Are you addicted to your Treo?

[Bob Russell]

There's been a lot of press recently about people who are less than thrilled with the Windows Mobile 700w version of the Treo. It has its fans, but it is a disappointment to some. It's the first Windows Mobile device from Palm, so I'd have to say they did rather well, and we will be seeing improvements on that platform just as much as we have seen improvements on the PalmOS side of things.

But when you talk with Treo 650 users, it's remarkable how devoted they get to that little smartphone! I didn't understand it at all until I got one for myself. I just wanted to have a single device with a phone and pda. I thought I was making a big sacrifice in usability. Boy was I wrong! Sure, there are some sacrifices like a smaller screen and less memory. But in return you get a combo device with a great battery life, bright and easy to read screen, one-handed operation and a keyboard, and if you don't mess it up with a particularly unstable program it's also incredibly stable.

Well it turns out that people aren't just addicted to Treo's. They are addicted to all kinds of PalmOS devices. So Palm Addicts is asking the question in their forums, "Are you addicted to your Palm?" It should lead to some interesting discussion. Take a look and share your comments here.

via Palm Addicts

[volwrath]

After being a pocketpc guy for a long time and a palm person in between there, I wanted a converged device. My carrier is Sprint. I looked at the Audiovox 6700 with EVDO, but the data plans on one of those was going to kill me. (I have unlimited data for $5/month), SO I took a leap a faith and bought a Treo 650 which doesnt have evdo, and have been using it for the last month.

My overall impressions of the Treo 650 are very positive. The linking of the contacts to dial and the long battery life are very positive. Nonetheless, there seem to be quite a few limitations to the device.

--It runs the PalmOS which can't seem to handle html or other formats directly.
--The connector is very flimsy and doesnt feel good going into the device.
--The bluetooth is not a very good implementation. I can send files to a pocketpc, but can't receive them back. I found a work around (bluetooth commander).
--It can't handle streaming WMAs which it seems is where the industry is heading. I also found a workaround for it. Use DUN to connect my Axim to the net. That is very good, I get about 100k speed on the vision plan.
--Software development also seems to be lacking on the Palm side.
-- The web browsing is abysmal..and I thought pie was bad.
-- Stability has been a little weak. Everyone always complains about the lack of stability of the PPCs, but IMHO this is much worse

Although this seems like a lot of complaints, all in all I am relatively happy with the device.

--Instant checking of email anywhere (I dont autosync, necause I get way too much spam)
--I also found a nice weather app called xweather, and a nice free MSN messenger program called CCLite.
-- Having alarms, calendar, and contacts on me at all times is great.
--Much better battery life than my Axim
-- If I need a better surfing or streaming experience, I can use the Treo for DUN to my Axim.

[Bob Russell]

Originally Posted by volwrath

--The connector is very flimsy and doesnt feel good going into the device.

Interesting comments in your post. And I can wholeheartedly agree with the connector comment. It's really the only design complaint I have with the device, but I'd like to see them continue using it anyway so that all my accessories can be used on future models. On my Treo, I even have to fiddle with the connector to get it to hotsync sometimes. But it's just a little bit of a nusiance, not really a problem.

[volwrath]

Another reason I bought the Treo 650 was its $250 cost new from Sprint. That compared to a WM device that doubles its price, is very hard to beat.