Palm Treo 700p

Ironically, right before I discovered this EXCELLENT SITE (Bravo to it's author-s!!!), I posted a Thread on this topic here

http://www.maccast.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=45848#45848

where I wrote:

[b]Q: Is anyone here using Palm Treo 700p Smartphone with a Mac?[/b]

I am particularly interested in using Treo 700p as a Bluetooth Modem for my Powerbook 17, 10.4.6, Palm Desktop 4.2.2

My Verizon is very ICY towards Mac, while Palm says that it (DUN - Dial Up Networking )does work. My priliminary Test Showed that it does work, but not smoothly. David Pogue also confirms that it does work, but he is on Sprint (i am almost positive!) [b]Verizon's mantra is -- We don't support Mac![/b]

I don't want to switch carriers, since Verizon has supposedly the best coverage, and I am not always downtown:). Palm's Techs Support (in Philipines) is not bad!

http://www.treocentral.com/ and http://www.palminfocenter.com/ are my main sources of the info on this topic. Unfortunately, most posts on those sites are from Windows Folks...

This Video Review of Treo 700p doesn't mention Mac even once!!!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6209967387486568167&q=Palm+Treo+700p

Pogue's Video Review doesn't go into the fine print
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/18/technology/18pogue.html?ex=1151553600&en=7934a6600147a25e&ei=5070

Treo 700p FAQ for Verizon Wireless -- doesn't mention Mac even once!!!
http://mobilitytoday.com/news/verizon_700p_faq.html

I'll try to post here http://mobilitytoday.com/articles/palm_treo_700p.html and [b]hopefully someone is a Mac user on that Forum...[/b]

I'd appreciate your feedback! Thanks

BTW,I couldn't figure out how to set my Profile, and where it is(?), so that all the URL appear as Links... Wish there was a Preview Button below this Box...

Hopefully, the Administrator here will save the day, and turn all my URLS into Links, and let's me know who I can do it myself in the future:)!

THANKS A LOT!!!

Ok, I feel that i'm qualified to make a few comments here. My first Smartphone was an iPaq 6315 (with Tmobile) After researching- and my contract coming to an end- I decided to switch to a better carrier (Verizon) mainly because of EVDO- we do not have it yet here in Pensacola, but should have it in te next 2 months (our market was put on hold due to Hurricane Katrina in Nawlins) I'm a Realtor. I like to stay on the up and up (especially in the technology area) After searching- for a phone I opted for the 700w (since I was already use to the windows platform) It was nice. I will say I didn't miss not having wifi- why? I never used it. I had a computer for the heavy stuff. I will say that the only complaint I had was not being able to surf and get calls. I loved the being able to operate my phone with one hand (something you can't really do with an ipaq, or a ppc). Here is the kicker- as a realtor- we have a few new things to take advanage of. THe new lockboxes we use to get into house- now use an infrared bead to unlock. General Electric (who makes the boxes-called the iBox)did a wonderful thing. I now have one device that takes the place of several. It's now my phone, my PDA, my lockbox key, my digital camera, and my map. After attending a seminar on the new iBox- i found out my 700w would not support the GE software. I was angry- that's one of the reasons I bought the thing in the first place!! There is issues with stability and the ge software. Becasue of the mobile windows issue with not being able to truely shut programs down- crippled it. They (GE) actaully pulled support for the 700w. I was very happy to know that Verizon did a 1 for 1 swap (AFTER 2 MONTHS mind you) for a new 700p. I love this device. It's so easy to use (there was a learning curve) and now i'm in love. As far as being able to use it as a DUN phone- Verizon is adding a $15 charge. There is a way around this (for now) a company called "June Fabrics) has a prgram called PDAnet. It does just that- it allows you to use the your Smartphone as a DUN modem. There are no extra charges to your service as of now (i'm sure verizon will get smart and catch on) and if they do- there is a proxy mode. The way Proxy Mode works is that it routes network traffic of selected applications on your computer/laptop to the smartphone and uses a network application on the smartphone to send and receive data. Why do we need Proxy Mode if Dialup Mode is working perfectly well; or even better? Well, when you use your Treo device for Phone-As-Modem on your laptop, your carrier might require you to pay for an additional Phone-As-Modem plan on top of the usual data plan. PdaNet works without this extra data plan but, you never know. There is always a concern that verizon (or Sprint) might not be happy and make changes. On the other hand, with Proxy Mode, PdaNet basically acts as a regular network application on the device and does not use your device for Phone-As-Modem. As long as you have network access on your smartphone, Proxy Mode will always work. So anyhow- bottom line is. I think Palm did very well. I NEVER used my wifi- unless i was using it to try to find a signal for my laptop. Smartphones were not designed for heavy power user browsing...it was designed to be the swiss army knife of the power user. On the verge of a new revolution with the UMPC's- the smartphones will have a more defined place. AS of now- i feel that a lot of users use the phone to be almost a fidicuary of their PC.- which is not what it was desigend for, and they will complain. That's my two cents!

