As mentioned below, the supplied Palm Centro stylus is flat out terrible. Today I received the steel-shafted replacements - they are perfect, just what Palm should have put into the phone in the first place.
See the 3-pack at Seidio Online; shipping out of Houston was prompt via first class mail.
Singles are also available but I recommend anticipating losing a stylus, especially these tiny ones. Trying to buy an accessory for a cell phone a year later can be tough - hedge.
The stylus is no minor matter. Because of the relatively small screen, the stylus is required for almost everything other than dialing the phone.
July 30, 2008
I've been using Palm PDAs since the days of U.S. Robotics' Palm Pilot
Pro model. I got the most life out of my excellent but venerable Palm Tungsten T3, which lasted
a little over four years. It's still working well, especially after I replaced
the battery a while back, but I was not using it much. The
problem was that I got tired of carrying both a cell phone and a PDA. The cell
phone is essential; even after nine years, the PDA became optional.
Yup, that's right, I bought a Smartphone a couple of days ago. And I decided to stick with Palm by buying a Centro. I think even if I had an opportunity to buy an iPhone, which I don't because I'm with Verizon, I still would have opted for the Centro. After ten years of using Palm, I have an investment in software that I can't walk away from just yet.
Here's the interesting part. If I had replaced my T3 with a contemporary PDA like the Palm T|X, it would have cost $300. The Centro was a mere $50 after Verizon rebates. In effect, it's a phone with a PDA thrown in for free.
The switch has not been without difficulty. One of the huge strengths of the Palm has been the brainless, perfect transition between models. When my Palm V died, I simply brought home the T3, did a minor amount of setup, and pressed the HotSync button. A few minutes later I was ready to go. Such was not the case with the Centro. The fully automatic transition resulted in a blue screen of death, the first one I've ever seen on my current laptop. After Palm helped me clean up that mess (Palm's support was first-rate), I started building the Centro manually until I ran in to the apparent culprit. Hopefully I'll be able to work all this out.
I thought the biggest change would be moving from the T3's beautiful 3.75", 320x480 display to the 2.25", 320x320 display of the Centro. So far, the smaller screen is working out well and is not going to be a problem. It's better than the display on my previous, ordinary cell phone. Instead, the big problem is the transition from Graffiti to a keyboard, especially one with such tiny keys. The good news is that I use the Palm mostly for reference - my address book, some documents, a few lists and databases - and do very little data entry on the device. I'm not a "texter" and I don't use the phone for email.
There is one very bad feature of the Centro. The stylus is flimsy to the point that it can't be easily used. I've already ordered replacements with a metal shaft. I'm not sure what Palm was thinking. The supplied stylus is a horrible mistake.
One of these days I will probably switch to a Windows-based device, perhaps something like the new Treo 800w. Maybe I'll succumb to iPhone fever. But before I do, I'll have to find competent replacements for the many excellent Palm OS programs I've collected over the years. That will be a challenge.
July 27, 2008
In one year, the cost of a 1TB SATA drive (I'm using the Hitachi 7K1000 for a benchmark) has dropped by 58%. It has almost achieved parity with buying two 500GB drives. Today's price at Zip Zoom Fly for the Seagate 1TB drive is $160 (includes a $70 rebate and not surprisingly is out of stock).
| Date | 1TB Drive | ¢/GB | 500GB Drives | ¢/GB | Difference/GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2008 | $190 | 19¢ | $150 | 15¢ | 4¢ |
| Jan 2008 | $320 | 32¢ | $240 | 24¢ | 8¢ |
| May 2007 | $450 | 45¢ | $268 | 27¢ | 18¢ |
Given that one drive will use less power and make less noise than two, we have probably reached the point that the 1TB drive is the obvious choice. For backup purposes, though, the 500GB drive has become almost irresistibly priced.
July 27, 2008
Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys will perform in Bel Air on August 10, 2008. Details...
July 18, 2008
A mere six months after Nikon announced the full-frame (FX) D3 DSLR, it has announced the D700, which pundits are calling a "D3 in a D300 body." I doubt that anyone who watches the evolution of digital SLRs is a bit surprised by this; I certainly am not.
In early 2004, Nikon introduced the "DX" format, 6MP D70 at a breakthrough price of $1,000, $1,300 or so with a kit lens. Just under three years later, in late 2006, Nikon announced the D40 including a kit lens for another breakthrough price, $600, which has now fallen to $470 on the street. Although the D40 is cost reduced in other ways, cost efficiencies (and market forces) make this the price point for a 6MP DX DSLR.
Precisely the same forces will work on the FX sensor. In January, Nikon's first foray into full-frame, the D3, was priced at $5,000. This week the D700 is priced at $3,000. I think it almost inevitable that the holes in the "prosumer" line between the D300 and the D700 will be filled with new FX models, whether they represent upgrades from the D300 (I think that's likely) or downgrades from the D700.
Still, Nikon's D700 move leaves a lot of confusion. Thom Hogan, always thoughtful and thought-provoking, has written an excellent article on that very subject.
My personal projection is simple. The professional line, those cameras with single-digit model numbers, are now FX. Sensor density may rise but full-frame is here to stay. The consumer line, those with double-digit model numbers, will remain DX. Even at the 10MP of the D60 and D80, the cost of the sensor is dropping and this will make it possible for Nikon to continue to price the consumer models aggressively.
That leaves the prosumer models, the ones with three digits in their model numbers. They've been DX up to the D300 and now we have FX in the D700. Within two years, possibly less, expect to see a 000-series model at the $1,500 price point, thus following the trend of Nikon's DX family.
The push of FX downward is mildly bad news for those of us who have invested in DX lenses because they are not very useful on an FX body. I have the sinking feeling that DX lenses will not have the typical, multi-decade life span of traditional Nikon lenses.
July 5, 2008
Older notes from my home page...
Sailboat
for SaleClick this sailboat for details.
I've written a brief essay on the capacity of fiber optic cable. You might find this interesting if you are considering FIOS.
ptCTOI invite you to visit my business site.