Palm Treo 600 (GSM)
Average Ratings
Awesome Device!
I got a brand new (I know because I checked the lifetime call feature) unlocked & unbranded GSM Treo 600 from ebay and its GREAT!! I've read about the problems with this device & I must say I must have struck gold!
It could be that Palm updated my phone because I'm not plagued by all the negative info this phone is getting.
PROS:
Voice quality is awesome! Very crisp & the speaker is LOUD! I keep it at one knotch. In quiet environments, I can use it as a speaker phone without even using the speaker phone!
No random resets! GPRS is very fast! (I use GPRS & EDGE on 10 different phones I own)
CONS:
None
So, if you can luck up on a brand new 600, it may be worth it.
I've had bluetooth for 3 yrs now & rarely use it so its not something I miss on the Treo 600.
Cheers!
Very disappointing
I've now had this phone for about 3 months now. There are a few things I like about it. First, Palm does a great job in combining a phone & a PDA all in one package. I would totally be lost without having the pda portion. This totally saves me from having to carry around 2 devices. That being said, I am very disappointed in its functionality. As of late, I have had to reset this phone about 5x in the last 2 weeks. Also disappointed there is no bluetooth in this model. I went against my better judgement and purchased this phone. I have never been a real fan of PalmOS. Since I'm on GSM, there's no option for me to purchase the 700 series. So I am stuck with a phone that I have to reset all too often for my liking. Probably go look for something like the MDA to replace this.
Use the Treo's with Sprint's $10 unlimited Visions access!
I have used the Treo's 300, 600 and now the 650. Not to mention a T-Mobile Sidekick, the AT&T Motorola MPX, a Nextel Blackberry, a Samsung i600, and Treo's are the absolute gods of cell phones!!! The Palm source OS software is very stable, much more then Microsoft's Pocket PC. The battery life on the Treo 600 & 650 is insane! Often times when I'm home laying in bed, I will search the Internet for hours and hours and these phones will still have more then enough battery power to go for a few more hours. When it comes to talk time I have gotten more then five hours talk time on the Treo 600 & 650. There is so many programs for the Palm source software, that you will be able to max out the performance on these phones. I use a program called "ZLauncher" which allows me to see the exact signal purity in any given location, and I have found I get signals in places where my LG and Sanyo would not. And because I use Sprint PCS's $10 unlimited Visions access with my Treo 600, I never have to worry about going over any data plan rate. I will remain a loyal Palmone and Sprint PCS customer for a long time to come!
The only problem I have with PalmOne is over price. I wish the Treo's were cheaper. Other then that, I have never had a major problem with my Treo's.
16 months on
Well it's pretty much my favourite gadget of all time, except perhaps TiVo!
It's not perfect, but I still find it compares well in usability and Swiss-Army knife jack-of-all trades uses.
Works great one-handed, it's pretty good at email, fantastic at SMS and Instant Messenger, great for mp3s, great as an organiser and pretty good for most of the 100,000 Palm apps that run on it.
No other smartphone comes close IMHO.
They may have better features, but as an integrated package the 600 is better for my purposes, even 16 months after its introduction.
Treo 600 great phone
I had the Treo 600 since 9/14/04. It has worked great and done my life happy. The sync is great and works perfectly with XP Pro. Not so easy with MacOS 10.28, actually it never worked there. Speaker phone great, surfing on the Internet works great. SMS txt great with answer's also displayed. Easy to follow the flow. I am selling today and i will upgrade to Treo 650.
