[jessep28]

I just received my Treo 700p today and have yet to open the box (had to leave). I am having second thoughts about buying the device in the first place and may just return the thing to Palm.

[gapost]

Do you want a response to your post? I think if you do, you ought to give us some reasons for your second thoughts.

[Christinac130]

Maybe he's just venting?

[gtwo]

What device do you have now?

[Forgewizard]

Let me second your second thoughts... save yourself some aggravation and get an HP Ipaq 69xx !

[jessep28]

lol...I guess you do deserve explanations:

1) It's my first smartphone purchase so I am a little apprehensive.
2) I have had poor luck fully utilizing past Palm/Handspring products (Palm III, Old Handspring Treo)
3) It's half the cost of a notebook which would essentially provide the same portible e-mail/web usage but in a more functional package. Albeit, it's not on-the-go.
4) This is the best time to return it no-hassle to Palm.
5) I still have that lingering "I should get the Blackberry" feeling..ha ha

[gapost]

It's a fact that the majority of people on a forum are the ones that have negative experiences. There are many more people who love their Treos than those that "hate" them.

If you start with a clean install and don't put a bunch of hacks and junk programs on your 700P, it is awesome. Yes, it has a couple of bugs (bluetooth, lag for some (not all)) but it can do so many things. If you mainly want email on the go and a little bit of Internet, in a smartphone device, get a blackberry. If you want an email device, steaming video and audio from the internet, mp3 and movie player, e-book reader, game player, etc, then get a Treo. For business docs and PIM, I can't really compare, but the Treo works great with Outlook and Word.

[rambo47]

1.) That's natural. They're expensive and can be intimidating as well. I believe Palm has the best operating system available for these things. Way better than Windows Mobile, IMHO.
2.) They've come a long way, baby!
3.) They're not really desktop/laptop replacements. On the go email is a great feature, especially if your moving around and need your mail in a timely fashion. Web browsing is do-able but doesn't compare to a laptop. The web is more for looking up stuff, getting directions, etc. For me, my Treo is first and foremost a contacts manager and calendar keeper. That's what I base my mobile device usage on.
4.) If you have buyers remorse, now's the time. Get your money back, no hassles, no fees.
5.) Remember that with a Blackberry you need a dedicated Blackberry Data Plan. Figure the price of one of those into your equation. Also think long and hard about a qwerty keyboard Blackberry (8700) vs. SureType (Pearl). It takes some getting used to and plenty of folks hate SureType. I've had a number of Blackberries and an equal number of Treos. My Treo 680 is the best thing I've had so far. My Blackberry Pearl is a distant second.

[johncc]

I just received my Treo 700p today and have yet to open the box (had to leave). I am having second thoughts about buying the device in the first place and may just return the thing to Palm.

You might be better off with this in the 700p forum if you want some user feedback.

[Tastypeppers]

Buy it. Don't be rational. If you want to be rational you won't buy a phone pricier than free. Get it for the fun aspect of it. Then magically and in little steps you will find ways it simplifies your life. And a few ways in which it makes your life more complex.

It is important not to use your brain for thinking.

[jessep28]

You might be better off with this in the 700p forum if you want some user feedback.

I know it's a good device and the pros/cons vs. the Blackberry. I have researched this extensively.

It's just I'm questioning my overall need for the Treo.

[Christinac130]

Your need for a Treo is how much you utilize it. You'll find once you start playing with it and using it, it becomes indispensible. The Treo can do soooo much. Once you master one thing, you'll want to learn something new...

A day doesn't go by that I don't pick mine up at least 50 times...

[davidra]

Let me second your second thoughts... save yourself some aggravation and get an HP Ipaq 69xx !

Sure...if you want a low res screen, and low download speeds....much slower than EVDO, and I'll gladly trade that for wifi anytime. Oh, and you get to use Windows Mobile. Get the Treo. Mine has been no problem and has vast capabilities.

