Treo 650 opinions please

I'm thinking of getting a Treo 650, I'd appreciate hearing how people like
them?

How is the voice quality?

Can you access any POP e-mail server? The mention useless things like AOL
and Yahoo, I want to be able to get to my Comcast mail.

How well does the bluetooth work? I just got a new car with bluetooth
built in, that's my primary reason for wanting to get a new phone.

Can it talk to Evolution on Linux?

Does anyone know what the differences are, if any, between Sprints,
Verizon's and Cingulars Treos.

Are there any catches in Sprint's PCS Vision plans? The Sprint PCS Vision
Professional plan is only $15 a month, Verizon wants $49 for their web
access and Cingular want's $40 for web access on a Treo 650 (it's $20 for
regular phones). Does Sprint have a bunch of hidden costs, or is their web
access less capable?

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› See More: Treo 650 opinions please

The voice quality is fine.

I access my Comcast mail, work mail, .mac account and Gmail with the
VersaMail email client software on the Treo.

I use bluetooth to hotsync to my Mac, with a bluetooth headset, and to
connect to the handsfree in my car. It works well.

Sprint and Verizon's Treos are CDMA, Cingular's is GSM. You are correct
on the data plan pricing for Sprint and Verizon. Sprint is much
cheaper, and there are no hidden costs. The web access is improved over
previous phones, and if you're going to a site designed to download to
a wireless pda, it's pretty quick. Regular, graphics intensive web
pages are a pain in the butt.

[email protected] wrote:
> The voice quality is fine.
>
> I access my Comcast mail, work mail, .mac account and Gmail with the
> VersaMail email client software on the Treo.
>
> I use bluetooth to hotsync to my Mac, with a bluetooth headset, and to
> connect to the handsfree in my car. It works well.
>
> Sprint and Verizon's Treos are CDMA, Cingular's is GSM. You are correct
> on the data plan pricing for Sprint and Verizon. Sprint is much
> cheaper, and there are no hidden costs. The web access is improved over
> previous phones, and if you're going to a site designed to download to
> a wireless pda, it's pretty quick. Regular, graphics intensive web
> pages are a pain in the butt.
>

One other thing about the Sprint Vision plan: If you aren't into
downloading ringers and lame games, you can ask them to reduce the
$15/month Vision service to $10/Month, in exchange for dropping the (to
me, utterly worthless) monthly download credit. Depending on your plan,
there is a $5 or $10 download credit that expires each month.

General Schvantzkoph wrote:
> I'm thinking of getting a Treo 650, I'd appreciate hearing how people like
> them?


I've had mine since their release in November of '04, and have been very
happy with it.


> How is the voice quality?

Very good. the microphone on the Treo 650 is superb and picks up very
well, and the speaker is good too. I've used the phone with a wired
headset, bluetooth headset and "old school method" of actually holding
the phone up to your ear, and all modes work very well. I am partial to
using a headset though; one problem with PDA phones are they attract
"face gunk."

> Can you access any POP e-mail server? The mention useless things like AOL
> and Yahoo, I want to be able to get to my Comcast mail.

Yes you can. The included e-mail client software will pick up any POP
mail account, you just configure it appropriately.

> How well does the bluetooth work? I just got a new car with bluetooth
> built in, that's my primary reason for wanting to get a new phone.

Works wery well.

> Can it talk to Evolution on Linux?

Not unless Evolution has a conduit or client for Palm OS.

> Does anyone know what the differences are, if any, between Sprints,
> Verizon's and Cingulars Treos.

The primary difference is the Mobile Station Modem (MSM). On Verizon
and Sprint, the a CDMA 1xRTT MSM is in use for obvious reasons.
Likewise, the Cingular version is GSM/EDGE. Dtat throughput for each
should be about the same, however.

One other importance difference is that the CDMA versions (Sprint and
Verizon) have AGPS capability for location based services. Sprint
currently uses this for roadside assistance and enhanced directory
assistance services, as well as to facilitiate E-911. The GSM versions,
at least the ones for Cingular, do not have AGPS configured. This is
because Cingular intends to use a "non-GPS" based system for E-911
compliance (they plan on using a system that triangulates your location
using nearby cell towers).