Not as bad as THEY put it
I own a treo 600, with service by verizon. And there are only a few things that could be better about this phone. First of all, Yes the keyboard is tiny, and my "D" key is starting to not work. But I only use it for brief calender inputs and text messages. Second, I really wish there was a "Back" button on this phone. It seems whenever I want to go back a page I have to press the Menu button and start over. The service has been very good, but sometimes it seems to break up a little bit even with 5 bars. The camera could be better, but i have fun with it. Now some good things about it. Text message system has this nifty little chat window that is great for it. Quick email are great, expecially with voice recording and pictures you can add. The touchscreen really is a hoot, but I've already lose that little pen they gave me. I can easily find good, free, ring tones with the ability to surf the net. Just go to google and search for "Midi" and click the first thing that comes up. Its smaller than most , and can still fit in my jeans pocket. Photo caller ID is great, but you can only have 50. The sound off switch is very reliable. The only quarry I have is that when you pay games or go online, you cant receive phone calls and text messages. And the first day i had this phone I somehow used 140 peak minutes, though i don't know how. I haven't figured out of playing games that you download from handago use up minutes. But overall, I'd say its a winning phone. You can easily install features on your phone, like blue tooth, , and a video recorder. Out of a score of 10 i'd give it a 8
No Documents to Go
I've had the phone for a week now - have spent much time figuring out where my applications went. For example, Docs To Go syncing is no longer available unless you buy more software ($40 something). I had it on my palm m500 for free, but now you only get the version that allows read-only view of email attachments. No sync with desktop. It took a while to figure that one out because technically it does come with DocsToGo. Also, my corporation does not support the Treo. Too new, I guess and they're afraid of the wireless/PDA security. So check with your job if you are hoping to upgrade from a previous Palm device. Also, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to use Realplayer on it. TreoCentral.com has tips about how to get that going. Don't bother with RealPlayer's tech people. Or you can buy PocketTunes Delux to use WindowsMediaPlayer for syncing to an expansion card. Finally, the keyboard is small and Seitek's IR Keyboard driver doesn't work with Palm OS5.0
Pros:
-T-Mobile has good customer service and reception seems better than Sprint was in Manhattan (still not as nice as Verizon though)
-Camera works ok during the day (too grainy and dark for night shots)
-Unified contact list is great - you just type a letter and it looks up both first and last names
-E-books are easy to read - screen is very legible.
Cons - see above re: software.
Links: Check out Treobits.com and TreoCentral.com - very useful info, ringtones, etc.
What do people expect?
Pros
This thing does practically everything well
Cons
This thing does nothing exceptionally well
Phone
I have had other phones with better reception, more rings, etc.
I would disagree with the couple of people who have complained about the speaker phone quality. I have used the speaker phone on business calls and everyone is amazed by it.
Camera
Not adequate for anything but in a pinch. I would not suggest using it to capture âprecious momentsâ but if there is a time where a bad picture is better than no picture, click away; certainly better than no camera!
PDA
The screen is smaller and resolution is less than most dedicated PDAs. Still, I can pull low quality copies of movies from my DVDâs and play them on my phone, how cool is that?
Software/Software Features
You people complaining about the lack of graffiti or other software, download one of the 50,000 shareware programs. Go to palmgear.com and go wild (first buy a 1 GB SD card like I did . . . did my first PC really only have 2 360 MB floppy drives? How much data did that tape on my commodore hold . . . wait . . . different discussion).
This is palm for heavens sake, probably the second most programmed for platform in the world, how can people be complaining that they donât have software?
Great organizer, apparently that has always Palmâs strong suit.
Connectivity
It is true that it doesnât have Bluetooth. Disappointing, I agree, but then I still have to go the kitchen to use the sink and I will live.
Now for my soap box
When are they going to start putting the tiny LED flashlight bulbs on mobile phones so I can stop using my screen? Phone manufacturers listen up . . . give us flashlights, we are already carrying around the battery!
Bottom line
If you have a specific feature that must be performed exceptionally well, find a different device. If, you are like me, and need/like one device that is amazingly small for what it does, this is a great choice.
Good Blend of Technology
I bought my Treo 2 months ago.
During that time I have found it to be relatively easy to use.
Pros;
Palm Synch is easy,
AT&T GSM network in Central Oklahoma has good service,
Able to switch networks (AT&T, Cincgular & T-Mobile),
Use Contacts to dial from (first & Last initials),
Internet surfing speed is reasonable,
POP3 e-mail easy to setup,
Camera is convenient and fair picture
Can dial phone numbers on Internet sites,
Personalized ring tones & photos,
Plenty of online manuals and user websites
Cons;
Camera is only 0.3 megapixels,
Had to soft reset handset once when unit froze,
Memory can be used quickly,
Speakerphone can echo if volume too high.
This is a great swiss army knife of communication. Highly recommended.
Not Bad At All
Overall this is a great phone. I have been using the treo 600 for t mobile for about two months and i can't say to many bad things about it.
Cons:
No blue tooth
speaker phone sucks
Phone freezes (perform soft resets a few tims a week)
Lack of pre installed programs
Internet is slow and systems are always down
Stylus has no use with this device
What Camera? Resolution is not .3mp but -.3mp
Pros:
All in one device
Easy to use
Great reception
If your a palm lover this phone is a everything your palm is plus a phone.
This is a great phone you want to combine a palm and phone in one. I would give this phone a 5 but nothing is perfect.
