This phone has a few nice features but is missing some I consider essential. Service (if it can be called that...) provider AT&T.
PROS:
Keyboard. The keyboard has a nice feel and is well designed. The "." and "@" keys are separate, and the most-used symbols are right on the the keys so texting is breeze. The threaded text feature is also nice (all texts between you and any given recipient are grouped together).
Size. It's quite small and light (fits in a pocket).
Display. The display area is fairly small but of good quality. It also allows for horizontal tilt, so if you're watching a video, it's like a mini TV screen.
Signal strength indicator. This seems to be more accurate than on other phones I've used (in places where my other phone from AT&T shows full bars but frequently drops calls, this one showed only 1 or no bars.)
Quick launcher. Similar to the dock on a Mac, it's an area on the main screen where the user can quickly access a few of the most-used apps; the apps displayed there can be changed by the user.
WebOS. Pretty smooth, easy to use.
CONS:
Slooooow start up. From powered off mode to available for any function is >2 minutes. Too long if you need to make a call in a hurry.
NO VOICE COMMANDS THIS PHONE. I've got a daily car commute so this was a real problem. The last 3 generations of phones I've bought used voice commands. I would tap my bluetooth headset, speak the name of the person I wanted to call et voila!, the call is made. And hitting the bluetooth doesn't "wake up" the phone. It goes into sleep mode (settings = 30 secs to 3 mins). Once asleep, you have to hit the power button, make a sliding motion on the screen to unlock and then hit the phone icon just to get it into calling mode. From there, if a number is in speed dial you can hit that letter on the keypad and it will dial. Otherwise, you can start inputting on the keyboard the name of the person on your contact list, or input the number on the fussy touch keypad, but that's too close to texting and really too much distraction while driving. Even when not driving, it really requires too many steps to make a call once the phone has been asleep.
Battery life. Will not make it through a day of even light use (<1 hour of talk, email check x2, and text x3) on a single charge. This is NOT the phone to take on a 2-day camping trip.
Freezes. It would occasionally get "hung up" on something but give no error message. Rather, it would just stop responding to most (but not all???) commands. For instance, at one point the phone icon (which you need in order to actually place a call) disappeared from the quick launcher and wasn't in the apps menu. Restart (that 2-3 minute process) didn't work, so I had to actually take out the battery (and don't believe Palm when they say you can take off the cover using just your thumbnail) and wait another 2-3 mins for it to restart again. Similar freezes happened several times over a 5-day period.
Numeric keys are only on the touch screen and rather finicky. I have smallish fingers and would frequently get an "8" instead of a "5" or have a number double enter.
Speaker volume. The speaker feature is really only useful to 1 or 2 people in a quiet room. Otherwise, the volume isn't loud enough to heard by a group.
AT&T's customer service. I've really lowered my expectations of service over the past several years, but AT&T reached new lows during this episode. I won't bore you with the details, but will say that one AT&T supervisor, reviewing the notes on my account of the nightmare process to get this phone once I had paid for it, and then to get it up & running, was "the worst [she'd] ever seen". She was very apologetic, gave me the top secret address (even SHE had trouble finding it) for AT&T's corporate complaint department and encouraged me to write them.
BOTTOM LINE: Despite the cool things this phone can do, I am going to have to return it. First and foremost, I need a phone to be a phone, and when it takes more than 3 steps to make a call, it's just too many. That, combined with the fact that it can't make it for the 10 hours I'm away from home on a full charge with only light use, makes it not worth the hassle. Palm Pixi Plus Phone (AT&T)
Being an AT&T Palm Centro user for 2 years, I was excited that AT&T restarted selling Palm phones and I was hoping that the Pixi Plus would be the next generation Centro (that is all the nice features of the touch screen and real keyboard but with newer functions). It indeed had all the newest features as advertised, such as ease of switching between applications, a more inquisitive touch screen/menu system, etc. The USB plug charger was convenient and made it easier to transfer ringtones, etc from a computer to the phone. (In short, it does everything it advertizes, more or less)
However, it has 2 flaws which were fatal to me as a Centro user. First, it does not use the Palm HotSync manager program to synchronize contacts and calendars from Outlook to the phone using the Outlook conduit. It offers some synchronize programs but none for Outlook and none that make a direct connection with a computer, they use current online mail systems to do this. If you want to sync with Outlook, you are directed to third party suppliers that charge for their programs. (Again, the Centro had this feature at no extra cost and I wasn't willing to buy a third party program if I wasn't sure it would do the same thing) Second, it has no Bluetooth "dial up networking" aka tethering ability to use the phone as a internet modem via a laptop. With the exception of the IPhone that doesn't tether, I have tried several phones that connect right up using Bluetooth so I can access the internet from my laptop. Since the Centro on AT&T does not have 3G data, I was looking forward to faster internet tethering from my laptop but the Bluetooth pairing with the laptop did nothing, I couldn't even use to transfer simple files.
So if these 2 issues don't effect you than go for it as it seems like a fun easy phone. - Att'
Detail Products
Detail Reviews
Click here for more information