Drop the Mp3 file onto a Sd card.It work pTunes player installed with perfection/very fast.Im loving this treo 700p.

Can I download mobile roundup podcast with the Treo 700p or do I need to install another software ?

I just picked up the 700p from the sprint store.simply the best pda ive ever owned.

Can anyone help me with this. I am looking to purchase a palm treo 700p but I need it unlocked. Is there a way I can purchase it and unlock it later? Or...has anyone heard when an unlocked version is expected to be released.

I use a Blackberry 7130e for work as my "everything"(phone,PDA, Mobile Web) and the 650 as my personal phone and I have to say that the speed of the EVDO lines has been amazing on my BB. I agree that the palm treo has trouble multi tasking thus my use of the BB. Now, if only the BB used expansion cards life would be perfect.

Take your pick:

http://www.palmblvd.com/software/pc/comm-fax-datesort-1.html

David,
Is there any software that could be downloaded to the Treo 700p that would enable it to send and receive faxes.

It seems that Verizon beat Sprint on the release date.on sale on the verizon site now

Sorry to hear that Patrick!

Well Guys, my attending the Sprint Conference this week is not going to happen. A co-worker went home sick yesterday, called in sick today and has already called in to say he will not make it tomorrow either! So, I have been told that I can not go to the meeting.

So, I will not be able to visit with the Palm people at the conference. I am still going to see if I can get my Sprint rep to get me a demo, but it will be tougher now.

Cool David, many thanks! Ben

Ben actually it comes right with PTunes :)

Hi David, A really thorough and delightful review of the 700p. I will definately be getting one as soon as a GSM version is made available and lands on the shores of Thailand. BTW, I really like the music you were playing on P Tunes in the demo. Particularly, mood rotation and lood lux, where can I find these songs. Thanks. Ben

thanks to Daves excelent video podcast i got hooked on the treo 700P.i started up an account with sprint today getting the samsung A900 flip phone as a loaner till the treo release on the 28th.There EVDO network is fast fast with sprint tv streaming video. it,s outstanding!!!!!!

Bill,

Thanks for the props. Here's the scoop with the Palm OS. True that when you close an app in POS, it is closed. However, with that you should understand that the Palm OS deos not multi-task like WM does. WM from the ground up was built to allow multitasking and Palm over the years has attempted (without real success) to mimic this on thier PDA's. There are three camps of PDA users, one that say they need or want to be able to multitask, two who say they don't need it, and three, who say they don't care either way.

Palm's instability comes from is the rigid code of the Palm OS itself. Developers of Palm applications have had to jump thru hoops (some admirably so) to code for the aging OS. Palm itself has never reached out to it's developer community to inform them of OS changes and such. Take for example the developer of Fitaly (keyboard SIP), a very popular SIP application for the Palm OS. With each release of the Palm OS (even minor patches), it would break Fitaly and the developer had re-code his app just to work again. To make a long story short, the long-time Palm developer left the Palm market altogether as did other major developers. With that, the hardware OEM's (ie. Sony, HandEra and Samsung (??)) left the Palm market also.

Palm source tried to make its OS a true protected memory, multitasking app (remember Cobalt?). It was a disaster. PalmSource dumped it and is now making headway with the new linux-based OS.

