Palm Treo 650 (CDMA)
Average Ratings
why treo? why not!
I just got a brand new treo 650. It is amazing, my friends are stunned when I whip out this all in one device. i gave it a rating of 4.5, because i thought that it was a little rough around the edges and palm would have done well to forget the price tag and spruced it up a little more, or at least offer "hard" upgrades at the time of purchase
thing not included or flawed
-still .3 megapixel camera, they could have at least given it a camera as good or better than the zire 72 and a flash would be nice.
-versamail doesn't seem to work at all with those free online email sevices, ie. yahoo,netzero,hotmail,etc.
-some people argue that a stretch display would have been nice for graffiti, but I am mostly satisfied with flipping around on the web and being able to view landscape pics in full screen.
-touch screen does not seem to be aligned enough for drawing, also it sometimes becomes unaligned completely, any suggestions?
-wifi would be nice, and more multimedia support for watching online flash movies and playing online games (if even possible)
-why is palm dragging their feet on releasing palm cobalt (os 6), they have the technology why not use it.
-graffiti is not included, but their are many applications you can get to emulate on screen graffiti
-only 23 mb user memory, most similar devices have at least 126, and the tungsten t5 has 256 plus an internal harddrive.
things included
-much better screen than t600
-2x zoom although it should have been 4x
-dedicated home and options buttons located at easy to reach positions ( its the little things that count)
-much much smaller and less expensive than similar pocket pc products, even thought those have a few more features
-beautiful looking yet light and compact stylus
-stereo speaker, much better than old squeeky palm speakers
-5 way navigator, i know it is on most every palm device currently in existence, but this one just works better
-perfectly tight and cramped little keyboard, it is so bad its good.
4 Weeks After Getting Treo 650
This phone/pda is an amazing device! Having the Internet in the Palm of your hand is awesome and very useful in addition to all your contacts/calendar and other advantages of having a PDA on your belt. I'm amazed at how much functionality is stuffed into the 4.5" x 2.25" unit. I've enjoyed getting to know how to use it efficiently and learning all its features. Because it can do a lot it also takes some getting used to, so this phone is not for the faint at heart. The navigation is well organized, and the one hand operation was well executed. The issues I've had to work through so far involved loading 3rd party software that made the unit go into a continuous booting mode which a took a visit back to the Sprint Store Tech to get resolved. Be careful when you load additional software to check with Tech support to verify that the software is compatible. Not all Palm OS systems are created equal. Getting the bluetooth headset to work (BlueTrek G2) was easy but I have read about other users how have had difficulties. Apparently not all bluetooth devices are created equal either. I was disappointed that the headset does not function with the Real MP3 Player on the Treo. It takes a separate set of headphones to listen to stereo. I loaded about 25 CD's on a 1 gig SD card and have been listening to music all day long using my Treo. The sound quality is great at 96000 bps (slightly less than CD quality). I choose that recording option to save a little space on the SD card. The pictures and small video clips are good at 640x480 but when they bump it up to at least one megapixel they can be much improved. The voice dialing feature is great.
I have not yet located a good handwriting to text converter. I tried "my script" but was not pleased with it. I have already filled the on board memory up with programs but just learned that you can run programs that are only resident on the SD card. That's really cool because your options are unlimited. I recommend.
My Review of Treo 650
Well, I received my Tre0650 a few weeks ago, and I really like it. I use sprint for my carrier and no problem so far with my calls or service or interference.
Pros:
Nice screen, just use protectors like any pda screen. I will be getting an aluminum case when it is available--most companies say in January around the 2nd week.Which has a belt clip and a hard plastic window over the screen part.
All in one, phone, and pda- big plus for me because I am a professional. Keeps all my medical programs and drug dosing information at my fingertips.
Web browsing is fast, for what I need it to do: mapquest, mail, movies, etc.
It accepted most of (98%) of all my previous palm programs and games)
Size is not too bad- easy to handle.
Camera and camcorder works pretty good too. For spontaneous pictures-not those once in a lifetime professional pictures you want.
Cons:
#1 uses a 2.5mm phone jack and not a standard 3.5mm stereo headphone jack: so you
have to buy either palm's: expensive stereo phones or buy a $3 adapter to plug your stereo headphones into.
The sound quality is not as clear on mp3 as other palm products. But, it is a phone first, and the standard jack for the phone industry is the 2.5mm jack.
( I just use my ipod for music and use the phone for pda and phone usage)
Versamail has a bug in it that keeps resetting my phone. I even tried a new user name when hot syncing and reinstalled it, but it did it again after a while. I use the web portal for my yahoo mail, etc. I have an upgraded yahoo account and can forward my personal mail into the yahoo account. (BUT-- verizon and most other carriers seem to block the actual forwarding of mail into yahoo! --must want you to pay for this service)
I wish versamail was an option-as I cannot delete it from my phone-my advice: don't install it or use the program! net2plug has an email program: I think it is through corsoft or corasoft.com Used it on my zire 72 and it worked great.
Great Phone/PDA
My last phone was a Kyocera 6135 which was a decent attempt at integrating a phone with Palm capabilities. The TREO 650 is an excellent step forward. I've had this phone for over four months now.
