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Palm Centro (AT&T)
The Palm Centro made is the smallest and lightest Palm OS based smartphone to date. Palm basically took all that's good about the 755p, and packed it into a much leaner and lighter body. The Centro brings a number of high end smartphone features including 3G wireless data and a full qwerty keyboard.
The Palm Centro casing is a smooth plastic with silver trim accents that wrap around the sides, back and front buttons. The cases colors have a nice subtle sparkle finish to them when viewed up close. Overall the new design is a good refinement of the classic Treo form factor, though the Centro does have a much more plasticy feel to it than previous Palm devices. Palm still can't seem to make it much thinner, but the compactness and pleasantly symmetrical rounded design of the Centro provides a positively smaller impression.
I have to give Palm poor marks for the rear of the device with the removable battery door being the primary culprit. Even when attached normally the door feels somewhat squishy and will exhibit a tendency to creak and flex when held tight. It is also a magnet for fingerprint smudge buildup with its glossy sheen. Sliding it off can be a real challenge as well as there is no specific point to apply pressure in order to create friction to disengage the cover. It can also be awkwardly difficult to get the door back on as it is not very intuitive how to reattach it properly. Normally this wouldn't be so much of an issue, but in order to access the memory card door and to reset the device you have to physically remove and replace the back cover.Read full review...
The cool , fun & perfect phone for texts-a-lot people!
This is a cool phone that is perfect for all those text lovers . This phone has a keyboard, an on screen number pad, speakerphone,color theme options, picture and ring tone caller Id options. There is a memory card slot, it comes with a hot sync cord to transfer items from your PC to your phone . There are many items available to load to your phone from the internet. Check out the enclosed disc and booklets that come with your phone or surf the web. The phone shows your text messages in a instant message fashion. The phone does have a camera, it only will zoom 2x . It can take some fair / nice pictures . On the down side ... I have found that the Palm Centro battery doesn't seem to hold as long of a charge as my former Razor phone. The video camera does Not have a zoom on it. For those two reasons I only great it good instead of great. Overall this Is the cool, fun & perfect phone for texts-a-lot people or anyone that enjoys cool technology !Read full review...
Useful palm phone
I'm hooked on Palm PDAs. So I saw the Centro as a chance to get rid of the PDA and do both on the cell phone. The screen is very small, and the power port is a weak link. When I got my old Centro from Verizon, it wasn't necessary to have a data plan for texting. After about two years of pocket wear and knocking around, the charging port became fragile, meaning that I had to sit and hold the plug "just right" so it would charge for around 1.5 hr/day. That situation didn't last too long. First I went to Verizon (VZ); they wanted to renew my contract for two years and give me some other phone. No, I want my centro, but I want it to charge up. Then they wanted to sell me a battery $40+tax+shipping ($8 for two on eBay+0tax+0shipping). But the battery didn't solve the problem, so I decided to buy a used Centro. (I'm close to retirement and don't want a 2yr commitment! VZ wanted $149+tx+sh for a replacement without contract.) The new Centro ($63+0+0) worked just fine; was in good shape and it charged on its own! Verizon 611 service got the new phone up and running in five minutes with no complaining that I didn't buy it from them.
A little duct tape can keep the pocket lint out of the charging port. The keyboard is "tactile" to your fingernails--'way too small for your fingers. The coating of the keys is so shiny that it's hard to find the special characters like + / * $ ! . So touch typing is definitely out.
Pros: it's a Palm PDA!!!, it's light, it's loud enough, it works well with bluetooth. Can send&receive pictures and text while talking on the phone! Good touchscreen dialing pad. Good tech support from VZ & Palm.
Cons: Verizon stores are the pits--keep away! Battery drain is significant; must charge daily, especially in weak signal areas. Shiny key coverings. Small screen. Poor design of charging port. Low-res camera.
My Palm PDA isn't lost. When my cell phone days are over, my trusty T|X is standing by to keep me organized.Read full review...
The pros and cons of the Palm Centro.
I will jump right in to it. The Centro has a small QWERTY keyboard(keypad) which is farely easy to type on for me. It has a good touchscreen, decent size and okay resolution. I however do not like the fact of how difficelt it is to get your email up and running, my device is for verizon and the wireless sync will simply not let me sync my email and i dont know if it is always like that or if i need to contact verizon to take care of the problem. The browser(blazer) is nice, it is fast and gets the job done. The operating system is just right, its fast, easy to utilize and is dynamic. The centro is lagging behind in the multimedia department though, it has only a 2.5mm headphone jack and i can not find a facebook app for it. Despite the shortcomings i will say it is a good device because it does what it says and it is a very straight forward easy device that is good for kids, adults, and buisness users.Read full review...
