The Centro, Now I Know Better

[From Neil S. Patrick (Florida, USA)] Hey Sammy, I know you’re currently using a Palm Centro as your main PalmOS device and I have to admit up to just a few days ago I really couldn’t imagine why. I mean I knew it was a good device, but I always thought it was a good device for what it is, you know, a good entry level PalmOS smartphone. I hope you’ll pardon me while I explain my recent enlightenment.

Up until just two days ago I had never used a Centro, though I had seen countless amounts of them from a distance. I always thought the design was nice looking and I liked that Palm was able to make a much smaller device than what we’re all used to with the Treos. But what always seemed like a deal breaker for me was the price Palm had to pay with making a device that small, which is to say the smaller screen and keyboard than what other Palm smartphones have.

Well this past Sunday I went to a family get together, and a cousin of mine had a Palm Centro. Needless to say I asked her if I could take a look at it, and thankfully she was only too happy to let me do so. The Centro really is an impressively small device, even more so considering it has a full QWERTY keyboard and for sure is quite a bit smaller than the Treo 700 or even the diminutive 680.

Once the screen came on I was well and truly blown away, the screen was bright and crisp, I don’t know if it was just my imagination, but this might be the best screen in Palm’s line up....the closeness of the pixels on the 2” screen is nothing short of amazing. Not to break the great moment here, but the great screen did make me kind of wish the graphics of the OS were a bit nicer....but I guess Palm’s working on that for the new Linux based OS.

Once I got over the screen, I had to give the keyboard a run for its money, after all this has always been my main concern with the Centro. I found that after about 15 minutes I was fairly proficient, at least to the point where I didn’t feel frustrated typing on it. I really imagine given a few days or maybe even up to a week I’d be typing on it like it was second nature….though I do have small hands and I do image if you have bear paw like hands you might be in for a rough time.

I have to say after my short test run I was quite impressed, the screen was sharp, bright and very responsive. The keyboard was way better than I thought it would be and even system performance was snappy. But I can’t help but feel Palm might have put itself in a bit of trouble with the Centro. Given just how good it is, I can see a lot of people buying it instead of the more expensive Treo models. And there’s certainly a lot less profit to be made from a $99 smartphone vs a $300-$400 smarphone.

Still whether the Centro is a good thing for Palm (from a financial point of view), it’s unquestionably a good thing consumers.