- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 19 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
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7 out of 7 people found this review helpful
3.0 stars
"Very nice to have myriad 'extras' but sometimes I just need it to be a good phone...."
Pros: Ability to use all of my existing Palm OS apps
Cons: Doesn't perform as a phone as well as my prior Nokia phone
Summary: I truly enjoy being 'down' to just one device, but I have to confess, my lowered expectations, have been met. I'm not unhappy, but neither am I 'over the moon' as I'd hoped to be with my 650.
I'm a long time Palm user going all the way to US Robotics PalmPilot. Along the way, I've also owned Palm OS devices from Handera, Handspring and Sony. I even owned and used for a short while the VisorPhone plug-in. When the 600 came out, I initially raced to go and hold one to see if I really could get down to one device. I was able to hold off because a) I wanted BT and b) the form factor, while nice, is a ultimately a 'net loss' for me. I'm a big guy with big hands. The prospect of trying to thumb dial on the Palm keyboard held no allure. Besides that, I was/am extremely proficient with Graffiti 1. I wasn't looking forward to losing that data entry capability.
When the 650 came out, I still held out waiting to see the critical reviews from press and early adopters. Reading about the memory issue, I felt vindicated by waiting. Ultimately I purchased and got down to business.
One of the first things I noticed was the the fact that the sound volume for the headset is simply too low. It's ridiculous that I have to adjust to maximum for each and every call, particularly when a) I have perfect hearing - or at least that's what the doctor says - and b) I never had to do this on any of my previous portable 'phones' I eagerly installed the recent patch on the hopes that, as advertised, it would fix/address. Didn't happen. I tried third party app that supposedly fixes, but no joy - at least in my experience. Moreover, why should I have to pay for an extra app to help the phone do what it's supposed to do?
Secondly, the Bluetooth implementation is neither as elegant or robust as it should be. After the initial pairing of a device, it should just work / be 'there' for all subsequent interactions. In my experience, sometimes this happens with the BT Headset...sometimes it doesn't. I've taken to either dialing my voicemail 'first' to make sure headset is 'recognized' and working or waving the phone around my ear on the hopes that BT Headset will recognize and connect. Interestly, I saw a special on some sports agent on ESPN yesterday. I immediately recognized he was wearing a Palm BT headset and likely using a 650. I had to chuckle when I saw him do the same 'ear wave' that I have to do to get the BT Headset to be recognized by the phone.
Thirdly, I can't ever recall throwing any of my previous phones in disgust. I've done that more times than I care to admit with the Treo. On several occasions, I've navigated to a contact, hit the green send key to dial a number, held phone to my ear waiting for connection only to realize that dialing did not initiate nor complete and phone is in some previous state. To be fair, I don't know if it's the carrier (TMobile), some bad interaction between the extra apps I've installed and the built-in phone app, or the device itself. Again, when I pushed 'send' on previous, phone-only device, it 'just worked.'
Finally, I followed the instructions to install the latest flash upgrade only to discover that I'd lost hundreds of contacts. Not sure why. Should I have backed up using a third party app. Probably. But again, tell me why I need to buy extra 'stuff' to do what the manufacturer says it's already covered with it's procedures? Fortunately, I'd backed up separately onto my wife's computer and I can 'selectively' reinstall the contact info I want via Outlook. Nothing like a periodic purge of your address book...g
Yes it's the best smartphone out there, and, no I won't go 'back' to a phone only solution. I guess for me, the NY Times review that suggested it was an 'awkard teenage' felt most right to me. It's long past it's 'baby steps' but it's far from being a mature, solution for the masses. In my view, in order for the device to really have a mass appeal, it needs to 'just work' The average user does not want to spend time understanding the arcane intricacies of the Palm, Symbian, MS or any other OS. When the manufacturers figure that out, we'll all be better for it.
Where to buy
Palm Treo 650 - silver (Unlocked):
$9.17
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$9.17 | Yes |
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