[koolio]

I switched from a BB 7100t to the Treo 650 and love it. When shopping for my 7100t, I thought about waiting for the GSM Treo 650 but thought I didn't need a smartphone (nor did I want such a big phone, at the time) but after owning the BB for 4 months, I realized what I really wanted was a smartphone and, like others have stated, the BB is great for email but sucks for everything else. And, like others have stated, deciding between the two depends on what features/functionality are most important to you.

All that being said, I REALLY wish I could sync my work email and calendar to my Treo wirelessly (I know about Goodlink, etc. but my company only supports BB's). I've been offered a BB (7100t or the new 7xxx model) from my company but declined...however, I am starting to think of getting the 7xxx model just for the email and calendar features.

[Jazzi]

I went from a Sprint Treo 600 to a Blackberry 7290 in January. I was 'kinda' forced to when I took a new job, and they ported my number from Sprint to AT&T. This was a horrible move. The Blackberry was so limited in terms of functionality, that I found myself not wanting to use it at all. The phone portion of it was dismal (hard to hear, etc).

I bit the bullet and bought myself the 650 (unlocked around $700) about 3 weeks ago (out of my own pocket). Popped the SIM in, gave customer service a call and told them about my new device, and no one in the new company has said a thing.

The TREO 650 is much better than the 600 and way better than the 7290.

james

Other than my Blackberry being a 7280, my story is much the same. Switched to ATTWS GSM 650, and the 7280 is nice blue paperweight.

[contempt]

I currently use both a Blackberry and a 650. Reason being our corporate email system is in Notes. I'm eagerly awaiting Blackberry connect for Palm, since the lawsuite was settled last week and they should be moving forward.

The biggest advantage the Blackberry has is it's interface. After coming from three different CLIEs, I came dependent on the jog dial. That's the beauty of the Blackberry - it has a jog dial and a back button. That's really it. I kept calling it the ipod of email.

The interface isn't all that, but the power and functionality of just those two buttons are incredible. It took about a day to get used to, but when I check and send messages on my blackberry vs. doing the same via chatter on my 650, I'm about twice as fast. The blackberry is a great device if you ONLY want email functionality. I've tried adding other programs to it, and it feels so ancient.

For now, I'll continue to use both until Blackberry connect but I'm hoping to fully migrate over to the 650. Hope this helps.

[fmastr]

I've carried both a Treo 650 (600 + 300 prior to the 650) and a BB 6750 until recently ..... we just invested in the Good platform to augment our BES ..... my BB battery died 3+ weeks ago and I haven't recharged. The 650 with GoodLink is a great combo .......

[Mize]

How are those of you using Treo 650s on Blackberry business email making it work? I take it you're going directly to the IMAP server and bypassing the BB Enterprise server? Unfortunately this isn't an option for me. Only the BBE server is available when the port is opened through the firewall

Anyone know anything about when the PalmOS BB client is due out to Treo 650 users? They've only been talking about it since 2003!

[mnr602]

I switched from a Blackberry 7520 (nextel). After 2 months here is a summary of why I hated it:

Dislikes:
No touchscreen
Accessibility was cumbersome
Bluetooth always kept turning off
No external memory
Cool factor wore off quick
Huge on my belt
Lack of software

Likes:
Awesome voice quality and reception
Large keypad and more tactile

TREO 650 Sprint:
Customer service is the worst of any company I've ever seen, took 4 days to activate. Still cant get my bill corrected. The phone has such cool factor, that 3 friends bought after 5 minutes of playings.

Likes:
Cool Factor endless
Great Software
Great memory options
Great Resolution

Dislikes:
Sprint SUCKS
Constant resets
Inaccesible reset button
Can't get DVD's going (yet)

Don't flame me (just my opinion) but did I say Sprint Sucks. The people are nice, but nothing ever gets done after you hang up. I still have my i730 Nextel and pray their corporate customer service rubs off on sprint and not vice versa.