So what does this mean for a consumer who wants a mobile device? Not much for the uneducated consumer. For those who are so-so tech savvy and for those who are very knowledgeable have a choice. It's called the Zen of Palm or the power and flexibility of WM.

Either way, it's good that there are different options to choose from.

JNGold - You make some excellent points. I am a windows mobile fan! The PPC 2002 software is serving my current needs, that says something itself. You are right in stating that I am speculating because I have not used a T700P! The playiing around with WM5.0 that I was speaking of was about a 45 minute session in a Sprint PCS store. While using it and switching between programs Exel, Word, and Explorer it locked up and had to be reset. Later in the same session it did it again. On my PPC 2002 device I have IcBar that closes windows when you hit the 'X' in the upper right corner. I thought of this and went to the memory area where you are to close programs, and there were many more programs that the owner had open. This obviously bogged down the machine. The point here is when you close a program in Palm it is closed. In WM5.0 you must still have to use some 3rd party software. I have heard many people with WM devices complain of lock ups and having to restart. Most of them I know do not know to go to the memory screen and close the programs individually. I think this is what gives WM a bad reputation with some (read the mother-in-law). The problem I see is this situation has been around since before 2002 with WM and it still has not been addressed. With Palm you close it, and it is closed. Sounds simple but this feat alone makes it more stable in day to day use. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong on the constantly running programs in WM 5.0, but there were several programs running on the device I used (for 45 minutes). This will be my first foray into the Palm OS since my wife had a Palm M105. As I mentioned in my last long statement my problem is after all these years I am still dreaming of the device that will do all I want.
The problems I see with the Palm OS are: Old patched up OS.
Is not full duplex, while on the net you cannot use the phone.
It is 2006 and I will be paying $400.00 for a device with a 312MHz processor, while my 2002 (I paid $500 for) device has a 400 MHz processor (goodbye Moore's Law)
(I am getting web surfing and phone cabability though)
No WiFi, which I would like it to have.

Even with these problems, I am willing to take a chance and give Palm a try.

The other problem I have with some of the WM devices are the ones (that are not the 700w) that have key boards have screens that are too small (Samsung SPH-700, PPC 6700). I want something that has enough screen real estate (like my PPC 2002 device) that I can read it ( I would also prefer a VGA screen or better). Yes I am picky, but I know what I want. Thanks for letting me know about the fact that Palm is not that much more stable than WM 5.0. If this proves true with my Palm device I will be E-Baying one Treo 700P. I did this once with a HP 6315, terrible device that was not ready for prime time ( I think T-Mobile had something to do with this). I do appreciate your thoughts JNGold.

I'll second us being gear heads here. I work with a few people who love their Treo's because they can put in their calendar appointments and contacts [GASP]! My Wife uses a 650, and I just got a 6700. She does absolutely nothing with our data plan, and I'm so glad the 6700 has wifi as we get really poor connection speeds in our apartment. The 650 had a much better "out of the box" experience for her, but now that I've set up my 6700 I haven't needed to reset as often as she has. I think number of resets comes down to the user.
All that above being said the Palm Treo's are great phones, and WAY more machine than most people will ever use, but for me and my need to push a device within an inch of it's life, I'll stick with WM5 for now (quirks and all).
Palm will sell a boatload of these though, which is cool, as they will fund the next Palm on Linux OS from Access. That'll make me pay attention again!

Comom Jerry lets stop. Brighthand is not an industry expert. Please lets use this comment space for more constructive comments.

Oh btw, this came from Brighthand:

"But it doesn't have what was one of the most-requested features in its predecessors, support for W-Fi wireless networking."

Most-requested? From that statement I would have to assume consumers wanted it in their Treo Devices.

"Nevertheless, if I have to reset my PPC, my computer, my microwave or any other electronic device every week or two, "stable device" is already off the table as a definition."

Do you use a PC? Nuff said.

"For instance, most consumers have no need for a WiFi and EVDO device, members on this site aside. Heck, most phone users don't even need Bluetooth."