Real Nice Phone
My first Palm was a Tungston T2, and it still operates except that I laid the weight of my elbow on the screen resulting in a crack on the top part. It had Bluetooth 5 or 6 years before I could afford a phone that had it. People were amazed that it would dial my phone for me. I used it to keep all my contacts, emails address, voice records, and finances amoung other things. I never had a boring moment after I bought my first palm,
So after cracking the screen I started saving and looking for a new one. I ended up with a Palm TX. I really liked the WiFi on that, it checked my emails every hour when I was in a Trusted WiFi location. That saved so much time in front of the computer.
So far... the Palm Pre Plus is all that plus a bag of chips! I was suprised at the assorment of apps for it, alot of them are free.
I don't like that it only sync's to the internet, I like my privacy. Maybe i'm just old school.
The touch screen takes some getting used to. I do like that I dont have to get the cumbersome stylus out to type info in, and really like the feel of the keybord. It almost feels like rubber.
I don't like the battery life, the GPS apps drain the battery quick. I have an extra battery, a charging stone for home and the cradle for the truck on the way. Hurry Mr postman!
At any rate.. I think its a great phone & pda all wrapped up into one slim sexy device.
Long time customerRead full review...
Nice smartphone if you don't want a data plan!
My wife was interested in getting a smartphone with Verizon for just syncing calendars, etc. Verizon requires an extra $30 per month data plan on any smartphone made after Nov 2008. This phone and a few others (see http://corusa.com/blog/2009/07/05/verizon-wireless-forced-data/) don't require data plans but sync with windows and OSX (my OS of choice) with 'The Missing Sync' app. The phone has a small keyboard, so not good if you are a heavy texter, but the apps on it work fine, either via a stylus or using your finger. If you have large fingers, I wouldn't recommend it.
Before you buy a phone aftermarket like this, make sure the seller guarantees it will activate on the Verizon network, by asking the seller for the ESN and then calling Verizon about it before you buy it. I trusted the seller and didn't do that, and things worked out fine. But, it is better to be safe than sorry.
Wish it had WIFI, but oh well.
Another thing, if you never want to connect to the VZ data network with this, call Verizon and tell them to put a data block on your line to avoid unintended data connects. That will also block video/photo text messaging, but will still allow standard texting...Read full review...
Palm Centro
Well this phone is very nice in color , it has many features, sometime it's hard to understand the phone but if you read the manual everything will be a lot easier, good texting phone !!!!! memory card slot up to 4 gb . touchscreen is very good also . sound is loud which is a very good thing, and various ringtones to choose from .Read full review...
Palm Centro (AT&T)
The AT&T version of the Palm Centro 685 is a great entry level smartphone suitable for personal use. Taking a cue from the success of the Blackberry Pearl series, the Centro reduced the form factor from their Treo line to make it more appealing to non-business users and offered the Centro in different colors - black, white, blue and red.
Pros:
1. The AT&T version of the Centro has very clear reception and a strong wireless antenna. There have been multiple occasions where I was the only one with reception in a given area, even with other AT&T users.
2. If you have a heavy investment in Palm/Garnet OS, this is one of the last and fastest product offerings from Palm on that platform. There are still a lot of Palm apps out there and many of them are free now.
3. My centro has taken daily wear and tear a lot better than my treos did.
Cons:
1. Neither AT&T nor Palm directly support this device anymore. When it is dead, you can't get a replacement from either of them. The PalmOS platform is considered retired.
2. This is not suitable for a business smartphone anymore. For example, if your corporate email uses a version 2 SSL certificate, the only way you will be able to get your corporate email is to use Xpress Mail because v2 SSL certificates are not supported under PalmOS.
3. Use a bluetooth handsfree set rather than the wired handsfree cable. The handsfree jack has a documented propensity for getting stuck which results in the onboard mic and speaker being rendered inoperable.
The Palm Centro is a good choice for those either looking for a personal smartphone with great reception and clarity, or for those who have a big investment in PalmOS and are not ready to switch to another platform like Android, Blackberry or the iPhone yet.Read full review...
About average...Made me miss the treo
If the palm centro is your first Pcket PC you would think that it is pretty sweet. I've been in the palm family for a while and the centro is what I got after my Palm Treo finally stopped working.
CONS:The buttons are cramped so people with big fingers might want to consider another phone. I hated the fact that the Centro doesn't have a daily repeat alarm and the camera could be better. I had to charge mine at the end of every day whether I was texting heavy that day or not. It lost the computer setup that was with the Palm treo but kept windows mobile. Wish the screen were bigger.
PROS: It is definitely smaller than the palm treo and loss the external antenna. It has more vibrant colors than it's predecessor and a good amount of internal memory.
It's a good reliable phone for those who want a smart phone but aren't tech savvy enough to keep up with the ones of today. And you can get them cheap on Ebay.Read full review...
Palm Centro Review
When I turned the phone on for the first time, I had no clue what I was doing and was very frustrated. After 15 minutes, I got used to the phone. It is actually really cool and useful. The text message style is like the iPhone, it displays all previous messages between the person which is really nice. The keys are tiny but you will adjust. The touch screen is EXTREMELY responsive! I love it! This is a great buy!Read full review...