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Treo Phones...

iGary

iGary

Guest
Original poster
May 26, 2004
19,580
7
Randy's House
So my plan ends at the end of the month and I need a new phone and I am considering a Treo.

Some come with Bluetooth, come don't.

Why would/wouldn't I want it, aside from syncing (none of my macs have Bluetooth)

Does anyone have any experience with the succesfulness of syncing these types of phones with a Mac?

I really want to try and stay better organized with my business and networking (I always lose notes for possible clients and woul dlike to be able to just jot it down on the phone).
 
My Treo 650 syncs flawlessly with my Mac. I don't have bluetooth on the computers either, I just use the cable that came with the Treo. I also use Palm Desktop, not iSync. I use DateBk5 for my calendar, not iCal, there are others like Agendus- both of those programs blow iCal away. Setting up my .mac mail took some tweaking, but once you get it you're set. I considered another mail app. but decided having "push" mail wasn't that important to me, you can get it if it is important to you though. The 3rd party apps on the Treo are kind of bittersweet- there's so many cool ones out there, which is one of the major reasons we use this phone, but they can make your phone flaky at times. Before you install any apps get a good uninstall program for your phone so you can quickly identify, and remove any problem ones. There will be problem apps, it's a given, accept, and expect it and you'll be fine.
 
There is a hack at www.shadowmite.com that will let you use the 650 as a bluetooth modem. This way you can use your ibook, with a bluetooth adaptor, and browse the web anywhere you can make a call. Plus the 650 has a much better screen than the 600 series.

P.S. You always have the coolest avatars. :)
 
My old Tungsten C, another Palm product, worked well with my Mac...while the Palm worked at least. Now I just use my iPod for more stuff :)
 
So I'll play Devil's advocate here.

I purchased a Treo 650 the week they came out, as I was very excited to get my first smart phone and had heard a lot about how the 650 was *the* phone to get. As I was taking a trip across country, I figured what better way to test it. I'll leave my PowerBook at home and see how "smart" this smart phone is.

When the Treo 650 worked it was good enough, I guess. Just not great. Email and web browsing (though a little slow) were nice. But to get an email client that worked with my IMAP accounts (like .Mac) I had to shell out another $20-30. Same thing with an instant messenger. None out of the box (are you kidding me?). There goes another $20-30. So keep in mind that if you need IMAP support and want to send instant messages (who doesn't?) then add another $50-60 on top of the already pricey Treo 650. There's other software that isn't included, but those two are enough to reconsider just what it is you're buying in a Treo 650.

Bluetooth was cool to have, but syncing over BT was unbearably slow. So slow, that it wasn't even worth it after the first go. I guess it's good for BT headsets, but if you think you're going to want to sync over BT on-the-go, then be prepared to wait a while as it connects and transfers. I'll wait for the BT 2.0 phones, as they will finally provide a wireless sync fast enough to do away with the USB cable.

The phone features were well designed, but as a cellphone, it's more than a little bulky. I knew what I was getting into when I bought the Treo, so I won't harp on size. But let me just say that after a month of constant use, it's too big as your only cell phone. Period. Perhaps you could activate a smaller, cheaper phone on the same plan for going out at night. But why bother?

Oh, and the last thing. It soft-crashed *all the time.* Perhaps there've been a few updates that addresses this, as I mentioned before that I bought my 650 the week they came out. But this thing crashed, hung, froze so often - it was distressing. And disappointing for a device that cost me over $500 at the time.

Now, I know that a lot of people love their Treo's and there were some nice things about the product. This is just my experience as a new Treo/smart phone user. I returned my Treo 650 and went back to using my old T610. For my money, I'll wait for a smart phone that has the necessary software included, isn't as bulky and isn't "flakey" or prone to crashing all the time.

[/rant]
 
You WOULD want it because:

1. It just works
2. With a bluetooth headset, you have no wires and can jot notes into the phone while talking
3. You don't carry:
- phone
- camera
- organiser
- mp3 player
You only carry one unit
4. You can add anyone of 10s of 1000s of programmes (an unusual situation to be in for a mac user :cool: )
5. Personal: I love it because
*it is incredibly easy to use the contacts/address function with the phone, email and sms - tap, click and BOOM! you're connected
*Worldmate programme: currency with all currencies, weather, phone codes for all countries (currency rates and 5 day weather forecasts updated with couple of taps wirelessly)
*Jedi programme: readings from Yoda when I need to "flip a coin" (eg of readings - Patience!; Use the Force!; Just tapped it now and got: "Wars not make one great")
*G-soft dictionary: tap in an english word, tap the translate button and BOOM! the thai translation for my thai wife (it even translates peregrination)
*Wireless keyboard: fold it out and start typing and you're doing email, notes etc. effortlessly..

You WOULD NOT want it because:
- memory is constricted
- it is temperamental about what programmes it likes and which it doesn't (reminds me of Windows and 10s of 1000s of programmes....)
- it is more bulky than ideal
- it is less intuitive than Palm used to be
- you have to work with it if you don't stick to what is in the box (launcher to have apps in the SD memory card, testing what programmes work and don't)

OVERALL: try it out on a 30 day trial basis. Hook up with a Palm User and look at what great software you would want to make TREO work for you, rather than the other way round.