I couldn't disagree more. People DO want these things and not necessarily have to be "power users " either. My soon to be mother-in-law just bought an Treo 650 and asked me before buying it, "Does it have that technology that I can use a wireless headset? When I go to starbucks, can I connect to the internet?" She is by no means tech knowledgeable and is asking if the technology was present in the device.

":Huh? There is one? 700w? Came out in January?"

No. I am talking about that sleek looking device caught recently in spy pics.

I couldnt agree more aaong.. You bring some great points out.

There are merits to WM5 convergence devices, but to state that they are as or more stable than Palm5 devices is not accurate and it is certainly not my experience (current Palm 600 and PPC-6700 owner). There are advantages to PPC devices, but increased stability or ease of use are not among them.

Although I don't download stuff on my 600 as much as I used to, I might have to do a soft reset every 6 months (maybe). It might be closer to once a year. I understand this might be much less than other Palm users. Nevertheless, if I have to reset my PPC, my computer, my microwave or any other electronic device every week or two, "stable device" is already off the table as a definition. That is not even dwelling on the fact the PPC-6700 is a BRICK and not nearly as user friendly as a pure phone device. The PPC-6700 is a strong PDA that has phone functionality. IMO, the Treo is a class onto itself as a true convergence device.

In terms of the lack of WiFi on the new 700p (which I will most definitely buy; look for a used 600 and PPC-6700 at an eBay near you), one obvious thing to keep in mind is Palm is trying to capture a much wider buying market. Members of this site are true power users, true tech-heads that push the curve and early adopt. Palm is doing the smart thing by trying to market to the wider pro-sumer and high end consumer market. For instance, most consumers have no need for a WiFi and EVDO device, members on this site aside. Heck, most phone users don't even need Bluetooth.

Huh? There is one? 700w? Came out in January?

Heck I hope they sell millions more(I own Palm stock).

However it seems I am not the only one that questions Palm ommitting wifi. Plus I can guarantee that I am not the only one who feels that the myth of Palm devices being more stable than WM is one that is long since gone.

So when can we expect a new WM Treo?

Jerry honestly everyone has a right to their opinion and WM is definitely not for all. Heck a Treo is sold every 15 seconds. That must say something works right ;)

"I have played around with WM 5.0 and it seems to have some of the hang ups my old IPAQ 3975 has not had. It does hang up. "

No offense William, but you say you "played around" with WM5, I actually own a WM5 device. I am not quite sure what you mean by "unstable". If you call doing a soft reset once or twice a week unstable then I guess you have very high standards. I have yet to find a situation where my WM5 K-JAM has not performed because of "instability".

As for Palm garnet for the 700p being "more stable", it's only just released, so what "real life" evidence is there that the device is such? Remember, the Palm OS is so patched up and the guts of it have been around for years now. I am sure that Palm has patched up the OS even more for EVDO support.

It is any wonder that Palm Source itself (the creators of the OS) have abandoned the platform in favor of a totally new Linux based OS?

Whew! Sounds like I started a controversy! JN Gold I have heard some complaints about the 650 and its stability, but I have heard that the OS for Garnet Palm 700 is very stable. It is based on the old OS and is more like a huge upgrade, and from what Dave is saying it sounds like it is very fast. I have played around with WM 5.0 and it seems to have some of the hang ups my old IPAQ 3975 has not had. It does hang up. In my opinion no one has come out with a OS and hardware that does exactly what I want. If I could still point to Dave's IPAQ forum's I would show you where I wrote about 3 years ago of everything I want. The short list would be:

I need to surf at 700kbps to 1MBps

Receieve and send e-mail with attachments and have them function and be editied just like on a personal computer.

A high resolution screen

I need to be able to surf at high speeds while speaking on the phone on a bluetooth headset giving voice commands, driving my car at interstate speeds, while GPS keeps up with my PDA/phone on a MapQuest map off of the internet. I would also need a minimum of 128MBs of memory, with expandable memory to 8 to 10 Gigabytes. All this while running on the battery 6 to 8 hours a day!

I would like a long screen instead of the square one with a built in keyboard.

