Palm Centro
The Palm Centro is the first Palm OS PDA I have seen in ages. Will it be able to lift Palm back into the limelight?
It turns out the answer appears to be ‘not a lot’. The Centro’s specs aren’t particularly inspiring, and Palm has made quite a bit of of a hash of the qwerty keyboard. The saving grace is the Palm OS (and apps), which even though it’s seen little by way of change in the long gap since it was last used, seems fresh, clean and easy to get to grips with.
But let’s start with the keyboard. The Centro is quite a narrow PDA in which to put a qwerty keyboard. Palm could have chosen to go with small but well spaced keys, and this might have made it easier to find them by touch. But the large keys that have been used sit flush to each other, and I the whole new experience of using the keyboard irritating because we couldn’t work up much speed.
The screen is a bit small too. It’s 320 X 320 pixels are clear and bright though, and the screen is touch sensitive so you can make selections either by prodding it or by using the large navigation button that sits between it and the keyboard.
Sold Sim-free, the Centro can accommodate your current SIM so you can simply migrate from your existing phone. But don’t expect anything too fancy from it. The specifications mark the Centro out as the kind of PDA that a newcomer to the arena might choose- and the newcomer who doesn’t want a huge array of features at that.
There’s no wi-fi, and the handset is quad-band GSM with GPRS and EDGE but no 3G. There is a camera, but its 1.3 megapixel capability puts it at the bottom of the pile as far as PDA cameras are concerned. Bluetooth and infrared are built in.
There’s 64 MB of memory for your own applications and data, and you can add more via a microSd card. To get to the card slot you need to remove the battery cover. This helps make for a neat overall look to the Centro, but it might be annoying if you’re the kind of person who likes to swap memory cards a lot.
As I already noted, the Pam OS and applications are what lift this PDA from the realms of the average. Its simple array of application icons on the main screen, which you can group however you want, make it easy to get to what you need, while the array of built-in apps are strong enough to class the Centro as a good personal information manager (PIM) with added plus points.
On the PIM front, Contacts,Calendar, Tasks and an application for writing memos are available. For entertainment there is the camera with video shooting mode and the PocketTunes MP3 player.
The 2.5mm headphones slot won’t please everyone, and nor will the lack of A2DP stereo Bluetooth. For those with productivity in mind the VersaMail software will pick uo POP email, and you can use the built in copy of DataViz Documents to Go to view PDFs. Online pursuits are catered for by a web browser, and Google Maps is also built in.
Other software includes a calculator, phone dialler, voice dialling, voice recorder, world clock with alarm and a solitaire game.
Taken as a whole, the Centro has to be classed as a mid-range PDA with a very competent software armoury. IF you’re wanting an alternative to WM and S60, we recommend you give it a look, as even with its limitations it is a good value for its price.
More information at http://euro.palm.com/uk
Source Information: PDA Essentials & GPS Advisor Issue 74 @ www.PDA-Essentials.co.uk
Samsung F700
GETAC has recently conveyed what they call the most full featured and versatile hand held device ever. It is called the PS535E. A pretty small PDA measuring 144.25mm x 82.25mm x 29.3mm. The new PS535E weighs about 300 grams. Now when I say rugged, I mean rugged. The GETAC device was made to withstand the outdoor dangers of water, dust, and dirt. This GPS enabled device come with the Windows Mobile 5 Operating system. Specs include:
