Comments on: Palm Treo 800w Review
The Treo 800w is Palm's first new Treo smartphone in over a year. Unlike its predecessors that were broadly aimed at the general prosumer category, the Treo 800w is squarely targeted at the business professional. As such, the Treo 800w packs in an array of features for the mobile road warrior combined with the IT friendly Windows Mobile operating system.
The CDMA powered device premiers on Sprint in the US. It is available now with a $250 debut price after the usual service agreements and rebates.
Read on for our detailed Treo 800w review.
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RE: Power, I need power!!!!
Don't you realize the Palm police & apologists are monitoring this (and every other) forum?
You don't NEED more battery power! You don't NEED a larger screen! You don't NEED more RAM! You don't NEED alternate formfactors!
What you should do is just cut your screen brightness way down, check e-mail once or twice a day, ignore the GPS & wi-fi functions on the 800w and simply curtail your usage. Palm has decreed that 1150mAh is ALL the power that we'll ever need and you're just going to have to learn to live with it.
:-)
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p
RE: Power, I need power!!!!
Not the issue, but the fanboy thing... :-)
http://tinyurl.com/2ooncg
RE: Power, I need power!!!!
Anyway, windows mobile and no earphones output... not for me
RE: Power, I need power!!!!
If you also set your phone to no roaming the battery life while short is more acceptable.
If you leave all of the radios broadcasting you won't get hardly any battery life at all. I only turn on what I'm using and I can last a while.
You can buy a battery online for 12 bucks or so and carry a spare,
Battery life
RE: Battery life
About the speed, I think most of it is directly software related. Sure these things could get optimized in a future rom update, but they seem to be caused by the combination of Microsoft apps and underpowered Palm hardware. Of course a more powerful chip would help ...Treo 800wx anyone?
RE: Battery life
This one has two,
1) piss poor battery life
2) wince OS
I guess I'll stick with my Curve.
RE: Battery life
curve? i played with a blackberry a few days ago. awful OS. one step up from a dumbphone. palm OS and WinMob might only have the intelligence of a teenager compared to the iPhone which is like a college professor, but the BB is like a 2 year old.
RE: Battery life
Because it all really boils down to this anyway - for a long time Palm has been sacrificing performance in exchange for "coolness" factor - I bet that this phone is the one that really catches them and gets 'em raked over the coals. The kids with the Fisher-Price Centros probably tolerated the battery life because with their short attention span they can just switch to their Nintendo DS or Xbox 360 while it charges.
But dropping such a lousy battery into a phone allegedly aimed at Enterprise customers is just a plain, stupid idea - especially with the addition of WiFi AND GPS. WTF are they smoking over at Palm?
Paying my annual PDA update tax to Palm since 1997.
RE: Battery life
First Palm smartphone with wi-fi? CHECK
First Palm device ever w/ integrated GPS? CHECK
Highest screen resolution of any Palm WM device ever? CHECK
Smallest battery capacity (tied w/ Centro) for any Palm smartphone ever? CHECK
You gotta love the beancounters at Palm! They giveth on one hand and taketh away on the other!
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p
RE: Battery life
Joad, "thin" and "small battery" don't have to be the same thing. My Samsung Blackjack II packs in a 1700 mAh battery while still being thinner than the 800w. It's just a matter of design. However, I suspect that part of what we're seeing may be economies of scale: it's cheaper for Palm to buy only one kind of battery for both the 800w and all the Centros, than it is for them to get an 1150 for the Centros and a proper 1500 mAh cell for the 800w.
RE: Battery life
RE: Audio
iPhone competition.....?
RE: iPhone competition.....?
Oh yeah, and submitting to the evil AT&T empire.......
Paying my annual PDA update tax to Palm since 1997.
RE: iPhone competition.....?
Gary
Tech Center Labs
RE: iPhone competition.....?
Gary
Tech Center Labs
Bluetooth hands-free, password locked?
