It's sorta strange to actually hold a product that I've been talking about since June. But here it is in the perverbial Palm of my hands. I believed since the moment I saw the Centro (then Gandolf) that this new device would help Palm dig its self out of the hole they fell in. From the moment I was given the Black & White photo, I knew it wasn't the Palm I was waiting on, but it was the Palm that would get folks talking about the company again.
Now, to be straight up and honest (which I always am) I'm a bit tired of talking about this one device. The specs and so on have been listed and etched in the mind of the universal conscience, so I only want to talk about what I thought after finally holding it.
First, I was glad that I was able to get the Black one, the Cherry Red one would have been hard for me to deal with. After taking it out of the box, the first thing I noticed was the size. If you're new to Palm this won't be a big deal for you. But having owned so many Treo's, something just felt a bit off. Don't get me wrong, the smaller size is nice and all, but it's really small. Small is good but thin is better. The Centro isn't thin, in fact it's about the same thickness as my 755p which is thinner than the 700p.
I also had this same feeling the first time I picked up the Blackberry 8830, the shiny coating is slippery and makes you feel as though you might drop it easily. This of course makes you grip it harder than you normally would. To be fair I had the same feeling with the 700p. In fact I dropped the 700p a few times because of its slippery nature.
The OS as we all know did not change. But it is very responsive, very fast. Of course the best judge of this will be after a half of the onboard memory gets used on third party apps. Documents To Go worked very nice, opens quickly and of course handles everything well, which is to be expected. The included Suduko is quick and responsive as well. But again, I'm talking about the OS which is really no different than the 755p, 700p and in most cases the 680.
The screen takes a bit of getting used to, as does the key functions. As with any device, after using it a while you get used to it. But if your a long time Treo user, you will find the layout a bit cumbersome. I found using the "End" button a bit irratating due to the size and slipper coating. Each time I moved my thumb over to press it, I felt like it would slip out of my hands. I have yet to get comfortable with that action.
I like the 5-way navigator pad on my 755p much more than the new desgin on the Centro. This is pure personal taste though, as it is not bad and there is really nothing wrong with it. But for my personal taste, there is a tactile feeling with the center button separation from the navigation that lets my thumb do the work without my brain (or cognizant thought) being aware of of it.
Which brings me to my biggest problem with this device. The keyboard. I found writing on the Centro impossible. I do not have unusually large thumbs, but the keyboard is simply way too small. I had the same trouble with the Blackberry Pearl so this is not exclusive to the Centro. If you have small hands and skinny fingers, you won't have a problem at all. In fact, I hate to do this and say something that can be construed as sexist, but the Centro is perfect for women. In fact, it's perfect for the demographic Palm is aiming it to. Sprint should re-think its ad campaign because using an older man in an office is absolutely the wrong way to go for this device. The Centro will fit perfectly in the hands of most women and young men who are light casual users just looking to stay in touch with SMS, IM and or email. It's small Pearl-like size will be unobtrusive in back-pockets, shorts and small purse's, and its features will get any job done.
But if you are even remotely a power user, large male/female, you will find the low cost Centro very frustrating and you'll be better off with a Treo.
I think the thing to do with the Centro and probably even the Treo 500v, is to forget what you already know about the Treo and look at them as completely new and totally different devices. Which of course they are. But it's hard for longtime Treo users to forget what we are used to.
Form factor is very important when thinking about a new device. The Centro doesn't have a lot of the bells and whistles that a lot of other smartphones are offering. But the Centro is a very nice device for those looking to enter the smartphone market on the cheap. As a owner of Treo's, once I got beyond the shock of "this is not my treo", I quickly saw the value in the Centro's form factor. Even though the Centro is not for me, I do highly recommend it.
Display 320x320 pixel Transflective color touchscreen,
supports 16-bit color (up to 65K colors)
Radio Dual-band CDMA2000 EvDO backward compatible
with 1XRTT and IS95
Platform Palm OS 5.4.9
Bluetooth® Wireless Technology Version 1.2
Memory 64MB available user storage
Camera 1.3 megapixels with 2x digital zoom and
video capture
Battery Removable 1150mAh, lithium-ion
3.5 hours talk time, up to 300 hours standby time
Expansion microSD card (up to 4GB supported)
Connector Multi-connector
Dimensions 4.22" (L) x 2.11" (W) x 0.73" (D); 4.2 oz
Colors Ruby and Onyx
System Requirements Windows® XP
Windows Vista™
Mac OS X v10.2-10.4
Just need to get that 800w in your hands now LOL
Posted by: Bryan D. | October 30, 2007 at 02:53 PM
Yeah! Can't wait Bryan!
Posted by: Mpaper | October 30, 2007 at 03:07 PM