get a treo

It is the bomb biggity bomb PDA… but its phone kinda stinks.

I have started to learn to live with the inferior phone functionalities of it though. I also found that you can purchase software that gives the functionalities that were missing. $5 here, $25 there, another $10 there add up though. You basically end up paying for phone features that any decent phone really should come with. Such as: LOUD speaker volume (had to install Volume Care), voice commands and dialing (there is a $25 program that can do this and has tons of options), bluetooth volume enhancer (have to get this SEPERATE from the the above volume enhancer… grrr), cannot default into phone mode when first turned on, contacts cannot be immediatly typed in from startup for easy dialing.

BUT, that is what you get with a totally customizable phone/PDA. You pay the price of upkeep and customization administration.

The PDA and the $40 a month Internet charge I think are worth the price though. I have used the highspeed web browser, download emails during work hours in realtime in my pocket, hotsync via the Internet once a day, look up phone numbers via google and dial them straight from the webpage, txt message like crazy in a chat style window. I have also streamed Internet radio and played movies downloaded off news sites. It is really a nice platform.

It also takes decent pictures and plays MP3s and can store whole movies and play them via TCPMP.

I had stability issues at first for 2 weeks, but figure out how to be careful when loading new programs over that initial period. I am not so careful now tho and I fear the pauses and slow downs that I had when I first started. I had to trade in 2 phones in 15 days.

Overall, it is worth it. Get one, even if just to use as a PDA.

I think my next phone will be a Walkman phone instead.

Because now I actually finish what I start, have the information I need at my fingertips all the time, and I keep (and update) all of my lists on it…

I would be totally lost without my 650. I use it for everything and my entire life is organized on it. If you’ve never heard of them, I recommend eGrips. They are these rubber stickers that help keep cell phones from slipping and they work AMAZINGLY well. You can get custom kits for 400 different types of phones, including the Treo. Go to egrips.com for more info.

I love my Treo. Highly recommended! I only wish the web access was faster.

I have been pleasantly surprised with this smartphone. I was never interested in Palm devices, but this one intrigued me. Instant access to my email is the killer app. I don’t know how I’ve gotten along without it.

Well I finally bit the bullet after realizing that I’d probably spent the equivalent of about 3 times the price of the Treo in billable hours spent investigating alternatives, pros, cons and pricing. I picked my unlocked Treo up at the PalmOne store in Santa Clara—saving $100 off the online price, btw.

I do really love the little devil; it’s been quite a while since I enjoyed the gratification of a new toy that outperformed by expectations. That said, my personal use case is not as compelling as I might have imagined; I carry my laptop with me so much of the time that I don’t need need need my Treo for web or e-mail access very often. I expect that the first time I go on the road, however, it will suddenly seem very compelling indeed.

Meanwhile I am blogging my Treo explorations for other current and would-be Treo owners.

my 1st palm device.. and it rocks! i love it! <3

I think there are better products out there.

A handy dandy device that saved my bacon over the course of one crazy semester (never, ever, attempt to take 20+ hours of classes on top of producing a short film).
My 600 is a jack of all trades. It takes time to get used to the web access, but with the right features you can feel like a successful nomad. Oodles of software to test out. Such fine shareware programs SnapperMail, Pocket Tunes, and CallFilter make life a little easier.
Should they ever fix up the memory issues with the 650, it would be a great upgrade (a higher resolution camera alone would help me out). Be sure to get a good case for it, as everyone would weep if anything cracked the screen.

They should be getting a bit cheaper soon…