PDA Phone users, chime in!!!

[jamesbond007]

So - this Saturday, my "new every 2" $100 discount is in effect. I'm currently eyeballing the Palm Treo 700p. I'm a dedicated Palm guy and I currently have an older, but very functional, Tungsten E Palm Pilot. It's solid, metal, reliable, and it does the trick, even if it's not the fastest. I've grown accustomed to the MORE THAN SPECTACULAR calendar functions of the Palm OS. Color-coding and the agenda views are just wonderful. Windows Mobile devices don't seem to have such a great calendar function, which is my Palm's biggest benefit to me.

I have thought about the Q - I love the sleek, sexy, antenna-less look of the phone, but I can't stand the calendar. I use it infinite times throughout the day and add/modify events as needed. Again, the color-coding feature is my favorite ability of the Palm calendar. At a quick glance, I can tell which days I'm working at one job or the other, which days I have photo shoots, and other days when I have personal appointments.

My biggest gripe and fear about PDA phones is their cellular reception. I've heard from several owners that call clarity and reception in the boondocks isn't as great as a dedicated phone, such as my current LG VX8100.

PDA Phone users - what are your personal experiences with these phones? Do you have dropped or garbled calls? I would really like to combine my two devices into one, but I hate sacrificing the quality of my phone for convenience.

Any other recommendations or thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

 

[uli2000]

My first two pda/phone combos, the treo 180g and Blackberry 6290, were pieces of sh!t to put it mildly. Terrible reception, dropped calls, constant reboots. So after that, I went back to a strictly handheld. Switched to WM a couple of years ago since thats what was provided by work. Last year, I decided to try a phone/pda unit again and got a ppc6700. At first, I wanted to throw it out the window, but after doing some research and some tinkering, it's the best pda Ive ever owned, and a pretty decent phone as well. One thing I did find a necessity that wasnt implimented well was voice dialing, but I bought MS's voice command and that is 100x better than the stock voice calling. Having not owned a palm os phone since the treo 180, I cant say your experience will be the same, but dont be afraid to tinker a little with it untill you find the setup that works for you.

 

[imported_Mike]

After having two Treos, I am still a fan, but I probably will never buy one again. I would go with the new Samsung SGH-i760 that is coming out soon.

Don't get the Q.

 

[jamesbond007]

Originally posted by: Mike
After having two Treos, I am still a fan, but I probably will never buy one again. I would go with the new Samsung SGH-i760 that is coming out soon.

Don't get the Q.

Any reason in particular? I am about 90% sure I'd like the 700p...or wait a little bit to see if Verizon gets the 755p.

 

[imported_Mike]

Originally posted by: jamesbond007

Originally posted by: Mike
After having two Treos, I am still a fan, but I probably will never buy one again. I would go with the new Samsung SGH-i760 that is coming out soon.

Don't get the Q.

Any reason in particular? I am about 90% sure I'd like the 700p...or wait a little bit to see if Verizon gets the 755p.

After having two (the 600 & 650) and seeing the 700 in action, they have some common problems and are all the same. My buddy has the 700 with windows mobile which I suppose would have a limited number of problems anyways just from running windows.

Both the 600 and 650 are palm based. My manager has the palm based 700 and it has some of the exact same problems that my 600 and 650 did. Mainly just restarting, or closing apps without a user command. Freezing..etc.

Im still a fan of the Treos becuase of the size and what it can do for it's size. I have yet to use a phone that hasn't frozen on me once.

If you're intent on getting the Treo, go with a windows based unit as I don't see as many problems. My buddy with the windows based 700 also had the Treo 650 when I did and we had the same problems, and he tells me he likes his 700. He still has some problems, but like I said, almost all phones will have a few.

Owning two Samsung phones myself (Blackjack & E780) I really like Samsung phones. If I had Verizon, I would go with the Samsung i760 hands down. They release another Treo all the time anyways. Little bigger screen, little bit more memory, little faster....but otherwise the same as the previous.

 

[GeekDrew]

I'm not on Verizon, but I do have a Treo -- specifically a 680. I love it, and I can't think of a phone that I'd want more than this one. Yes, there are a lot of ways that it could be improved, but it's not a bad phone. I've had it freeze up on me a couple of times, but I've noticed that more in programs that I've added to the phone, rather than programs that came with the phone. The number of programs that I've downloaded from PalmOne, that I've come to rely heavily on, is just astounding. Keeping track of my finances using Pocket Quicken, my passwords using SplashID, my car fuel & services using TealAuto, my data tethering using PDANet, etc. I could be happier, but I wouldn't willingly trade this for any other phone in their current lineup.

 

[jamesbond007]

Thanks for the detailed reply!

