Palm Centro Phone, Berry (Sprint)

This is my first "Smart Phone" so I can't compare it to other smart phones, but I do know that the phone functionality is disappointing. My last phone was a Samsung Blade A900 that I kept for 3 years, and it had features that I took for granted. I didn't realize how wonderful they were until they were missing from this one. While I do like the added PDA functions, I've had to install numerous third party software to get it to perform adequately as a phone. ***CONS: *Phone issues: - This phone will not alert you if somebody has left you a voicemail. Often times I leave my phone in another room and don't hear it ring. On my old phone, if a message was left, a light would blink on the phone, and I would hear an audible beep every 5 minutes to alert me that I needed to get my voicemail. The Centro does not do this - you have to go check your phone every time to see if there's a message on your screen. I did find a great piece of software to fix this, "Butler" [..], but I don't think that I should have had to spend $15 for a basic function. - There are no numeric speed dial numbers. Although you can assign every key on the keyboard to a shortcut setting, such as a speed dial, I did not want to reassign and relearn every speed dial number. I had about 30 speed dial numbers (yes, I could remember them all - I have a large family and use my phone for business) and suddenly the Centro wouldn't support them. Once again, I found a 3rd party software [..], but was irked that I had to spend another $10 for this function. - If you purchase ringtones that are shorter than the time the phone rings, the phone just stops ringing and does not repeat the ringtone. For example, a ring tends to last 20 seconds or so. I bought ringtones from Sprint that are only 10 seconds. On my Samsung phone, it would repeat the ringtone from the beginning so I'd hear it for 20 seconds. Not on the Centro. Doesn't seem like a big deal, right? Well, in a loud place, sometimes you need more than 10 seconds to figure out that your phone is ringing. I also need 20 seconds of ringing to help guide me to where the phone may be hidden (in my purse, or in my office, or in my car) and answer it in time. Once again, I used a 3rd party software to create my own tones that are more than 20 seconds. *Other: - BATTERY LIFE IS TERRIBLE. Today I unplugged the phone at 8 am and did not talk on it. I used it for 30 minutes to check my e-mail. It died at 5 pm. Therefore, you have to buy an extra charger to keep one in your office, because there is a great chance that you'll have to recharge it during the day. I know this happens when you use Outlook's "push" e-mail that causes the phone to spend battery time hooking up to the Network, but I intentionally did not set up my phone that way. I have it set to where I manually check my e-mail by pushing a button to connect. Evidently checking it twice in one day was enough to kill the battery. I've had this phone less than a month, so the battery should not have such issues! - Most phones have good alarms that you can use to wake up, but this one is sorely lacking. You can't set it to work every day - each day you would have to set the alarm. Once again "Butler" saved the day for me and allows me to set 6 different alarms, and have repeatability. *PDA functions - While the Centro syncs well to gmail, I've had problems sending e-mails from the phone in my Cox account. I haven't figured out the fix yet, so for now I am only using gmail for outgoing messages. However, that is really annoying when I get a message on my Cox account and cannot just hit "reply" but instead must start a whole new message in gmail. - The microSD port is indispensable (and they have now moved it to the side of the phone so you don't have to take out the battery to get to it), but getting music onto the SD card so that your Centro can play it is a pain if you don't use Windows Media Player. I use iTunes for all my music, but you can't use iTunes to transfer music. You have to use Windows Media Player or SprintMusic Manager. I don't want extra software on my computer, so I didn't install the latter. I used WMP instead but found it to be utterly annoying and non-intuitive. I doubt that I will ever change the songs on the microSD card because it was so bothersome. I wish I could have done a "drag and drop" from an iTunes playlist to the card. ***PROS: - The Palm OS is intuitive, although this phone is complex enough that you really do need to read the manual. - The ability to look at MS Office documents and change them is indispensable for business. - It's easy to manage tasks and memos. I had used my Samsung phone to put in reminders for me, but with a full keyboard it's so much easier to input the information. This phone also has a lot more memory to handle them. (My Samsung didn't have an expandable port so I'd have to go purge old meetings and such to free up memory for a new one.) - Sprint's network allows you to surf fairly easily and quickly. - You can download a free program (minitones) and create your own ringtones from your MP3s. - The speaker on the phone is good enough and pTunes is adequate enough to play music out loud. While I will always have my iPod and earphones, occasionally I am working in my car or office and don't want to be encumbered by earphones. So, the ability to play music out loud on the phone is a very nice feature. - This phone syncs so much better to my car's Bluetooth. In short, I like some of the PDA functions, but as a phone the Centro is disappointing. I'm sure I would not purchase this phone again, but since the PDA part is decent, I'm giving it 2 stars.