[txschafers]

I had a Treo 650 and a BB 7290 at the same time before choosing the 650. The BB did not have near the power and functionality of the Treo and the Internet access was a joke! With apps like chattermail you can get push e-mail if you really need it. In my opinion the Treo 650 blows the BB away by a mile. I have always been a Palm person and I guess if you have had neither the transition to a BB might be easier. However, BB users have far less functionality then 650 users.

Long Live My Treo 650!!

[SailRace]

How are those of you using Treo 650s on Blackberry business email making it work? I take it you're going directly to the IMAP server and bypassing the BB Enterprise server? Unfortunately this isn't an option for me. Only the BBE server is available when the port is opened through the firewall

Anyone know anything about when the PalmOS BB client is due out to Treo 650 users? They've only been talking about it since 2003!

My solution is sort of cheating, and depends on whether your company policy allows it on the exchang server, but i am able to set up a server-side rule within Outlook that redirects all my mail to another account. So rather than forwarding it, it sill appears that its coming from the original sender. With the redirect, i can then pull the email from my own secured pop3 account and email that way. It's not quite real time with Versamail, but every 15 minutes is fine by me.

[Mize]

My solution is sort of cheating, and depends on whether your company policy allows it on the exchang server, but i am able to set up a server-side rule within Outlook that redirects all my mail to another account. So rather than forwarding it, it sill appears that its coming from the original sender. With the redirect, i can then pull the email from my own secured pop3 account and email that way. It's not quite real time with Versamail, but every 15 minutes is fine by me.

This is done but severely frowned upon at our group of companies. We do have an html interface to email and I hear it works with Blazer, but whose to say if they don't mung the code with some update and it becomes IE-only? Not to mention that html mail is SLOW and you don't have a local copy of the email. The redirect is a stopgap solution at best. I also really like the fully synchronization of the BBs, but that's about where their capability ends.

Too bad PalmOne hasn't seen fit to offer the WiFi card for the Treo either as that would make it a no-brainer decision. As it is I have BB (need to buy a server), PPC (WiFi on the SX66), or Treo 650...

[Too Many Toys]

I've left the PalmOne/Treo world for now. Ended up with a BB 7250 on Verizon & it's the bomb for what I need/do with it.

Excellent email & voice, no crashes, easy to navigate interface. After two unlocked GSM 650's that had continual crashes during calls I'm glad to be back to a device that I can actually use as a phone.

Sorry guys & gals, hope your experience w/ the Treo 650 is better then mine.

[anthonymoody]

I switched from a BB 7100t to the 650. In many ways (push email, phone reception, phone volume, speakerphone volume, BT range, BT general use, smaller form factor, stability) I found the BB superior and in some cases FAR superior.

However there was one thing about the 7100t that I couldn't get past. There are a surprisingly high number of 2 and 3 letter words that share key combinations (e.g. 'get' and 'hey'). I had no problem learning how to use the keyboard and the predictive typing. It works really well in general. However, I found that I was constantly going back and correcting these 2 and 3 letter words. It always seemed to guess the wrong one...

So I'm happy with the 650's full keyboard. And the large number of 3rd party apps. Beyond that though, the 7100t is superior IMO. I do so much emailing that I need the full keyboard. I couldn't stomach one of the other (full keyboard) 'waffle' BB's so the Treo is it for me.

TM

[shonea]

I don't think the BB is a bad device. It is really easy to quickly say something like "my treo totally dominates the BB" etc. I have used BBs before and I currently support them in my oganization using BES. None of the users complain that they can get their exchange email syncronized along with their calendars without having to connect to sync. Plus the BB doesn't have as many problems as the treo's in terms of rebooting, voice, etc like the 650 does. It is a stable and sound product. Yes, maybe it doesn't have a lot of software, but there still plenty out there if you look.

When we initially setup this program, we decided on both treos or BB and in the end the BB won due to several issues. One main points was the ability to sync fully with the exchange server (email, cal, contracts, etc) over wireless. At the time the treo did not support this fully (not sure if it does now). But we have been happy with our choice. Actually, I am kind of glad we didn't go with the treos with all the problems they have been having. Yes, they may be sparatic or caused by 3rd party programs, but in a production environment, you don't want to introduce phones that have the potential to **** off your administrators. They tend to get a little cranky if their phone keeps resetting on them.

