Buying a Treo 700p - what's your plan?

[Bob Russell]

I'm looking forward to the arrival of the Treo 700p PalmOS smartphone just like many other smartphone fans. So I'm wondering what soon-to-be owners are thinking about the various purchase choices they will be facing. What do you have in mind?

* Sprint or Verizon?
I'm switching to Sprint because of the cheap unlimited data Power Vision plans, and Verizon's lack of friendliness toward streaming media.

* Where to buy?
I'm going to an official Sprint Store because I want to know they'll back it, to understand the data plan options, to be able to handle keeping my existing number, and to apply my corporate discount. (Yes, I'm lucky that way!)

I called around the Pittsburgh area to see when Sprint Stores would get a 700p in stock. Rumors are that Sprint 700p phones start shipping for web purchases in 2-3 days. Local stores don't seem to have any idea and are saying things like mid-June. Ugh. I'd buy online, but I want the personal touch to make sure I get everything all worked out in one shot.

* Phone Insurance?
Yep. At work this very day, two different co-workers had pda failures. One was under warranty, and the other turned out to be a battery that needed to be charged. I needed my Treo 650 insurance. So yes, I'll get insurance if the terms are reasonable. It's just too expensive a phone to take a chance.

* EVDO - Are you in an EVDO service area?
Yes, I think and hope so... and I seem to have antennas near my 3 most frequently visited locations according to the maps. But until you try it, I guess you just don't know.

* Data plan? (Get great coverage of Sprint's pricing at Palm Addicts.)
Unless information is different than I expect, I will probably either get Power Vision $15/mo or $25/mo with more tv or instead of Power Vision I might get the Phone-As-Modem plan, which is supposed to be on sale for $40/mo for the unltd data plan. But that's a lot of money when I may not use Phone-As-Modem very often. On the other hand, it would be soooo cool to have!

* Case and accessories?
I plan to get a flex skin case and a skinnable holster. Probably an extended life battery, a bluetooth headset, screen protectors and a hotsync cradle.

* Are you going to fill up all the extra memory with new programs?
Eventually, I probably will fill up a lot of the memory. But I only plan to add a few programs that were painful to remove because of space limitations on my 650. Basically, the 650 is very stable and I want to keep it that way. But there are a few data-related programs I'll add like a chat client. Who knows what else, but I'm hoping most of my other needs will be met directly from the browser. Even gmail should be okay without a separate program.

So does anyone else become so eager with the thought of getting a 700p that they think through all these things in advance? No? Oh well. Personally, I enjoy this purchase preparation time sort of like the anticipation of getting a nice Christmas present. But the real fun is when I have one in my eager little hands!

My apologies to those that are not in areas where this Treo and EVDO are available. It might be a nice upgrade even if EVDO isn't where you are, but if you are not where Verizon and Sprint are, then it could be a bit frustrating. Hopefully, there will be a GSM 700p before long also.

[paulkbiba]

Well, I've given it a great deal of thought and probably won't upgrade.

* I don't seem to be in an EVDO service area and the other changes to the unit don't seem to me to be worth upgrading for.

* If I did upgrade then I certainly would stay on Sprint because I've had excellent customer service and the pricing is much better than Verizon.

* When my Sprint plan runs out I probably will switch over to Cingular in order to get GSM service. This will allow me to change phones whenever I want just by switching the SIM card and no longer do I have to be locked into the same phone for 2 years. The freedom to switch phones whenever I want is truly awesome. No more contract extensions!! For example, I can have an expensive HP unit when I travel or for general daily use, but I can simply switch my SIM card to a cheap flip phone when I'm out gardening or fishing and so don't have to worry about damaging my HP. No changing plans or signing up for another 2 years, etc.

* If it do switch to Cingular I'll probably change platforms to Windows Mobile, because the Palm platform is becoming more and more restrictive as we move into the future. The lack of multi-tasking is turning into a real pain. I will make this change when the new HP 6915 comes out - Bluetooth, WiFi and a built-in GPS unit all in one. That is what I call convergence. I'll miss a lot of my Palm programs, but they can be replaced.

