Palm Treo 800w
Phone Scoop Review
Aug 15, 2008 by Stewart Wolpin
Palm updates the Windows version of the Treo with the 800w. It is slightly more compact than previous Treos, yet manages to pack in more functionality. But do more features make for a better Treo? read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
Texting & emailing & web machine!
I've owned all the Treos, the Q, the Touch and even an iphone (very briefly). For what I primarily use it for -- text messaging, web and emails -- this phone tops them all.
PROS:
Super-fast data: No real need for the WiFi feature as long as you are in a EVDO-RevA area. I'm averaging 500 - 800 kbps from home and when in the city, I've routinely topped 1 Mbps.
Physical keyboard: IMO, the best yet
Email: with my hosted Exchange account, I've never experienced such fast, almost instant email delivery -- incredible! Email, contacts, calendar and tasks -- all sync/push seamlessly.
CONS:
I still hate the recessed screens on the Treos. They could shave 1/8" off the thickness by making it flush
Sub-par call voice qulaity and crackling speaker when on calls. I found the trick is to have the volume all the way down, which pretty much eliminates these issues, but Palm needs to address this in a firmware fix.
Vibrate alert is a bit weak and needs a longer duration.
Still no built-in PictureMail/MMS support
so far so good
I consider myself a power user.
Phones I've purchased in the past are: Treo 700wx and HTC Mogul.
I use my phones for the following: Active Sync with corporate Exchange 2007 server (mail, tasks, calendar, contacts), connect to my laptop and use as a modem, voice calls, text, GPS, some internet browsing, IMAP (gmail), POP3 mail
My experience so far: Exchange has been synced with our corporate server, autonomous GPS works well with both Live Search and Google Maps, Internet Sharing allows me to connect my laptop to the phone and use it as a modem (no extras needed, just need a data plan), fast key response with no lag, micro USB used for charging, data and headphones, micro SD slot for memory expansion, 802.11 capability, EVDO rev A (pretty fast internet), rubberized body makes it feel more rugged, slightly thinner and lighter than my Mogul. The only thing I donât like so far is the stylus which is made entirely of plastic and is very flexible.
Not bad when powered.
This phone would be OK if it didn't have a problem with the design of the charging circuit. Many users have had problems with the 800w battery going dead while on the battery charger. This is even after the software update.
Not at all what I expected....
I've had my Treo 800w for about 4 months now and I have to say I was very disappointed. I'll just get right into it....
PROS
-Windows mobile (i'm a fan)
-Touch screen responsiveness
-Browser speed
-Full keyboard
-Overall look and feel of the device
CONS
-Problems syncing with laptop (disconnects after about 5 minutes)
-Freezing
-GPS system....HORRIBLE. I was NEVER able to use it
-Ringer would fade or just not ring at all
-Send key doesn't bring up dial pad (I feel like that should be a given. It brings up a "recently dialed" list. Could have at least made it a full "recent calls" list
-Sometimes dies when on the phone while plugged into charger.
Overall, I didn't like this phone at all. Perhaps it was just mine. I'm hoping everyone else a better experience with it than I did.
Hope you found this helpful!
Piece of junk
Was given this phone for work - thank god we weren't the ones paying for it. It has a ridiculously low battery life, and the screen freezes up to 27 times a day (yes, I counted), requiring removal of its battery to unfreeze. When I complained about the battery problems, my company just gave me 2 extra batteries and told me to keep switching them out when one has a problem. Trying to cram too much software into not powerful enough hardware.
Junk
I have had my 800w replaced 7 times since I got it in August 08. Mostly because of the broken or crackly headsets or purple screens on the display during or after charging.
Palm wanted 40 bucks to do a warranty exchange when I could do it at Sprint for free.
Really hope the Pre doesn't have issues like this.
Palm Treo - battery life is too short
As a work user, I find the Treo to be a decent device.
Pro:
- Fast screen/OS response (Win Mo 6.1)
- Sprint service here is on par with the other carriers (haven't been outside the area yet)
- Keypad is usable
- Display is nice
- GPS works well with Google Maps
- Decent camera (works MUCH better than Tilt)
Con:
- Battery life, and charging ability is unusable if you need to use this device for a significant amount of time away from a charger.
This device won't even keep full charge during a call while using a charger (USB).
- Screen is a little small (physically) for me (used to HTC Tilt)
- Plastic/rubber stylus is cheap feeling
- RDP client is not installed
- Task manager app doesn't show in the top/right corner (many apps stay open if you don't watch)
- It is Sprint.. carrier has given me grief (+3 hours to migrate from Nextel BB 7100i).
Can't decide
I had an HTC Mogul. I switched to a Palm Centro and had it for a day. I could not get the email to work so I returned it and got a Treo 800w. I like to one-handed keyboard option. Task manager is worthlss and the battery life is obout 3 hours. The problem is that you cannot turn off the data option to save battery life like you can with the Mogul. All in all, I am going to return the phone and get a Blackberry.
PROS:
keyboard is nice
runs windows 6.1
nice color
CONS:
battery life
sound is horrible
phone speaker crackles
Overall, don't buy it
This happened to me!!!!!
Pros:
phone operates sometime.
speaker quality very poor, everyone sounds like they were on the tv show "the mole" and they were the mole.
texting on the very small keyboard that always repeated even after adjusting the repeat setting.
ringers are so loud that if i had my car radio on 4 I could not hear it ring.
sprint does not tell you this phone has programs that waste valuable space because they don't work or sprint discontinued them. Yet they are still in the programing.
everybody has complained about the battery.
after 7 trouble calls your phone falls out of warrenty.
you now have an oppertunity to buy a new phone and seperate yourself of more money.
Cons:
Roll the dice you get one that works.
speakers suck.
phone locks does not recieve or make calls when stuck.
reset the phone at least two times a day.
some features don't work.
phone is the most horrible hunk of out dated new technology i have used. Big HTC Fan.
STAY AWAY FROM IT
I don't have any pros for this phone. The battery life sucks, the navigation sucks, the phone turns itself off and it is a process to turn it back on. If this is the best that palm can do, they need to go back to the drawing board. I did not know how much i loved my blackberry curve until I got this phone.
