[prospero]

Perhaps its time to reinvigorate this board by coordinating some action against Handspring. It should be clear to everyone by now that the Treo 300 had very significant design flaws. Not only has everyone been affected by multiple unit replacements due to failing displays and flawed batteries, now a whole generation of these units (probably all of them) have lids that break at the hinge. After 5 units replaced, resulting in tremendous personal time loss that easily exceeds what I paid for this phone by 5X, I am now faced with a broken hinge and an "out of warranty" situation. It's obvious that this is the result of an inadequate design, weak plastic and flawed manufacturing... not in any way due to "abuse" of the product.

Why should we (the early adopters that got this company off the ground) accept this crap ? It's time for Handspring (now PalmOne) to be accountable for these problems by either replacing these failed units with ones that can stand-up to ordinary use, upgrade users at no cost to 600's (if that's a solution) or refund the money we paid for these flawed products.
Class actions suits have been formed over far lesser issues, and if PalmOne elects to ignore its loyal (and patient !!!) customers, it deserves to pay the price in litigation, lower market share and a hit to its share price. Are we ready to be heard, and to act if no resolution is forthcoming from this company ?

Let's hear from this community of forward thinking users, and be sure that if your 300 has not broken yet it is just a matter of time before you are really a member of the "club".

[rolltide6]

Your sense of entitlement is amazing.

[Felipe]

Zzzzzzzzzzzz.

[prospero]

All one has to do is read the comments on this board from many 300 users to know the truth about these manufacturing flaws. If we expect any resolution, there must be a show of hands which is the purpose of the poll. Perhaps if enough people comment or express an opinion, we can get their attention on these legit and well documented problems. Or do you recommend that we simply rollover and accept these problems as "tough luck ?

Perhaps, working together and with this polling data, Handspring will wake up to the fact that they have responsibility for pushing a flawed product into the market without adequate quality control and testing. I will be interested to hear others comments.

[jimn367]

But who should they compensate?
There are a lot of people who lunged at free and $99 treos after rebates. I personally see many people who thought they were going to buy a 300 at a steal and think that if they complained enough they'd get a 600 for free.

This is the downside of tying your PDA and phone together. Another is your PDA is tied to a service contract and you can't upgrade till the contract is over. Yet another is it is more difficult to sell your old one to a co-worker on the bulletin board.

It is incumbant upon the buyer to research the several hundred dollar device they are buying. Before I ordered my 300 from Amazon I went to the local Sprint store to check out the goods. I was warned by CS agents about the poorly designed lid and battery life. I also did searches of the net for reviews and opinions.
I either had to:
1) Ignore all advice and buy the device knowing and accepting it's flaws
2) Wait for the device for me to come along

***I wonder what the early adopter in me chose***

Bottom line is the 300 was state of the art when it came out and has all of the requisite flaws of a system where tradeoffs had to be made. Want something more durable - the 6135 was already available. The sales point was keyboard, small, and color.

There are issues with all products pushing technology. The Samsung i500 has flaws, the i300 had flaws, the 6135 had flaws, and the Audiovox Thera had some limitations as well. Did you see the recall on the 7135 batteries? Did your treo catch on fire?

If you don't like the rules of being an early adopter, then don't be one. One thing is for sure in the PDA and cell phone industry - Last year's star is today's $99 special on Amazon. Right now you can get a refurb XDAII for free after rebates.

Accept that being an early adopter is a measure of hobby, geekiness, and ego. Think of all the times the treo did something that you had never been able to do before and learn the lessons.

I for one would never get an i500 because there is no card to back up to, and that is unsatisfactory. That is the lesson I learned.

All in all I liked my treo.

[Islander]

I liked my 300 for over a year...and now I have been liking my 600 even more. I treated my 300 like a piece of fragile electronic gear and it made it all the way.

[aarons12]

count me another geek who has had a 300 for over a year and a half, worst thing i can say is that a little of the paint has started to come off at the corners. for all that it does, the treo has made a huge difference in my electronic life.

[treo1]

I purchased my 300 on day one, or close to it. Paid 500.00 for it and loved it.
Took great care of it, and even with that dropped it twice!
All it had after 14 months of use, was small scratches on the corners, so small I sold it for 250.00 right before the prices came crashing down.
All in All a good device.

[Peter Ace]

My 500 dollars is very important to me and if I could get them to return my money and cancel my contrat I would. I don't know what any of you think my entitlement is but I think it is for a working item regardless of price. Obviously there is something wrong in my case 2 bad ones in a row that is outrageous.

Peter

[jimn367]

I don't believe that you could possibly have paid 500 dollars and still be under contract. Not possible.

Sprint has had a standing $200 rebate on treo 300s for at least a year now, and there's no way you signed a long term contract without some benefit coming back to you.

Treo 300s have been available at $149 or less for over a year from Amazon.

Everybody on the planet, including Sprint has been giving people warnings about the treo 300 for a long time:
1) bad battery life
2) weak hinges

If you are still undercontract it's because you switched plans... which is YOUR problem

Additionally, Handspring and Sprint offered discounted 600s to people when the product launched. You had your chance.

