[Trekker]

Whether the battery is different or not, Palm should have done one extremely simple thing to make the issue null: change the shape of the battery. Just add one little "notch" to the side of the battery, and make it so the rectangle of the Centro battery wouldn't fit in the Pre because of the notch. There, bam, no question about it, the battery doesn't fit!

That's what I don't understand. If it was such an important issue, why make the battery physically identical to the Centro battery? It would be a non-issue if there was some type of "keying" involved that would prevent Centro batteries from being used. They could have done something as simple as rounding off a corner of the Pre battery so that the Centro battery would not fit.

Palm has done it before...they changed the battery contacts location on the Centro so earlier Treo batteries would not work.

I'm not saying there is no difference between the Pre battery and the Centro battery, there very well may be, but if it's such a critical difference, then they should have made it "*****" proof.

[dfine1966]

Who said Palm is smart. They did almost go under. I think they were more focused on the phone, than thinking about the battery. Who knows why they made the batteries look and fit the same. I called Palm and talked to Sprint and asked why they won't do a press release about this to clarify either way. They still haven't said if the will do this. For me, I don't have a Centro battery, and I really don't need an extra battery. So I don't really have to worry about it. But, I am still curious of what the outcome will be as many other people in a lot of forums. I still believe what the Manager at the Sprint store told and showed me about the Centro battery not putting the Pre in sleep mode. So why can't Sprint and Palm just release a Press release to the Public to tell everyone. It is not that hard.

[kmehr]

Ok some people are more daring than others. I am one of those people. For example some cars recommend using Castrol Synthetic Oil but there are better synthetic oils on the market. Some cars recommend using BP gas but there are other Gas stations with similar quality gas. Does that mean that if someone uses a different synthetic oil or different gas station that their cars are going to explode or become non-functional.....NO! Now I have use both batteries and basically ran both for hours of Pandora, emailing, and web browsing. Both batteries appeared to be of equal temp. I do not have a temp monitor so I took it a step further just to see if there was any differences.. I went into the ##debug# menu and analyzed the batteries voltage.... Both displayed the exact reading as well from a freshly charged battery giving 3972mV to a 3782mV at 50%. So I personally believe that it will be safe.

Well there was this one time that my phone started smoking and then went kaaboom (j/K) lol

Bottom line if you do not want to chance using a Centro/800w battery then don't. At the very least, you will have us to be the test rats in order to determine any adverse effects

[moe300]

I find it very hard to believe that the batteries are physically different. From what I always gathered, the phone is the protection circuit for the battery and it knows when the battery is charged? If I had an extra pre battery I would disassemble it. I am completely willing to take my centro battery apart if someone has a pre battery they want to disassemble for comparison! FYI, I used my Centro battery for 2 days and it worked the same as my oem pre battery. My freezer didn't defrost and there was no flooding or earthquakes. No smoke or fire came from my phone and light never shined down from the heavens saying my warranty was voided. I'm not saying the op or the sprint store manager that told him this is wrong, but I am skeptical simply because of how much the markup on these batteries is and the fact that they would rather sell you a new one instead of having you use your perfectly good centro battery.

[dannywoo]

I am using Centro OEM batteries and they work in the Pre. From what I can tell they work the same, run time, heat, everything, but I have only had the phone for a week.

One thing I had to mod' though. I found the phone would reset on hard open /closing and the battery didn't appear to charge in the Pre. I used some tape on the battery to make it fit snugger in the Pre and everything now works fine (saw the paper gap trick post). It's like the Pre battery just has a black plastic label sleeve over the Centro battery so it's a little snugger in the battery compartment.

Or maybe there is something different. ***So use this information at your own risk.*** I just know my Pre will not last the whole day with or without a Pre battery in it. So it's pretty cost effective to use the Centro batteries. At least they are OEM and not generic sub standard parts. If Palm knew they where going to be bad in the Pre they would have made them differently and with better battery performance.

