AT&T's Palm Centro and 3G network

[SBurke]

I love my Palm PDA and wanted to upgrade to a smartphone that would combine the features of a PDA and cell phone but I wanted to continue with the Palm OS. The natural choice for me was a Palm Centro. I got a Centro and loved it, but it kept on jumping in and out of service coverage at our home. In trying to sort this out, I discovered that the only phones that give us reliable coverage at our home are phones that are 3G compatible. AT&T's Centro is NOT 3G compatible, hence my problem. I really want this phone and wondered if one of those cell signal boosters installed at our home would help or would getting an unlocked Centro from Sprint or Verizon solve my problem? Please advise.

[walkguru]

Wirelessly posted (Walkguru's: Opera/9.50 (J2ME/MIDP; Opera Mini/4.1.11328/534; U; en))

my friend karen got a palm 750. which is 3g. the 850 will be out in sept. and its 3g.

[SBurke]

Thanks for your repsonse, however the Treo 750 uses Windows. Do you know if the 850 will use Windows or the Palm OS?

[Charlyee]

Wirelessly posted (Treo 750: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.6) UP.Link/6.3.1.17.0)

Hello & Welcome to WA.

The Treo 850 will be WM6.1 with WiFi & GPS. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any Palm OS 3G available now or in the near future.

[walkguru]

Wirelessly posted (Walkguru's: Opera/9.50 (J2ME/MIDP; Opera Mini/4.1.11328/534; U; en))

thats too bad.i have the centro with sprint and love the palm os. so i guess you do too.

[SBurke]

Thanks for everyone's input. I'm disappointed to hear that there probably won't be a smartphone that uses the Palm OS that will also be 3G compatible for use on the AT&T network. I have even tried using a Samsung Blackjack II which is 3G compatible --- the phone worked great even at my home --- but it uses Windows and I just could not get used to it. Windows seemed so inefficient compared to my Palm OS --- especially when using the Calendar and Contacts. I guess I'm left with three choices:

1) Abandon my hope of combining my PDA and my phone and just get a regular cell phone that is 3G compatible while keeping my old PDA

2)Get the Centro and put up with it wandering in and out of service at my house, or

3) Switch to Verizon or Sprint which have Centros that seem to be more reliable.

BTW my entire family uses Palm devices --- my husband and I both have Sony CLIE's and my son uses a PalmT/X. We all love the Palm OS.

[Charlyee]

Wirelessly posted (Treo 750: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.6) UP.Link/6.3.1.17.0)

I came over from Palm OS via the Blackjack, in my quest for a combination device also. I got used to it & rather like it, even though the 750 is WM it has many Palm features, the chat style texting for one. I am very partial to mine, it has excellent reception & call quality.

I highly recommend you take it out for a test drive before giving up.

EDIT: If it helps, here is my review and a couple of others embedded within it.
http://forums.wirelessadvisor.com/mi...50-review.html (Treo 750 Review)

[COtech]

SBurke, it is possible to move from Palm OS to Windows Mobile--I've done it to get 3G and WiFi. Also got AC2P (?),. the Bluetooth stereo headphone profile. But I miss the simplicity of the Palm Treo 680 I left behind.

As an example, my current PDA/phone is the HTC 8925 Tilt for AT&T. I am auditioning calculator programs--the WM6 comes with Excel, but nothing smaller!

It is really nice, passing the time online via WiFi (I haven't bought a data plan). With a WAP site (like the Wireless Advisor's WA00.COM), it is much more pleasant than scanning and panning through an ordinary web page to a small screen.

COtech

[Quint101]

Originally Posted by COtech

SBurke, it is possible to move from Palm OS to Windows Mobile--I've done it to get 3G and WiFi. Also got AC2P (?),. the Bluetooth stereo headphone profile...

The stereo Bluetooth profile is called A2DP... And that is sweet

[Eric47]

you can also get to this site on a wireless device via wap.wirelessadvisor.com thats the way i get in.


i frankly cannot stand the Palm OS. but i understand that once you use a device for awhile you will get use to it.

i will say that WM6 is far easier to utilize on a touchscreen device. if you want a good PDA function and 3G and a touchscreen i would recommend that you go with the Treo 750 or the Tilt. you will notice that Windows is much more organized and user friendly when you have the touchscreen to use. The lack of touchscreen is the major downfall of the Blackjack 2...even samsung knows this..which is why they will have a similar revision coming out with a touchscreen.