[Peter Ace]

Jim,

I dont know who you ar working for...I paid for my treo..I have the receipts to prove it. Out of the kindness of their hearts Sprint gave me 300 toward the bill if I activated...I did what was told...are you trying to say I am not entitled to a working device and good service..with respectable support....Are you saying if these things arent met I am not entitled to my mony back..and out of the contract?

Make yourself clear...are you supporting Handspring or Sprint or both..The reviews I read were good. So much for reviews.OK, I will repect the 2 year contract but what has sprint gained. I am pretty high profile. You should see the look on peoples faces when I show them this piece of Junk. Now you are implying I should have known better...buyer beware.

Peter

[Tyndall]

i have had my t300 for 14 months with virtually no complaints. I will continue to use my 300 until it won't work anymore. this is the greatest invention since sliced bread.

[treofreako]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by prospero
Perhaps its time to reinvigorate this board by coordinating some action against Handspring. It should be clear to everyone by now that the Treo 300 had very significant design flaws. Not only has everyone been affected by multiple unit replacements due to failing displays and flawed batteries, now a whole generation of these units (probably all of them) have lids that break at the hinge.

Umm....excuse me, but not *everyone* has been affected by *multiple unit replacements*. I've had my 300 for nearly a year, take care of it as I should, and haven't had a single issue. My 300 is in mint condition.

After 5 units replaced, resulting in tremendous personal time loss that easily exceeds what I paid for this phone by 5X, I am now faced with a broken hinge and an "out of warranty" situation. It's obvious that this is the result of an inadequate design, weak plastic and flawed manufacturing... not in any way due to "abuse" of the product.

"Out of warranty," eh? How about the *very* reasonable replacement plan that is available to all Treo owners? I can't begin to fathom how people are wililng to pony up hundreds of dollars up-front for the LATEST technology, but then shy away from dropping a buck a week to protect that investment.

Why should we (the early adopters that got this company off the ground) accept this crap ?

Umm....do you REALLY think that WE got this company off the ground? If Handspring's developers, engineers, etc. hadn't developed a product that was innovative and unique in its class, and offered features that no other product on the market could boast, none of us would've bought it...and the company wouldn't have gotten off the ground. End of story.

It's time for Handspring (now PalmOne) to be accountable for these problems by either replacing these failed units with ones that can stand-up to ordinary use, upgrade users at no cost to 600's (if that's a solution) or refund the money we paid for these flawed products.
Class actions suits have been formed over far lesser issues, and if PalmOne elects to ignore its loyal (and patient !!!) customers, it deserves to pay the price in litigation, lower market share and a hit to its share price. Are we ready to be heard, and to act if no resolution is forthcoming from this company ?

What a litigious web we weave, Prospero. Get yourself a hobby; maybe purchase a good ol' reliable abacus...ya know, something that won't *break*. And the next time you get the urge to buy the latest and greatest technological gadget, either do the sensible thing and get some kind of insurance/replacement plan for the unit, or learn to deal with the fact that there are sometimes growing pains that come with being the "very first" to own something. Most of us on this board can acknowledge that there are some design flaws inherent on the 300, but to DEMAND either your money back or a free upgrade to the 600 is nothing less than a bloated sense of entitlement.

I wish you, the attorney stoned enough to take on your "case," and the simpleminded fools who would jump on this sad little bandwagon the best of luck in your class action suit.

[Peter Ace]

Treofreako...I give up...you are right...expexting a working product is jst too much...what was I thinking...Gee...I have a perfectly working visor...a perfectly working phone...I dont know A combo was out of the question.You straightened me out...

Peter

[rarebird]

Ace, the Treo 300 has worked for me for 15 straight months now. I basically paid nothing for the unit. Sprint credited my account for $150 to sign a 1 year agreement on the 2500 minute plan the week of Thanksgiving 2002. I also got a rebate for $100. Customer service then credited my account an extra $35 to activate the unit. I then sold my 1 year old Handera for $125. I paid $368 (including tax) for a brand new Treo 300 at a Microcenter in Long Island, NY. I never had a hinge or connection problem in NYC. True, the battery became the pits. So, I recently bought a new battery and replaced the old one. If this unit lasts me 2 years, I'll be thrilled. I enjoyed my Treo 300, but I think the unit is still way overpriced, along with the Treo 600. Lack of an SD slot in the Treo300 doesn't bother me because there are so few good palm applications to begin with that I can't even fill up the 20MB Ram/Flash I get (with Jack Flash/Jack Sprat) . Surfing the Web has been great. And I really like the comfort and sound of my Plantronics headset. Get a Treo 90. That's a much better handheld than the Treo 300.

[annarae00]

Yes I am so angry too at the lid problem and at the total lack of sympathy I have encountered with 99% of Sprint and Handspring employees with whom I have spoken to/corresponded with!! I'm with you Prospero!! I'm on your team, ask me and I'll do it. I'd really like to throw this broken P.O.S. into the store window, since it is doing me no good anyways! The first thing to go bad on my replaced treo 300 was the earpiece jack. Then the lid breaks off at five months, just like the first one. The Sprint store tells me yes there is "a known hinge problem", but MY particular problem isn't under warranty!! It's crap!! And now I am facing the issue of only being able to use the Equipment Replacement Program (aka BS Program) twice a year or get dropped. I'm so angry....I guess my $500.00 US dollars mean nothing to them.

