN the iPhone. I am able to keep my appointments and to do list straight, and read/edit documents. Some of the best features include: touch screen, calendar app, pTunes, QWERTY keyboard, messaging/chat, ability to add apps (including TaskLauncher which causes the interface to look like the iPhone), microSD card, and Sprint reception.
This phone helps keeps me organized and allows me to store documents. I will most likely add the data plan because, while the phone functions fine without it, there are many features that are available only with the data plan (including picture messaging). I am able to easily put this phone in my jeans pocket without being uncomfortable or having an unsightly bulge.If you're new to the smartphone world, this phone does all you need it to at a price that's reasonable.
I really thought I had this down, even went into the Verizon store and had all three to use, hold, play with, get used to -- and I probably drove the sales staff nuts. I even called Verizon looking for assistance and was pretty much told, "look if you cannot operate the phone ( it's a PDA) you need to take it back and get something else like the Blackberry". I have the Palm Centro for Verizon. Phone speaker is non existent, it is difficult to hear a caller the does not sound 'fuzzy' and or distorted. I cannot see putting up with this for two years. Bottom line, this is so not the PDA phone for me. Yes I took the tutorials on getting around this PDA.
Further the battery is quite weak and drained to less than a quarter cell by the end of a 12 hour work and travel day. I did about two months worth of research into this phone vs the Blackberry, or the Verizon wireless special. I was extremely disappointed to find out even thugh there are a TON of apps on the phone, that I would have to go and DOWNLOAD the apps to make them run on the PDA. Half the time the touch screen is very unser unfriendly, I spent time each day resetting the touch screen and stylus. Yes I adjusted the volume. Some folks will like this phone, and find it very useful, and will have great success.
Having used 3 Windows Mobile phones, iPhone, Balckberry Storm, Palm Treo 755p & Nokia E51, I think Centro is closest to the ideal smartphone but Sprint network does not hold water to Verizon Wirelss network in reliability.1. Brisk, peppy response and rarely locks up or freezes.5. Ideal weight for a phone is less than 100 gms.3. Web browser is fast for mobile sites but otherwise barely functional - Internet is available but browsing is not enjoyable like on iPhone. Top-notch contact, calendar and memos management.4.
Instead of micro-USB or mini-USB, it uses proprietary cable which is hard to take out. Blackberry Storm has a gorgeous screen and excellent email device but has very buggy software and constantly freezes. Blackberries shine when it comes to email.3. Reasonable size & weight (119 gms) and is pocketable and you have to carry phone with you all the time.
Solid, reliable phone.2. Google style but not stylish, fun & glamorous like iPhone & Mac. iPhone is the best MP3, video and multimedia player, has the best user interface and mobile browser experience but is abysmal as a phone in comparison to Verizon Centro. The style is simple, unadorned and functional a.k.a. I have not been able to sync over Bluetooth or use Bluetooth modem. But there is scope for improvement, it could be lighter and thinner.
Symbian based Nokia phones are fairly decent smartphones but their availability on US cellular carriers is very limited. Good QWERTY keyboard.7. As of March 2009, I think Palm Centro is one of the best smartphones available. Camera is bare minimum at 1.3 Megapixels and music function is basic with 2.5 mm audio jack. Font size is small and has to be individually adjusted in each application.Here is my Gestalt on smartphones.1.
AT&T has poor network signal and coverage, the calls drop all the time and sound on iPhone is average.2.
Fairly decent availability of applications.8.
Verizon Wireless, the best network in US, has none.In my experience Palm operating system is one of the most trusty and functional smartphone operating systems.
Clear sound.
Centro is supposedly the last in the Palm lineage phones.
A-one Microsoft office document functionality with Documents-to-Go.6.
Functions well as a tethered modem with cable and speed in 800-900 Kbs range on Verizon Wireless network.10.Synchronizes calendar, contacts and memos with Macbook.11.Good SMS function: threads messages.But Centro is not without flaws: the default OK button is on Voicemail and dials Voicemail unintentionally.
Windows Mobile phones are horrendous: packed with features that don't work and smartphone operating system is the most unreliable.4.
I would recommend it if you need a solid, trustworthy smartphone, but on Verizon, not on Sprint.
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