[gitit20]

The Plam Pre battery is 3.7 volts DC and is 1150mAh. I am not sure about all Treo 800 And Centro battery's but the 2 I had for my old Treo and Centro are the same 3.7 volts DC at 1150mAh. I have worked with many diff. types of battery's if the mAh is the same and the voltage then you should be ok. I have been using them since day one and my phone does not get any hotter I even called palm tech and they said if the mAh is the same and voltage your good to go... I also went to the local sprint store and got 2 bad cells one for the Pre and one for the Centro and took them apart they are identical in every way once you take the out side gray or black sticker off the out side of the cell...

Most people won't see a difference now. The problem is down the line. If you don't know the difference of batteries. This is the explanation that was given to me.

"There is one possibility of battery difference that no one seems to mention. Li-Ion batteries are rated by their total power and their ability to deliver that power...or amperage. A higher "C" rated battery can deliver higher power at any time. The Pre, with it's beefier processor and multi-tasking might be able to draw too much power for a Centro battery. They may have upgraded the Centro battery to a higher C rating.

The risk of using a lower C rating battery is that it may not be able to deliver enough current which could cause a voltage dip, or worse, overheat the battery and cause a runaway condition (ie. fire.)"

So it might be all roses now but later might be when you have a problem. If you overtax your centro battery, that is when the problems might start.

[gitit20]

---->update<---- I set up a test rig to test the voltage and amperage of the battery under about 50% load around 580mAh. Each pack ran about the same time the older Centro battery went below 3.7 volts about 7 min sooner but its also 1.5 years old and that's normal for a pack to get weaker with time. Also did a charge time test and both packs were charged to 100% at around 50 min both packs drew the same amount of amperage 340mAh These Load and Charge tests were done on good power cells... Hope this info helps you guys because other then the looks of the outer skin the cells are alike...

The Plam Pre battery is 3.7 volts DC and is 1150mAh. I am not sure about all Treo 800 And Centro battery's but the 2 I had for my old Treo and Centro are the same 3.7 volts DC at 1150mAh. I have worked with many diff. types of battery's if the mAh is the same and the voltage then you should be ok. I have been using them since day one and my phone does not get any hotter I even called palm tech and they said if the mAh is the same and voltage your good to go... I also went to the local sprint store and got 2 bad cells one for the Pre and one for the Centro and took them apart they are identical in every way once you take the out side gray or black sticker off the out side of the cell...

[Protagonist]

Thank you for taking the time to verify this. Hopefully this will be enough to put an end to all the rumors.

[gitit20]

your welcome glad I was able to help if you want to i have some youtube videos about the pre under the same user name gitit20

[tonylmiller]

Whether the battery is different or not, Palm should have done one extremely simple thing to make the issue null: change the shape of the battery. Just add one little "notch" to the side of the battery, and make it so the rectangle of the Centro battery wouldn't fit in the Pre because of the notch. There, bam, no question about it, the battery doesn't fit!

Of course, there would still be a few people going "well it's ALMOST the same shape, and it's the same capacity and made by the same company, and there's nothing functional in that little corner that sticks out that keeps the Centro battery from fitting, and Palm/Sprint/others haven't said FORCEFULLY enough that it doesn't work, so it must work! Just file off the little notch, and it'll fit!" It's never enough for some people.

I agree. If the Centro battery shouldn't be used, it should be impossible (or very difficult) to use it. If it is a safety issue, they could be opening themselves up to some liability.

[bdhu2001]

Originally posted by Tonylmiller:

I agree. If the Centro battery shouldn't be used, it should be impossible (or very difficult) to use it. If it is a safety issue, they could be opening themselves up to some liability.

They've told the users they aren't compatible, there wouldn't be liability issues. There are no liability issues when people stick forks in electric sockets. Although I agree they should have changed the contacts, they doesn't make them liable.

I don't see how it can void warranties on the product, because you're not using the product in a way that's unintended. In addition, we're able to use other non-palm batteries such as Amzer and Seidio. Plenty of people will buy knockoff Palm branded batteries on e-bay and stuff. Again those won't void the warranty so I don't see how using the Centro battery as a backup will void the warranty.