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
Stay Away....Stay Far Away
The lcd is small; Thus, excel spreadsheets and other pertinent work documents render small and unreadable. While my microsoft email push was enabled, other internet related programs were inoperable i.e.picture mail, web browser, etc. I've had many other windows based phones and this one is definetely one to stay far away from!!
PROS:
Wifi
EVDO Rev A
Call Quality via Earpiece
Abnormally Fast Internet Speeds
CONS:
Freezing
Locking Up
Had to Take Battery out the back every night
Speaker Phone crackles
Ringer Volume
Small LCD
Thick/Chunky Sized Handset
Terrible Phone!!
I thought for sure I was going to like this phone, then days before I found this site and looked on a Sprint Review site on the phone and all people could do was complain about this phone, TERRIBLE VOICE QUALITY, TERRIBLE SPEAKER SOUND, ALWAYS FREEZING UP, every morning I got up I had the busy icon on the screen and it was froze up and nothing I did could get it to respond till I pulled the battery. Could never put faith in the phone, no one could hear me when I talked on it, distortion listening to other people talk to me. I could barely hear the ringer and I was right on top of it. Had the phone for about 2 weeks, WORSE PHONE I have ever had, even worse than the Motorola Razr VE20. I left the phone unplugged one night with a battery fully charged and not even 5 hours later after I woke up, the phone died cause the battery was dead.
I am glad to see SPRINT got brains to start pulling this phone off their web site for selling.
DON'T EVER BUY!!! Unless you are rich enough to have two different cell phones with 2 different numbers.
Fabulous Phone
My husband and I both started out with the new Samsung Instinct. Needless to say we switched to the new Treo very fast. The Treo really triumphs over the Instinct. It is the best phone I've had in a long time.
I have only 3 cons:
-battery life
-ear piece is a little soft
-picture mail is only offered through MMS if the resolution is down to the lowest setting.
Otherwise it's a great phone! Way to go Palm!
Treo 800w is an improvement, but Sprint needs work
I love the Treo 800w overall. It is sleeker than other Treo's and is fast, no lagging at all. I found reception to be very good also. The Sprint network is another story. This phone was supposed to be able to tether (act as a modem) but apparently Sprint did not get the coding done for the phone and it is delayed. I found network coverage to be OK, not great, guess it depends on the area.
Pros
Fast processor
Can Force EVDO Rev A
WM 6.1 - pretty good
Nice size - fits in the hand nicely
Rubberized feel
Good Keyboard
WIFI
2.0 MP camera
Never froze up on me
One handed operation was excellent
Cons
Screen resolution could be better (65K is so old now)
Battery life is not good..10 hours
No Headphone jack, just a micro USB adapter
Hate having to take off the back to reset the device.
Taking off the back is a pain...you will think it will break
Micro USB - why not a mini USB - just adds cost for the buyer to replace all mini USB cables and chargers.
Why not include a sync/power USB cable - you can't charge unless connected to computer with the included USB cable
Stylus is cheap, but it is light
Palm is almost there with this Treo, they just need to look at competing with the features of other great phones...better battery, better screen, thinner form factor. They must break from the pack..or die as a company.
Best "Business" Smart Phone on the Market - PERIOD
First off as a reference point I've previously owned the Treo 755p, Treo 700wx, Treo 700w, Treo 700p, Treo 650, xv6700, xv6800, Motorola Q, Samsung Blackjack, Audiovox SMT 5600, Blackberry 8703e (think I was smokin' crack when I got that one). And that's JUST the smartphones...Most recent/last straight phone I had was a RAZR and a Nokia (can't remember that ones model # though).
Now for the 800w...I have been reading about this phone for about a year, I've now had the phone in hand for about a week. I think I was expecting more because of that year of anticipation so even though I think this is by far the BEST BUSINESS SMARTPHONE on the market right now, it's not quite the "wow" I was hoping for.
The design is pretty much classic treo except it's slimmer, the main buttons are no longer protruding out (but the qwerty keyboard still is along with the navigation button)...It seems to be very solid, not cheaply made at all. The back is the rubberized material like the 750 & 755 have, the front is standard plastic. Feels very comfortable to use in hand and one handed texting/emailing etc (which to me is the primary benefit of the treo).
The back battery cover takes a little getting use to to get to do that soft reset and thankfully the wifi button the top takes a good deal of pressure to push, so no problems with accidentally enabling/disabling wifi.