What really convinced me of this was my Nokia 770. I won't have another phone that can't do WiFi. Everywhere I go I find that I use my Nokia more than my Treo because I always can find some sort of WiFi access - even in the strangest places. In areas with no WiFi I find, by checking the maps, that there isn't much by way of EVDO either. The other thing is that using a browser on the Palm is just a miserable experience. I have both Blazer and Xiino and neither one of them is really any good. The speed doesn't matter if you just get a fast display of unreadable material. Even with my Ipaq 4150, which is a generation old, I can get a much better browsing experience with the built-in browser, especially if I use PIEPlus, than I can with any Palm solution. My Nokia has spoiled me even more.

The form factor of the Treo 700w is certainly compelling as it is almost the same as my Treo 650. However the lack of WiFi is a killer for me and the inclusion of GPS in the new HP unit clinches the deal.

[Jimmie Geddes]

I ordered my Sprint Treo 700p from Palm on Monday. I got it for $549 (developers account) free 1gb card, no tax, free overnight shipping, and am trading in my Treo 650 for $150 to Palm, very good deal if you ask me. I can't get it soon enough.

[Antoine of MMM]

Hey Bob, didnt know you where in Pitt; I am a Philly man myself (though now living in the DC Metro area).

But back on topic:
I will not be going to a 700p. While I am impressed at the memory and EVDO options, for the same reason that the poster above has about GSM and switching phones at will, I too have that same impetitus. I like that I can go and get a new phone when I feel. And though I did get my 650 from Cingular a week before Christmas for $150 (great deal, even as being a refirb), I really have been pleased.

I played with an MDA tonite, and though the package was nice, the OS really isnt there yet. My Treo spolied the heck outa me and I cannot see getting anything that doesnt meet its bar in terms of ease of use. For now, I can deal in part in terms of no multitasking, but that is only because I have learned to deal with it. As I use my Treo more and more (its my main and only computer), I find that it does have deficiencies, but most definitely has benefits too. HSDPA and UTMS would clear multitasking in my mind almost completly.

[EHilderbrand]

Honestly? I'm not sure.

I do indeed like the 700P. I do also have my gripes. I do not need DocsToGo on the device. I just don't. Therefore, that leads be to believe I will have to make a custom ROM, or someone will have to come up with a new ROM Tool that works with the 700P. If the current ROM Tool over at www.grack.com works, great!

I am indeed a die-hard GSM user. This is also another issue. Today, 5/31/06 I stopped in the Sprint store and got to meet Bob Russell, unfortunately, we didn't get to speak on it very much. I did on the other hand mess around with the new 700P. I did indeed like what I saw, and felt. It seemed very snappy. The EV-DO speeds were absolutely amazing, although, in just messing around with it in the store, there were two outages, and I couldn't connect to the server. That spooked me a little bit, which could lead me to believe that maybe Sprints EV-DO network is possibly overloaded. Could this be a problem? I'd hope not.

I'm hoping, and hoping that by September/October we GSM users do see a new Treo device. Obviously there is so much speculation as to what we will see, wether it's the proported "Hollywood" or just a GSM version of the 700P/W. I'm hoping for either at this point! Realistically, I'll take what I can get, and I hope it's good.

At the current rate, I highly doubt we will see any UMTS in the Pittsburgh area, and I highly doubt we will for sometime. Also, with Cingular now wanting to change back to "at&t," lord only knows what will happen. Is HSDPA coming? Who knows. I sure don't. I don't know what we will see as far as high-speed, broadband like data for GSM users by the time a new GSM Treo rolls around. Will we be stuck with the slow EDGE speeds, or will we get something new? Only time will tell.

In the mean-time, lets enjoy the new 700P's that are on the shelves.

Take care,

Erik P. Hilderbrand

[BCollia]

I currently have a 650 on Sprint, and would like the power vision service, which only the 700 supports. Is it worth the $400 price difference? I think not.