I would like Wi-Fi capability, but if download speeds are acceptable I will go with high speed EVDO or other technology.

This may sound outrageous, but if you look at the technology out there it is feasible. If you look back a few years ago we were begging to have a phone integrated with a PDA that could surf the internet wirelessly. I do not think, from my limited experience, that WM 5.0 is stable enough as a phone/PDA. The only hardware software package that seems to please my cutting edge thirst is the JasJar (is that spelled correctly?) but it does not come in CDMA.

Dave, I am sure that I will be purchasing the Treo 700p. The only other thing close is the PPC 6700, but I do not want any sliding keyboards! The other thing is I want my device as CDMA so these are my choices. While none of the OS's are perfectly stable in my experience the Palm OS is more dependable. This Windows Mobile fan is going to try the other side and I will keep all of you updated as I go.

Redian, please let us know what you think of the PPC6700 and the Treo 700P side by side.

JNGold and skadood. I do know that Sprint has much more affordable high speed (EVDO) rates than Verizon. I will also say that I live outside Nashville, TN (20 miles)and have EVDO all over the place. I am sure that if us backwoods folks in the hills of Tennessee can get great download speeds that many other people can too.

I agree with JNGold, there is no excuse for them to have not supported this.

There is another reason why many users want wifi. Wireless data costs are out of the roof. Verizon charges $40-$50 dollars for data per month and an extra $15 for BT tethering (to use yer phone as a modem for yer laptop). Sprints data is a little less I have heard, but it is still high (plus Sprint is not an option for me, I have heard service sucks and non of my friends use it (in minutes))

As a middle of the road IT business professional, it would not benefit me enough to have to pay $500-$600 /year for a second Internet service (already paying for internet at home) that I would use for email, synching, and light web browsing. I will most likely shamefully buy the device without a data plan. Having wifi support would be ideal, as my work and home are 'wired' for wifi.

I beleive the reasons palm would not support this are:
- costs would be higher to allow support of wifi
- service providers told palm they would only sign contracts if palm guided its users to their $$$ dataplans

Greedy decision on palm I beleive, because they ignored users needs and possibly slept in bed with the wireless providers.

Needless to say, they did a great job and I will still be buying that palm :-p

On my PPC-6700, I have hardly turned the Wi-Fi on in months. I turned it on to test when I first got the device, but have not needed it since. I am surrounded by Wi-Fi signals all day, but my EV-DO has been solid enough that I never needed to turn on the Wi-Fi.

The last time I used it was about 1 month ago when we were upgrading the Access Points at work and I wanted to test signal strength. Turned it on, checked connectivity, walked around the building checking the dead zones we had with old AP's, then turned it off again.

The only time I have been solidly out of EV-DO coverage and stuck with 1X service only has been when I have traveled up into the North Georgia mountains on the weekends.

So, if the EV-DO radio in the 700p is as good as my PPC-6700, then I can see others having similar usage patterns as myself. Well, as long as they live in a large EV-DO coverage area. Speaking of which , I actually am on the edge of the EV-DO network here in Atlanta, and I still get good enough signal.

Why does the 6700 wifi and phone work together? I would say that the WM5 OS and Verizon worked together to get it working. I can get a call on my K-JAM while on wifi.

However, if your point is that 3rd party cards (rebranded or not) are an issue on phone devices I clearly understand that....My point is that if wifi is a needed component of a given customers needs, the Treo 700p is not for you. Given that statement, Palm decided to upgrade the aging Palm OS for EVDO but forgot (or chose not to) upgrade it for Wifi access, even though it was apparent that customers wanted it.

Jerry its dangerous to pass hard feelings about something that you havent experienced. I can tell you even when I am not in EVDO area the device is FAST! Also I hate to say it but the SD card is NOT palms.. Its a rebrand for Socket. So let me ask you this.. Why does my 6700 and wifi on the Verizon phone work together?

Dave,

I can see that being a pain. However, we're not talking 3rd party cards here. The Treo doesn't even work with Palm's own card (shrugs shoulder).

However, I still stand by the fact that the phone should support it regardless. According to BH...

"But it doesn't have what was one of the most-requested features in its predecessors, support for W-Fi wireless networking."

