The, just about everything you could ask for in a phone, phone

I will warn you this is going to be an extremely long review.  But if you're like me you get tired of the "This is the greatest thing ever..." reviews or the "this is the worst thing ever..." reviews.  So I will just talk about the features I use the most and what I like or don't like about the feature.

A little background.  My service provider is Verizon Wireless and they have the new every two feature, so when I was qualified I started looking at the phones available.  With all the discounts the Centro was free.  So were several blackberry phones and other smartphones.  I like free.

The Palm OS (Operating System in case you didn't know).  You search the internet, read other reviews they talk about the Palm OS being old... outdated, in need of a face lift, etc.  And all of it is true (except the outdated part) and it's a big reason why I went with the Palm Centro instead of a Blackberry or some other smartphone.  My first Palm device was an M100 with the black and green screen (my 4 year old still uses it as his Super Reader Super Duper Computer...).  I then upgraded to a Palm Zire 71 which I have been using for 8 years and now the Centro.  I am familiar with the interface, I know I to get around.  I was able to beam my purchased applications from my Zire to the Centro.  So basically I get a new phone and a new palm device and I don't have to learn how to use it.  That was a big selling point for me.  I use my palm device to sync with my work MS Outlook to keep track of all my stuff... work and home calendar, tasks, to dos, notes.  I also use it to listen to Audio Books as I'm traveling.  I'm sure other devices work just fine, I KNOW the Palm does all that well.  And it's faster.  Applications do not take as long to load as other smartphones I've seen.  They are more stable.  I can go from application to application easily.  So it's old, but it's familiar and very easy to use.

The Backcover.  The back cover is not difficult to take off, but I sure have trouble putting it back on.  You'd think it would just slide in there, but it doesn't.  Fortunately for me it's not a huge issue because I don't plan on switching out my microSD card often.  I load my Audiobooks on the card and when I finish the book I delete it from the card, I don't use it as a permanent storage device.

MicroSD Card.  It is a bit a pain to get to because you do have to take off the back cover.  And it only supports a 4 GB card.  They now have MicroSd cards up to 16 GB, so that is very disappointing.  But you have to ask yourself how you are going to use that feature.  If you just want to store songs on the card 4 GB will hold about 10,000 I think.  If you want to store pictures on the card, 4 GB will hold about 2000 from the 1.3 megapixal camera.  If you are going to store large PDF files or databases then 4 GB could get used up pretty quickly.  Again for me 4 GB is enough for how I use it.

1.3 Megapixal camera.  The camera is adequate.  Not as good as some of the new phones out there.  But the camera seems to take very good, very clear pictures.  Also has a 2X zoom, although things get a little fuzzy in that setting.  If you're a phone camera user (which I am because it's easier than carrying a phone and a camera to a job site) it's better to take the picture on the normal setting and edit the photo on your computer.  Also has camcorder feature that lets you take unlimited video (well as much as your MicroSD card will hold).  The camcorder has a nifty little feature where you can just push up on the center wheel button to pause and then push down to resume.  Much better than stopping and starting your video.

The screen.Is a 2.5" diagonal touch screen.  That is very clear and very bright.  I was a bit worried because my Zire71 has a 3.5 or 4" diagonal screen and I thought the smaller size would be a bother.  But with it's brightness and additional clarity, many things are easier to see and read.  I use icon mode instead of list mode now but within the applications things are just as easy to read.  The touch screen is not quite as sensitive as my Zire71 and I find myself having to push slightly harder than I like, especially if I'm using the included stylus which is very thin and flimsy.  Overall though the touchscreen is nice and perhaps one of the tradeoffs of sensitivity is more accuracy, I do find it much easier to use my thumb than on my Zire.

The main buttons.  One of the old familiars with Palm.  Home and calendar, except now instead of calculator and find they are replaced with phone and wireless (which makes sense since it's a phone and a mobile broadband device).  There is also a power on/off button, send button and the center wheel button.   All of these are very big, very easy to find by feel when driving and very useful.  The wheel button will let you scroll up and down, left or right on any screen and makes getting to the apps very easy (which is good because of the flimsy stylus you want to use that as little as possible).  It works much better than the joystick on the Zire71.  Just scroll to the app, push the center button and the application opens almost instantly and off you go.

The Keyboard.  You will see some complain about the small keyboard size.  But you don't hear many people complain about it after using it.  I'm not a texter, but I do answer e-mails, look and type in word docs and things like that on the phone and it took very little time to get used to it and now I can type just about as fast as my daughter, who averages about 8000 texts per month, on her bigger ENv keyboard.  Two taps on the shift key locks it until you either hit it again or hit the space bar.  Two taps on the "number lock" locks it so you can quickly type phone numbers, etc.  Things like the @ symbol "enter", backspace are easy to find and use.  I was very surprised by how much I like using the keyboard.  If I have several items to enter I will still do that on the computer, but if I need to add a contact or take a quick note I can do it without everyone standing around waiting for me to finish.

