.FLYINGHEAD PRODUCT REVIEW
.TITLE Hands on with the (relatively) inexpensive Treo 680
.AUTHOR Heather Wardell
.SUMMARY Curious about Palm’s relatively inexpensive Treo 680? This is the article for you to read.
.OTHER
I’d had my Zire 72 for nearly two years and it was starting to show its age. My Graffiti recognition was really going downhill, and the Palm crashed occasionally for no apparent reason.
Coincidentally, my cell phone was also in desperate need of replacement. I’d always wanted to keep the two devices separate, just because that was how I’d always done it. Plus, even though I was having difficulty with Graffiti, every Palm I’d had since 1997 had used Graffiti and I couldn’t imagine not having it any more.
I eventually took the plunge and replaced both units with a Treo 680. In less than a week, I couldn’t imagine having Graffiti any more.
.TEASER Heather likes the phone, but it does have some drawbacks. Tap here to learn more.
.H1 Name, rank, and serial number
Continuing its history of odd naming decisions (Palm III/IIIx/IIIe, anyone?) Palm’s Treo line appears to be randomly numbered. When I bought my Treo 680, the 600 series was essentially discontinued, the 650 was the old model, and the 700 was the previous model. I’ve had the handheld for just over a month, and since my purchase the 750 and 755 models have come out. The 680 is a lower-end model, with pricing as low as $199 with a service commitment.
.CALLOUT The biggest problem with the Treo 680 is its battery life.
Complicating the situation, some of these Treos are actually running Windows Mobile. The 680 and 755 are Palm-only, and the 750 appears to be available only with Windows; the Treo 700 is available in either.
As if this weren’t bad enough, different wireless providers get into the act. Figure A shows the Palm support Web site and all the different providers for the 650 series.
.FIGPAIR A Who you gonna call?
When I had difficulty with HotSync after installing the Palm Desktop that came with my Treo (more details on this below) I couldn’t get help from my provider as it was a technical issue, but there was no obvious information on how to get help from Palm directly. As is so often the case, an Internet search revealed the answer I needed.
.H1 What comes with the Treo 680
The box contains:
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET The Treo 680
.BULLET The battery (which is removable)
.BULLET An AC charger
.BULLET A USB sync cable (which also charges the Treo, albeit slower than the AC charger)
.BULLET A telephone headset which also acts as music headphones
.BULLET Documentation
.BULLET A CD containing the Palm Desktop and additional software
.END_LIST
The additional software consists of:
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET Media software: Audible’s player, eReader, and Pocket Tunes Deluxe
.BULLET Games: Bejeweled and Solitaire
.BULLET Productivity software: a VPN client, Palm Files (similar to FileZ), Avvenu Remote Access, and a demo version of Treo Voice Dialing
.BULLET Applications for the desktop: Adobe Reader, QuickTime Player, Documents to Go Professional Edition, and Windows Media Player
.END_LIST
What is not in the box, which I was expecting, was some sort of case. Even a flip cover would have been a good thing. The Treo is about the same length as my old Zire, but nearly an inch narrower and double the thickness, so my old case doesn’t fit.
I wasn’t comfortable carrying the Treo in my purse without some sort of case, so I tucked it into a plastic bag and went on the case hunt, eventually choosing a [[http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0926INGFS10080654&catid=20298&test%5Fcookie=1|generic leather case from Best Buy]] that holds the Treo firmly but still allows for easy removal.
The headset is a single-ear one, with a microphone built into the cord. As always, I promptly lost the little fabric cover for the earpiece; I haven’t missed it. The headset also didn’t come with a case or bag. Like most Treos, the plug for the headset is smaller than the usual headphone plug, which means that my iPod headphones no longer fit my Palm. I purchased an adapter so that I could use headphones with two earpieces.
.H1 Install and setup
The setup of the Treo itself was easy. I took out the battery and slipped my phone’s SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card into the Treo, tucked away ingeniously into a small drawer beneath the battery. SIM card installed, I plugged in my new toy and let it charge itself for three hours. Finally, time to HotSync.
And therein I found the first problem: the version of the Palm Desktop on the CD is older than the one I’d had installed, and the Treo wanted it changed. I uninstalled the Desktop and installed the CD version, but was disappointed to realize that it is definitely a step backward.
Most noticeably for me, the Voice Memo feature formerly included in the Desktop is not in the new version. The Treo itself has the Voice Memo software, but I cannot play the recordings back on the Desktop. The Desktop also has a strange bug relating to Undated ToDos. Creating a ToDo but not assigning a date, instead of leaving the ToDo undated, now assigns a date of December 31, 2031. According to the Palm forums, Palm is aware of this but there is no current plan to fix it.
