Palm Centro Review:
Palm Centro black phone is a cool smartphone. 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.

Palm Centro Design
The Palm Centro boasts a sleek black 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.

Palm Centro 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.

Palm Centro 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.

Palm Centro 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.

Palm Centro 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 Palm 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.

Palm Centro User Review:

The Palm Centro is smaller than previous Palm devices, namely the phenomenally popular Treo line, which virtually invented the smartphone industry. I have gone all over the ‘net looking for comparisons so I would have a good idea of how to compare the Palm Centro to say the Treo 755p and I MUST say that looking at photos simply cannot do it justice. On the surface, the Palm Centro looks only slightly smaller than the 755p…but I ASSURE you in reality, it is much smaller…maybe too small.

Let me explain: the smart mobile phones field is becoming more and more convoluted as more models become available almost daily, from the new Blackjack 2, to newer, sleeker Blackberry’s or even the Moto Q…all have nice features and programs unique that make them great for specific uses, but I submit that the full Qwerty keyboard is one of the main reasons why these phones are so convenient. I do NOT have big fingers, and yet I found the Palm Centro’s keyboard VERY difficult to type on. I never thought I’d say it, but it’s just too dang small to use with any kind of ease, provided you have normal to large fingers. I would imagine my 15 year old daughter would be able to text at lightning speed, but without handling this Palm device IN PERSON, you just may be making a rather expensive mistake. Other than that, I was most impressed with the overall functionality of the Palm Centro. One thing I DO miss from the 755p model is the rubberized coating which made it fit so wonderfully in my hands, without it, the Palm Centro lacks a certain comfort in use that otherwise may be perfect depending on who you are.

While the Palm Centro isn’t as thin as several other models available, it was definitely thin enough. I’ve become rather used to my Treo 650 for quite some time, so even the 755p fit well in my eyes, but the Palm Centro was downright tiny. It boasts pretty much all the bells & whistles that made the previous Treo’s so popular, and it pulls all that off in a smaller package. It even comes with Google Maps built in! Now THAT is a nifty feature. What I wish more than anything is for Palm to make the Palm Centro and Treo 755p available to more wireless carriers than they currently do, although I certainly won’t be holding my breath for that to happen.

In short, if you are a fan of the Palm OS like I am, the Centro is definitely worth a look…but I cannot emphasize enough to get that look in PERSON rather than in photos. If you have trouble using a Qwerty keyboard on the regular Treo’s, the Palm Centro will only compound that issue I promise you — otherwise, kudos to Palm for a great upgrade and nice packaging.

By Jeff Edwards

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