Enjoy!
 
The treo 650 is a great product. My father bought one a few weeks ago and uses BT to sync all the time. I guess it works for him. Haven't witnessed a sync. I have no idea on how long it takes (and compares to a wire sync).

One bad thing about the 650 (and 600) is that Graffiti is not supported. You have a stylus, you have a screen, but it doesn't recognise your writing. There's not even a Palm writing way on the treo, you will have to use the keyboard.
If anybody found a way of activating graffiti, let me know plz. You can help out my dad, a former AppleII user ! ;)
 
How is the PalmOS?

My dad is looking to get one of these but has had no experience with the Palm OS ...

What's it like?
 
G-Prime said:
If you want Graffiti on the Treo 650 you can try this program Graffiti Anywhere , I haven't got to try it yet but it is Freeware.
Click to expand...
That won't work. Graffiti Anywhere is a little app that indeed lets u use the screen for writing in the same way later models (like my Zire71) have native support for in PalmOS.
In other words: you need Graffiti to make this app work. And Graffiti isn't included with the treo series. Damn Palm!

Thx

EDIT: I might as well add i did try installing Graffiti Anywhere when i first touched my dad's 650. It was a good try, in vain hélàs.
 
tfaz1 said:
So I'll play Devil's advocate here.

But to get an email client that worked with my IMAP accounts (like .Mac) I had to shell out another $20-30. Same thing with an instant messenger. None out of the box (are you kidding me?). There goes another $20-30. So keep in mind that if you need IMAP support and want to send instant messages (who doesn't?) then add another $50-60 on top of the already pricey Treo 650. There's other software that isn't included, but those two are enough to reconsider just what it is you're buying in a Treo 650.
[/rant]
Click to expand...


This is just flat out 100% wrong. It takes some tweaking of the factory settings, but it works once set- no extra money needed for this.

As far as bulky, that's a matter of taste, imho it isn't bulky at all- in fact, that's the first design complaint I've heard from anyone- but like I said that's a matter of opinion.

There have been firmware upgrades, so it is much more stable than in the beginning, regarding the soft resets.

I'm not as impressed with the phone as I thought I'd be, considering the cost, but once it's configured properly it will do everything you want. Configuring it is a pain in the neck, but it will pay off.
 
Will the Palm software sync with iCal and Address Book?

Apple says it does, but I want to hear from someone who has actually done it before I plunk down 300.00 :D
 
Well that is for a new 2-year plan with Verizon, who have actually been very good with me, and their coverage is great.

I'd definitely get the insurance with it, tho.
 
I can't seem to find it out anywhere, but to dial out, is the screen touch-sensitive, or do you have to use the stylus?
 
iGary said:
I can't seem to find it out anywhere, but to dial out, is the screen touch-sensitive, or do you have to use the stylus?
Click to expand...
the screen is the same as on any other palm, touch-sensitive. Yo can poke it with anything u want, the stylus will just make it easier to point to a precise spot (unless u have really pointy nails ;), or fingers :eek: ).
As for dialing out, u can use the numeric keyboard (blue buttons on the keyboard) to form a phone number if that's what you're asking.

Cheers
 
iGary said:
Will the Palm software sync with iCal and Address Book?

Apple says it does, but I want to hear from someone who has actually done it before I plunk down 300.00 :D
Click to expand...

I have been using isync with my Sprint Treo 650 for over a month and it works great. You have to disable the palm conduits and enable isync to make it work. The only use for palm Desktop after this is for installing Apps and syncing Memos.
 
the 650s are supposed to be great. i dont have one, but a bunch of the people i work with have them and i am a bit envious! the advantage of the bluetooth over the 600 w/o bluetooth is getting to use bluetooth headsets. to me the 650 seems a little bulky and using a headset just makes it easeir to talk with. (not to mention as someone else pointed out you can write on it as you are talking!)
 
tfaz1 said:
Bluetooth was cool to have, but syncing over BT was unbearably slow.
Click to expand...

tfaz, when you say unbearably slow, do you mean a sync time of ~2 minutes, or is it substantially longer? My Nokia takes about that long. It's painful, but I guess I live with it. That's for about 350 contacts and a fairly busy calendar. But honestly, I'm not so sure, looking at the size of my calendar and contact book in the memory report on my phone, that the speed of BT is really the limiting factor. It takes a *lot* longer to sync than it takes to transfer the volume of data involved twice (back and forth).
 
I've actually decide to go with the Treo 600.

The 650 just has a lot of stuff I will not use, and the 600 is half the price.

Thanks everyone for the help, though!
 
iGary said:
I've actually decide to go with the Treo 600.

The 650 just has a lot of stuff I will not use, and the 600 is half the price.

Thanks everyone for the help, though!
Click to expand...


Get an extra battery. If the 600 charges all the way down you'll lose all of your data. That's the reason the 650 went to the NVFS memory system. While it solved the issues of data loss if your battery goes dead, it also presents new issues of its own.
Enjoy your 600, they really are cool little devices once you get the hang of them.
 
jemeinc said:
This is just flat out 100% wrong. It takes some tweaking of the factory settings, but it works once set- no extra money needed for this.
Click to expand...

I don't understand what "tweak" you can use to send/receive instant messages when there's no instant messenger included?
 
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