If it was for personal use, I would use a treo. I like them a little better in terms of what I can do with them. But for a production business environment where you don't want to deal with stupid issues all day long, I'd go with BB anyday.

[heat00]

whatever, I don't really care about their quarterly sales... there may be people buying something, doesn't make it a good product for me ! The only plus I think is the BB is better handling email but there are many other features/programs that the treo has that BB does not. Too many to go into detail and it's not even that important to me.
I was just giving my personal opinion, thats it.
I prefer the treo !
i'll leave it at that.

[heat00]

oh,
and sprint does not suck.
they blow away nextel. Nextel always gives a hard time, like Verizon, when you want to upgrade or buy a new phone/pda. Sprint has always given me credit for an old phone/pda in an upgrade and whenver I have had a problem, I had a new one in my hands the same day. how does that suck ? LOL

[zaakir]

well ill admit as a person looking at the 650. the forum doesnt exactly inspire confidence. i had 0 problems with my berry. all the resets and issues with the "p" key etc etc etc. then again the squeeky wheel gets all the attention. most users only chime in when they have a problem with the device. im still up in the air though 7520 nextel bb or cingular treo 650...hmmmm

[oldtimetechie]

I'm carrying a BlackBerry 7290 (AT&T) and a Treo 650 (SPRINTpcs) and would say its no comparison. BlackBerry is a very limited platform and sucks as a phone. In general 650 is fine if you're not trying to use apps written for previous non NVFS PalmOs- which shouldn't be an issue if you're considering BB since very little will run on it.
I just wish BB Connect would come out on Treo CDMA so I can cut loose the Bat-Belt.

[zaakir]

call quality on my berry was excellent. ive actually read just the opposite on the treo. ok as a pda but stinky as a phone. guess ill have to see myself. i tried the speaker phone on the cingular demo and it was VERY weak on full volume. on the other hand, the nexte speaker phones on the 7250 berries are almost annoyingly loud.....compromises..

[tundycentral]

Hey Everyone... remember, the 650 really is a superb piece of hardware... Most or ALL of it's issues are memory or firmware or software related, meaning... your 650 might someday be amazing AND free of BS and Bugs.

BUT....

There's only 1 way to get the job done... PUT PRESSURE ON PALMONE.

I'm doing my part by starting the petition at www.treo650update.com, are you doing your part by taking a few seconds and signing it?

Thanks

[R1_Rydah]

well ill admit as a person looking at the 650. the forum doesnt exactly inspire confidence. i had 0 problems with my berry. all the resets and issues with the "p" key etc etc etc. then again the squeeky wheel gets all the attention. most users only chime in when they have a problem with the device. im still up in the air though 7520 nextel bb or cingular treo 650...hmmmm

I just made the switch from a BB(nextel7510) to the 650... and I agree this forum doesn't make you want to run out and buy a 650.... I have been playing around with the 650 for a couple of days, and no resets so far, but my # won't be ported over until the mourning... So tomorrow will be the real crash test... I'm hoping this thing will continue to be stable, because I definately want to keep it.

[jrhett]

Has anyone moved from a Treo 650 (or 600) to a Blackberry device? Or vice-versa, BB > Treo?

After my Treo 600 dying & two aborted attempts to get a GSM 650 that worked w/o constant resets I'm thinking of going to the other side.

I just moved from a blackberry 7100T and got an unlocked GSM Treo. I would say that it matters what is important to you.

My comments on why I returned the 7100T are posted here:
http://www.blackberryforums.com/showthread.php?t=5162

The absolute biggest issue is the GSM signal quality. It went down nearly 2 bars from my Nokia 6310I. The Treo is up nearly one bar from the Nokia everywhere. There are two room in my office where I can now hold a conversation that were difficult on the Nokia, and impossible on the BB.

The second issue is Internet browsing. If you want to browse the internet much at all, you won't like the Blackberry.

That said, it is an excellent e-mail/sms typing device. It handles capitalization for you, includes a spell-checker and just makes it really easy to type type type type for hours. I wish the Palm were that easy. But in my mind, that's really all it had going for it.