Palm Centro review

Palm was once a dominant force in the handhelds market, but until recently, development of the Palm operating system had all but stalled.

The company has even started making Windows Mobile handsets, such as the Treo 500v. The new Centro is the first Palm smartphone we've seen for a year that uses Palm OS.

Like the Windows Mobile-powered 500v, the Centro has a full QWERTY keypad, but it also has a touch screen and stylus. You can control most of the phone's functions with the directional keypad, but the stylus makes it easier to use certain applications such as the calendar. The Centro has a small 2.2in screen, so you have to be accurate with the stylus to avoid selecting the wrong option. The keypad's keys are rubbery and more pleasant to use than the 500v's hard plastic ones, but the keypad is small and the keys are close together, so it's easy to make typing errors. The built-in 1.3-megapixel camera is poor, taking blurry, low-resolution photos.

The Centro runs Palm OS 5.4.9. Palm OS 5 was originally launched in 2002, so the interface is showing its age. It's not particularly attravailable, but runs quickly. Palm OS takes some getting used to, as it's not a multitasking operating system like Windows Mobile. You can have one program open at a time, so instead of pressing the hang-up key to return to the home screen, you have to switch between whichever program is open at any one time.

The Centro's Blazer web browser is also fairly primitive. It's fast and fine for mobile-optimised web pages, but struggles with anything more complicated and feels years behind Pocket Internet Explorer and Nokia's Symbian Series 60 browser. There are limited alternatives for Palm OS.

Fortunately, there are some powerful preinstalled programs. Calendar is easy to use and fast, while the email wizard takes you through setting up the phone to receive IMAP or POP3 email. Text messages are arranged in chat threads, so it's easy to keep track of conversations. Like the 500v, the Centro has Google Maps installed, and maps load quickly even over the phone's slow GPRS data connection. It's possible to view and edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents, and there's even support for Office 2007's new OpenXML file formats; you'll have no problem with email attachments.

Palm's Centro is a compact and fast smartphone with an excellent calendar and comprehensive document support. Its web browser is poor, though. Palm's Treo 500v is a better all-round smartphone, but if you want an organisational tool and aren't too worried about web browsing, the Centro is a good-value alternative.

Author: Chris Finnamore