I have a Treo 700p, and my biggest aggravation with it is this:
If I have any sensitive, personal information on the device whatsoever,
it makes sense to lock it with a password.
When you are using the Treo with a hands-free bluetooth device,
it will not originate a call without you entering the password
ON THE TREO! Certainly defeats the purpose of hands free, and very
dangerous, makes it essentially useless for placing calls while driving.
This stupid behavior, which I can't imagine anyone would want, can't
be disabled, except, of course by disabling your password when you
get in the car, cumbersome.
Anybody know if this same stupidity exists on this new 800w?
(or for that matter, if there's any update to fix this issue on the
Palm OS version)
Thanks,
Mike
800w or Pro w/Palm OS and Verizon Wireless
RE: 800w or Pro w/Palm OS and Verizon Wireless
Palm Treo 800w
RE: Palm Treo 800w
Another New Palm Treo 800w User's Take
I shopped the 800w against: iPhone, Samsung Epix, BlackBerry Storm.
Trē;o 800w User as of Monday 11/17/08.
My usages: Data and voice only. Occasional usage of the phone's Instant Messaging software. Rare usage of GPS, no usage of Bluetooth or WiFi. Email settings: 5 accounts at 10 minute intervals each. Full usage of Pocket Express for temperature readout on my Today screen. No usage of Microsoft Exchange Server functionality for email or Active Sync.
Upsides:
Bonnie Cha of CNET someone who is very candid in her reviews, gave this phone a good Thumbs-Up which is rare provided she's pretty much slammed Palm devices in the past for being out of date. She said that the keyboard is "a little bit stiff" but I didn't find that. (Her video article: http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/palm-treo-800w-sprint/4505-6452_7-33142476.html)
The 800w is my first touch-screen device and I like that particular functionality.
The WinMo 6.1 functionality is also impressive.
Overall I think the design and the functionality are very up to date.
Downsides (I have about 55 of them):
Battery Life: I agree with other people's fusses about the battery life. A full charge-up only takes about 90 minutes, but I've already decided to buy an extra charger for the office this after just one week. If I accidentally leave my Instant Messaging program open overnight and forget to plug-up before bed, the battery's almost dead by morning. As far as my email checks being the culprit, that's very possible but Palm needs to go and find out what BlackBerry is up to. Neither of my two BlackBerry handsets EVER gave me crap, and those things pushed every 10 minutes. In fact, I could definitely get away with not charging my BlackBerry every night. (No, Palm is not BlackBerry. I know. I'll shut up now.)
Power Cycling: In addition to the battery-life challenges we all face, the Trē;o 800w has no real "Power-the-Entire-Phone-Off" functionality. You hit the power-button and the cellular radio is the ONLY thing that shuts off thus putting your phone into what we'd call "airplane mode" in technical terminology. You want to power your phone ALL THE WAY OFF? Only one way to do it: take out the battery. That's it. Maybe they're trying to set a new technical trend in the cellular world, but I'm not sure doing it with a phone with battery-life problems is very essential.
Email: a testament to Microsoft's continued lack of logic. If I type in a contact name from the Today Screen and use the pull-down to select the option to send them an email, the phone literally forces me to use the "Outlook Email" account with no functionality to select an account first, nor any option to switch the account in-use once the email opens. I have to instead select the option (from the Today Screen) to open the contact, and then scroll down to the send-email option on that screen and then (and only then) will it ask me which account to use. (The "Outlook Email" functionality is only useful for people who have Microsoft Exchange Server resources. Since I don't, the only practical usage I'd get out of sending an email using "Outlook Email" is if I were plugged-up via USB to my computer in which case, what's the point? I could just type it out on my computer!)
