My only gripes is that it’s an NVFS device, which is the cause of many problems with regards to stability, memory, crashes, etc. Had it not been an NVFS, it would have been so amazing.

Now that it’s my main phone, yes, it has become my main brain since I do a lot of stuff with it.

_Q_ wrote:

The one negative (for some of us) is that that device doesn’t have 850 mHz, which some of us (namely US users) need. Some US areas may only have 1900, but unless you spend almost all of your time in those areas, you’re putting blinders on both for phone and Internet/email use.

Yeah thats really the only problem with this device.

MitchellO wrote:

I just bought a Sony Ericsson M600i. Builtin thumboard, QVGA Touchscreen, 3G (UMTS) and pretty good one handed operation. Perfect size as well. Excellent size for both a phone and a PDA. Well done Sony

http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg6840smalluz9.jpg

The one negative (for some of us) is that that device doesn’t have 850 mHz, which some of us (namely US users) need. Some US areas may only have 1900, but unless you spend almost all of your time in those areas, you’re putting blinders on both for phone and Internet/email use.

http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg6840smalluz9.jpg

Julie wrote:

meledi:

I’m still using the Treo 650 as my main phone and PDA. I’ve had ‘affairs’ with other phones, but I keep coming back to it because it does everything I need. Now the only thing I need to make it pretty much perfect is to find the best bluetooth headset for me. So I’m on a hunt. I’ve reviewed one so far and am testing another one right now. Let’s just say that my quest continues…

The continuing dearth of new Palm OS PDAs is forcing me to consider getting a smart phone. But still, he hesitates. Why does he stand there on the sidelines, not moving, only thinking?

I don’t like thumbpads. It a personal thing: two fingers on my left hand dont work well. Them bitty keypads are a pain.

That there Treo thing looks too wee bitty to be a goodsized PDA (My ol’ Zodiac has a 480×320 screen, by thunder!), and too durn big to be a phone.

I can’t grafitti on the screen? Oh, wait; I can with an add-on? OK, then.

One SD slot. *One* SD slot? But my Zodiac has two, and I have two 2Gb cards. Oh, the bliss!

Now that I’m done ranting, some questions: On some palm devices, the higher-density SD cards are troublesome because of the Fat 32 vs. Fat 16 issue. I presume the same is true on the Treo. 27Mb of available non-volatile RAM ain’t a whole lot, so I’ll be putting a lot of stuff on cards. Has anyone run a 4Gb card with the Fat32 hack on a Treo?

I have logitech bluetooth headphones *with* a transmitter. I was wondering whether said transmitter could be used with a standard bluetooth earpiece on the Treo. My transmitter would appear to have quite a bit more range than the Treo’s internal transmitter, and that would help from running the Treo’s battery down by using the bluetooth. Any guesses?

Finally, remapping buttons. I know there is an unassigned button on the Treo. Could one reassign, say, the volume buttons to perform another function in a particular app? In eReader, it would be cool if the rocker button enable page up and page down.

Thanks,

Doug

Just in case anyone is interested. I can also watch movies on my Treo 650 using Pocket DVD Studio and Kinoma Player/Producer. Of course it requires at least a 512 memory card for 1 movie but if you can invest in 1gb or even a 2gb you can carry several movies with you. It’s pretty cool!

I’m still using the Treo 650 as my main phone and PDA. I’ve had ‘affairs’ with other phones, but I keep coming back to it because it does everything I need. Now the only thing I need to make it pretty much perfect is to find the best bluetooth headset for me. So I’m on a hunt. I’ve reviewed one so far and am testing another one right now. Let’s just say that my quest continues…

Glennjh wrote:

Can you use Media net to connect to your isp? 19.95 a month beats the pda connect amount.

Media Net won’t reliably work for the Treo. Thinking the same way Julie did, I used to have it (had it on the phone before the Treo, bought my Treo directly from Palm at the Roadshow, and switched the SIM) and got huge overage charges when I started using the Treo. Had to step it up to the PDA Connect level. Media Net is designed for more basic phones with smaller screens that are only getting WAP (text-based) pages, as compared to HTML like the Treo or other PDAs. YMMV, as Julie’s case indicates, but it didn’t work for me.

Also, they can identify the model of phone by the IMEI (one of the serial numbers). It’s printed on the label under the battery, and also available from the phone screen (Menu + I will bring it up). It’s also transmitted to the network for calls and data traffic.

There is a 29.99 plan for 10 Mb, which may be a better bet if you’re not doing that much email or web browsing.