[Gamer03]

Originally Posted by Eric47

you can also get to this site on a wireless device via wap.wirelessadvisor.com thats the way i get in.


i frankly cannot stand the Palm OS. but i understand that once you use a device for awhile you will get use to it.

i will say that WM6 is far easier to utilize on a touchscreen device. if you want a good PDA function and 3G and a touchscreen i would recommend that you go with the Treo 750 or the Tilt. you will notice that Windows is much more organized and user friendly when you have the touchscreen to use. The lack of touchscreen is the major downfall of the Blackjack 2...even samsung knows this..which is why they will have a similar revision coming out with a touchscreen.

I recommend the Tilt. My dad and I just picked one up last night (my mom and sister both got the Razr 2) and my dad and I each have the iPhone theme installed on it as well as Wisbar Advance 3.X and Wisbar Desktop and various other programs. I love this device. I did a speed test and I was getting 750 kb/sec download using 3G.

[Eric47]

Originally Posted by Gamer03

I did a speed test and I was getting 750 kb/sec download using 3G.

thats what i average on my 8525...i have had up around 960's at peak. ive heard it can get faster but i hover in the 700-800's consistently. a friend with verizon local to me averages around 300-500 he says he has never seen over 700.

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

Originally Posted by Eric47

you can also get to this site on a wireless device via wap.wirelessadvisor.com thats the way i get in.


i frankly cannot stand the Palm OS. but i understand that once you use a device for awhile you will get use to it.

i will say that WM6 is far easier to utilize on a touchscreen device. if you want a good PDA function and 3G and a touchscreen i would recommend that you go with the Treo 750 or the Tilt. you will notice that Windows is much more organized and user friendly when you have the touchscreen to use. The lack of touchscreen is the major downfall of the Blackjack 2...even samsung knows this..which is why they will have a similar revision coming out with a touchscreen.

im not a fan of Palm either.....reminds me too much of the old Mac OSs........i think WM5 gets a bad rap and people havent experienced WM6 which really is much better in my opinion......if test drived my Samsung ACE (WM6) next to my friends Blackjack2 (WM5) and i really see a lot of improvements.........the real issue with WM is the processor speeds.......you need to have enough memory and a fast enough processor to avoid the lag times that Wm is notorious for on slower devices

Originally Posted by SBurke

Thanks for everyone's input. I'm disappointed to hear that there probably won't be a smartphone that uses the Palm OS that will also be 3G compatible for use on the AT&T network. I have even tried using a Samsung Blackjack II which is 3G compatible --- the phone worked great even at my home --- but it uses Windows and I just could not get used to it. Windows seemed so inefficient compared to my Palm OS --- especially when using the Calendar and Contacts. I guess I'm left with three choices:

1) Abandon my hope of combining my PDA and my phone and just get a regular cell phone that is 3G compatible while keeping my old PDA

2)Get the Centro and put up with it wandering in and out of service at my house, or

3) Switch to Verizon or Sprint which have Centros that seem to be more reliable.
BTW my entire family uses Palm devices --- my husband and I both have Sony CLIE's and my son uses a PalmT/X. We all love the Palm OS.

i would definitely recommend Sprint......but Verizon is on the expensive side.....i dont know what Sprint is like in your area but i could speak any better about Sprint in my hometown........i absolutely love them....

[Gamer03]

Originally Posted by Eric47

thats what i average on my 8525...i have had up around 960's at peak. ive heard it can get faster but i hover in the 700-800's consistently. a friend with verizon local to me averages around 300-500 he says he has never seen over 700.

When I used to have a data plan and a PDA with Verizon (this was almost 2 years ago), my speeds were between 300-450 Kbps download. With Sprint, I have been between 350-500 Kbps with EVDO. On AT&T, I tested my device today at 750 Kbps download (the fastest that I have ever seen on any handheld device that I have owned).

[Eric47]

yea 3G on ATT pretty much kicks A** im loving it.

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

Originally Posted by Gamer03

When I used to have a data plan and a PDA with Verizon (this was almost 2 years ago), my speeds were between 300-450 Kbps download. With Sprint, I have been between 350-500 Kbps with EVDO. On AT&T, I tested my device today at 750 Kbps download (the fastest that I have ever seen on any handheld device that I have owned).

i have the ACE which isnt set for Rev A speeds but i consistently get 750 Kbps or around there