Not sure where to put this, and I know I have seen similar threads in some of these catagories. I am thinking of picking up a Palm Treo 650 to use with cingular's service. Wanted to know what others thought of the phone out there, and how to sync it with my macbook. I have some friends who have Palm's and they love them, though I cannot reach them to find out what model they have. Any info would be great.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Thoughts on Palm Treo 650
- Thread starter saga
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I use it on my PC and I loveeeeeee it! It's simply the best phone I ever had. I sync it with Outlook but I don't think there are problems with the MacBook.
The only problems I noticed are the quality of the speaker (Very bad), the volume of the phone (Which is not loud) and the reception that is so-so. Other than that, it's an incredible phone!
I have a Treo 700p from Sprint. I have a friend who has a 650 and really likes it and syncs it with his G4 Powerbook using Palm's desktop software.
My 700p is cool, but it has some well known and very serious bugs. The main one that bothers me and most people, is that the bluetooth doesn't really function at all. If you want to use a wireless headset with your 700p, oops - sorry - you can't! Palm have been working on a fix for this for a while. Don't know when it might see the light of day. So I don't recommend the 700p, but the older 650 and 680 phones seem fine. The 680 had some battery issues, but those seem to have been addressed.
I went with the 700p because I wanted Sprint's service ($15 a month for unlimited broadband speed internet), and the 700p was their only Palm OS phone. Cingular's internet service is much more expensive ($40 a month I think, and the Palm 650 and 680 won't run on fast 3G internet). But if you only want to use the Treo as a PDA without internet, Cingular would be fine.
There is a software developer called markspace that make a program called missing sync that will sync Palm products to Mac's address book, iCal, etc. I bought it, but found it to be a bit buggy too. There are problems with syncing email addresses in your address book. I've ended up using Palm's own syncing software, and will probably try to get a refund.
One thing to keep in mind about the Treos - if you're used to a typically small cell phone, you may have a hard time adjusting to the relatively large size of a Treo. I've also had a hard time adjusting to carrying such an expensive gadget with me everywhere. Check out treonauts.com and palminfocenter.com for more info and some good forums.
My 700p is cool, but it has some well known and very serious bugs. The main one that bothers me and most people, is that the bluetooth doesn't really function at all. If you want to use a wireless headset with your 700p, oops - sorry - you can't! Palm have been working on a fix for this for a while. Don't know when it might see the light of day. So I don't recommend the 700p, but the older 650 and 680 phones seem fine. The 680 had some battery issues, but those seem to have been addressed.
I went with the 700p because I wanted Sprint's service ($15 a month for unlimited broadband speed internet), and the 700p was their only Palm OS phone. Cingular's internet service is much more expensive ($40 a month I think, and the Palm 650 and 680 won't run on fast 3G internet). But if you only want to use the Treo as a PDA without internet, Cingular would be fine.
There is a software developer called markspace that make a program called missing sync that will sync Palm products to Mac's address book, iCal, etc. I bought it, but found it to be a bit buggy too. There are problems with syncing email addresses in your address book. I've ended up using Palm's own syncing software, and will probably try to get a refund.
One thing to keep in mind about the Treos - if you're used to a typically small cell phone, you may have a hard time adjusting to the relatively large size of a Treo. I've also had a hard time adjusting to carrying such an expensive gadget with me everywhere. Check out treonauts.com and palminfocenter.com for more info and some good forums.
I'm using a Treo 600 (wish I had a 650) and love it. I'm syncing with the iSync program. It is a free download (I forget where I got it... maybe the Apple Downloads site).
I haven't had any problems with the program syncing with my Treo. You just have to make sure you specify what you want it to do when you sync (what gets sync'd, backed up, or overwritten). It'll write to iCal and Address Book, so you have to be careful so you don't overwrite them... unless you want to.
I think it is a great phone and as soon as I get caught up on my "to buy" list, I'm going to get one. But I've got to get a new computer first.
Good luck!
Alan
I haven't had any problems with the program syncing with my Treo. You just have to make sure you specify what you want it to do when you sync (what gets sync'd, backed up, or overwritten). It'll write to iCal and Address Book, so you have to be careful so you don't overwrite them... unless you want to.
I think it is a great phone and as soon as I get caught up on my "to buy" list, I'm going to get one. But I've got to get a new computer first.
Good luck!
Alan
i have a treo 650 and have been using it for several months. the phone itself is great. there is the occasional reset but that isn't too bad. also, i sinked it with my macbook pro over bluetooth. it works pretty good with palm's software. however, i bought the missing sync and it works awesome. i sync between my work and home with now problems and have different calendars as well. no problem syncing with entourage at all.
i think it is worth it.
i think it is worth it.