January 7, 2006
To Treo Or Not
My cell phone contract was up back in November. Time for a new phone! But what to get. I have been delaying until the beginning of the year to see if CES produced anything worth waiting for. Nada.
So my plan was to stick with Cingular and get the new RAZR — this is the new new one with a mega-pixel phone and other new enhancements over the original. They don’t have it yet! Verizon has it. Should I switch? Then once I debated switching, I started looking at that Treo 700w. Now that looks like fun. I didn’t want the 650 (Palm version). I thought the Window Mobile stuff would be good because I could geek out and write some stuff that I find I need. So now Verizon seems inevitable because they have both phones I am between and Cingular has none. I suppose both companies are equally evil.
But should I go for the Treo? I don’t know if I want that brick in my pants. However, its slightly smaller than the phone I have now. I was hoping to go back to the days of a mini phone with the RAZR but maybe having all the Treo features makes it worth it.
Thoughts?
Personally, I'm holding out for the Motorola Q. Right now I have the V400 and a Sony Clie and I want whittle it down to one device.
I hope it hits Cingular stores in the spring.
The RAZR is Motorola, which translates to pretty bad menus. I'm happy with the form factor but pretty annoyed by the dumb menu layout. It's much worse than the T616 I had before. Plus keypress reaction time is slow (maybe better on the new version). If you want to really use the hell out of your phone, then I'd avoid the RAZR. If you just want it for the form factor (and if it's free anyway), then go for it.
Thanks. Getting my wife one so I have it anyway. Then I can at least have a small phone around if I want to. Why don't these companies let us buy 10 phones that all have the same number. Then I can take whatever phone suites my needs for the day. Seems profitable to me.
Its boiling down to how much do I really want to be email connected 24x7. Seems cool when away, especially travelling because its a pain to get out the laptop at the airport to check mail.
I've had the Treo 650 for about a year now and have become increasingly endeared towards it. Yes, I wish I could install Windows Mobile instead of Palm, but am still happy with the amount of freeware available. Blogging / Pics / IM / Video / MP3s make this whole iPod thing redundant. Haven't heard good things about 700w thus far, though... no real advantage.
Go for the unlocked version, save yourself from the corporate devils.
The Treo 700w seems cool but the screen is only 240x240 while the Treo 650 is actually 320x240. It got good reviews on CNet. It also has no flash for its camera.
The Moto Q also runs Windows Mobile 5.0. Its coming out with Verizon first (CDMA) and then Cingular (GSM). The screen is 320x240, which might pose a problem (I read that on some website, can't remember which) for some apps. It does have a flash for its camera.
I think Verizon has a cheaper unlimited data plan than Cingular, if that matters.
I am the proud owner of a 700w. Will do a full write up soon.
Brandon,
I'm looking fwd to your review and views on the 700w. I've used a Samsung i700 for the past 3 years and am trying to decide between switching to the 700w or the Samsung i730; a couple of advantages for the Samsungs is that they take memory cards and I was able to get VPN software for remote access to the Corp system. Minus is that the Samsungs are in the $500-600 range vs. $299 for 700w (as I recall).
Ron
I love my Treo. Best phone I have ever used and the Web from T-Mobile is A+++. I have the Treo 600.