Jerry much more is involved with third party cards. Lets say you receive a call while surfing Wifi? Say goodbye to the call.. RIGHT TO VOICEMAIL... Now that would tick me off.

Hello! all

I am new to the Palm Treo and have a few questions.
1. Can the Treo 700p do multi-tasking?

2. Do I really need multi-task in a Treo ?

3. I have a Dell 50v now, should I upgrade the the Treo 700p?

Thank you
James Tom

Dave,

Did you ever consider that your evdo signal may not always be available or you might be in a location where the signal is not that strong?

You know, not having built-in wifi is understandable. I just find it inexcuseable that a 'modern' technology device does not have the capability to work with a relatively basic standard like wifi, especially a mobile pda. Even moreso when othe Palm OS devices support Palm's own wifi card.

Finally got a chance to sit down and watch this. Great review Dave! I used palm for years and have only been on WM for about 12 months now. Nice to see that they are still a viable player in the handheld market!

Jerry why in the world would you need it if you have EVDO. You will be seeing this more and more. I personally could care less. My 700w has 0 need for it.

Can there be any "good" rationale why the 700p won't support WiFi cards?

http://www.brighthand.com/default.asp?newsID=12221

The review of the Tero 700p was very informative and I am very impress with its capabilities. I would like to know if the Treo 700p has the same capability as the Nokia 9300 to send and receive faxes.

Great idea Reidan! I am excited to see what you think!

I was a Palm user before iPaqs even existed. It is a good platform. (I even had a Apple Newton Message Pad before Palm existed.) Each platform has its strengths and weaknesses.

I prefer the Windows Mobile Devices and think that my PPC-6700 is the best device I have owned to date. But, I have tinkered with recent Palms, most recently I got to demo a Life Drive for 30 days and I have supported Treo 650's at work. Palm is still a viable PDA Device and I would not hesitate to recommend one to a friend.

I have been invited to a Sprint/Nextel meeting next week (my employer is a big Sprint customer) to go over upcoming Sprint products and services. Palm will be at the meeting as a vendor. I am hoping to get a chance to use one of the new 700p's. I am even hoping that my Sprint Rep can arrange for me to get a demo. Looking forward to performing my own side-by-side tests between my PPC-6700 and the Treo 700p.

I havent had much issues yet. I will update as my usage grows.

Thanks for the great review.

I have a very early Treo 600 (Handspring logo) and have held off upgrading because the call quality on the 650 was no where nearly as good. How does the 700p do with call quality?

Thanks again...

I am sure it is. I just wanted to mention that it is a misconception to say that just because a device has the Palm OS loaded on it, it must be a more stable device.

Jerry we all know the 650 had hiccups. So did the 6300 right? Well the 6500 was a huge upgrade! I think that is why the 700p is such a fantastic smartphone.

Then it must be Ryan block that had a Treo and is now using a Wizard. I know one of them was fed up with it constantly locking up and such.

Actually he is using the 650 still. He hates the 700w. He talked about it in the podcast four weeks ago.

He may love it, but he gave it up for a Wizard device (forget which one). ;)

Jerry Peter slammed it but if you listen to Peter HE LOVES the 650. The 700p is a huge upgrade for Treo 650 users. I would put a ton of money that Peter will love the 700p

William,

Have you ever listened to the Engadget Podcast? I forget who it was (Ryan Block or Peter Rojas) would slam the Palm 650 for it's instability.

Overall, Palm Treo users love their devices. However, it is well known that saying that a Palm Treo with the Palm OS is more stable than a WM5 device is just not true.

William the Treo 700p has to be one of the fastest PDA's I have ever used. The 700p with Sprint's network is fantastic along with a $9.95 per month addon for Sprint TV. I am forced to say this device delvers a fantastic user experience.

It is hard to watch what was previously Dave's IPAQ do a review on the Treo 700P. I will have to say after looking at this, I think I will purchase one. From what I have seen the palm platform is much more stable than even Windows Mobile 5.0. Is this true Dave? Plus with my recent purchase of an iMac it will sync with the Mac.