Treo by Palm Centro: A Consumer Smartphone
Treos were the pioneer phone models that could be considered mini-computers with their qwerty keyboards, organizing functions and E-mailing capabilities. The Treo by Palm Centro is no different – it is still a device packed with excellent smartphone functionality but now coupled with consumer-friendly features. If you are looking into purchasing a smartphone, the Palm Centro is a very good choice as it is one of the more user-friendly pieces in the market today.
The Palm Centro’s 2.25 inch screen is quite small, however due to its high resolution, it displays bright images and reading is not a problem. The display is a touch screen and the unit comes with a stylus which lends to usability especially if you don’t like using your fingers to navigate the screen. The phone also has a navigational pad that makes it even easier for users to work the phone. The qwerty keyboard buttons are quite small but surprisingly easy to type on. Some users might need to adjust a little especially those who have larger hands but all in all, once you get the hang of typing on the Centro the small buttons won’t be much of a problem. The buttons are very clearly labeled and easy to read.
Another great thing about the Centro is that it is budget-friendly. Besides the applications already loaded on the phone, users are allowed to install third-party applications. The phone retails for less than a hundred dollar. Its email program, VersaMail, supports Yahoo, Gmail, Mac, Apple, MS Exchange among other email services. Additionally, the phone has instant and text messaging capabilities.
You can read, create and edit new Word and Excel documents on the Centro and it allows you to view PDF and PowerPoint files. Other organizational features of the phone are its calendar, to-do lists and memo applications. The phone also has voice recording capabilities and it sports a music player and allows for listening to Internet radio. The Centro is equipped with Bluetooth which enables you to use the phone as a modem if you need to surf the Internet on your laptop.
As a phone the Palm Centro works excellently with calls coming in clearly on both ends. If you are busy and prefer not to take a call, the phone has an ignore feature that sends a text message to the caller. The speakerphone function also works pretty well.
The Palm Centro is an excellent option for mainstream users – it is very user-friendly, it has full smartphone functionality yet very affordable.