I'm thinking of making the jump to a "smartphone". I'm with sprint, and my two main choices are the Palm Centro or the Blackberry Curve. My biggest desire is to be able to sync my Google Calendar so I can have my calendar with me. All the other features might be nice, but I'm not too concerned with anything else.

So, what's the opinions out there?

I think it really comes down to personal preference. I have a BB and will buy another, I like it interface. It has some quirks, but you learn to adapt. I sync my calender and contacts with my Lotus Notes and it works fine, they go back and forth, so I can put something on one, and then when I sync it hits the other. I can't tell you all of the technical stuff, but my BB works great as a phone and as a PDA for me.

i didn't invent grafiti, but i had the original palm pilot and every subsequent one up to the fourth generation. they were all great for their time. i then switched over to a pocket pc smartphone and loved the additional programs, but many of them i had to pay for where they would ahve been free for the palm. a year and a half ago i switched to the blackberry curve, which i use at work and while commuting.

for emails, having a physical keyboard is critical to me and the fact that it wirelessly synchs with ms outlook for email, calendar, tasks, contacts, etc. is simply fantastic. no more putting the thing in a cradle. update my calendar while i'm away from my desk and it's automatically updated on my desktop pc (actually, at the ms exchange server). that being said, i use it through work, so your experience may be different at home or with a different email program.

the phone is good, the speakerphone is plenty loud, the device has decent battery life, the camera is decent in daylight, and the keyboard is nice for me. go to a store, though and try several models as the keyboards differ drastically and it is a crucial part of your interface witht he device.

i do have a few complaints.

the bigegst is with my company because they neuter the device so it can ONLY be used with company email and i cannot load additional programs on it. if you're considering this for home and office usage, check into this policy with your company.

my biggest complaint with the device itself is the frequency with which i used to get sim card errors and the location of the sim card. i finally fixed the sim card errors by inserting a folded piece of paper on the back of the sim card. this seems to hold it firmer against the contacts and i haven't gotten any errors since.

the location of the sim card is underneath the battery, which means you must remove the battery to get to the sim card. why is this bad? because when mine hit the sidewalk (literally), i had the high brickbreaker score in the world (3 million points at that point in time) and i lost the game when i pulled the battery.

btw, if anyone wants to know the secrets to high scoring on brickbreaker, all you have to do is buy me a tankful of gas for the boat.

one thing i really like about the unit is it's nearly indescructable. mine has been dropped several times on all kinds of hard surfaces. i wish it hit the floor in the bathroom once, but the toilet was in the way so in it went for a quick swim. i immediately pulled it out, dried it off, removed the battery, and put the device in a bag of uncooked rice for a weekend to absorb any ligering liquid. then it fired right up without any ill effects. however, i have now voided the warranty agisnt getting the thing wet, whichmany people must have done, because inside is a chemical dot that changes color when it gets wet. so i'm on my own if i need service, but fortunately, i haven't needed any.

btw, a new blackberry is coming out soon that looks to be cross between the curve and the next biggest one (i can't remember the model of the bigger one). the device looks to be the size of the curve but with a keyboard resembling the bigger unit. the other keyboard has the keys almost touching (so they're bigger) and has a raised ridge running along two sides of each key to differentiate them. i prefer the keyboard on the curve, though, due to the separation of the keys.

Both Palm and BB are about to relase new PDA / Smartphone. The BB will have a touch screen and the new Palm Pro is G3 and WiFi

Will these be Sprint? I hear that new phones usually come out this time of year for Christmas.

I wouldn't be a power user, so the thought of getting a nice deal on a closeout of the old ones as the new come in is rather appealing to me.

I had a blackberry with my last job and loved to hate it. it was great for email, calendar, appointments etc and the ease of use was great. I miss my BB, I dont miss my job..

still unemployed Brady

Blackberry Curve.

The Palm OS is dying.

Google has apps you can download onto the Blackberry
http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/mobile.html

That new Blackberry, the Storm, is exclusive to Verizon--but sure is dad-gum neato!
http://www.blackberry.com/blackberrystorm/
It's being touted as "the iPhone killer".

Blackberries are easier to use out of the box and more stable (although the Centro is pretty stable) but also more limited in what it can do. The Centro is more flexible and can do a lot more things via a huge number of available third party apps. If you want a turn it on, forget it and only do a few tasks device, get a Blackberry, if you want something you can tinker with and customize to do what you want, go Centro.

Another issue is what kind of mail server you have. If you have a Blackberry server, go Blackberry, if you have exchange, go Centro (or a WM device like an 800W). If you have POP, it probably doesn't matter.

