Palm Treo 650 (CDMA)
Average Ratings
Very Happy Treo User
I've had the Treo 650 for a few days no and I must say I am extremely happy with the device! I haven't had a single reset with the device, every application I have installed has been 100% compatible. The phone quality is good, I was on the phone with a friend and they told me it sounded much clearer than my VX-8100. Battery life has been mediocre, to be expected from a PDA/Phone that is used almost constantly. Phone syncs fully with Outlook Calendar, Tasks, Address Book, and Notes without problems, Documents to Go is also a much welcomed feature. I feel my experience has been much more positive than others as I have not had a single problem (except for something I did myself experimenting with Butler). The one thing that keeps me from giving this device a perfect 5 though, is the bluetooth capabilities. It isn't possible to initiate a call from the bluetooth headset and the sound quality (using a Jabra bt250v, the exact same one I used with my 8100) is very poor. There is a lot of static to the point where it interferes with my hearing of the person on the other line. Other than that, as I have said many times, I am extremely happy with the device and would recommend it to anyone who is looking to buy it.
Partial Cons for Treo 650 1 of 2
I received the Treo 650 free from Verizon wireless due to the fact that Kyocera let their Palm license expire. I previously had the Kyocera 6135 and the 7135 so I have a bit of experience using these phones/PDAâs. I feel the Treo is step backwards in many regards from the 7135, however it simply is the best option from Verizon wireless right now. Keep your eyes out for new announcement in the near future as Verizon Wireless, Palm and Microsoft have just come together on a partnership to produce and deliver a device that will more seamlessly interact with Palm and MS osâs.
Treo cons
§ This is a data device first and a phone second, it shows
o The strait body, as opposed to a flip design, make it larger and harder to carry
o The phone goes into sleep mode after three minutes regardless if you are on the line. So if you are on a three-minute call and need to make another call afterwards, you will have to wake up the phone first. Hopefully this is not at night as the screen is no longer lit
o If you lay the phone down on a surface screen side down and it gets hit, the quick key design will dial a call (if you use quick keys). I canât tell you haw many times the phone has dialed someone after I put the phone down or in my pocket. Watch what you sayâ¦
o You will disconnect a call while pressing the phone to your face in an attempt to hear the other party
§ Even under power (AC/DC) the phone goes into rest mode so you are waking up the phone every time you go to use it.
§ Very low quality sound and speaker. Difficult to hear. The speakerphone is a must for this phone if you donât want to wear a headset all of the time.
§ Poor integration with Bluetooth. There are very limited functions available. The headset is almost unusable again due to the sleep functions in the phone. If you donât have the earpiece in your ear and your hand on the button when the phone rings, you will miss the call getting the phone to recognize the earpiece, pair and answer.
Get the 7250 blackberry Must Read !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm a big phone buyer i had the samsung 730 pda phone which was completely unusable and the treo 650 which is even worse. Check out my review for the samsung if interested.
Here are my pros and cons for the treo 650.
Pros.
-Palm OS very user friendly
-Great PDA
Cons.
- Reception (doesn't get more than 2 bars 90% of the time and drops calls all the time)
- Cant hear anything have to jam phone into ear and still hard to hear.
- Bluetooth works but every time you make a phone call you need to press send on the phone and then activate the bluetooth headset by pressing the button on the headset to many procedures considering most people use the headset when driving.
Those are my biggest cons and most important ones considering this is a phone before a pda. I went to verizon and they had told me that this is not a phone its a pda. I always thought a phone meant you can talk with someone else and still be able to hear them and keep connected...MY MISTAKE!!!
For those of you looking to buy a phone and pda in one this would be a good choice if your not looking to make a lot of phone calls.
I ditched my Q for this and I'm glad.
I was very infatuated with the Q when I first got it (see my review). I had two Q's in 3 weeks. Then life progressed and I had problems with it such as frozen videos, inmternet problems, keypad issues, etc..... The secong Q i got was worse than the first. (Phone scoop should let people be able to place two reviews). But back to the Treo 650, a much superior phone. It may be used, but it does it's job well. It's less confusing to use than the Windows formatted phones (or maybe it's me). If Id've known about how good these are a long time ago, id've surely gotten one then!
Pros:
Great reception (Not one dropped call).
Vibrate mode works well (i gotta have it on silent at work, church, etc....)
Really good camera/video for being a VGA
I love the keypad. Good stuff.
Nice, big screen.
The text format is cool. It's completely different than what I've ever used.
Cons:
Small internal memory.
Kinda slow internet, but what phone can really be perfect? (Still better than T-Mobile's internet {for 44.99, it sure the hell better be!})
No Ev-do.
No other cons at this time.
I wanted a Treo to begin with, but saettled for the Q for price reasons. You gotta give to receive, ya dig? The Treo is my phone for life. No more windows phones for me (unless they get their crap straight). Hopefully I'll feel this way a year from now.