The OS has been pretty solid...peppy too. The only complaint I have here is when you watch the Microsoft information videos/demos on Windows Mobile 6.1, it's REALLY SLICK the way it works, looks etc. On the 800w I don't know what happened, but it basically looks like WM5 with some nice albeit not amazing improvements, that was kind of a let down. Otherwise yes, you still need to soft reset it now and then, but this is true of any smartphone I've owned/used.
Battery life sucks, but that's par for the course with a smartphone IMO.
If you REQUIRE a REALLY ROBUST business smartphone, this is it - PERIOD.
Quality, Functionality and Blazing Speed
Palm's newest introduction into the smartphone should appeal to those looking for a powerful BUSINESS smartphone, with a great application suite.
-The new Windows mobile 6.1 provides a much more seamless interaction with smartphones than did prior versions.
-The GPS is an incredibly helpful feature and for those of us on the move for business, it never hurts to have directions right on your phone.
-The multimedia is second to none because the speed for the internet/TV etc. is absolutely blazing fast and this was without the help of the new WiFi built in.
-Only drawback was the battery life and when extended batteries are introduced this will be eliminated.
Palm is again moving in the right direction first with the centro and now the 800w.
Best Palm so Far
A silent release but a big hit, with me atleast.
Pros:
1. Rev A
2. Same old feel as my 755p but it's thin enough to fit better in my pocket
3. Real easy to get all my contacts over with outlook.
4. Wifi is a plus
5. Too many programs out there to tweak the phone
6. Reception is and has always been great with all my Palm phones.
7. WM 6.1 is surprisingly really smooth for any cell phone.
8. Sprint TV is the best on this phone, not choppy or laggy.
Cons:
1. Speaker phone crackles
2. No MMS (but fixed by sMMS)
3. No 3.5mm jack but I can live without it
4. No push for Gmail or Yahoo (but fixed with SevenBeta)
Overall I think this is a much better upgrade to a power user. It's a lot easier to use and hasn't locked up or crashed on me at all. You just have to remember to close open programs every once and awhile.
Comments on battery life:
Mine was pretty poor when I first opened it from the box. I turned off beam receiving. Turn off Wifi and BT unless I need it. But the biggest improvement that made the battery go from 4-5 hours to 1-2 days is the GPS. Turn OFF GPS location from the today screen if you are not using it. It's a easy to turn is on again when you need SprintNav or google maps.
Best PDA I Have Owned So Far
I have owned the Samsung i500, Treo 650, PPC6700, MotoQ, HTC Dash (big mistake) and Mogul and love this phone the best. My kids have the Palm Centro and I feel the Treo 800w has the best of both worlds in my opinion. Palm hardware/ styling and Windows Mobile 6.1.
Pros
Fast EVDO rev.A
Wi-Fi (love the on/off switch)
Turn-by-turn Sprint Navigation
Sprint TV
Clear Audio Quality
QWERTY keyboard
2 megapixel camera
Endless supply of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd party apps.
Cons
No PictureMail/MMS support
No Voice Command button
Don't really like the recessed screen.
Could be a little thinner.
For the price of the phone Palm could have thrown in a sturdier stylus.
Sure glad I traded in my Instinct.
Great improvement over the 800w
Pros:
- Size. It is much lighter and better contoured than the 700wx. It was obviously designed for your pocket. Excellent job.
- Speed. It is incredibly fast compared to any other Windows Mobile smartphone I've used. Very snappy and responsive.
- Sound quality is great. I have noticed that most cell phones sound tinny and annoyingly loud. The 800 ads depth to peoples voice and makes it sound like they are in the room. Anyone I have asked says they can hear me perfectly as well.
- HTML Mail!
- Screen resolution is awesome
Cons:
- Speakerphone could use some improvement. It pops and crackles sometimes when you use it or play music.
- Some of the apps that I used on the 700wx do not work properly on the 800w because of the new screen resolution. I think this will eventually be fixed, but for now it's a bit of a pain.
Overall a great PDA phone and I think that it will fare very well in Blackberry land. I'd put this up against a Curve any day, and save my $30 Blackberry licensing fee in the process :)
Badass Phone
MJBartanis
Go back to the Sprint store you purchased the phone from. Get them to put your contacts in the DEMO Katana LX 3800 and transfer via bluetooth. That phone will allow all contacts to be transfered at once instead of doing them 1 by 1.
As far as the phone, I have always Treos and am impressed with every aspect of this phone. Battery life sucks but its a small phone.
