Customer Reviews

Palm Centro White Phone (AT&T)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I bought this phone a few weeks ago when I was eligible for an upgrade. I decided to get the Centro because I find myself texting sometimes and wanting to write e-mails on my phone. (I used to have a Nokia 6030, and it's a good phone, but it's got a standard cell phone number keypad.)

My favorite thing about the phone is the Palm OS. If you've got another Palm, and you don't want to spend the money on a Treo 755p, then trust me -- this should be your phone.

Most, but not all Palm apps will transfer nicely over to the Centro. This is a huge benefit if you've got a bunch of Palm apps already, like I do. Out of the box, you can put all those apps on it, and have a phone more useful than any iPhone or BlackBerry out there. And if you've got a wireless keyboard, that'll work with the Centro, too, meaning you can use it for larger e-mails and working on Word documents (Oh, did I mention that Documents to Go is included in the box? :))

So here are the main advantages:

1) QWERTY keyboard

2) Tons of apps (and lots more free apps out there, if you look).

3) Simple Palm UI. Palm has always been the master of the intuitive UI, and this is no exception.

4) Pocket Tunes Deluxe included, which means that (preferably with an unlimited data plan) you can stream music from sites like shoutcast.com.

5) Free voice dialing included (with AT&T Centro -- NOT Sprint).

Some things not to like about the phone:

1) It's got Bluetooth, but you can't voice dial from a Bluetooth headset (at least, not natively -- there might be an app fix, but I don't know of one).

2) The keyboard is designed for tween/teen fingers. If you've got larger fingers, you'll have some trouble adjusting. Adjusting is possible, though. After about 3 weeks, I can type pretty proficiently (though I still look at the keys).

3) It doesn't come with any kind of micro-SD card. I know this might not sound like much of an omission, but when you've only got 64MB to play with, you'll start feeling that pretty fast -- especially if you're moving from a device like a Palm TX, that's got more memory. on board. Get yourself a decent-sized micro-SD card as soon as you can.

If the Centro had larger keys for the keyboard and the ability to voice dial over Bluetooth, I would've given it 5 stars. But as it is, it's almost perfect!

First, to the critical review - to insert the SIM card you should have taken the stylus out... or take phone to any store and ask for HELP.
The pros: light, good fit, cool look. Nice screen, very decent sound quality. Excellent for chat and messaging! Decent picture quality for 1.3 M. All standard PDA functions from an old industry leader - PALM.
The only drawback is actually small QWERTY buttons, but - (1) the phone is smaller than those "monsters" with big buttons, and (2) after 1 day I got used to it. Teens would be absolutely OK with that size.

Overall: perfect job for this price.
Own phone for 3 weeks.

First off...I really love this phone. The features are great and I am not planning on returning it. But there are 2 issues that people should be aware of before they buy:
1.) You cannot voice dial with your blue tooth. You must use the phone for voice dial.
2.) Downloaded ring tones only ring once and do not repeat. This can be a problem if you do not hear the ring the first time. You have to download a particularly long ring tone if you plan on using music tones.

I have never ever fallen in love with a phone, I hate to say it but this is the first time ever that I am!

I was a skeptic (and a novice) on smartphones. Hmmmppph...how can a phone be smart? You need a cell phone to keep in touch with your contacts, maybe text a little and thats it right? That was me before I bought this phone.

Eversince I bought this phone and one other smartphone (not this brand) for my husband, my whole family is going to town with texting and IMs (we have unlimited texting for the entire family).

The color of this phone is funky. Some says its kiddy but I love the green accent on the keyboard. Its not white but pearly white which makes it unique. At least I will not see scratches on this phone should it has any in future.

The QWERTY keyboard is awesome. At first I thought it was ridiculously too small for my fingers but it works like a charm. Maybe thats why God created fingernails. Texting has nvr been fast and effortless.

The calendar had saved my very very forgetful memory. Instead of putting reminders on my Outlook calendar at work, I just put them in my phone. In fact, I tend to add more and more dates, appointments and reminders when I get home to remind me on what I need to do and which client to contact the next day. (I am a mother of 2 teenagers and a toddler and am a busy insurance agent).

Shopping has nvr been easier. Just use the memo, or voice memo, no need pen and paper.

Lastly, the 'off ringer' slide on the top part of the phone makes it so much easy to turn the ringer off when I have clients at my desk. Less than a second and the ringer is off unlike some phones where you have to push some buttons in order to do that.

Like I said, I was a smartphone skeptic. I do not use the Media stuff or the web with this phone (cant afford the plan) but the texting, IMing, calendaring and all the good stuff is enough to make this phone work for me. I can use the laptop and my home PC if I need to check my corporate email and surf the net. I have not gotten the chance to use the other functions on this phone yet but my teenager has used the 'Documents' software a few times to edit pictures and other stuff.

I do not miss my old best friend, the Motorola Razr...I am too in love with this one.

