New to Palms - A Few Questions

[JeffASonyReader]

Hi, I'm looking to buy a Palm Treo or similar smartphone for the organizer features and to sync with my pc. I have similar requirements as javierdl in an earlier thread. I missed the $199 sale at Palm for the Palm TX which included the wireless keyboard, but that might have been a good thing since the Palm Treo 600/650 appears to be what I need. I've never used a smartphone, pda or palm os apps before.

I want an unlocked unit and to run palm os apps. I want to access all the organizer software and sync and run palm os apps without needing a contract with a carrier. Can I pull this off? As I understand it, Treo's have 2 modes, organizer and online or something like that. (But heck, I'd get a HTC Touch if the right price came along. . . )

What if I want to, say, use the palm os apps for a while, and then decide I want to browse the internet without a contract? Can I slide in a CDMA/SIM card and check my email?

For overseas use, it appears I'll need to buy two phones. I'm looking to buy a Treo 600/650 (or 7xx if I can find a deal) and an unlocked GSM 1600 so I can pop in a SIM card anytime I need a mobile phone. I'm currently looking at the Siemens AX72.

[NatCh]

I've been using Palms since March of '96, when I bought my Pilot 5000 the first week they were out -- we currently have Trēo 680s. I know a few bits of information about Palms in general that look like they might be useful, so I'll toss them out.

Just so you know what I don't know, however: I've never messed with swapping SIM cards, nor traveled abroad with my phones, so I'm not going to comment on that, other than to suggest that you confirm whether Palm phones might already work abroad, I'm under the impression that they might.

All Palms have the Palm OS functions you're asking about, completely independent of phone service, or even phone signal. I've never heard of, nor encountered anything about two "modes" so I'm not sure where that's coming from. Web access on a Palm is by way of a web browsing application. You control how that connects to the web.

You might also want to look at the Palm Centros. They weren't out when we got ours or I'd've given them a good, hard looking at. I don't know which will fit your needs best, I just want to make sure you know about that option too.

As for locked versus unlocked, if you're wanting to get phone service anyway, you might want to consider going with a locked, discounted one. There are a butt-load of online services which will provide unlock codes for phones, including Trēos, for under fifty bucks (just Google "phone unlocking" for a sample). For a 50% discount on the phones, I decided it was worth the hassle of possibly unlocking them at some point in the future.

I don't know the details of your situation, so I haven't the faintest idea whether you'd want to go that route or not. I just wanted to make sure you knew it existed.


Hopefully, that'll help some.

[mogui]

The in thing here in Redmond is to have a Blackberry. It is fortunate for me. I am visiting here. My daughter handed down her Palm Treo 650 to me. It is a wonder! I can read on it quite comfortably, and it carries all my old Palm data.

I had previously purchased a GXQ phone in China which turned out to have fake features such as an unusable ebook reader. It was a revelation to use the Treo. I still use my Sony Reader, but to read while traveling or to read in the dark, my Treo is the better choice.

BTW NatCh, The Treo's two modes are, "phone" and "PDA" as discussed in the literature. But they are not mutually exclusive, so are they modes? Or states?

[NatCh]

Huh. Who reads manuals?

I thought "Phone" was just another application in the Palm OS.

I think that's probably the best answer I can to that question.

[JeffASonyReader]

Originally Posted by NatCh

I've been using Palms since March of '96, when I bought my Pilot 5000 the first week they were out -- we currently have Trēo 680s. I know a few bits of information about Palms in general that look like they might be useful, so I'll toss them out.

Just so you know what I don't know, however: I've never messed with swapping SIM cards, nor traveled abroad with my phones, so I'm not going to comment on that, other than to suggest that you confirm whether Palm phones might already work abroad, I'm under the impression that they might.

All Palms have the Palm OS functions you're asking about, completely independent of phone service, or even phone signal. I've never heard of, nor encountered anything about two "modes" so I'm not sure where that's coming from. Web access on a Palm is by way of a web browsing application. You control how that connects to the web.

You might also want to look at the Palm Centros. They weren't out when we got ours or I'd've given them a good, hard looking at. I don't know which will fit your needs best, I just want to make sure you know about that option too.

As for locked versus unlocked, if you're wanting to get phone service anyway, you might want to consider going with a locked, discounted one. There are a butt-load of online services which will provide unlock codes for phones, including Trēos, for under fifty bucks (just Google "phone unlocking" for a sample). For a 50% discount on the phones, I decided it was worth the hassle of possibly unlocking them at some point in the future.

I don't know the details of your situation, so I haven't the faintest idea whether you'd want to go that route or not. I just wanted to make sure you knew it existed.


Hopefully, that'll help some.

Helps plenty actually. I haven't heard of Centros, I'll look into them.
I didn't know about unlock codes for under $50 either. As you can see, my research is in it's starting stage. Right now my situation is to use it as an organizer, no interest in phone usage. However, that could dramatically change in the next 1 to 4 months, so I woulden't want to limit my options,
and if I'm paying for it anyways, why get less and pay more?

I'm still kicking myself for missing the Palm TX $199 deal, grr, but I guess the Treo 600/650/Centros is the wiser choice.

[JeffASonyReader]

Originally Posted by mogui

The in thing here in Redmond is to have a Blackberry. It is fortunate for me. I am visiting here. My daughter handed down her Palm Treo 650 to me. It is a wonder! I can read on it quite comfortably, and it carries all my old Palm data.

I had previously purchased a GXQ phone in China which turned out to have fake features such as an unusable ebook reader. It was a revelation to use the Treo. I still use my Sony Reader, but to read while traveling or to read in the dark, my Treo is the better choice.

BTW NatCh, The Treo's two modes are, "phone" and "PDA" as discussed in the literature. But they are not mutually exclusive, so are they modes? Or states?

Price wise, a blackberry is looking right now at about 3 to 5 times the cost of a Treo 600/650. Not sure about Centros pricing yet. I'm probably, 90% chance going to buy it off of Ebay. I'm trying to make this as inexpensive as possible, partly because I'm new to this and if the unit is refurbished or used, if it turns out to be a dud a few months out, at least I'm not regretting it with a light pocket.

I'm predicting it will become a life changing device, and put my Sony PRS-505 in the drawer for a while if I can get my WSJ/Economist feeds onto it via libprs500. I don't regret my PRS-505 purchase at all, for all you Kindle readers.