I have heard about some of the freezing problems with the 600 and 650s, but my friends who have the 700p on VZW haven't had such serious issues. I don't know if the reason was exclusive to your service provider or if a VZW firmware fix has resolved the issues you speak of. I do Palm support for a number of people (as I'm 'The Tech' everyone at work goes to) so I'm familiar with the Palm systems and I haven't heard of a huge breakout yet. As for owning a phone that has never froze on you or restarted, consider yourself lucky! My Motorola T720, Nokia 3589i, and my current LG VX8100 have all restarted on me at least once. Never frozen, but I have had them randomly shut off! I could be browsing the menus and then bam, off we go. Never during a call - it is always when I am dinking around in the menus or texting someone. The LG has done it probably twice in the past 2 years, so it's no big deal really. This isn't to say that the phones have never powered off or froze, but it has happened maybe once or twice to a guy who has had the 650 for about 15 months now and my friend who's had the 700p has had it only once in the past 8 months. Not too bad of a track record...

One thing that is pretty lame about Verizon's website is that if you browse the phones, the 700p is $499 with a $100 instant online discount and a $150 MIR, bringing the price down to $250. With my new every two $100 discount, I should be able to get the phone for $150, but the online site doesn't let you stack the online discounts with the new every two deal - what a scam! It replaces the discount with your $100 NE2 credit...completely lame. If I remember correctly, the online prices are close or exactly the same as the in-store, so maybe I can stack it there...

Anyone else for input?

 

[jamesbond007]

Originally posted by: GeekDrew
I'm not on Verizon, but I do have a Treo -- specifically a 680. I love it, and I can't think of a phone that I'd want more than this one. Yes, there are a lot of ways that it could be improved, but it's not a bad phone. I've had it freeze up on me a couple of times, but I've noticed that more in programs that I've added to the phone, rather than programs that came with the phone. The number of programs that I've downloaded from PalmOne, that I've come to rely heavily on, is just astounding. Keeping track of my finances using Pocket Quicken, my passwords using SplashID, my car fuel & services using TealAuto, my data tethering using PDANet, etc. I could be happier, but I wouldn't willingly trade this for any other phone in their current lineup.

Drew, thanks! You are not the first to tell me that if you enjoy the phone, you never want to let it go. Has anyone ever dropped theirs? One of my friends with the 700p dropped his phone and has had signal issues ever since. Big bummer! He has insurance, but I don't think he has sent in a claim yet or tried to resolve it. I've been thinking about getting a Rhinoskin for whatever I get. I don't get insurance for my phones...I've never had to claim or get a phone replaced, so I was thinking about skipping that on the Treo. Risky move?

Also, what do you think of Pocket Quicken? I currently use SplashMoney on my Tungsten E (made by the same company as SplashID) and am in love with it!

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: jamesbond007
Drew, thanks! You are not the first to tell me that if you enjoy the phone, you never want to let it go. Has anyone ever dropped theirs? One of my friends with the 700p dropped his phone and has had signal issues ever since. Big bummer! He has insurance, but I don't think he has sent in a claim yet or tried to resolve it. I've been thinking about getting a Rhinoskin for whatever I get. I don't get insurance for my phones...I've never had to claim or get a phone replaced, so I was thinking about skipping that on the Treo. Risky move?

Also, what do you think of Pocket Quicken? I currently use SplashMoney on my Tungsten E (made by the same company as SplashID) and am in love with it!

I've dropped mine, a couple of times, but it's not been from very far -- it's fallen off of a table a couple of times, onto a linoleum floor, and a few times onto a carpeted floor. It's got a couple of small scratches on it, but nothing major. I've experienced no signal or quality issues resulting from such mishaps -- though I am on GSM (AT&T Mobility), rather than CDMA (Verizon Wireless).

I've never used a Rhinoskin, but I did immediately buy a couple of leather cases for it, and I have it in one or the other of them all the time (except when I'm showering... when it's sitting on a table... where it vibrates off, onto the floor...). I bought one at Best Buy and the other at AT&T, can't remember which was where tho. One is a drop in holder, that completely encompasses it, you take it out to use it. The other is a quick-release belt holder, and I use it most often. Not sure about w/ Verizon, but AT&T doesn't offer insurance on the Treo line. I'd personally buy it in a heartbeat... it would be remiss of me to not mention that I am hard on phones. Same thing with my family and friends. Funny thing, that...

I've never used SplashMoney, but Pocket Quicken does everything I need it to do, and more. I can't think of anything else I would need to be able to do (financially) on my cell phone / PDA. I'd really be screwed without Pocket Quicken, TealAuto, and SplashID (though the latter two don't have nearly as many features as I'd like them to have). It's funny how quickly I've become dependent on my PDA, when I hadn't carried one in years, until this past Spring.

 

[imported_Mike]

Im positive it has nothing to do with the carrier. I have ATT and my buddy has Verizon. We both had the 650 at the same time for our respective carriers and we both had problems. My manager also has Verizon and has the 700p and has the same types of problems that both our 650s had. My buddy with Verizon who had the 650 has since upgraded to the 700wx and has not had the freezing problems from the 650s or 700p.

I also have another friend who is a Verizon store manager and got a 700wx for free and he likes it. I don't think he uses the PDA functionality of it though. If it were me, I would stay away from the 700p, but you can always test it out and then switch it to the 700wx if you have problems with the P.