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awcopus · Aug 5, 2005, 03:52 PM

I find myself suddenly in need of a new phone and am considering one of these phone/PDA combos. The blackberry isn't officially listed as a phone that syncs with OS X, but PocketMac seems to have satisfactorily addresses this shortcoming. So I am mostly interested in people's evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of these PhoneDAs.

Hopefully some people here have experience with one or both of these tools and are willing to share. Thanks in advance.

capuchin · Aug 5, 2005, 05:02 PM

I bought a Treo650 last week, and I'm in love with it. It's just plain great.

The only things I've noticed are that having bluetooth on drains the battery *fast*, and that it takes a few days to adjust to using the thing - while it looks like a PDA with cell phone functionality, in fact it's vice versa; the Treo defaults to the phone when switched on, and you access the palm functions through hitting the home or calendar key.

I also looked long and hard at the 7290, and while it was well-designed and feature complete, it was unwieldy and counterintuitive next to the Treo. It was a slam-dunk.

DigitalEl · Aug 5, 2005, 08:12 PM

If you're gonna compare a Treo to a BlackBerry, look at the 7100-series. The 7100t is T-Mobile's. I believe the 7100g is Cingular's. I had one for about a month and loved it. The only reason I got rid of it is that it was just too much for me. I don't really "need" such a device, but I'm a phone whore.

I have a simple Nokia cameraphone now, but am always looking for the Next Big Thing. iTunes phone by Christmas? ....riiiiiight!

zolagol · Sep 10, 2005, 09:41 PM

i've had both the 7290 and treo650...it all depends on what you need exactly....if you want great phone function (good sound) and email..then look no further than the the BlackBerry...the Treo is inferior as a phone and push mail rocks on the BB...now...if you want your device to take pics, video, play mp3s, polyphonic sounds, and all sorts of other bells and whistles..then the Treo is for you.....

voicebox · Sep 16, 2005, 02:25 AM

Hi awcopus,
I was in a similar 'state of flux' earlier this year - Blackberry or Sony Ericsson 910i or Treo 650 .. mmm ... I couldn't make up my mind .. but in the end I chose the Treo for the following reasons; large screen, great Qwerty keyboard (bigger than on a 910i), Palm software is very Mac friendly with lots of useful applications to download.
The Blackberry does not sync with Mac!
I use my regular POP 3 email account for sending and receiving emails - no fuss because using the Qwerty keyboard makes things easier. Using the USB cable provided makes syncing with a PB so simple. There is one slight bug - the volume can be a little on the quiet side - but if you go to mytreo.net/ you can download an application called VolumeCare which more than solves this minor problem.
So there you have it - buy the Treo 650 - you wont regret it!
Good luck
voicebox

zolagol · Sep 16, 2005, 07:18 AM

The BlackBerry syncs with Mac phenomenally well!

see: PocketMac....

iomatic · Sep 16, 2005, 11:42 AM

Treo 650 is unreliable, but feature-wise it can't be beat. Web browser, Filemaker syncing, Planetarium software, guitar tuners, paint programs, iSync-compatible, hacks for native PDF-viewing and Flash 4 SWFs, 320x320 resolution...

zolagol · Sep 16, 2005, 11:54 AM

that's consistant with my experience...the screen freezes up and the system was unresponsive several times....the phone function is not 'solid' enough to compare with Moto or Nokia...whereas the BB has inferior 'gadget' quotient however is a much more stable platform and phone fucntion is solid...

zolagol · Sep 16, 2005, 11:54 AM

that's consistant with my experience...the screen freezes up and the system was unresponsive several times....the phone function is not 'solid' enough to compare with Moto or Nokia...whereas the BB has inferior 'gadget' quotient however is a much more stable platform and phone fucntion is solid...

voicebox · Sep 17, 2005, 12:31 PM

Originally Posted by zolagol

The BlackBerry syncs with Mac phenomenally well!

see: PocketMac....

Hi zolagol,
When I was in the market for a new phone - as described in my previous post - I 'phoned Blackberry UK tech support and Vodafone tech support (I was contracted to Vodafone at the time), both parties told me with conviction that the Blackberry could not be synced with Mac OS X 10.3.9 or 'Tiger' 10.4!
That is the main reason I bought a Treo 650 and am now connected to the Orange Network!!
Even if what you say is true zolagol and the Blackberry can be synced with a Mac, I will not be dumping my terrific Treo for a Blackberry in order to find out!!
voicebox

khufuu · Sep 17, 2005, 12:47 PM

Originally Posted by voicebox

Hi zolagol,
When I was in the market for a new phone - as described in my previous post - I 'phoned Blackberry UK tech support and Vodafone tech support (I was contracted to Vodafone at the time), both parties told me with conviction that the Blackberry could not be synced with Mac OS X 10.3.9 or 'Tiger' 10.4!
That is the main reason I bought a Treo 650 and am now connected to the Orange Network!!
Even if what you say is true zolagol and the Blackberry can be synced with a Mac, I will not be dumping my terrific Treo for a Blackberry in order to find out!!
voicebox

Good point.

Just normal Mac ignorance I'm afraid. Ask the person if they use a Mac first. If they do, you might be able to take their word for it. Otherwise, assume they know nothing and do the research yourself.

MovieCutter · Sep 17, 2005, 02:31 PM

I had both...I still have my Treo 650.