1. I have found the display to be just fine for ebook reading. The display is bright and clear. I use ereader and it doesn’t bother my eyes at all.

2. I have an iPod, so I don’t use the Treo to listen to music. That said, audio quality is really good. Yes, you can do other things while music is playing. If the phone rings while music is playing, the playing stops and the call answering screen is displayed.

3. There isn’t a voice recorder app built in, but there is at least one I’ve seen that allows you to create voice recordings and record phone conversations.

4. I think this is what you’re looking for:
http://www.seidioonline.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=7

Glennjh:
Media Net is what I use. As long as Cingular doesn’t realize that you have a smartphone, you can use it just fine You don’t connect to your ISP though, Cingular becomes your ISP. You can use it for surfing, emailing, IM’ing etc.

I still use Today (I need to update my gear diary). You gotta love freeware:
http://www.freewarepalm.com/utilities/today.shtml

I use my Treo more now that I’m with Cingular. The signal strength is better than with Verizon. I love the Treo and am glad I got another one.

Hiya, one and all! I’m in the market soon for a new phone, and I’m considering the 650 to replace my old flip-phone and my Clie TH55. I wanted to ask some questions, though, of some heavy PDA users regarding the 650:

1. If you read a lot of ebooks, how have you found the 650 compared to other Palm PDAs? I read ALL THE TIME on my TH55 (probably primary usage of it). Is the quality (backlighting, color, crispness, etc) just as good? I know resolution is smaller, but is the pixel-size also smaller? Any specific impressions from any long-time ebook readers?

2. How is the MP3 (or whatever format digital music) playback? Julie: I think you mentioned in your review that the phone only had a mini-headphone jack. Have you (or anyone else) tried using the 650 as an mp3 player? Can you play music while doing other palm things? And what happens when a phone call comes in while playing music?

3. Is there a voice recorder? I don’t remember seeing it on the specs, so I’m guessing not, but I thought I’d specifically ask

4. Are there any wired remotes for headphones that would interface with the 650? In particular, to be able to at least mute the line (any generic wired remote would probably do this), and possibly additional functions (like next track, pause, etc.)

Thanks, one and all!

I’m still waiting for the all-in-one end-all device*, but it’s not quite here yet, so I’ll keep hoping and just keep upgrading.

-Danimal

* Phone + HD-based mp3 player (multiple GB) + decent digital camera (at least 3MP with some basic camera functions: flash, 2x-3x optical zoom, etc) + PDA
I remember a few years back posting on this forum this very “wish gadget”, and thinking how far off it was. Now it seems oh-so-close.

Thanks for your great article on the Treo 650. The article helped me make the decision to finally make the jump to a new piece of gear! I’m on the Verizon network and I ordered the the 650 5 days ago. It just arrived today! I’ll be sure to post my experiences with the Verizon network.

I have a question. In the article, you mentioned that PalmOne was providing a free 128MB SD card to Treo 650 customers. I checked the PalmOne site and I couldn’t find where to sign up for the card. Could you point me in the right direction?

Thanks, Phil…

If you’re using a “hacked” 650 like Julie’s, it’s probably best to check with those sources before installing any version of the updater, especially for ones like this that have carrier-specific settings.

http://kb.palmone.com/SRVS/CGI-BIN/WEBCGI.EXE?New,Kb=PalmSupportKB,ts=Palm_External2001,case=obj(38344)

Review of the U71 will follow the week I come back from vacation I’m going to use it as my travel computer.

Lars:
Before I turned on the dataplan, I had no problems with extra charges because I couldn’t get the phone to use my regular minutes for surfing. That said, I have a hacked Sprint phone… Maybe that’s why it didn’t work? I know Verizon had a lot of trouble turning on the data plan for me on this phone…

Julie wrote:

swturski:
I haven’t used my data plan hardly at all, but don’t plan on deciding to dump it until after my vacation is over next week. I want to use the Treo as a modem for my Sony U71.

Julie, if you do dump the data plan, after your vacation, I would really appreciate your comments as to how that affects utility and billing for the Verizon Treo 650.

You say you are hardly using your data plan at all and yet Verizon seems to be telling me you can’t help but use it, incurring 4-figure bills if you don’t have the data plan. I don’t want that to happen to you but this is an issue that cries out for further explanation and, I hope, some solution to the problem. Nobody wants to throw an extra $45 – or worse – down the drain every month when heavy data use is not what the phone was purchased to do. I do understand that it CAN be used that way, and that’s nice, but it would be a real extravagance for someone like me – and like you, too, I believe you said earlier – who spends most of his or her day in an office with a desktop computer.