[longterm]

I just received my Treo 700p today and have yet to open the box (had to leave). I am having second thoughts about buying the device in the first place and may just return the thing to Palm.

I realize that I'm risking the wrath of the Treo squad here (I own a 700p), but if I were you I'd wait until June and consider the iPhone.

I was at MacWorld Expo and saw the demo; the form factor is great, but the thing that makes this device so incredible is the user interface. It's like nothing anyone has ever used, on any platform. I've had a 650, and now the 700p, and I like my Treo, but sitting in the keynote and watching this device's demo, I felt like I was holding a 5-pound brick!

I'm sorry guys, I know I'm a Treo Turncoat, but I just can't recommend the 700p anymore.

[davidra]

I just don't see how they compare at all. I totally agree the Treo is a brick, but what about the iPhone compares to the Treo in terms of business function or use of a variety of apps (which you know isn't going to be the case with the iPhone)? And how long do you want to wait for EVDO speed, since the best it will do with Cingular is Edge....I'm keeping an open mind, but I just don't see the same usage for both devices....

[bclancy]

I'd say at this point you should use your "phone" trial period to emperically see how the treo 700p might "fit" you. If you give as much energy as you can muster into looking around at apps that you might use, and downloading trials of those, you'll come a long way at the end of your trial towards answering your own question. I'd like to commend you for askng for help here. TreoCentral is changing a bit lately, with many users having transitioned to windows treos or to other phones, the message volume is a little lighter (although still very brisk) and more and more new and potential users (such as yourself) are visiting and deciding. We're a pretty hard-core bunch, and we expect intiiative on the part of all users, but you've indicated you've done research and now you need to interact to get help in making a decision. Welcome to TC!

I think your next step (if you decide to go ahead and trial the 700p) would be to browse some lists of existing software programs to see if anything really strikes a chord as being useful or revolutionary to you. Personally, I think browsing software titles is best done on http://mytreo.net. (Their user community is not as hard-core, and a lot more chatty, so you'll probably find it harder to search existing threads for answers there than here, but you should join over there and ask some questions too, as there are many users who do not regularly frequent both sites.)

After browsing what's available, now sit down and think about how you might use a treo (both the same and differently from a laptop). Personally, I use my laptop a *lot* but I have many apps that span both devices, and that gives me the ability to do things like check my email, look up contacts and appointments, etc in meetings where i don't always get an internet connection. (I've even used PdaNet and with my laptop to get an internet connection, and then VPN'ed back into the work network a couple of times.) Another very useful program is googlemaps. You can get turn by turn directions with a device suction cupped to your windshield. You would not want to do that with a laptop. Finally, there are things you start doing that you never did before: I check my email before leaving for work without having to unpackage and open up the laptop. I often use a program named "PdaReach" to see my email on my treo on my laptop screen rather than running an email client. PdaReach is also a nice way to sometime "cut and paste info (like a license key) from your PC to your PDA or vice-versa.

I'm picturing you as a "single-phone" (non family plan) user. If so, you can get the 700p for $350 on http://sero.sprint.com (hopefully I got the URL right.) You'll have to find the email address of a Sprint employee. (Go to a store and ask for a business card, check for an email address on that. It should be there. If not, ask for the manager's business card.) You can also go to sprintusers.com's discussion board and ask for a referral. Someone would probably give you their email address. If you find you like the treo after reviewing, but the price was too high for what you might use it for, then maybe a $350 device with $30/month service will be enough for you to change your mind. For now, go ahead with the evaluation process and see how the chips fall.

Lastly, please feel free to write (essay style is OK) about how you might want to use the device and we can then guide you with some feedback. This will make the eval process much more efficent and will save you some time from downloading sh***y programs.

Best of luck, welcome again to TC.
--
Bob

PS: If you signed up with Verizon, continue the trial, but definitely go with Sprint *(unless Sprint has poor data coverage in your area). Sprint is a *lot* cheaper!