What are we going to do?

[Peter Ace]

Rarebird...I am sincerely happy you are happy....I have my third treo and so far I am happy...that is ...The question is what are our expectations...Should I expect less because sprint gave me 300 of my bill?...What good is it if the product doesn't work...So...I now have a working Treo...I feel so bad I will not renew my contract with Sprint at any cost.


Peter

[prospero]

Please see the discussion in the T600 hardware:

"How many times have you had to replace your Treo 600?"

It would appear that our T600 brethren have just as many problems, and in a recent discussion I had with a Sprint Technician he revealed that there continues to be a huge wave of 600 defects that is the cause of the inventory shortages that are widely discussed. What motivation would he have to lie about this ?

It's amazing that there are people on this board that can defend Handspring against any criticism that these products have serious design defects and their quality control stinks. It is these sort of attitudes that encourage manufacturers to cut corners and play the odd's in the marketplace. It's also hard to understand why we as consumers should pay the price for so many obvious and well documented problems that have caused grief for so many. And the comments about litigation are so naiive... first lets understand the extent of the problem.

[jegs2]

Heck, I'm still fuming that Timex stopped supporting their Timex Sinclair line in 1983. My Handpring Visor Prism took immense amounts of punishment and continued to work until a relative that I gave it to dropped it in a toilet. On the othr hand, I'm on my third Treo 600. The first one had hardware (or software) problems that caused it to go into Network Search virtually all the time, and the second one had a microphone that didn't work. My wife picked up my thrid replacement yesterday. Here's hoping it doesn't have gremlins within...

[jimn367]

My point was pretty simple. You are pushing the technology envelope, so expect trade-offs.

I can go to many web sites for other high tech gizmos - I now have a Hitachi G1000,... and on every one of them from the Hitachi, to the Treo, to the Palm Tungsten 3 there are people crying foul that they have gone through multiple units.

The bottom line is these devices are appealing to a market niche that is pushing the technology envelope. Smaller, faster, more features. AND it has to be out yesterday.

There are those people in the world that want high technology as fast as people can throw it in the market and we are willing to live with the limitations.

If you are not comfortable playing by the rules of the Clique, then don't join it.

STOP, REPEAT

If you are not comfortable playing by the rules of the Clique, then don't join it.

Want a perfect smartphone? - then wait 10 years, and I'm serious when I say that.

Clearly none of the people I hear whining have any idea how long it takes to build, certify, and mature a technology, but without earlyt adopters willing to pay a huge premium you wouldn't have VCRs, home computers, or portable GPS. Without early adopters not a single technology firm could afford bring a device to market.

Although these devices are small they are extrodinarily complex mechanisms. How many years did it take before e-mail on your work computer matured into an integrated solution?

It reminds me of a guy that posted at PDAbuzz about his Handera 330 and the screens kept breaking, he had gone through several, it was junk, blah, blah, blah. Turns out he was keeping it in his BACK pants pocket and couldn't fathom why sitting on his 330 would break it.

I've been around these types of boards for years and invariably there are people who post things like "Help - on my fourth..." and come to find out they were doing something really screwy and they returned 3 perfectly functioning units.

If you have gone through more than two treos you need to look in the mirror for the root cause of the problem.

**Now here's my real rant**

American consumers have become lazy impulse buyers who have been coddled by retailers with generous return policies. Instead of researching a purchase, we just buy and say if I don't like it I'll return it, or I'll try and return it 6 months from now and trade up. Other cultures would call that stealing.

Notice that Best Buy has stopped selling PDAs??? YEs they really did about 3 weeks ago. The shelves are gone. Was it because of a lack of sales? No. It was because of the menatlity I just mentioned and although sales were high, so were returns and the subsequent losses of money.

Gee - every time a new Sony PDA comes out everybodys old one suddenly "breaks" or has a defect so horrible they can't live with it.

I bought my treo over a year ago, and five minutes of searching the internet with Google and I knew the three main weaknesses of the device:
1) Poor battery life
2) The flip was not robust
3) The red blinking light of death
and if you didn't get a nice protective case for it if you dropped it it was a goner.

Yeah I paid $500 dollars and have the receipt to prove it too (Ooops did I forget to mention the $200 Sprint rebate and the $150 Amazon rebate? Silly me)

And I don't work for Sprint, Handspring, PalmOne, MS, or any other company involved with Smartphones, BUT I do love my toys. If all really wanted was a useful device I'd still be using my Palm III and Qualcomm phone, but I just had to have the Handera 330, Toshiba Genio, Compaq Ipaq, Treo 300, and Hitachi G1000 along with the 4 keyboards and 2 GPS receivers for them (and 2 other cell phones I forgot to mention).

And folks SMILE this is a message board. We're here to provide support and debate, it's not like I just farted at your violin recital