Palm customer stories - how people use their Palm smartphones

We regularly receive stories from customers describing how they are using their Palm smartphones, and there's no shortage of unique anecdotes and extensive ways they use their devices.

Here are a couple Palm user stories. We'll share more in the future - you never know the ideas you'll get on how to use your Palm smartphone, intended or otherwise.

-Dawn D., Web Communications Manager

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"I've owned over 6 different Palm devices over the past 10 years and my current one, the Palm Centro might just be the best I've ever had! I use it for everything - it's my checkbook register, my timesheet keeper on my job, my game system, my gps, my skype voip phone to call my friend in the Philippines for free, my internet source, my scorekeeper for Duke beating UNC in basketball, my 2 way text messenger, my digital camera, my calculator, my email station, my flash drive storage device, my word and excel workbook, my television, my blood pressure monitor, my newspaper, my ebook reader, my voice recorder, my mp3 music player, and oh yeah, it's my phone! I also sell them at Best Buy so not only do I recommend them to customers but I can show them from first hand knowledge. It honestly is quite possibly the best phone they ever made and hands down better than the Apple iPhone and it's pocket sized! :)."

-Stephen of North Carolina

"While driving through the Sahara desert one night, from Naoukchott to Natabou we had a flat tire. We were in the middle of desert on a narrow stretch of highway that has no road lights. So there we sat on the side of a narrow stripe of pavement in the heart of the Sahara with a flat tire and no flash light. Well, the bright screen on the Centro provided all the light we needed to change the tire. I doubt if that use was ever envisioned when the Centro was concieved, but it surely worked well as a flashlight."

-Karl of Louisiana

Comments

[Martin]

Which GPS app are you using?

[Alan]

How is he using Skype on a Centro?

[qrius]

uh, so how is that person using skype on garnett? I have a palm 755p and am interested.

[Phineas Rook]

While I'm extremely envious about hearing how great the centro is: being in Australia I cant get one here - yet?.

It would be really nice if your posts were a little more news-centric and a little less shameless advertising.

Thanks

[Joe]

I am a journalist and have found my Treo 600 most useful as a mini word processor (using Word and the external keyboard) and e-mailer when traveling and carrying a computer isn't necessary. The Treo remains the only smartphone with an external, normal keyboard. Strange.

But it was stolen.
Anyone have a Treo 600 for sale?

I can't use a newer unit because my carrier is T-mobile (it offers the cheapest family plan and best international roaming rates), which only sold the Treo 600 for about a year and grudgingly still "supports" it.

Joe

[Maggie]

Hey Joe--I'm running an unlocked, Palm-branded Treo 680 on T-Mobile. They don't "support" it but have been unfazed by it when I call customer service. If they ever start selling Palm-branded, unlocked Centros, I doubt T-Mobile will mind if you use it.

I think the only time I had to call (in a year and a half of owning a Treo) was to ask to have international roaming turned on before a trip to Canada and the operator did have some information about the 680. She was able to ascertain that it would work in Canada. If you don't have a lot of issues that require customer service, it shouldn't be a problem.

That being said, you can probably find used 600s on eBay. Good luck! (I use my Treo as a writing machine, too--love my Bluetooth keyboard. I really, really wanted a Foleo...and still do. If anyone from Palm is reading this.)

[Mariela]

Hi everyone! My Palm Smartphone 750 was stolen yesterday. Is there anyway to lock it so that they cannot use it?

[Abby]

I've been using a palm pda for several years now, but this is my first smartphone and I LOVE it! Palm, please don't stop making the Centro--just keep making it better! In just a couple of days this phone has spoiled me.

[Simon Hobson]

I've been a Palm user for ... well I can't actually recall. My first one was a III if I remember correctly.

Now I've got a Treo 650 and it's mostly great - the other guys in the office with their Windows phones are often jealous. But, and isn't there always a 'but' in these stories ...

One thing I can't do is work email. It's something they want me to do, but I just can't do it and eventually it will be enough of a problem to force me to switch to something else.

I've got Versamail, but I can't use it because I absolutely 100% will NOT give up using the calendar and contact list - and setting up Versamail with Activesync will have exactly that effect.

So, simple home truth - some people are being forced to sync with Exchange, Versamail can't do "just the mail", so Palm is getting struck off the list of usable devices.

So please, please, please - cut the calendar and contact sync rubbish out of Versamail before I have a WM device (which won't be Palm) forced on me by work.

[wanda]

Can someone answer this question? On the palm centro will i be able to get ringtones by using bluetooth?

[Ivan Salinas]

Dear colleagues,

I have a Palm Treo 650 since 2 years ago, and I admit that it is the best 'PDA+Mobile Phone' (Huge and nice SW available) combination until the moment (I am waiting to evaluate the iPhone 3G),... but it has a Electromechanical HUGE Mistake:

- The Ground plane of the Keyboard is connected to the main board through a spring soft copper pad that with the time loses contact strengh,... so, the keyboard begins to fail and does strange behaviour.

So, how I solved it?, I tried several solutions (I learned so much how to dissamble my phone without to break it) because Palm didn't want to exchange it by another one (although is their wrong design fault and it was inwarranty, anyway...); and the best (and only one reliable solution) was to solder directly a wirewrap from the GND Keyboard PAD to the RF EMI Faraday cage contact point in the Main Board. And it WORKED!!!!

So, conclusion:

Please, Palm Technical Product Manager responsible, request to your HW Design Engineer a PROPER Ground connection from the QWERTY Keyboard to the Main Phone board in your new developments; because this is a BIG faulty design issue that you have since the Treo 600 (I suppose).

Thanks by listening.

Regards,
Ivan Salinas
Technical Product Manager

[Ronald Quint]

I really liked the 650 and 680 treos. I have a bad habit of dropping them on occasion. Any chance you can come out with a ruggedized treo 800? Sort of like a toughbook, with everything ruggedized. I also find that the thicker the phone is, the better I am able to grip it. I think it would be cool also, to do it military style, with a camo design, an anti corporate slick city phone. Put a huge speaker on it with push to talk. Make everybody pay attention. And make it bolder with an in your face design. That will bring peoples attention to it with a love/hate relationship. I have lots more ideas for a new phone. OOO, one more thing, put an outrageous extendable flexible antenna on it, you will ABSOLUTELY convince everyone that the treo is a long range phone.