Palm missed the mark by getting the Centro out so late, but there is a pretty big installed based of Palm based users out there.

http://investor.palm.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=340296


New Centro soon - not bad for $79

....
Palm Centro for Sprint Dons New Apparel for the Holidays
Centro Wraps Facebook for Palm, Google Maps and Increased Storage in
Fresh New Colors

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Oct 14, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- With the holidays just around the corner, Palm, Inc. (Nasdaq:PALM) today announced that the Palm(R) Centro(TM) smartphone for Sprint will be available in two new soft-touch colors -- Olive green and Vibrant rose. With twice the storage, Facebook(R) for Palm(1), and Google Maps with the My Location feature(2) all wrapped up in new colors at a special holiday price -- as low as $79.99(3) -- the Centro for Sprint makes the perfect ready-to-go gift. The new colors will join the popular Onyx black Centro in Sprint's holiday lineup.

"We're seeing fashion designers gravitate toward olive and rose tones, as forecasted in the PANTONE Fashion Color Reports for Fall 2008 and Spring 2009," said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute(R). "Olive green and Vibrant rose are both strong fashion colors, offering a sense of sophistication and elegance. These hues are classic colors, with the longevity to translate from season to season."

The new rich tones of Olive green and Vibrant rose feature a soft-touch finish that feels smooth and comfortable in the hand. Centro has a sleek, lightweight design with rounded corners, and it's small enough to carry in a pocket -- yet it retains Palm's signature color touch screen and full keyboard, with comfortable gel-soft keys that make typing fast and easy.

...

I'm a teacher, so no 'corporate' support of any kind. I mostly just want to be able to sync my google calendar from my phone. I'm on several committees, and a lot of meetings are scheduled on the fly. It's kind of annoying to either print off my calendar every couple of days or to have to find someplace to log in.

It seems like you really need the Blackberry data add on to make those work, which makes me lean toward the Palm. I'd love a wifi option, but I don't see those on the Centro or Curve, I think you've got to get pretty high end before they include that.

My comment about the Palm OS was based mostly around my experience within my company. All of our execs who have had Palm OR Windows-based handhelds have moved to Blackberries. Of those, the Curve has been the most popular due to form-factor and ease of use. The Blackberry also seems to be very stable. And our parent company emphasizes that they prefer the Blackberry also.

I don't know what's required on other carriers in regards to having a data plan, but I know that the BES (Blackberry Enterprise Services) plan is an additional $50 for AT&T. But, if you're staying with Sprint, they have (or had) an unlimited everything plan for $99/mo. Sprint also has one of the fastest networks (not including the G3 stuff out there). Regular internet browsing on the Blackberry isn't great, however. The browser is kinda funky--but Opera is available to install on the B-berry.

If you want data access then you'll need a data plan. For personal use, I have a Samsung BlackJack that uses Windows Mobile. I like it for what I use it for and it was relatively cheap. I have Cingular and data access is like a penny per kb w/o the data plan. That can add up pretty quick. I can easily access my google email and calender through mobile IE. It's not a sync, but merely access to the calender.

My wife has a Palm Treo 755p provided by her employer. It syncs well with Lotus Notes, but man is the phone flaky. She has lots of problems with it just turning off or locking up. I think she's on her 4th Treo due to 3 just becoming inoperable and one got wet while we were on the lake. Oops

I've also got a 755 that I'm no longer using since I got a Centro. It has a better keyboard than the Centro, but is significantly bigger and less stable than the Centro.

Palm OS is technically "obsolete" as Palm is coming out with a new OS next year, and won't be coming out any more new Palm OS phones, but it still does what 99% of smartphone users need, is easy and intuitive to use, and has a huge base of software out there for it. Every time I head out on my boat, I check a tide program I have on my Centro. They amount of stuff out there for it is pretty amazing. The touchscreen is a big plus over most Blackberrys too.

The best thing to do is spend some time playing around with them in the store and see which one feels the most comfortable. You can also return the phone within 14(?) days if you don't like after using it for awhile.

I played with a Centro a little bit yesterday, I'm planning to check out a Curve in the next day or two. I agree with hands on before purchase.

I really like the standard USB and standard headphone jack on the Curve, versus Centro with the proprietary USB interface and the 2.5 mm jack. The flash on the Curve camera is also cool.

I agree that the touch screen on the Centro makes up for a lot of other features, it's just plain cool. My building principal has one, and he uses it strictly for the calendar and phone, syncs it with his work computer, and doesn't do any data. He's quite happy, but he's also not much of a technology person.

I think for me it boils down to the cost of the plan. It seems like the blackberry pretty much requires the data add on, where I can get away without it on the Centro. I don't mind that the Palm OS is on the way out, as long as what I get now does what I want it to. In a couple of years, when I'm looking to upgrade again, who knows what will be out!

Gee, in reading what I wrote, I guess I've kinda made up my mind. I still can't stop thinking about the usb and headphone jack on the Curve, along with the flash. If it wasn't for those, I don't think I'd be second guessing myself.