Picture Messaging: a testament to Palm's, Microsoft's and Sprint's COMBINED lack of logic. This is something that they don't tell you in the User's Manual: the Palm Trē;o 800w has no out-of-the-box MMS functionality AT ALL. I didn't realize this until a couple of days of owning the phone when I was prompted to actually send a picture to someone. *SOLUTION* Be sure and go and have a webchat (don't call via phone) with Sprint Customer Service. I initiated a webchat with Sprint about this, and the rep IMed me a link to download some software (this is why I said don't call) that allows me to send what's called "Sprint PictureMail" to other devices. Luckily the software is integrated with the Trē;o's address book so that you don't have to write-down or remember phone numbers of your contacts to type-in manually. It is also integrated with your Pictures & Videos so that you can choose these options from within there. After sending a PictureMail to one of my friends (she uses TMobile), I called and asked, and she said that the message came through on her end as a "typical MMS message" without any instructions to go and download the picture from some website. The caveat is that other service providers would likely give instructions to go and download the pic from some Sprint website somewhere. (A note to Palm, Sprint and Microsoft why not benchmark your competition? Hmm?)
ActiveSync: a general pain in the (synonym for "donkey"). It does do its job very well. I now actually get USAGE out of my computer's Outlook program beyond "just-for-email". I now have a reason to use my Calendar and Contacts AND to put pictures onto those contact listings within Outlook. Once it syncs with my Trē;o, all of it carries over. BUT half of the time I connect my Trē;o to my computer, the ActiveSync doesn't pick up on it. If I restart my computer, that doesn't help. I have to restart my Trē;o (by removing the battery). But once the two entities REALIZE the other exists, it does a damn-good job. The caveat: don't try to use ActiveSync thru Bluetooth. It's an available option but put it this way, there are message boards on this subject alone. It's close to impossible.
Pictures for your Contacts: If you like putting pictures in your contacts go for it. But make sure that the pictures are SQUARE. Not landscape or portrait. If you don't, you'll still see the "full picture" in your contacts when you look at them, but when phone calls or SMS messages come in, the phone "crops" the pics to the center (square) portion of the picture chopping off the top/bottom or sides of the pic. Solution: just keep the pics square. That way it won't chop anything off at all. Also, if you use ActiveSync, you can use your computer's Outlook Contacts to manage your contact pictures instead of your Pictures & Videos functionality on your Trē;o.
Low Ringer Volume: Maybe I'm spoiled by hmm, EVERY LAST PHONE I'VE HAD BEFORE THIS PHONE. But I expect that if I have my Trē;o anywhere within listening distance, I should hear the thing ringing especially if the ringer volume is turned all the way up! Not the case with this phone. If I'm in the phone's settings and selecting my ringer indicators, they come out rather loud! But once it comes time for a real-life situation, it's rather quiet. I don't get that I'm just glad that I can program the thing to both ring and vibrate simultaneously while in "Ringer" mode (a Motorola function that spoiled me).
The Plug-In Port: a testament to Palm's faulty logic. Palm, shame on you for echoing HTC's shoddy logic by having a completely unheard-of plug-in port. "MicroUSB 2.0" is its name. What's wrong with this picture. Palm has 3.5mm plug-in ports for wired headsets on ALL of their models, INCLUDING the Trē;o Pro a phone that is NEWER than the Trē;o 800w. But when I Googled "MicroUSB 2.0",I find no one anywhere yet using this technology. They could have at least had the regular MicroUSB port already being used by BlackBerry and Motorola and many other brands. This is the definition of the world called "duh".
So sorry, Bonnie Cha I don't question your expertise but I disagree that Palm's done "a pretty good job with this phone" as you put it. But even though I have all of these gripes with my new Trē;o, I don't think any of them are strong enough for me to get rid of it. Every phone has its parts that we all hate. I'll just grow to get used to these ones.
RE: Another New Palm Treo 800w User's Take
The charger port broke... again. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. If I didn't say it in the last review, I had to fight with Sprint to have this handset replaced after just one week of owning it since the plug-in port would not pull a charge unless I propped the plug at an angle. It became a pain in the butt. And for $391 it is not worth it for me to continuously have to put up with this crap.
