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starman · Jul 19, 2005, 04:31 PM

Besides someone who wanted to dump their unlocked one on eBay?

Anyway, I was thinking about getting one.

1) How good is the camera?
2) Does it allow me to use MP3 and/or WAV ringtones?
3) How well does it sync with a Mac using Bluetooth?
4) How do you like typing on it?

I currently have a Nokia 6620 and was thinking about upgrading to the Treo 650.

Mike

cjrivera · Jul 19, 2005, 04:49 PM

1) Pretty good. I never use it for any real picture taking (actually, I never use it), but pic quality seems better than other camera phone pics I've seen.

2) I don't use mp3 or wav for ringtones, so not sure... sorry

3) I've had no problems sycing w/ my 12" PB, but I searched the Apple Discussions page before I synced and found some install advice.

4) Typing on it is slow (but then again I hunt and peck on a real keyboard, anyway). I guess you'd get used to it and get faster if you used it al lot. The main apps I use on it, tend not to need much keyboard input.

I love my 650. It pretty well does everything I need for it to do.

JHromadka · Jul 19, 2005, 06:19 PM

Originally Posted by starman

Besides someone who wanted to dump their unlocked one on eBay?

Anyway, I was thinking about getting one.

1) How good is the camera?
2) Does it allow me to use MP3 and/or WAV ringtones?
3) How well does it sync with a Mac using Bluetooth?
4) How do you like typing on it?

I currently have a Nokia 6620 and was thinking about upgrading to the Treo 650.

Mike

1. Pretty good for a 640x480 camera. Here's a comparison pic I did of the Treo 650 vs the 600. You can find a full review here.

2. Yes.
3. The Palm Desktop software is just Ok. I recommend The Missing Sync.
4. Typing is a dream compared to the Treo 600 and compared to standard T9 input on a normal cell phone.

starman · Jul 20, 2005, 03:10 PM

After reading all the horrible, horrible bug reports on treocentral.com, I think I'm going to pass for a while.

Mike

AB^2=BCxAC · Jul 20, 2005, 03:42 PM

Personally, I find the Treo screens too lo-res.

I have a Zire 72 that connects by BT to my phone for GPRS web surfing when I don't have my powerbook around, and it has 320x320 versus the Treo's 160x160 (or whatever it is). The (relatively) higher-res screen makes a big difference for ebooks, surfing, and the good games.

starman · Jul 20, 2005, 03:45 PM

The Treo 650 is 320x320.

olePigeon · Jul 20, 2005, 04:01 PM

Originally Posted by starman

Besides someone who wanted to dump their unlocked one on eBay?

Anyway, I was thinking about getting one.

1) How good is the camera?
2) Does it allow me to use MP3 and/or WAV ringtones?
3) How well does it sync with a Mac using Bluetooth?
4) How do you like typing on it?

I currently have a Nokia 6620 and was thinking about upgrading to the Treo 650.

Mike

I had one for a few days, but I had to sell it.

1) Decent
2) Didn't get a chance to try it, but yes, it does.
3) Slow, but it works. I couldn't afford Missing Sync so I don't know if that's any faster. The Palm Software has been upated for Tiger, so you're still good to go.
4) I didn't. I thought the buttons were a little too hard to press. That may be intentional thinking it'd be in your pocket. I thought it'd have a place to write like a normal Palm, but it doesn't.

AB^2=BCxAC · Jul 20, 2005, 05:19 PM

Originally Posted by starman

The Treo 650 is 320x320.

Well, then I want a Treo 650.

starman · Jul 20, 2005, 05:34 PM

Originally Posted by AB^2=BCxAC

Well, then I want a Treo 650.

You may want to read the forums at treocentral.com. In just the last week, TONS of reported bugs, even with the latest update. I'm very concerned that a device that costs $550 is this buggy.

Pass.

Mike

cjrivera · Jul 20, 2005, 05:47 PM

Originally Posted by starman

You may want to read the forums at treocentral.com. In just the last week, TONS of reported bugs, even with the latest update. I'm very concerned that a device that costs $550 is this buggy.

Pass.

Mike

I visit treocental all the time and have read about these bugs. I have never had any crashes or reboots (or any other problems) with my 650. YMMV.

Now, I do have a VZW Treo 650, which came out after the Sprint and Cingulair versions, so maybe they fixed them in the VZW version.

nonhuman · Jul 20, 2005, 05:59 PM

I'm really tempted by the Treo. I have a Tungsten C which I used to use a lot, but the I moved my office network from WEP to WPA and now it's really not all that useful anymore.

