Oldies But Goodies.  Some Older Cell Phones Worth Checking Out
By Mike Lipshultz

If you are the type of person that will only accept the latest and newest Cell Phones, then this is not for you.  But if you are looking to get more “Bag For Your Buck” and don’t care if the phone is the “best” one on the marked, then this article is for you!

For the last several month I have been using some older Cell Phones.  In particular the Palm Centro (the last “Palm Operating System” phone made by Palm), and the Palm Treo Pro 850 ( the first Windows Mobile Phone made by Palm) and I have not felt like I was suffering because of it.  Especially with the Treo Pro!

Now the biggest reason to go with these older phones is really simple.  Money!  As in saving lots of it.  How would you like a smart phone for as low as $10.00?  Or maybe one with WiFi for $20.00?

Yes, I am talking about full functioning working phones!  And let me tell you, if you tend to loose , destroy, or otherwise go though phones, a replacement cost of $20.00 is easer to take the $50.00 to $400.00!

Lets start with the Palm Centro.  This is a nice smart phone, but it has no WiFi or true GPS.  Those two things were the only complaints I had in using it.  There are thousands of apps around for this phone.  Some free, some at low cost.  But all around it was a nice easy to use phone.  It had good sound.  A loud ringer.  Good speaker volume.  And with some add on applications it was very useful.  I would say if your money is tight, then this is an incredible phone that can be found for sale used as low as $10.00!  Even without a  true GPS in it, it still worked well with Google Maps.  And add-ons as discussed below really made it a nice to use phone.

For surfing the net with it, using the Opera Mini add on was a must.

http://www.opera.com

Opera makes this great app for lots of phones.  It makes surfing the net faster and easer.

Now the folks at Hobbyist Software make some great apps for this phone and others.  Make sure to check them out.

http://hobbyistsoftware.com

They have lots of applications but I found their Phone Technician, Power Hero, and Butler a must have.  They make the Centro so much more.  They start where Palm left off and really do it right!  Software from them is a must have!

Now I also played with two recording programs for recording phone calls.  mVoice (http://www.motionapps.com/product/mvoice) and CallRec (http://www.qmobilsoft.net/Products/products.html) If I had to select the better application it would be hard for me to say.  I think it would come down to a personal preference.  Both can be downloaded and tried for free.  So test them and decide for yourself. I found myself liking CallRec myself.  I found it easer to use.  But that is based on my phone and how I wanted to use the recorder.  Check out both applications and decide for yourself.

Two must have applications are USB Modem and PDANet.  Or should I say one of the two are a must have. Both make connecting the phone to your computer and using the phone to surf the net on the computer easy to do.  PDANet is from June Fabrics http://www.junefabrics.com/pdanet/  , and USB Modem is from Mobile Stream http://www.mobile-stream.com/ .  Both offer a free trail download.  In researching it seems that for one reason or another folks will have one of the programs work fine and not the other, but it seems to be evenly divided.  I found them both great to have.  But I liked USB Modem just a little better.  In any case if you travel with your laptop and don’t want to pay the Internet access fee some hotels charge, then you must get one of these applications.  So try them both, and buy the one that you like the most!  Check them out for other phones and operating systems.

Now lets look at the palm Treo Pro!  Let me tell you, you can find some killer great deals on very nice conditioned used ones for as little as $20.00!  and as this phone is a Windows Mobil (6.5) with WiFi and true GPS, I’m telling you, if you can go the few extra bucks skip the Centro and get the Treo Pro!

For a great source of used phones check out the story called “Got Cell Phone?  Or Need Cell Phone?

You need To Know about This Company” .

Now back to the Treo Pro.  First you have got to know about a company called SBP Software http://spb.com/pocketpc-software/ . This company makes the Treo Pro a super nice Smart Phone.  Their SPB Phone Suite And SPB and Mobile Shell can’t be beat!!!! If you go with the Treo Pro, you must get at least Mobile Shell from this company.  Their “Time” and Weather’ programs are real nice also.

With the added software from SPB I believe that for a $20.00 phone the Treo Pro can’t be beat.  I surf over the phone connection or WiFi.  I have true GPS!.  I can connect to my computer with extreme ease. 

SPB makes a lot of stuff for a lot of different phones and operating systems.  Their stuff really makes any phone even better!

In fact lets give SPB the Editors Choice Award.  Check them out and you will see why.

Editors Choice?  Simply put, we the Editors at BizNet OnLine Magazine, give the Editors Choice Award to any product that we personally would choice use over the other products in the same category.  It is what we consider to be the “Best Of The Best”.

 

I have a full “suite” of Microsoft office products, and so much more.  I’m telling you.  If you need a smart phone that is easy to use, and must have GPS, WiFi, Internet connectivity to your computer, Email, IM, and more, you can’t beat a $20.00 Treo Pro! I’m telling you with SPB software and USB Modem or PDA Net added to the phone it is a total killer $20.00 phone!



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Last modified: October 05, 2011