I tried 2 do a video review but unfortunately my video was in a format Amazon doesnt accept. This is a really great device but its not without its flaws. The Palm's name has been kicked around in the dirt for so many years and with every new Palm Treo that's been released theres good reason why. The Palm Centro is the GSM version of the Palm Centro for Sprint which debuted holiday 2008. It does have a touch screen on it and the call volume quality is really good as well. Its also a quad band world phone so you get 2 use it over seas in international waters. The only problem is PALM really hasnt updated its software at all and this is where all the negative press comes from. When you get 2 the main menu screen its the generic same old icons that was on the Palm PDAs back in the 90's and it hasnt changed at all. Its also the exact same menu icons on all the Palm Treos that have every been released in the cellular world. You cant customize the menu screen either so your stuck with it. What You can do is add a wall paper to the phone calling screen which is nice. The Palm Centro is pretty much a better priced version of their Treo's. The Treo's are heavily over priced and practically unaffordable. Aside from the outdated menu i still found the UI to be ok. If it aint broke dont fix it so kudos to Palm for sticking 2 their guns. Unlike Verizon who shoves their DUMB UI on every cell phone they produce. Overall its a nice phone for 49.99 at Best Buy, do not get this at the AT&T store because its 200.00 plus tax with a decent rebate but with tax and all it feels like a waste as your already shelling out over 200.00 to begin with. There was no rebate at Best Buy at all just the base price. You get 2 sync your email accounts 2 the device, IM , text, and picture message. You get all the perks that are currently on all smart phones that are out right now. The down fall besides the somewhat same old software is the lack of 3G speeds when using the internet. Data plans on AT&T are not cheap, they cost 30.00 and you only get EDGE speeds on the Palm Centro which is annoying, theres no 3G to be found on this device which i found 2 be really ODD! AT&T data plans dont include text message even though they just recently revised the data plan it still isnt unlimited use in certain aspects like IM and text. Overall im pleased with my purchase except 4 its minor flaws. I've also posted pictures on so you can check those out 2. Enjoy =)

Pros:
Touch Screen
EVERY KEY IS FULLY PROGRAMMABLE
Lightweight
Full keyboard
Attractive design
Friendly User Interface
Crystal Clear Speaker phone
IR Port
Decent camera (for a cell phone)
Silent on/off switch on the top

Cons:
Fairly weak battery life
Cheap feeling battery cover
Finicky hold key
Spare Styluses are difficult to find


This phone is phenomenal. I purchase a new cell phone every 3 months, and this is the best phone I have had in almost three years. Don't let the reviews of the "small keyboard" turn you off. With this phone you just have to dive in. I was surprised that now I actually make fewer mistakes with this phone than I made on my KRZR, Shine, RAZR, ROKR, Sony Ericsson W580i, and even on the Iphones that I have played with. Not only does this phone have a FULL keyboard, but it is also touch screen. I HIGHLY recommend this phone to anyone, from the fashionista, to the new cell phone user.


Good buying!

We got this phone for our 12 year old middle schooler and she absolutely loves it. She fell in love with it at first sight, loves the white and green color combo. She says texting is so quick now with the keyboard and she loves all the applications and extras. In fact I'm a bit jealous of all it's features compared to my Balckberry Pearl. For your money it's packed and good buy compared to more spendy phones like the iphone and the Pantech Duo she was also looking at. My only complaint is the lack of accesories such as cases right now.....but it's new and I'm sure we will start seeing them.

As a devoted Palm user for over a decade I found this model terribly disappointing. In a side-by-side reception comparison with my venerable Treo 650 the Centro is worse by 2-3 bars. Perhaps as a result the Centro drains the battery completely within a day, just on standby(!). I had AT&T replace the unit twice, and also bought an extended-life battery -- same problems. AT&T then replaced the SIM card for good luck -- no improvement. So, the problems are extremely unlikely to be due to unit defects. Based on this experience I suggest avoiding the Centro like the plague, unless you work and live atop an AT&T cell station.

I am a simple-phone person and was quite hesitant to take on this smart phone. However, it has proven to be the best phone purchase I have made yet. I have never loved a phone quite like this one.

The dual option of touch-screen and button navigation is great and it even comes with a handy Palm pen. I also love that you do not have to fiddle with wires to connect it to your computer. It transfers all data through Blue Tooth technology and is compatible with MAC OSX. It's light for what it is and stylish.

My only complain is that sometimes it takes a while to "think" between applications. But it's an every-so-often thing so it doesn't bother me that much.

Overall I am very happy with the purchase of this phone and the PDA plans through AT&T are quite affordable for this smart device. I would prefer this over Blackberry, and maybe even as a great alternative to the iPhone.

I've only had the phone for a couple days, and it's my first PDA phone. It's different, but I'm a texter, so it's way easier (even though the keyboard is super small). It did go blank to a white screen for a second, but hopefully that was a minor glitch?? I purchased a skin cover for it and a screen protecter, and my only qualm is that it gets lint all over it!
I definitely recommend the phone....it's sleek & classy looking, and the white/green color combo makes it different than all the other phones out there!