Just got the Centro my, couple of PALM OS questions

[Marqui]

First, let me start by saying I am new the the PDA market, and i am fairly satisfied with my decision to purchase new Palm Centro. My wife and I were due for a new contract, and after some talk with retentions we got an great deal I couldn't pass up. Two things I wish Centro had that would have made it perfect ideal for me, Bluetooth 2.0 and Built-In GPS (much like the BB 8130), but after using the Palm and seeing the community support, those 2 features didn't seem so important, especially when you have google maps and I was plannning on getting a dedicated GPS system in the near future

Now for my Palm OS questions...

First, when using the volume control I noticed it doesn't goto Silent/Off/Vibrate Only, the lowest it can go is to a single bar? The only way I can get this accomplished is to navigate thru to preferences and select vibrate. But once I hit the volume control again, I have to repeat the steps. Now I've think I can assign a function to the custom button right below the volume control to perform this function of going into vibrate only mode, but I just want to check with the Palm OS experts here to see if I am missing something? I'd like my lowest volume setting to be vibrate only? Is this possible?

Will most of the treo software releases work with Centro? There are plenty of cool apps I'd like to install, but I rarely see one that says it officially supports the centro? Is there a chance I can hose up my Palm by testing out these apps? Also, I know how to install via the Palm Desktop, but what about uninstalling?

Lastly, not an OS question, but my unit cable with a usb data cable. This cable does not charge though, and I have seen those that can. Will these hurt my palm centro or are safe to use? I'm looking at some offered on ebay at the momment.

thanks for your help/suggestions...

Marqui

[LotusLord]

Regarding the volume control for the Silent/Vibrate. There is a physical slider switch at the top of the device that switches between silent/vibrate and ring. At least according to Palm's Specs page, here

Welcome to Treonauts by the way!

[Marqui]

Doh! That would be it! My problem was using the built in Palm OS Support for the answer instead of reading my manual

I now remember another questions I had... voice commands/control. The centro came with a trial version of nuance, but i believe there is a monthly fee associated with that is there a comparable product that is less expensive (non monthly) or even a freeware type app?

Lastly, I see it uses the blazer internet client, it seems decent, but I assume there is something better? NetFront 3.4 ?

Versamail came preinstalled. I configured Gmail and everything seems to work fine with the Test Settings button, but I am not getting any emails or alerts, like it's not really talking. The settings seem just fine and I've enabled the Pop Settings in my gmail account... Did I miss a step? I also setup my US Army AKO account and that works perfectly.

Thanks for the help

[LotusLord]

There is a version of the Opera browser for Palm OS, that works pretty well.

[forgot]

Most software will be compatable with your Centro, unless its really old. Garnet OS is built to be backwards compatable with most applications. I can't think of the last time I found a truely incompatable application.

As for the sync and charge cables, these will not hurt your device. They provide a trickle charge from a powered USB port, and are there to help keep you "topped off".

Now to voice control. There are a couple of applications that will do this, and some require only a one time fee. I don't know of any freeware versions, and none of them will work via bluetooth. You have to manually initiate them with a hard key on the device.

[JackG058]

I'm not sure if its available for the Centro, but you could also try looking in the Digital Lounge, where a great program is called "Sprint Mobile Mail". It allows push email service for Gmail. There is also easy setup for AOL, AIM, and Yahoo. However, since I haven't set any of these up I don't know if they have the push capabilities. Oh, and Sprint provides it for free. Works great on my 700p.

[Marqui]

Thanks... I appreciate all information you all have provided.

I'm still a little bit confused by the web browser though.

It looks like NetFront 3.5 is compatible with Garnet OS (from what I read, that is what Palm OS is referred to) and can stream lots of media including flash, but I don't see an option to purchase it? So does that mean if you device didn't come with as it's default browser, then you can't use it?

Is there a similiar one that can stream that type of media?

Sorry for the rush of questions, just a bit excited on the little cool things this centro can do.

Originally Posted by forgot

Most software will be compatable with your Centro, unless its really old. Garnet OS is built to be backwards compatable with most applications. I can't think of the last time I found a truely incompatable application.

As for the sync and charge cables, these will not hurt your device. They provide a trickle charge from a powered USB port, and are there to help keep you "topped off".

Now to voice control. There are a couple of applications that will do this, and some require only a one time fee. I don't know of any freeware versions, and none of them will work via bluetooth. You have to manually initiate them with a hard key on the device.

[LotusLord]

I'm not seeing NetFront for Palm OS (Garnet was the code name for the current version of Palm OS.

If you're looking for Flash video compatibility, check out Kinoma Player, which may have come with your Centro, but you'll have to upgrade to the newest version.

There is no Palm OS or Windows Mobile Flash player that is compatible with the version of Flash used to encode YouTube videos. Flash 7 is the latest for mobile devices, and Flash 9 is used on YouTube.

[redheads]

Originally Posted by LotusLord

If you're looking for Flash video compatibility, check out Kinoma Player, which may have come with your Centro, but you'll have to upgrade to the newest version.

I mentioned using Kinoma on my centro a few days ago - just wanted to mention I had purchased it, it was not included with the centro. I *do* think it a worthwhile purchase

I have NOT found any Palm 5 apps that are incompatible with my centro - I had a few compatibility issues when i went from the treo 600 to the 650, but so far no OS issues from the 650 to the centro (I did have a proprietary files/filez issue which I posted about in another thread.)

So far I have simply moved apps from my 650 - maybe this week I will get a chance to add some new ones (bought a 4g card and am dreaming of what all I can do with all of that memory -- woo-hoo!)

[eclair]

Marqui, welcome to treonauts, really cool that you like your centro. Hope you can get everything just the way you want.