The Connections.  There must be a lot of profit in cables because Palm still uses proprietary connections for power and syncing with the computer.  If you are upgrading from a Treo you should be okay, but if you've never had a Palm device or an older Palm you will have to buy a car charger (wall charger is included and it will charge through the sync cable when connected to the computer, but no car charger is included).  Also if you want to listen to music or books or whatever and you have standard headphones they will not fit in the Palm.  You will have to get a 3.5mm to 2.5mm adapter.  I would suggest getting the one on the Palm website.  The reason is because of the "Sync" connection, there is a raised lip of plastic around it.  If you just buy a generic adapter at Walmar it will hit that lip and not seat properly which is very frustrating.  The one from Palm just misses that lip and therefore seats properly.

The Applications.  There are literaly thousands of applications for the Palm that you can buy or get for free.  A secret that I'm sure every Palm user knows, some applications you get download a free trial and use it forever, they just take longer to load after the trial period.  Different service providers offer different apps, so I will just talk about some that are the same on all devices.  Phone:  This pulls up a dialpad on the touchscreen.  The numbers are big and easy to dial one handed.  From this screen you can also scroll to voicemail, other applications, and upto 70 presets.  A preset can be a speed dial, an application, etc.    About 10 come preprogrammed you set the rest.  You can also change the preprogrammed items as well.  Web Browser.  The web browser is fast.  I don't use it a lot, but I have had to look up information while at a job site and I've never had a problem with any webpage or downloading a file, usually a PDF).  It does not support 3G, the latest in wireless broadband technology, but it does support EVDO.  With 3 bars or more I can download a 7-8 mB file in about 30 seconds.  Ptunes.  I've used Ptunes for years and it was another reason why I went with the Centro.  Ptunes is a audio player.  It supports several media types including mp3 and wma(windows media audio).  And it supports DRM, Digital Rights Media.  So items like Audiobooks that are licensed will will store and track the license information.  Will also display CD or book cover.  Easy to get around in, manage playlists, etc.  Documents to go.  This is a must have if you are going to be using the e-mail service as well.  let's you view and edit MS Word and Excel files also let's you view Powerpoint presentations and PDF files.  Messenging.  I'm not a texter, but I do get them from time to time.  it seems nice, keeps conversations by person and uses the chat format so you can follow along ona  conversation.  My daughter thinks that is cool because she may have two or three different conversations going on at once (she's trying to get one for herself).  The standard calendar, tasks, notepad.  These are all functional, but again it depends on how you use it.  For me, I mainly just use it as reference when scheduling something when I'm away from the office.  But if you're a road warrior and do most of your scheduling on your phone or Palm you will probably want to purchase an application that is more for power users.  Again the nice thing about Palm devices is they have been around so long there are so many applications you can purchase or get for free.  And even though 64 mb of free memory doesn't seem like a lot, most applications are very small.  For example Ptunes is the largest application on my phone at 5223k(about 5 mB).  But I also have a very extensive Engineering Calculator that I have added a lot of formula's to which is about 500k, a Planetarium application that is about 275k.  Games like Sudoku are around 50k.  So that 64mB will hold a lot of applications.  Plus you can always put them on the MicroSD card as well.

A few things I'm disappointed with.  No more graffitti.  Like I said, I've been using a Palm for years, I can write a note with a stylus almost as fast as I can with a pen.  I haven't done it yet, but I will probably have to purchase some software that gives me that feature back.  The battery life is poor.  I travel 360 miles (round trip) every week.  On my Zire I could easily listen to an Audobook for the entire trip, there and back without the need to charge it.  On the Centro the battery was almost completely drained when I got there.  So I charged it while at the office and it was almost completely drained on the trip back.  On the positive side it does seem to charge quickly.  No car charger included.  It is a mobile phone... if they are going to have proprierty cables they should at least give you what you need.  But I guess for free I shouldn't complain too much (of course people who pay full retail don't get a car charger either, unless you negotiate it at the retail store which you can do).

One last thing. Palm Desktop.  This is the software that is included with the phone.  It's a functional desktop calendar/address book etc.  It's not as good as Outlook or most software you can buy.  But it does have the quick install button, so if you want to install an application you downloaded use the quick install find the application where you saved it on the desktop and select it.  It will hold the item in que until the next HotSync.  Hotsync is what you do to sync the device to either the Palm Desktop or MS Outlook.  You choose which way you want to sync.  One downside if you have multiple folders it will only sync the main, not all the folders.  For example on MS Outlook Tasks, I have a Task folder set up for each Project I'm working on.  The folders are not synced, so it does require some cutting and pasting.

Overall I'd say if you're looking for a smartphone that will WOW your friends with features like the screen turning when you turn the phone, super cool user interface and wallpapers then this is not the smartphone for you.  If you are looking for a user friendly, time proven, reliable smartphone that can do everything you need a phone to do, without all the flash, then this is a great, very inexpensive choice.  Palm is getting ready to come out with their new "Pre" so all the major carriers have very good deals on the Centro right now.  The highest price I have seen it for is $50.  For $50 you get a phone, palm pilot, audio player, video player, hand held game console, camera, camcorder and more it a candy bar size package.