Readers of this phlog/blog probably know that I dislike smartphones. I
used the Punks MP01 feature phone from 2017.
But it ceased to work just few days after the New Year. So I have had
to find a replacement.
I have decided to use something from my "museum" instead of buying of
something new. The GSM networks here are expected to run for a few
years so I probalby have 2-3 years (if not more) to properly select a
new one.
I actually have no working feature phone in my collection (there are
some Nokias but no one has working microphone or speaker or both). So I
have had to choose one of my vintage "smartphones".
I decided not to try the OpenMoko devices because they have bad battery
life (1-2 days at maximum). The Nokia N900 refused to accept any of my
contact lists for some reason. So I have chosen the Palm Centro.
This is a cute tiny device (the Palm Pixi would be eve cuttier but one
don't work in the GSM network and the second is not able to initiate at
all). It runs the Palm OS so it is more a PDA that a phone (this is a
nice bonus because I have been a Palm user for ages). The screen is
small for my liking but my eyes are still able to read it (well, sort
of). The keyboard is tiny but usable.
I was initially unsure if it makes sense to use it because in the past
someone (Logout, maybe?) told me in the past that it does not work with
the UTF-8 and thus will have problems with received messages. This is
true but it only applies to e-mail messages, WWW and (possibly) to some
instant messengers.
All these services are almost unavailable for the Centro anyway. I
don't think that there is still an e-mail provider who supports
unencrypted communication. The instant messengers for the Palm OS are
gone for ages. And the HTTPS now a sort of mandatory thing for the WWW
(well, the FrogFing is leaping for rescue...).
The SMS service works and it supports needed encodings. So I receive
Czech SMS in with correct letters and there are no issues (most people
-and companies - still send SMSs with use of the basic ASCII letters
only anyway). Phone calls work, too. I don't need anything else. The
PIM functionality, the calculator and the camera are nice bonuses but
none of them is necesary (I install a load of Palm applciations but I
don't think I will ever use most of them).
Battery life is not great because the battery is probably very old (I
received it with my second-hand Centro a few years ago). But it still
can survive at least 4 days of active use.
P.S. I have the Treo 180, too. Should I try to use it, too?