Other than this, each version has some minor software changes that are
carrier dependent: the Cingular version will have Cingular splash
screens, while the Sprint version has Sprint splash screens, and so on.
The web browsers in each are modified so they reach their respective
carrier's online services homepages by default.

Otherwise, the software and hardware configurations are pretty much the
same. They will all run the same software and will for th most part
behave similarly.


> Are there any catches in Sprint's PCS Vision plans? The Sprint PCS Vision
> Professional plan is only $15 a month, Verizon wants $49 for their web
> access and Cingular want's $40 for web access on a Treo 650 (it's $20 for
> regular phones). Does Sprint have a bunch of hidden costs, or is their web
> access less capable?

Neither. Sprint is happy to let you use the $15/mo plan on the Treo
650. In fact, if you ask nicely, some Sprint reps will be happy to put
you on a discounted $10 per month unlimited usage Vision plan. The
speed and capability of a Sprint Treo 650 in terms of internet usage is
the same as that of a Treo 650 on Verizon or Cingular, and will actually
be faster than that of an unlocked GSM version of the Treo 650 on T-Mobile.

The only reason I can think of for the price difference is the opinion
of the carrier on how PDA usage affects their capacity. Verizon and
Cingular are of the mind (and are most likely correct) that PDA users
will use more data than a typical cell phone user, and thus should be
charged more. Sprint, however, seems content with the idea that while
PDA users will use more data, it won't be a detriment to other users,
and so they shouldn't be penalized.


--
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Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply.

>> Can it talk to Evolution on Linux?
>
>
> Not unless Evolution has a conduit or client for Palm OS.
>

It does via gpilotd.

> One other importance difference is that the CDMA versions (Sprint and
> Verizon) have AGPS capability for location based services. Sprint
> currently uses this for roadside assistance and enhanced directory
> assistance services, as well as to facilitiate E-911. The GSM versions,
> at least the ones for Cingular, do not have AGPS configured. This is
> because Cingular intends to use a "non-GPS" based system for E-911
> compliance (they plan on using a system that triangulates your location
> using nearby cell towers).

Have you used the GPS directory assistance? I assume that mean that I can
do things like look for nearby restaurants, is that correct?

Isaiah Beard wrote:
> Sprint, however, seems content with the idea that while
> PDA users will use more data, it won't be a detriment to other users,
> and so they shouldn't be penalized.

Only if the PDA runs the Palm OS. If it happens to run a Windows OS,
Sprint will penalize you.

--
John Richards

General Schvantzkoph wrote:
>>One other importance difference is that the CDMA versions (Sprint and
>>Verizon) have AGPS capability for location based services. Sprint
>>currently uses this for roadside assistance and enhanced directory
>>assistance services, as well as to facilitiate E-911. The GSM versions,
>>at least the ones for Cingular, do not have AGPS configured. This is
>>because Cingular intends to use a "non-GPS" based system for E-911
>>compliance (they plan on using a system that triangulates your location
>>using nearby cell towers).
>
>
> Have you used the GPS directory assistance? I assume that mean that I can
> do things like look for nearby restaurants, is that correct?

Yes, and get driving directions. Likewise, Roadside assist won't
require you to know here you are in order for them to find you.

Unfortuantely, 911 service still isn't as tightly integrated and in may
places, the cellular netowkr is perfectly capable of sending them
location data, but the local dispatch centers aren't capable of
receiving it. Amazing how fee-based services can adapt so quickly, but
911 can't.


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John Richards wrote:
> Isaiah Beard wrote:
>
>> Sprint, however, seems content with the idea that while
>> PDA users will use more data, it won't be a detriment to other users,
>> and so they shouldn't be penalized.
>
>
> Only if the PDA runs the Palm OS. If it happens to run a Windows OS,
> Sprint will penalize you.

Ah, that's true.



--
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How does SprintPCS penalize you if you're using Windows OS? I called
and they claim that the unlimited Vision plan applies to both PalmOS
and Windows Mobile devices.

I currently have a legacy Vision plan that included unlimited Vision...

Any hope on getting a linux pocket pc phone?

Yes, vision is unlimited, but if your phone runs the MS OS, they charge
you $15 more per month.