I tend to change phones pretty frequently, but for the past several months I have been using the HTC S620 (Excalibur). I have just loved the size and feel of it. I also use the iPhone here and there, but as a rule, I always seem to drift back to a phone that has a QWERTY keyboard. What can I say, I like buttons :o) And as another rule, it seems that no matter what phones I may use, I do eventually find myself picking up a Palm smartphone again…
Last week, I had decided to charge up my Treo 680 to start using it as my main phone once again. I had been missing the touch screen, various applications and just good old Palm OS in general. Then earlier this week, Rob and I were chatting online about smartphones and he mentioned that he was ready to ditch his HTC Tytn II in favor of something else. He had narrowed his choices down to the Nokia E61i or the Treo Centro. I told him that I had just decided to move back to Palm too and was even considering purchasing a Centro. The next day he told me that he placed an order for an unlocked GSM Centro and in typical monkey see, monkey do fashion, I thought what the heck and did the same thing!
We both got our sparkly new Black Centros today and I have to say that it feels like I’m getting reacquainted with my long lost best friend that I’ve not talked to in a long long time. The Centro feels comfortable, but is new enough to also feel fun and exciting. Yay! Now to go digging around on various software sites to check out the latest Palm OS titles.
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Julie,
As I will be getting a Centro soon, please do post again with Palm software recommendations. It’s been a good while since I’ve used Palm OS… 🙂
I have done a similar thing with a Treo 650. The Palm OS just seems so stable and is almost a joy to use. It’s going to be a difficult choice each morning to choose which I take with me when I leave the house, Treo or Tytn II.
Looking forward to the new Palm now with a lot more exictment than I have for anything HTC.
Oh you should see the newly announced Nokia E71… Ah that sweet thin device, it could kill all other candybar QWERTYs in a split second. And I am not exaggerating.
Tyler:
You can see the software I like to use on my gear diary page. I need to do some updates though…
Rita:
I’m not a big fan of the Symbian OS. I’ve tried it a few times and it just doesn’t ‘do’ it for me. That said, I would agree that the new E71 looks pretty spiffy :o) Are you planning to buy one?
Julie,
I’ve seen that a few times, but I refuse to believe that the Gadgeteer herself only uses four or five apps. How do you like 2Day? It looks interesting, and it’s only $13. How does it compare to the old Today app?
Tyler:
Busted :o) I’ll update that list by the end of this week :o)
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 🙂
Wow–great minds must think alike. I just picked mine up on Friday. I finally decided to upgrade since it will soon be against the law here in CA to use a cell phone without a hands free connection.
I’ve had a Palm for a number of years (IIIxe, M101, 2 T|X’s) and a mobile Windows handheld. Mobile Windows phones are out the question–too buggy! I’ve thought about the Treo, but it seemed too bulky and heavy, the Centro seemed to fit the bill.
Over the past couple of days it’s grown on me–form factor, palm OS. I know people have knocked the small keys, but I haven’t had a problem. The keys are domed just enough to allow accurate one-handed typing for me and I have medium sized hands.
I understand why you picked the Centro–my line too!
Hope you enjoy your, I’ll be looking forward to your thoughts in the coming days on the Centro!
Art
Cornelis:
Yeah, you’ve been through more phones than I have! ;o)
I know exactly what you mean about the iPhone. It’s fun for awhile and then you want to go back to something with more ‘brains’ :o) For me Palm OS is like the Mac OS. It just works and works well.
art:
Have you bought your Bluetooth headset for the CA law? Which did you choose to use with the Centro?
I’m really liking my Centro too… I thought the screen and keyboard would be problematic, but they’re really not. It’s so nice to get back to the Palm platform again — familiar applications, more solid syncing with Missing Sync for OSX, etc. For a device with an “ancient” OS, it’s a lot less cumbersome in many ways than Windows Mobile. I love the size too.
As for peripherals… the Centro works perfectly with my Jabra BT8040 headset and the Palm infrared universal keyboard (with the latest driver from palm.com).
I’ve also noticed that Bluetooth file transfers from my Mac seem to be about twice as fast with the Centro as with the 650. Another pleasant surprise is that unlike the 650, the Centro can charge from USB without using a cable that plugs into the power port as well.
All in all I’m quite happy, and I think the Centro will hold me until Palm’s new OS and/or Android arrive…
The Centro is awesome. I love it. Really the only negative I have about it is the sorry stylus. Does anyone have any info on a metal replacement?
I think the size of the device is awesome.
So far this seems to be the only metal stylus out there for the Centro: click here
No clue whether it’s any good, but it has to be better than the plastic sliver that comes with the Centro.
I’ve read/heard good reviews on the Aliph Jawbone, and if I had to use a headset, I’d like it to be as usable as possible. I got a good price on the original Jawbone at my local Verizon retail store and so far I’ve not been disappointed. They paired up with no problem. The Jawbone 2 looks nicer, but costs even more .
For protection, I’m going to use the Zagg Invisible Shield. We have it on two other devices(Macbook, LG Voyager) and it works very well. An additional benefit is that it has a slight tackiness that will help prevent dropping it.
Misses so far:
I tried syncing to my Mac using the Missing Sync, but got stuck in the startup loop. I had to perform a hard reset. I’ll try to trouble-shoot at a later time. I didn’t have any problems with my T|X.
The case is alittle creaky, but I can live with it.
I don’t mind the stylus that much, but would welcome a non flexible replacement. I might order that one that Rob linked to.
art:
I have the 2nd gen Jawbone to review. I’ve not had a chance to use it yet, but plan to put it through its paces next week and get a review up soon. I still have the original jawbone and will be able to compare them in the review.
I run my own business and I’m at the last stage of migrating to an all Mac environment. I heavily rely on my smartphone, the iPhone for seamless management of my data, schedules and contact. I used the Treo for a long while and had to rebuild my 1000+ address book a number of times because of incompatible field formats.
The new MobileMe service is a godsend and that plus the eagerly anticipated apps will the iPhone a powerful business platform.
For a dose of Palm goodness I keep my Tapwave Zodiac handy and read the occassional ebook.
10 years ago I was mad at Apple for killing off the Newton – my indispensible PDA for quite a while. Then it was off to the land of Palm and Sony Ericsson. Now I’m back at Apple and could not be happier. I’m fully investing in Apple’s vision for desktop and mobile computing and just relishing the ability to trust my data. What a ride ;-))
What’s a “Treo Centro” ? 😉