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(More customer reviews)I got my Treo 750 this week as a replacement for a Blackberry 8700c, which I really liked. My company is heading away from BB and towards Windows Mobile technology, so here I am.
I should say, too, that I've had pretty much every flavor of BB ever made, as well as an Ipaq, Treo 650, Cingular 8125 and many others. I had concluded that for a business user who needs 100% reliable e-mail, and uses the Internet and text messaging a fair amount, the BB 8700 was by far the most reliable way for me.
So as I make the transition from 8700 to 750, here is my list (not too long at this point) of likes and dislikes:
1. The Treo 750 comes new in the box without a holster, belt clip or carrying case of any kind. Unless you want to carry it in your pocket, automatically add $30 to the cost of the phone. Thanks, Cingular.
2. Battery life is not good on the 750. I send and receive well over 100 e-mail messages a day, and my phone usage and Internet use varies. I could go two days without charging my BB, and even given my usage patterns, seldom ran out of battery power.
Yesterday I flew from Chicago to Los Angeles and caught a connecting flight to Palm Springs. The point is, I had the 750 turned off for at least five hours during the day. I took it off the charger at about 6 a.m. Chicago time yesterday morning, and, even after being turned off for five hours, by 6 p.m. Chicago time yesterday afternoon the battery was almost dead.
Buying a spare battery ($30 to $50) seems like a decent solution, but devices that charge the battery only (while it's not on the phone) are hard to find for this phone, and will cost around $50. So the logistics of getting two batteries recharged over night are not that simple - primarily because if you don't have a phone-independent battery charger, you will have to change the battery in the phone every day in order to get two batteries charged. And if you forget to charge the second one, you have potential problems the next day.
As an alternative, you can keep the phone tethered to your computer or on the AC charger (have to have one or the other with you at all times) during the day, and/or buy a car charger, about $20 (if you'll be in the car). But if you're just out and about, battery life will be a significant issue for many.
3. The display is pretty good. But brightness and readability of the screen while outside is an issue. Anyone who's had a BB 8700 knows how easy it is to read that screen outside. The Treo 750 takes a big step backward by comparison.
4. Push e-mail reliability. For phones other than BBs, my company uses Good technology for interfacing with Outlook. Getting e-mail on my previous phones (Treo 650, Cingular 8125, etc.) that used Good Link was not reliable - I constantly had to use the "send/receive now" function to make sure my e-mail was up to date.
So far so good with the 750. I have gotten my e-mails reliably so far - it seems as good as my 8700.
5. Windows Mobile OS. One frequent complaint I hear about with Windows Mobile phones is that they lock up and need to be reset (soft or hard) frequently. Again, so far, so good for the 750. I did reset it yesterday because it went totally mute on me - no beeps, no notification sounds, no ringer on the phone! And no, I did not accidentally set the ringer switch to silent. After I reset it, all the sounds worked again. It's too early to tell whether this will be a persistent problem.
That's about all that comes to mind right now. I hope this helps anyone make up their mind about moving to this phone, especially if you would be leaving a BB 8700 behind.
So far, my regrets are minor, and I plan on learning to love this phone once I figure out how to deal with the battery problem. Good luck with yours.
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Palm Treo 750 Smartphone (AT&T)The Palm Treo 750 boasts all the legendary features of the previous Treo smartphones, plus a whole lot more. Now with WCDMA 3G data capabilities, stereo Bluetooth, and an internal antenna, the 750 puts Palm once again on the cutting edge of smartphone technology. With features like the Windows Mobile 5 operating system, a QWERTY keyboard, a 1.3 megapixel camera, a miniSD memory card slot, and voice control, simply put, the 750 is the ultimate mobile office companion, and the perfect complement to Cingular Wireless service.
Design Under the hood, the Treo 750 features the Windows Mobile 5 operating system and 60 MB of internal memory. The design retains the same popular form factor and QWERTY keyboard as other Treo phones, but with a few subtle, yet significant, changes. The external antenna has been tucked away, and the unit's camera has been dramatically upgraded to 1.3 megapixels. The 750 has been on a diet too--weighing in at only 5.40 ounces, the 750 is one of the lightest Treo phones ever released.
On top of the unit you'll find an expansion slot for SD and MMC-based memory cards, and there's also an infrared port here for line-of-sight data transfers, as well as a handy switch for turning off the phone's ringer. Below the amazingly clear 240 x 240 color touch screen, you'll find a five-way navigator that controls most of the phone's menus and operating system functions, while quick application buttons on either side of the navigator will get you to your favorite applications in a snap. The left side of the unit features a volume up/down toggle plus a handy user-customizable button that can be assigned to any phone or PDA function. The rear of the Treo 750 houses a loudspeaker, as well as the camera unit. A touch-screen stylus can be tucked away on the right side of the phone. Meanwhile, a combined charging, data, and accessory attachment port is housed on the bottom of the unit, as is a standard 2.5 mm stereo headset jack.
Calling and PDA FeaturesAll of the Treo 750's phone and PDA functions are designed to provide an integrated, seamless experience. For instance, you can type in the name or initials of a contact on the keypad to dial them. Or, use the touch-screen and stylus to copy information from an email and quickly paste it into another email or text message. You can even use Microsoft Office Outlook Mobile, a feature that combines email, calendar, contacts, tasks, and notes into a single application.
Staying productive on the road is made possible by the Microsoft Office Mobile suite, which includes Word Mobile, Excel Mobile, and PowerPoint Mobile. Meanwhile, the File Explorer application makes it easy to browse the files on your Treo 750.
All of the latest phone features folks expect are built-in, too, like a handsfree speakerphone, polyphonic ringtones, a vibrate mode and picture caller ID. The 750 comes stock with unique ringtones built right into the unit, and more ringtones can be downloaded from Cingular Wireless' MEdia Net service. The capacity of the unit's address book is only limited by the amount of internal and expansion memory available. Use the Treo 750's Bluetooth capability to wirelessly sync your contacts with your PC. Headsets, car kits and other wireless peripherals can also be paired with the unit via Bluetooth.
The unit's memory expansion slot allows you to transfer music, photos, and video from your desktop. Or, use it to load additional games and applications.
Messaging, Internet, and EntertainmentThe device fully supports MMS messaging for rapid exchange of pictures, text and video via Cingular's instant messaging system. The Treo 750's Web browser supports full-size web pages, and you can enter secure pages with 128-bit SSL encryption. POP3 email accounts provided by SBC, BellSouth, Yahoo, Earthlink, Comcast and AT&T Worldnet are all compatible with the 750's email client application. IMAP and Exchange-based email systems are also supported, and you can view photos, HTML, Word, Excel and PowerPoint attachments. With WCDMA/UMTS support built right into the phone, you'll be streaming and downloading at speeds so fast your head will spin.
The 750 also sports an airplane mode, which allows you to safely use the non-wireless functions of a phone (such as music, games or organizer functions) on an airplane during flight.
Vital Statistics The Palm Treo 750 weighs 5.40 ounces and measures 4.37 x 2.28 x 0.87 inches. Its lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 4.5 hours of digital talk time, and up to 240 hours of digital standby time. It features UMTS with HSDPA capability and runs on the GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 and WCDMA 850/1900/2100 frequencies. The phone comes with a one year limited warranty.
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