WOOT!! I got a new phone! Only reason I did, was I broke my Treo 650 a second time. Same issue, I managed to short out the headphone jack. I don't know why they bother to put them on, if they don't give them more industrial strength. I checked with AT&T online and found I was eligible for a new phone.
Smart Phone Choices have grown with leap and bounds. The top ones are Iphone, Blackberry, Treo just to name a few. I really thought I might wait for a cheaper version of the Iphone, but I've been a Palm person for years, that and right now the Iphone is about $200 more than I wanted to spend.
After a little research I decided to go with the Palm Centro, most of the reviews compared it to the Treo 680, and since I was just leaving a 650 it sounded like the most economical choice. The Phone with a new contract is $199, but you can get a $100 rebate if you get it with a data plan. At $99 its gotta be one of the cheapest choices of smart phones on the market.
The Palm Centro is by far the smallest smart phone that I have seen. Its an amazing difference in size to my Treo 650. As you can see in the picture. It reminds me of my first small nokia phone, I can more easily put it in a shirt or pants pocket where with the treo, it was just very bulky.
One of the selling points for me was it has an optional micro SD port. Now I can move all the data, and media from my old phones SD fairly easily to the new phone. The pricing of SD and micro-SD has dropped significatly from when I bought my last 1gig. I had paid near a hundred dollars about 2 years ago. I found a 4gig micro SD for $27 shipped this more than compensated for the fact I had to buy a micro instead of a regular SD ram. I love ever changing technology. Makes my toys MUCH cheaper.
The Keyboard
While the keys are closer together, they actually still very easy to get to, either that or I have just gotten better at typing on small keyboards. One cool difference is they added a menu button. On the treo there wasn't one, and it was rather annoying when the app wouldn't let you easily get to the menus. I can quickly type and get to menu functions even one-handed.
Minor Issues
One of the few issues I have had is I could not get the SMS messages to work with my Agendus Mail. Not a real big deal, just couldn't figure out where my SMS messages were going when I received them. Once I removed and reinstalled Agendus Mail without the SMS option it fixed the problem.
The Camera
The camera has been upgraded to a 1.3 MP camera, pictures are fantastic compared to the Treo 640.
Data Package
Due to the discount requirements I had to buy the data package. My issues with it right now is I have a hard time paying $30/month for unlimited internet when its as slow as it is. Hopefully the speed will be taken care of over time, but when your spoiled with 10 MB Cable speeds, its hard to deal with at times. The Web browser works fairly well, I can use most of the google mobile web applications with very little problems. The built in IM software is currently working off and on I am unsure if thats due to the network or the software.
Overall I absolutely love the phone. It is light weight, small and fits in my pocket easily. Works better than my treo 650. Half the time, no one even knows its a smart phone. In the world where some think bigger is better this small phone is incredible for the price.