[jessep28]

I am already a Sprint customer so the SERO plans are unavailable to me.

That is a good point regarding giving myself time to see what the Treo can do. I am coming from the ordinary cell phone market and that's all I know. I only was able to sample the Treo at the store when it was tethered to a display.

[longterm]

I just don't see how they compare at all. I totally agree the Treo is a brick, but what about the iPhone compares to the Treo in terms of business function or use of a variety of apps (which you know isn't going to be the case with the iPhone)? And how long do you want to wait for EVDO speed, since the best it will do with Cingular is Edge....I'm keeping an open mind, but I just don't see the same usage for both devices....

Well, here's my theory, and since the iPhone is still off in the mist somewhere, that's all it can be, a theory:

For me, the core apps that I use everyday are phone, contacts, calendar, notes, email, and web; in addition, I follow a few stocks, check the weather from time to time, and use SplashShopper, which I really love.

According to Jobs' keynote speech, all of these are available on the iPhone, with the exception of SplashShopper--and I'll really miss it. At the same time, this is a 1st-gen release, so I fully expect this feature set to be expanded as time goes by.

As much as I've enjoyed puttering on the Treo and trying different software, I also see its open architecture as its Achilles heel. The very feature that Treo users brag about has also caused endless trouble (although I still maintain that Palm's built-in software--particularly Blazer--are a big part of the problem). Apple's apparently planning to put some games on the iPhone as well, although that's not something that I plan to use very often.

In addition, it'll have SMS text messaging--not as good as IM, which I fully expect to be forthcoming soon, if not in the first release.

So what's not businesslike about this? Most of the business-related uses I have for a smartphone revolve around a) a to-do list, b) a calendar, c) a contacts db, d) stocks, e) messaging, f) email, and g) getting on the web.

The Treo's web browser stinks, in my opinion; I use it all the time, but don't care for it. To be able to view a web page in its actual style and format is something I look forward to; to be able to post to forms without using the awful Blazer interface will be a welcome treat for me. To be able to develop PHP web apps (which I do all the time) and use them on my iPhone will be incredible. I can't do this on the Treo; it's just too unwieldy in its present state.

Of course I haven't mentioned the built-in iPod and video capabilities either; the Cover Flow album browser is amazing, and it's incredible to watch on the iPhone demo.

Now I know I'm a Mac fanboy, and I know this is the Treo forum, but smartphones are a part of my life now that won't go away, just as laptops are. I think that, if Palm wants to stay in the game, they need to look long and hard at their competition, and copy the good stuff. Multi-touch, which the iPhone uses, isn't an Apple innovation, although they're the first to come to market with a commercial product that uses it. There's an incredible video presentation of multitouch at this link

http://www.ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalks....cfm?key=j_han

that shows multitouch on a large touch screen. I truly believe that this technology is the wave of the future, and will be the way all handhelds work in the near future. You should all watch this video; it's nothing short of amazing--it's not Mac, it's not PC, it's something completely different, and blew me away when I watched it.

I think the iPhone's form factor and feature set are going to redefine business smartphones; call me crazy (and I'm sure some of you already are!) but I think it's exactly what I, as a computer consultant and studio musician will use as a business tool every day.

But regardless of whether you agree with me, you really should watch that video; it's truly amazing to watch.

Bob

[Christinac130]

You have to admit, you should at least open the box and check it out...

[bclancy]

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but:
- Let's adresss the OPs current needs, which involves helping to find which set of apps might make the treo 700p a useful device.

Longterm: Your suggestion to consider holding out for the iPhone was a good one, and I too hold much hope for that device, but let's keep this thread on-topic and keep the discussion of the iPhone where it belongs.

jessep28:
If you are interested in considering the iPhone, we have a forum where
this device is talked about:
http://discussion.treocentral.com/fo...play.php?f=149
The iPhone promises to be an interesting device which you should
consider if your current contract ends around June or shortly thereafter.