Sadly the price and all the reported problems I've read about are pretty much scaring me away. I think I'll wait until I can take advantage of Verizon's new every two deal and get whatever spiffy Palm or Linux smartphone is available in 1.5 years

JHromadka · Jul 20, 2005, 06:10 PM

Originally Posted by starman

You may want to read the forums at macnn.com. In just the last week, TONS of reported bugs, even with the latest Mac OS X update. I'm very concerned that a computer that costs $3000 is this buggy.

/fixed

Mike, any forum is going to have tons of postings about problems. People don't post their positive experiences. If the Treo sucked that badly, Palm wouldn't have had such a great last quarter. I'm not saying that I've never had problems, but my Treo isn't a worthless brick.

Disclaimer: I am Editor at TreoCentral

cjrivera · Jul 20, 2005, 06:55 PM

Originally Posted by JHromadka

/fixed

Mike, any forum is going to have tons of postings about problems. People don't post their positive experiences. If the Treo sucked that badly, Palm wouldn't have had such a great last quarter. I'm not saying that I've never had problems, but my Treo isn't a worthless brick.

Disclaimer: I am Editor at TreoCentral

Hey JHromadka,

Just wanted to say nice work over there at the treocentral forums.

I used those forums for months to research the 650 purchase. It was a huge help.

driven · Jul 20, 2005, 07:28 PM

I love mine. I post fairly regularly at Treo Central as well.

lavar78 · Jul 21, 2005, 12:37 AM

I just bought one yesterday ($350 out the door from Sprint). I'm loving it so far. I'll be joining TreoCentral soon.

jasonsRX7 · Jul 21, 2005, 01:12 AM

I've had a Treo 300 and currently have a Treo 600. The 300 was great, the 600 has been fantastic. Actually, I think I posted the first side by side comparison pics of a 300 and Kyocera 7135 over at TreoCentral. TC is a great site, and I've gotten tons of useful help there.

ranga · Jul 21, 2005, 01:31 AM

I have a cingular Treo 650 and I really like the phone and would strongly recommend it.

1) How good is the camera?

The camera is not bad when you are shooting outside in a reasonable amount of light. Indoors the camera doesn't do as well.

2) Does it allow me to use MP3 and/or WAV ringtones?

I'm told that it does, but I've never tried it.

3) How well does it sync with a Mac using Bluetooth?

The few times I tried this it seemed to work, however I use the USB sync/charing cable most of the time. The one problem I've found w/ syncing is that sometimes the Palm Desktop software gets wedged and iSync has a problem completing the sync. Usually I unplug the USB cable and then plug it back in and the problem goes away.

4) How do you like typing on it?

I don't type on the keyboard much but I find that taking brief notes and searching for things in the address book is pretty easy with the 650's keyboard compared to the 600 or other phones w/ keyboards I've tried.

--ranga

starman · Jul 21, 2005, 01:31 AM

Originally Posted by JHromadka

/fixed

Mike, any forum is going to have tons of postings about problems. People don't post their positive experiences. If the Treo sucked that badly, Palm wouldn't have had such a great last quarter. I'm not saying that I've never had problems, but my Treo isn't a worthless brick.

Disclaimer: I am Editor at TreoCentral

I realize that, but after being on the net for 17 years what I've learned is that it's OK for one or two people to complain about a product, it's another for a whole slew of people to complain about the same problems. Also, when people love a product, they LOVE to post about how great it is (like, ahem, here)

.

I'm just nervous about dropping so much money on something that's been reported to have so many typical problems for that type of device. I had no issues with the EOS 20-D I bought because nobody really bitched about it so much.

Maybe I'll research it more over the next few days.

Mike

starman · Jul 21, 2005, 12:28 PM

What's this I'm reading about iSync not syncing the "Work" address properly?

http://discussion.treocentral.com/tc...ighlight=isync

starman · Jul 24, 2005, 08:16 PM

Ok, I bought one.

Brough it back. This thing sucks monkey nuts.

First off, I bought the thing out of contract, so it cost me retail which was $550. The goddamn thing CRASHED on me THREE TIMES and locked up on me FOUR TIMES.

The volume sucks, and what's worse is that you have to PAY a shareware fee for an app that doesn't even fix it properly. What kind of bullsh*t is that?

