I’ve been using the new Treo 680 for about a month now and the little device has proven to be a worthy upgrade to my old 650. Whether it is keeping track of appointments, writing quick notes about business contacts, or managing a budget, the Treo performs well and almost makes you almost forget it’s a smart phone.
The web service is also useful and robust. I have used it to download quick driving directions enroute, and to check the score of the Giant-Eagles playoff game while at a social function. It’s also easy to manage email on the run. Cingular-based, the phone’s call capability has been very good, and NYC is full of dead zones for some carriers. I’ve also used it to take quick pictures at holiday functions and then email or Bluetooth them to family.
It’s also good for games. I play Monopoly and my favorite game, Spaceward Ho! (in the Macworld Hall of Fame and around since the B&W Mac), on it all the time when I’m on the subway or sitting around with nothing else to do.
The Treo is also very sturdy as I did drop it a couple of times (don’t tell Palm) and it came out like a champ. The only draw back is you may need to power up during the day because there are so many capabilities you end up drawing down the battery after about 6 hours of use.
I have a 650 and it is a piece of crap !!!!
I love the idea but mine has been replaced by sprint 4 times since June of this year for the same problem every time (it quits hearing , I place a call and no one can hear me, I can hear them but they cant hear me ) I personally want the 700 w because I think the pocket pc windows is a far better operating system than the palm ( my dell axim runs like a champ after 4 years almost never crashes and has many more built in features that I have to pay for in the palm)
thanks for the review
I have been using the Treo 750 for about two weeks now, and it’s awesome! With Microsoft Mobile Voice Command, it’s unreal!
I to upgraded to the 680 from a 650. I love the 680. Its worth it to upgrade. To me the only downfall about this is the battery. Phone calls sound like a real call and I don’t have dropped calls anymore. This is due to the sim card being tucked inside and it doesn’t move. The internet is still edge but I believe the sim card situation and the caching on the new blazer has made it quite fast.
I have a few questions on the 650 v 680 improvements.
Does the sound on a 680 require a software enhancer like VolumeCare?
Is it hardware or software that makes the browsing better?
Is it a faster CPU speed that draws down the battery life?
Cingular’s internet access in my area is laggy – often with high wait times before a send is responded. It sounds like East coast coverage is better than Oklahoma.
If you want to be totally efficient, download Opera for Palm OS. Great app….and Freeeeeeee
As I understand it, you can turn your existing Treo 700p into a 680 form factor phone with an after-market antenna. One of the Treo sites (treocentral.com?) sells it, along with illustrated instructions on HTD it. I’m OK with mine.
It is not the perfect pocket phone. However, I don’t mind looking a bit geeky any more with all of the incredible features available on it. For example, it has (Palm OS) dedicated apps for Google Earth and Typepad as well as MP3 players, etc., etc.
I won’t get dive too deeply into the Windows-vs-Palm OS thing except to say that the Palm OS was designed to do one thing at a time and to do it very well. It just sits in the background and works.
Connectivity with primary computer for me could be either Palm Desktop or Missing Sync for Mac. I’ve selected Missing Sync. When I was on the Wintel side, the conduits into Outlook 2003 worked very well, so I would expect no problems for a 680 user.
A 1.2 mb camera is a little nicer.
Get a plastic screen protector and keep it on, changing as needed.
Make your best deal with your carrier and have fun with any model or OS you want!
Dugger I think the biggest reason the battery life is lower is because the battery is smaller to make room for the internal antenna and the sim card. http://www.treonauts.com has reviews
4,
It is both the faster processor and increased onboard memory that improves the web experience, plus a slightly improved browser. The added horsepower isn’t what draws down the battery, it’s the functionality that keeps you using it that causes the power drain.
Yeah, providers vary. I like my Sprint phone across the USA< but it blows in a lot of places in the city, especially Roosevelt Island where I live.
I use the Blackberry 7130e – the smaller one with each key has two letters.
I LOVE THE BLACKBERRY
I’ve never had so much success with a PDA before. This thing rocks.
My inground swimming pool is salt-water system. Well, I dropped it in! I rushed it out, took out the battery ASAP and left out to dry 24 hours.
The thing booted perfectly! The LCD seemed to wash certain colors, but another day, and it was fine.
I’ve dropped the thing a few times too on hard surfaces. It opens up – unsnapping and absorbing shock. Snap in back in, it boots…..normally!
I know of two business friends with Treo’s. Their email function sucks. One dropped his in his non-salt swimming pool, and the thing actually caught on fire. The Treo’s battery doesn’t come out, and the water shorted it out, causing it to bake itself to oblivion.
The other dropped his on the kitchen floor, bounced a bit, and broke that antenna part – rendering it useless.
FWIW, I paid my BB 7130e full price, as I hate being locked in with a carrier, at Best Buy 799$ Cnd + 99$ extended 3yr warranty & such.
I was slightly disappointed in that there’s no additional card slot, no camera, etc. The new Pearl has this now.
From a business perspective, the only thing better than my BB 7130e is my laptop with Skype.
One and only 1 gripe – the Bluetooth address book Sync will only allow “one at a time” transfers with a Confirm to click. This is apparently a security feature.
But the handsfree talking with the Prius is something to be seen & heard. Star Trek “feel” to it all.
9,
You’re right, the Blackberry is a very nice tool, but limited in scope. The Palm OS is open, and therefore you can do a lot more with a Palm-based device. Can you play Spaceward Ho! (or Monopoly, or MobiTV, etc) on your device?
#9
I had the Blackberry on Sprint. I returned it. No touch screen, no HTML browsing, 2 letters per key was a pain in the ass. Not to mention that the Blackberry data plan was twice as much as the standard power vision plan and had less capabilities. The Blackberry is a lot of hype, but kinda short on features. I’ve had my 700P for 4 months now and love it.
Just wondering if anybody has tried CellSwapper
(http://www.cellswapper.com)
to get out of their phone contracts without paying any early termination
fees?