Other things - the software crashed and/or made the phone freeze multiple times per day - so much so, to the point it no longer pissed me off anymore. I just accepted it.
Secondly, the battery was dead so much to the point that my telling my friends "sorry my battery's dying I'll have to call you back" became common. You'd ask, why not just talk while I charge? That'd be fine if only it weren't for the fact that you can't talk on the phone while you're trying to prop the phone appropriately to accommodate a broken charger port.
Why not take it to get fixed? They'd only be able to fix the charger port - but wouldn't be able to do much for the phone freezing. It's a Windows phone... no matter how much you clear the Task List it's still going to freeze. Trying to pamper a Windows Mobile device like trying to get a dog to stop barking in a kennel. Not going to work.
I went on Craig's List, got a Treo755p from a private seller for $85 and it works just damn fine. Syncs perfectly with my contacts. Since it's a Palm OS and not a Windows OS it doesn't freeze. I'm learning to do without the Today Screen which, just like with any new phone with different specifications, YOU ADJUST TO.
Trust me - with what I went through with my Treo 800w... any change is welcome.
How do u compare MotoQ CDMA with Treo800w cdma?
I am debating whether to buy MotoQ EVDO or Treo800W EVDO.
Though I have seen the review of Moto Q & Treo800, I am still not able to decide as I have not actually used the two devices. Any of the users who may have used MotoQ & Treo800, pl advice if Treo800 for EVDO is a better choice or should I buy MotoQ?
Thanks in Adv
Asheet
RE: How do u compare MotoQ CDMA with Treo800w cdma?
I've used the Q and feel it's not that comfortable to hold and I cannot stand its lack of a touchscreen. I've used an 800w but not a Pro but the 800w's lack of a 3.5mm (or even 2.5mm) headphone jack + its mediocre 1150mAh battery capacity sort of doom it from the start.
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p
RE: How do u compare MotoQ CDMA with Treo800w cdma?
How do u compare MotoQ CDMA with Treo800w cdma?
Only if your life is on the line and you have something to live for. Sorry couldn't resist.
RE: How do u compare MotoQ CDMA with Treo800w cdma?
The "Q" has good battery life and, I think, a 3.5mm port. The Treo800w has neither. That's the only good thing I can say about the "Q".
The caveats: It has a shorter screen which is also a no-touch screen. Double-whammy. You learn to adapt, but if you actually come from a touch-screen phone then it can be a pain since you know what you're missing out on.
I'd recommend a "Q" if you come from a BlackBerry (excl. the Storm) but not if you come from a PocketPC device.
wasted CPU
It should do very well versus any Qualcomm in multimedia, and floating point calculations however.
Problem is nobody will probably take advantage of it because WinCE is so old it doesn't recognize or support any of the latest hardware advances, so effectively disabling and discourages multimedia acceleration.
Palm III -> Sony NR610C -> Sony NR70 -> Sony NX80 -> Palm T|X -> HTC Kaiser -> HTC Fuze
Palm Treo 800w in Europe
I'm a Palm Treo Pro here in EMEA. I was wondering if Palm will ever distribute the 800w in Europe.
If not, as the EVDO is not compatible with GSM cells, is there any chance to use the 800W, carrier free, in Europe ?
thanks!
. ale
RE: Palm Treo 800w in Europe
The 800w really has no tangible benefits over the Pro other than a larger, more comfortable keyboard, a few Palm WinMob customizations, and the rubberized exterior paint.
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->?
RE: Palm Treo 800w in Europe
I thought someone (pardon, can't remember his name) posted that the 800w had enabled some hardware acceleration and thus was considerably faster than anything out there w.r.t. graphics.
Is that no longer true?
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Power, I need power!!!!
The battery has not lasted me more than 9 hours, with what I consider light use. 30 minutes of phone talk time, set to check two email accounts at 30 minute intervals, and ten minutes on the web. leaving the charger at 8am, the battery was stone dead at 530pm.
Nice try Palm.