When I rebooted the computer after the installation, I got an error message about a missing file, "NPInstall.dll". The Desktop and HotSync worked, but the error message appeared each time I rebooted. After an extensive Internet search, I found out that it was related to the PalmSource Package Installer, and reinstalling that (from http://www.palmsource.ca/developers/installer/index.html) removed the error.
All of this wouldn’t have happened if Palm hadn’t decided to roll back to an earlier version of the Desktop. It’s not clear to me why they would do this, and what I supposedly gained from it besides a bit of aggravation. If I had it to do over again, I would try using the Treo with my previously installed Desktop first.
.H1 The Treo’s functionality
So, how does the Treo itself actually work? The most obvious change for me was the lack of Graffiti. For the first few hours, I was constantly reaching for the stylus to write directly on the screen, and actually had it out of its storage slot a few times before I realized I didn’t need it. By the time I’d been using the Treo for a day or so, though, I was comfortable with the keyboard.
This is largely because the keyboard is very well designed. As Figure B shows, all letters have their own key, arranged in the traditional QWERTY layout, and most letters have a symbol or number on them as well. The symbols and numbers are accessed using the Option key at the bottom left of the keyboard. Capital letters are entered using the Shift key and then the letter of choice.
.FIGPAIR B The Treo’s keyboard is well-designed. The Option key is circled in red and the Shift in blue.
I was alarmed to see the comma and other punctuation as "two step" symbols, but very quickly grew accustomed to pressing Option when needed and now rarely make a mistake. Half of this review was written in various coffee shops on the Treo, and while it is certainly not as fast as typing on a regular keyboard, it is definitely functional.
Nearly all of the programs I had installed on the Zire moved to the Treo without incident. The only exception at this point is a freeware puzzles program, which requires Graffiti to enter numbers and doesn’t recognize my key presses. I was expecting more programs to have difficulty, but even the car maintenance tracker that I bought in the late 1990s works perfectly.
.BEGIN_KEEP
.H1 The phone
The Treo’s phone, replacing my aging Motorola, hasn’t given me any problems. I particularly like the "Ignore with Text" feature; when a call comes in, I have the option to reply via a text message instead of actually picking up the call. The call is routed to voice mail and the text message explains why I didn’t answer.
I wondered about having a phone integrated into my Palm; what would happen if I received a call or message during a HotSync? If a call arrives, it is routed to voicemail. A text message appears as soon as the HotSync is complete.
The sound quality is decent. I find it far clearer when I use the headset. Just holding the phone to my ear is also good; the speakerphone mode is far too quiet for the purpose and I rarely use it.
In a multi-feature device, it’s apparently too much to hope for that all features will be stellar. The Treo’s VGA camera is a disappointment. The pictures are adequate, but that’s all. Printing them isn’t worth the time and effort, as they are grainy. They do look decent on the Treo’s screen but that’s about it. Figure C shows a picture taken by my Treo.
.FIGPAIR C This picture of a pond near my house shows that the Treo’s picture quality is average at best.
The biggest problem with the Treo 680 is its battery life. I’m accustomed to plugging my Palms in at night, and that’s a good thing because the Treo can barely make it through the day. On numerous occasions, I have left in the morning with a fully charged Treo, used the Treo a few times to look at my calendar and made ten minutes or so of calls, and had it nearly dead by the time I returned home in the afternoon.
Palm claims 300 hours of standby time, but I don’t get anywhere close to that. I left the Treo unplugged for twelve hours, with no alarms and my nightly backup turned off, and it went from 100% battery to 90%. I bought the car charger and plug it in when I’m making anything but a short trip, but it is aggravating. Fortunately, the Treo does not lose your information when its battery is drained, unlike my earlier Palms.
.H1 Rating
As I can cope with the battery issue by regularly charging the Treo in the car, my rating for this handheld, for me, is a solid 4. Overall, though, the rating has to be a 3 because the battery problems truly reduce the effectiveness of an otherwise excellent smartphone.
.RATING 3
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
Learn about the [[http://www.palm.com/us/products/smartphones/treo680/|Treo 680]].
Learn about the [[http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0926INGFS10080654&catid=20298&test%5Fcookie=1|generic leather case from Best Buy]].
Get the [[http://www.palmsource.ca/developers/installer/index.html|PalmSource Package Installer]].
.END_SIDEBAR
.BIO
.END_KEEP