Pros:
Great screen - viewable in all light conditions - even in bright sunlight.
Easy to access all of my contacts (1,800+) with a few key strokes - I was very skeptical about this feature at first but now love it.
Excellent integration with Palm features
Cons:
I prefer a flip design
No elegant/integrated clip for carrying
Would like voice dial
Very limited ability to access extensions after dialing a main phone number
No voice recorder
Bottom Line:
Not perfect but pretty close. I'm glad I bought it
A fantastic phone, but not for the faint of heart!
Wireless sync nearly drove me nuts...wouldn't work w/ my corp. VPN. Bought Mergic VPN and installed Versamail and so far (2 days), no problems. Also, no problems with Docs-to-go and Voicedial, either.
If you try Wireless sync, make sure you remove your device from the web account, otherwise, it'll keep prompting your phone to connect to the internet...very frustrating.
It takes some getting used to if you're coming from a clamshell,or other small device.
Please read the damn manual. So many people ask ?'s in the forum that are answered in the manual. It's a great phone, but it requires some patience and a bit tech-friendliness. If you're gonna drop the dough on this phone, RTFM, please. Once you do, you can tweak this phone in so many ways. It quickly becomes more useful and handy than you ever thought it could. The shortcuts list on the phone pad is amazingly useful...if used correctly, you'll never need to go anywhere but there, for everything on your phone.
I've researched this phone and the Sammy i730 ad nauseum. for the money, the treo won hands down.
If you're on the fence, do it!!!
works for me
I have had sprint pcs now for 5 weeks switched from T-Mobile. and I like sprint better so far, the service is great and most I like the fact I get a signal at my house.
I like the treo 650, very easy to work and does all I need it to do, and is fun to use.
I did have to down load voice command to make calls while driving, does have some problems but once you learn to use the treo its OK, such as the blue tooth device sometimes dosent work. also t-9 not there but the qwerty board takes care of the problem.
Haven't had any crashes like I did with my PC i600 made by samsung. at least once a day. its a very solid device. surfing the INTERNET is a joy.
Treo 650
I have had the Treo 650 for about a month. This is absolutely the best phone/computer I have had. I had the Samsung i7oo previously. Make sure you do the upgrade at http://www.palmone.com/us/support/downloads/treo650updater/sprint.html
Good phone for a professional, not everyone
I picked up this phone a few days ago, and unfortunately, returned shortly thereafter.
Pros:
-Amazing screen
-Awesome palm apps
-Solid browser
-Plenty of storage
-Great signal
-Fast data (considering it's 1x)
-Great key-locking feature
-Nice back lighting
-Easy hard keyboard
Cons:
-When calls come in, I sometimes ended up hanging up on caller just trying to get it out of my pocket
-Risk of breaking that beautiful screen
-Browser requires ALOT of scrolling
-Occasional restart bug
-Occasional stylus lock-out bug
-Vibrator very weak
Overall, it is NOT a bad phone, it's just not made for a student, it's made for a professional.
Contacts with Picture Display on Treo 650
With the Treo 650 I now can take pictures of my customers and add this to my Contacts List and when my customer's call me their picture displays on my Treo 650 phone. It's great!
Treo 650 works for some but not all
The 650 is great but came up short for me. The specs met my needs but I needed to use. Iâve owned and worked w/computers sine â84 and consider myself a power user. My first PDA was a Palm V, my 2nd PDA was an iPAQ 3635, my next one will be a combo device.
Pros:
1. Extremely fast and stable.
2. It performs multiple tasks very well.
3. Adding a new picture to a contact was quick and easy and I like how they let me setup multiple photo albums to organize my pics & vids.
4. As small as the device is, the camera and camcorder capabilities are great.
5. There are a lot of options for ringer types and volume for many actions/events.
6. SMS messaging worked great.
7. Web browsing was quick but sometimes annoying.
Cons:
1. Calendar (Free/Busy Time): The Treo does not offer the same free/busy options like the PPC or Outlook. On the Treo, my time shows as busy. Outlook allows me to choose from Free, Busy, Tentative or Out of Office.
2. The Treo doesnât replicate recurring appt's with a start time. This contrasts recurring all-day apptâs (like an anniversary or birthday). HotSync says: The repeating appt⦠cannot be converted for use on the Handheld. Please edit the appt in Outlook and re-synchronize (unsupported repeat pattern).â This means more work.
3. Scrolling through contacts without the KB is annoying. The iPaq allows me to jump quickly just using the nav pad instead of scrolling through all contacts.
4. Treo 650 displays contact and all their #âs. I found this annoying. Most cell phones list contacts on one screen and phone #âs on a second screen. I would like to see the Treo offer me a choice.
5. Treo 650 only syncs 15 Categories. HotSync Error âYour Handheld has a limit of creating only 15 categories. Only first 15 categories will be assigned to Handheld categories
6. An FM transmitter to send audio to my car stereo would be nice.
7. Issues with Versamail and my WOW POP3 account. Not sure if this is Sprint, WOW or the Treo.
