was about to get the treo 650 when I heard about this..

cool

 

I had a phone in similar form factor before...an iMate XDAII. It sucked...too wide to hold comfortably, and no keypad. The numbers appear on the screen so you have no tactile feedback and it's hard to dial with your thumb while holding it with the same hand. I see that it says this model has a min-Qwerty keyboard. I can't imagine that being any faster than a good T9 phone.

For me, the candy bar form factor with regular keys works best...no sliding, flipping, clam-shell gizmo nonsense, no dual screen nonsense. Just simple, effective straight-to-the-point phones that work. The best one I have found so far has been the iMate sp3i. Its camera is only 0.3 megapixel (though it still takes decent pictures), otherwise it has everything you could want. You really have to use it for a few months and then try to switch to a Nokia or something to see how much better the iMate is.

The Samsung D500 also has gotten rave reviews but I don't like the fact that it is a sliding mechanism and there is no expansion slot for added memory. The successor seems to have addressed those problems and I would like to try that when it becomes available.

 

I have the 650 and wouldn't trade it for anything.

 

There are about 20 great PDA smart phones on the market right now. I did extensive research into these and ended up with the Treo 650 because it met my needs better than the others. I would suggest that what ever phone you get just make sure it meets the demands of what you want. A lot of these phones have features that we will realistically never use.

 

This samsung thing looks pretty dang cool.

But.... Does it have a camera or not? Seems specs conflict. I have Sprint and if they offer this thing with a Camera and all the other nifty stuff I may get one.



Terry

 

With the 650 you can access, alter and save microsoft documents. I use mine to carry excel spreadsheets on all the time and change them on the run. Its a great tool. The only advantage I see to this new one, is that it has wifi. But anytime you run wifi on such a small device, it will drain the battery much quickier. To each his own.

 

Looks nice. Blackberry email support is key. Does the Treo offer Blackberry support yet? I know you can get GoodLink, but since my enterprise already uses Blackberry, I can't see why we'd invest in GoodLink just to allow people to use Treos when most swear by the Blackberry already.

 

I have a related question. I am currently using blackberry because that's the only system our large firm supports. My wife, who is self-employed, and not constrained by her employer's system, would like to have a hand-held email device coupled with phone. Since she uses microsoft outlook on a private account, is one handheld preferable to another?
(Also, i have T-Mobile service for my blackberry, which has been fine. She prefers Verizon for her phone service. I assume Verizon offers equivalent data service as well?) Thanks in advance.

 

Hey Will-

The Treo 650 is a quad-band phone which means she can use it almost anywhere on the planet with the same phone number in case of extended travel for business/pleasure. Each phone service provider has a data offering, I go with Cingular due to the flat rate/unlimited data plan.

I can't tell you what a benefit it is to have Google at my fingertips at all times, also- when I am in line or waiting for something I can peruse FChat! The store might offer the 600, which is essentially the same thing but no Bluetooth AND the data connection is about half the speed of the 650. Even though it's $150-200 cheaper don't buy the 600.

(Bluetooth is useful if you need to use the 650 to hook your laptop up to the Internet anywhere that the phone gets coverage. It's SOOOOOO sweet!)

She cannot go wrong with the Treo 650, I would recommend Cingular as the provider but any carrier will get the job done. If she wants to try one, I'll fly out and she can use mine for a week. I'll be taking the Rosso Vik as collateral though.

Nick

 

Nick: don't know about giving you the car, but i can give you a ride in it. You actually answered another question- which relates to speed and useablity of the browser- my blackberry is a joke on that score. I assume its bluetooth capability doesn't make much difference in that regard.
As to the wife's phone/data device, i suppose your message is that if you aren't constrained by what your central server supports, you don't have to go with the blackberry device, right? I know alot of folks like the ergos of the Treo better, and perhaps for use as a phone as well, but i was under the impression that the Blackberry was the hands-down winner when it came to sending and receiving emails. And, i guess to get back to my original question, it was, if she is simply using a home/business email account thru a desk top pc, not an officetype server, is there any difference in the functionality of these devices for phone and email. (We'll talk more, later, about my personal need for a handheld wireless fast internet connection). l thank you.

 

Hey Will-

Just kidding about the car of course!

Bingo.

Actually it's not. The Treo 650 can be programmed to synch with multiple email accounts simultaneously both personal and corporate servers (i.e. hotmail.com AND whartslawfirm.com.) If one were so inclined.

One more note here: Double check with your firm's IT department... RIM has enabled current versions of BlackBerry Enterprise Server to support third party devices (like the Treo 650). You may luck out here.

For STRICTLY phone and email functions? Not unless you count the ability to hook up your laptop through the Bluetooth function and use your laptop to send big email attachements from the road. One of those things that are better to "have and not need than to need and not have". The color screen is also nice.

If you have any more questions, you need only ask.

Nick