Everyone I spoke to said they couldn't hear me very well. Volume, incoming and outgoing, seems to be a big problem on this phone.

Getting iSync to work properly with it was a chore.

It couldn't play WAV files as ringtones. Stupid. Again, a third party app to fix that.

Want other things that a Pocket PC can do? Lots of mother f-----g THIRD PARTY APPS.

Now I remember why I hated the Palm OS so much. Too many third party apps to do what a Pocket PC can do OUT OF THE BOX.

Hello, Siemens SX66.

Mike

Randman · Jul 24, 2005, 08:39 PM

Get a Series 60 phone and be happy.

jasonsRX7 · Jul 24, 2005, 08:42 PM

I live by my Treo 600, I can't imagine the 650 being anything but that much better. Of course, I'm not trying to use it as a jukebox or Gameboy, either.

JHromadka · Jul 24, 2005, 08:53 PM

Sorry it didn't work out for you Mike, but I'm glad you gave it a shot.

Mithras · Jul 24, 2005, 09:45 PM

Well, just got my Verizon Treo 650, and I love it.
I agree there's a lot of third-party apps out there... but I think that's great. And while the supplied VersaMail and phone screen and RealPlayer etc. etc. are neat, I'm really loving the options out there... trying out Chattermail, PocketTunes, AeroPlayer, Butler, Zlauncher (nice OS X theme!)... lots of fun.

starman · Jul 24, 2005, 10:08 PM

You see, that's the problem with the PalmOS. All the crap you have to BUY with third party apps is just given to you with the Pocket PC OS. In order to bring the Treo "up to speed" with the SX66, I would have had to pay MORE money in shareware fees than the difference between the prices of the two units. That, plus the problems I was having really ticked me off.

I always give gadgets a chance, but I just couldn't get along with the Treo. I would have actually bought the Siemens today but I didn't have the time to play with it at the store.

Mike

lavar78 · Jul 24, 2005, 11:45 PM

Mine is working great. I've had zero problems with the Treo and iSync. Mine also plays WAV ringtones just fine. Sorry.

starman · Jul 25, 2005, 01:17 AM

Originally Posted by lavar78

Mine is working great. I've had zero problems with the Treo and iSync. Mine also plays WAV ringtones just fine. Sorry.

Not without a third party app. The Treo will let you select a WAV file, but won't actually play it as a ringtone. Stupid OS.

Mike

driven · Jul 25, 2005, 04:57 AM

Originally Posted by starman

Not without a third party app. The Treo will let you select a WAV file, but won't actually play it as a ringtone. Stupid OS.

Mike

I've had no trouble playing WAV files on mine .....
Try updating your software rev. (???)

lavar78 · Jul 25, 2005, 06:45 AM

WAV ringtones play on mine as well (right out of the box). Driven may be right about your firmware.

starman · Jul 25, 2005, 07:24 AM

Originally Posted by driven

I've had no trouble playing WAV files on mine .....
Try updating your software rev. (???)

There are no updates for Cingular.

starman · Jul 26, 2005, 01:08 AM

Got the Siemens SX66.

Two words:

LOVE IT!

spacefreak · Jul 26, 2005, 01:28 AM

Originally Posted by starman

You may want to read the forums at treocentral.com. In just the last week, TONS of reported bugs, even with the latest update. I'm very concerned that a device that costs $550 is this buggy.

Pass.

Realize that if you take a look at any of the Mac-centric forums here, you'll also see tons of threads with people reporting problems. People who have problems are the ones most likely to post.

I don't have a Treo, but I have 3 non-techie friends who have them and use them all the time without incident.

starman · Jul 26, 2005, 02:01 AM

That's a cop-out. I had the thing and it sucked. If it worked, I would have kept it. Your point?

Mike

lavar78 · Jul 26, 2005, 07:13 AM

Originally Posted by starman

That's a cop-out. I had the thing and it sucked. If it worked, I would have kept it. Your point?

Maybe you had a defective unit? I haven't had any of the technical problems you had (and neither did Mithras).

starman · Jul 26, 2005, 08:51 AM

Check out howardforums.com and read about everyone that went through the same problems I did, even with the firmware update. Maybe you got lucky.

Mike

philm · Jul 26, 2005, 10:10 AM

I have a Treo 650 and I love it. Good phone, browse the web, it's my MP3 player, store all my pics of the family, take video of my son (5) playing golf, all my key personal information (password protected), OSX theme, syncs easily with my Mac, e-mail on the road etc etc blah blah. Fantastic.