AWESOME BUSINESS TOOL
I love the whole phone, from front to back. I use it is Verizon Wireless, and it picks up reception everywhere I am, and have access to all my email and everything. The bluetooth headset is also great with this phone. Not having to have the phone near me to answer is great for when it comes to business..... I have to give this phone an overall 5.0. The camera and camcorder is awesome. I was able to send all my contacts from my iPAQ over to it via bluetooth, picutures via infared, and everything else over syncing it with outlook. I love this device. BYE BYE iPAQ.
Only One Thing Missing....
I received my Treo 650 a few days ago. Overall I have been impressed by it. I have used an i330 for two years and it was a great phone. My Sprint contract was up, and I wanted a few of the newer features, so the 650 seemed the way to go.
I had no trouble synching over my old data. I have been a Palm Pilor for over 5 years, so I have lots of data. Since I have used Graffiti for years, I had to get Mobilewrite. It works reasonably well, but not as quick as the real Graffiti.
The screen is great! The upgraded web browser is quick. All of my programs seem to be running faster.
The phone funtionality has taken some getting used to. I can see that the 4-way directional toggle works great for one handed manipulation. This was always a bit of a challenge with the i330. The Voice Signal voice dialing is cool, but it has one HUGE problem.
I received by Sony/Ericsson HBH-660 today, and it works well with the phone. However, the Voice Signal does not work with the Bluetooth headset. It does work with the cheesy wired headset Palm gives you gratis. Voice Signal and Palm need to get the voice dialing to work with the Bluetooth headset ASAP, as this is the function makes the Bluetooth really worthwhile.
Subject to change
Well, I haven't even burned through my 14 day trial period with my Sprint Treo 650 and I am on my second one. It appears that Versamail got corrupted and every time I went into the application, the phone re-booted. Also (even with the new one) very long delay when using the phone application. When I push a phone number to call, there is at least a 5-6 second delay before the phone starts dialing. Very frustrating. Also, when I end the call, sometimes it will freeze for a a few seconds before going back to the dial pad screen. I have made my calls to support and Sprint is supposed to be emailing me some files to load onto the phone (Versamail problem) but no one has addressed the freezing and delay yet. I am going to try to transfer what I can to the free SD card that Palm one is sending me and If things change, I will add another review. Other than that, the camera is great, the cam-cord is great, and the screen is a big step up from the 600. The last 2 things I notice in the 650 is the calender seems to be an lest robust version than the 600 and Versamail does not remember the email address that you manualy put in like the email app on the 600... I hate that. It only pulls up email address from your contacts (if you have entered them in.
Its a good choice for the most part...
I got this phone last year around Christmas and it was a dream come true! After downloading the softwere it thought this was DA BOMB! I had payed to insure my phone b/c well it was 500.00! So after dropping it I took it back and thought I was getting what I paid for...not. I was very disappointed when i brought it back home. It had corrupted "Vers" mail and it shut it self on and off without me doing anything! We took it back and told Sprint the problem and they where nice about and gave us another(referb.)one. We took it home and had the SAME problems. So after taking it back 3 or 4 time we told them "Look we don't wont another refurbished one we want another one. did take it when they had a tec there and she looked at it) So they where real nice i got us a HOLE nother one for free and it is great! But,it has Lots of problems if you drop it and pretty much brake it in half. I would recommend the new Palm1 700 with Windows over the 650.(the 650 is a grate phone and you should get but take care of it)There are many grate things on this,it takes memory,1.3meg. camera and WAY more!
Good device...
Just got my 650 yesterday. I was going to get a 600, but then was talked into the 650. So far the device seems to work pretty decent. I have not had a chance to do a complete once over with the phone yet. But so far the software seems to working good. I use SPRINT for a carrier and I know their tests of Over The Air (OTA) software uprades have been going well - meaning, they CAN if the need be send never software versions to your phone pretty painlessly over the air.
I shall post a more updated review in a few days...
**** In case anyone did not know - PALMONE came under heavy fire for the Treo650. When they went from the 600 to the 650, they changed the memory allocation system - so the 650 uses 512k blocks of memory meaning it is going to utilize the 32Megs a lot faster that the 600. Users that upgraded from a 600 to a 650 found that not all their programs will fit on the 650. In order to keep the good name, PALMONE is offering (not sure for how much longer), a FREE 128Meg SD card. This is one card per device. If anyone needs to get one, email me and I will send you the link. I am sure you can find this on the PamOne website or by doing a GOOGLE search ****
Road Warrior Great PDA Phone
I've owned the 650 for a few months now. It is a great phone. I purchase the voice command software for voice dialing- works good. I have >200 contacts in the database- I wish it was a little better at adding numbers to existing contacts. The ringer is as loud as you want. The interface is easy.
I use a 512meg sd card to listen to downloaded radio programs. Real player skipps every 10 seconds or so- a pain- I will get another player.
I has the PPC Audivox 6600 for 10 days- it wasn't 1/2 the phone as the 650 and I'm not a palm guy.
Battery life is good. Screen is clear. It takes pretty good pictures- 10x better than the Audivox 6600.
I sync with bluetooth. My motorolla BT headset is only OK- I prefer the corded headset that came with the player.
Internet works fine but costs a lot to use.
I think this is the best PDA phone Verizon offers at any price.
Good Luck!
