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11/26/2006, 11:40 AM
#1
I was very excited when I received the e-mail from Palm that the 680 was being released. I got my 650 about two years ago and have loved the device ever since. However, I have had some issues with resets and, more importantly, sound quality on my 650 lately so I was interested in looking at the new device. Now, I won't go into a full review here because everyone likes and looks for different things in a device such as this so, I'll just give my opinions on some areas of interest.
First off, I have been a long time Motorola fan. The ability to make and receive a quality phone call is by far the most important thing to me when shopping for a cell. In my area, I have always had good experiences with Moto handsets over Nokia and Panasonic. However, my company is mainly internet driven and I found I needed to be able to check e-mail and my extranet on the road. So, I ended up buying a 650. I have always had a Palm Pilot so I was familar with the PDA functions. The sound quality had me on edge. Anyway... long story short... I liked the sound quality of the 650. Recently, though, I have had some mic trouble as well as static.
I went to my local Cingular store and picked up my 680 (had several in stock) and paid my $199 ($299 w $100 mail-in rebate). Now, I know the 680 is more of a lateral move than an "upgrade" to the 650 but I liked the things they changed. The new form factor is very comfortable in the hand and feels more like a "candy bar" cell phone than the 650 (which was like holding a piece of toast up to your ear). My initial reaction was that the new form factor reminded me of the BlackBerry model that looks like a cell phone (forget the model name/number). I LOVE that the antenna is internal making it more pocket and belt friendly. The smaller battery and plastic stylus also subtracted from the weight again making it a tad more pocket friendly. I also appreciated how they squared off the keys on the keyboard a bit more making them a smidge wider and easier to type on than the 650.
I am disappointed in the stylus though. Its a flexi-plastic with a metallic tip. Granted its lights but not nearly as solid in the hand as the 650's. Of course, I can probably buy a replacement stylus that is a bit more solid.
The device was very easy to set up and all my 650 info (contacts, memos, calander, etc.) synced without issue. I even put on Docs-To-Go 9.0 which I bought while I had the 650. No crashes or conflicts. I don't have a lot of 3rd party apps so I can't speak too much for conflicts... yet. I do like that they included FileZ on the install CD as well as some other programs. Haven't delved too much into them yet. And I haven't found much of a need for the Butler program... yet. E-mail was easy to set up as well and I download e-mail a tad faster than on my 650. I find switching between apps is painless and zippy, possibly due to the increased on-board RAM.
Web surfing still works well. I have always used the enclosed Blazer browser. I did several speed tests on dslreports.com/mspeed and I am averaging 200kb/s. Better than my 650 with usually peaked around 150kb/s. Granted, I haven't stuffed my Treo yet with anything to really bog it down.
Setting up Bluetooth was just as painless. I sync via bluetooth to my laptop and had no issues or errors. Also, setting up my BT headset (Plantronics Discovery 640) was a breeze and the call quality is good (no static).
Now... onto my big "hot button" issue (everyone has one)... call quality. I was sceptical about the call quality with the internal antenna but it is by far better than my 650... especially toward the end of my 650's life. The sound quality is really, really impressive. Probably impressive enough to say this is the best sound quality I have ever had from a cell phone. I made 10 calls yesterday and only one person (my sister) could tell I was on a cell... not because of the sound quality but because she could hear that I was in a store and there was a lot of background noise (of course, why I decided to go to Best Buy on Black Friday Weekend is beyond me).
The one thing that will take some getting used to is that they moved the buttons around a bit. The menu/application button (for the drop-downs within apps) is now in the bottom right. No big deal... just need to re-train my fingers. Also, they changed the menu-ing on the phone screen to make accessing favorites easier. The interface is a lot friendlier than the phone interface on the 650 but will again take a tad of adjusting. Most everything else (like the messaging interface) just a slight facelift but with no real design changes... just cosmetic.
Overall, I would state again that the 680 is more of a lateral move from the 650 as opposed to an all out upgrade. I agree with the TC review that Palm is looking more to convert "regular" cell phone users to the smartphone world. With the nice 680 form and $199 after-rebate price, they might just snag a few. If I wasn't having the sound quality issues on my 650, I might not have purchased the 680 at all. However, I am very glad I did. It certainly has a nicer form factor, a cleaner interface, and amazing call quality (IMHO). I would certainly recommend this device to anyone looking for a new cell whereas the 650, I would really only recommend to business users.
Drew
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Originally Posted by drewdgr