(To use a WAV file as a ringtone, copy it from your Mac with Bluetooth, and it will appear automatically as one of the ring tone options in the drop down list.)

starman · Jul 26, 2005, 10:56 AM

Using WAV files DOES NOT WORK, at least not with my firmware for Cingular.

driven · Jul 26, 2005, 12:55 PM

Originally Posted by starman

Check out howardforums.com and read about everyone that went through the same problems I did, even with the firmware update. Maybe you got lucky.

Mike

Yup ... it was luck.

It *just might* be your vendor. (Cingular) Just a thought as they can modify the device to their owns specs.

lavar78 · Jul 26, 2005, 03:41 PM

That could be it. I have Sprint FWIW.

jasonsRX7 · Jul 26, 2005, 03:58 PM

lavar, have you ever tried wmodem on your Treo with Sprint? Or I guess with the 650 you wouldn't need it if your laptop has Bluetooth. One of the main things I use my Treo for is as a wireless modem for my Powerbook. It's awesome to be able to get online just about anywhere, and since my Sprint account has unlimited data, I can use it as much as I want.

Just thought you might want to try it out if you haven't already.

driven · Jul 26, 2005, 04:30 PM

Originally Posted by jasonsRX7

lavar, have you ever tried wmodem on your Treo with Sprint? Or I guess with the 650 you wouldn't need it if your laptop has Bluetooth. One of the main things I use my Treo for is as a wireless modem for my Powerbook. It's awesome to be able to get online just about anywhere, and since my Sprint account has unlimited data, I can use it as much as I want.

Just thought you might want to try it out if you haven't already.

I've used the Bluetooth connection which worked flawlessly until the latest firmware update. I'm not sure why, but it drops alot now. I have not had a chance to investigate if it is the firmware that's hosed or some other problem.

I did however use PDANet from my Toshiba (Windows) machine and that works fine.

Yes: The $15 unlimited data plan is kinda nice.

jasonsRX7 · Jul 26, 2005, 04:32 PM

Yeah, I used PDANet with my Thinkpad before I got the Powerbook. PDANet is the nicer program, too bad they don't (or didn't) have a Mac version.

driven · Jul 26, 2005, 04:33 PM

Originally Posted by jasonsRX7

Yeah, I used PDANet with my Thinkpad before I got the Powerbook. PDANet is the nicer program, too bad they don't (or didn't) have a Mac version.

They still don't. If they did I'd be first in line to buy it. Great product.

lavar78 · Jul 26, 2005, 05:14 PM

Apparently, Sprint is trying to crack down on people using their phone as a modem. Technically, it's against the TOS. A number of people on TreoCentral have received letters from Sprint about it.

Randman · Jul 26, 2005, 09:24 PM

Originally Posted by lavar78

Apparently, Sprint is trying to crack down on people using their phone as a modem. Technically, it's against the TOS. A number of people on TreoCentral have received letters from Sprint about it.

Amazing that people take that garbage from a company.

lavar78 · Jul 26, 2005, 09:28 PM

Well, it doesn't look like people are stopping what they're doing...

jasonsRX7 · Jul 26, 2005, 09:55 PM

They've never sent me that letter and I wouldn't stop using it if they did.

spacefreak · Jul 26, 2005, 10:07 PM

Originally Posted by starman

That's a cop-out. I had the thing and it sucked. If it worked, I would have kept it. Your point?

My point was that judging a product, based solely on some complaints on a forum, may not necessarily be the best method, and that some of my techo-challenged friends have the 650 and use it without problems.

spacefreak · Jul 26, 2005, 10:19 PM

Originally Posted by driven

Yup ... it was luck.

The hundreds of thousands of Treo 650 users who have no problems are lucky, just like I'm lucky that my iPod's battery has lasted more than 18 months.

I also got lucky this morning when my 2-year-old car started like it does every morning. When the A/C worked (like usual), I decided to ride my streak of luck and bought some lottery tickets.

And then my car started up again for my drive home! Man, I'm on fire today.

rozwado1 · Jul 26, 2005, 11:02 PM

Originally Posted by spacefreak

My point was that... some of my techo-challenged friends have the 650 and use it without problems.

That's the point. Most people have no tech experience, so the Treo is the most kick-ass thing around. Only the tech-wise know that it's got bugs and it's not the best device out there.