Hi Julie,

Got one of the first Centros in my palm here in Switzerland! Nice GMS cell phone. Finally it ranks (as far as size goes) almost with my beloved Nokia 5500. So you can say, that I'm back to Plam. I was hoping for a smaller size factor all along. So now it's done. The only gripe I have is that, the european gsm version has the new phone speed dial app, that the 680 has, unfortunetly not the one the Treo 650 has. Bummer! I hate the list app on the new speed dialer! But otherwise, the crisp screen and the useable keypad is neat. Most of all, all of my apps work, I haven't found one yet that didn't work. On top of that the phone reacts faster when switching apps and has an overall better snappierness than the Treo 680. Needless to say, battery time is now not an issue anymore. I have BT on all the time since I synch with my PC several times a day. Paired with the app: "Audio Gateway", the Centro has a very good reception when streaming music to a BT headset via the A2DP protocoll. Something lots of cell phones don't even have yet... Overall: Palm put a great phone in a great form factor on the market. Wouldn't have thought it, had I not been using it.

Oh one other gripe: due to the recessed screen, the display attracts a large amount of dust and lint. I am hoping that this doesn't wiggle UNDER the screen at some time (it was stated at the beginning of the centro craze that it would be a non touch screen model - I was hoping for a flush screen with the housing).

[Edited at March 10, 2008 06:32:38 AM.]

Thanx Julie for pointing me there. My quick-thoughts about the S60 Touch platform:

• (yet another) iPhone experience
• lots of cycling through lots of menus
• long waits on new software, will render cell phones useless for a long while if you need/want more
• could lead to the same "playing around", that you have experienced on and off with your iPhone: nice but not really super usefull on a daily basis

Conclusion: KISS :-)

Way to go Jules! I've been on this hunt for the ultimate for years. You know well, that I have been through "I don't know what" and Symbian: E51, E90 to boot. I have even had the Excalibur... True! I have even succumbed to the iPhone hype.... When you are a jane/john doe user coming from a normal cell to an iPhone, its like the coming from South Miami to Disney World...but when you come from a Palm to the iPhone, after a few weeks, it's like: so what [!], is that all? So, in fact, as far as the day to day tasks go, Palm does it best and well thought out. It may be an old OS, but it sure as blazes gets the job done for what it's worth....not as "5-button-tapping" as Symbian and not as slow as MS TyTn with the "nice" [sarcastically speaking] keyboard, that slows you down. Jeff Hawkins, Palm and all the other no-namers sure as heck thought more about daily usage than Nokia, Sony-Ericsson et al. Needless to say, I am on my Centro for 6 months now (got mine 2 weeks after it came out here in Switzerland) and haven't found better yet. Your decision is appreciated and understanded :-)

Its coming here in Switzerland on July 11th. We have great 3G coverage, but still sticking with my last rant about the iPhone/Centro issues, I will NOT get an iPhone.

It's about a few issues:

1. the money issue (isn't it always :-)
2. The iPhone must get new day-to-day features that are practical
3. Get that iPhone rugged, it looks so businessy...I go AWOL when I just toss it in my Pocket...(OK, I have the "invisible sheild" already on it, but still...)
4. Build it smaller
5. Give the GUI (and the software for that matter) some logic.
6. Get it some independence...forget Apple's stronghold when activating it...(they would sell double if they weren't so restrictive)
7. NO MORE ITUNES!
8. The strength of a Palm Desktop, with the ease of syncing
9. Did I mention the money factor? ;-)
10. More Software

So you see: for me; no future iPhone. Mein Centro ist zee iPhone killer ;-)

Sounds great! Only I would like to know about the battery issues on a day to day basis. I hated this issue on my Treo 680. The Centro blows the 680 away hands-down...

I agree with Jake: put a reliable Palm OS on it and I will go out and buy it tomorrow!!! I just ditched my iPhone, because I am crazy in love with my Centro! Win Mobile (on a Palm-formfactor) just makes for a non-com GUI. I don't like it. Wifi is what I am drooling for...drooooollllll

The issue with the headset is a non-issue for me. I listen to music via my iPod classic and in the car I pair automatically with a BT PA attached to my car's sun visor (works great). So going against the grain, sounds like the phone for me (aside from Microhard).

[Edited at July 14, 2008 15:25:25 PM.]