Pardon the Interaction

Finally! Treo 700wx – First Impressions September 29, 2006

Well, I have been off-line for a while putting the new Treo 700wx to the test.   I have had it now for about a week and I sold my 650 to a friend for 100 bucks.   After about a week of use and exploration, here are my initial thoughts…

Sprint Treatment

First off, I can’t believe the hassle that Sprint gave me when I was trying to extend my contract and purchase the phone.  They eventually gave me the honor of accepting my money, but it was not easy.   First off, they didn’t want to give me the $150 upgrade credit!  They insisted that my phone was purchased in March of this year.  I explained to them that my old 600 just quit working and I was sent a refurbished phone while trying to wait for the 700w.   They insisted that a replacement is the same as a new phone and that my “upgrade clock” restarted, even though this was not the phone that I wanted.  Only after mentioning that Verizon was willing to pay all cancellation fees and take me on as a new customer did they agree to give me the $150 upgrade credit!   How many folks just walk away, and never bother to tell them of their intent????

Phone observations

Well, enough of that stuff…. Here are my initial observations.  Keep in mind that I have owned the original Treo 300, 600, and 650.

Had to read the book

The first adjustment was with the operating system.   I have a lot to learn with the WM5 OS.  Although it is not as intuitive as the Palm OS, it is a pretty good system.  However, this is the first phone that I have found it necessary to actually read the book! I am still getting used to closing running applications, and using the start menu to initialize them.

Transcriber gone

I was shocked to discover that Transcriber was not part of the factory load.  I was impressed with this input software on other units, and don’t quite understand why it is not part of the Treo load.  No problem, though, I was able to download Transcriber 1.5 for free and it works fine.

Speed Dial Buttons

One of the things that bugs me is that the speed dial buttons are not as well laid out as on the 650.  For one thing the 650 gave me five pages of buttons, the 700w only gives you one page forcing you to scroll endlessly if you have more than 12 or so preset buttons.   The other thing that bugs me is that as you click through the buttons, it is impossible to tell which button is selected rendering it almost useless while driving or on the go!  I hate this.  If you recall, the 650 made the buttons look like they were depressed as you clicked from one name to the other making it quite simple to look down and select a button.  This has been , by far, my biggest disappointment with the unit.

Having lots of fun

So far, I am doing a lot of fun stuff.  I am listening to my XM channels on my phone..musicdock.com, I can listen to internet radio via my bluetooth headset, and I am planning to configure my slingbox so that I can watch tv on my unit, as well.   Can’t quite get YouTube videos to play yet.   If you have any suggestions please post it in your comments.

WM5 seems to work well on the Treo.   Fast Follower has already notice a difference in speed, and has already toyed with the idea of trading in his bulky 6700! 

I will play with this some more and let everyone know my opinions.

Rember to always Tell it like it Is!

Motorola Q versus Treo September 19, 2006

TI – Are you buying BD’s data driven comparions of the Motorola Q versus the Treo? I’ll give you a hint: For this guy, the Motorola Q wins

Mobile Slingplayer demo on a Treo 700wx September 18, 2006

TI – This one’s of you courtesy of PVR Wire.  Of course, I’ve been doing this for months now on my PPC 6700.

Getting Close to the Apple Mac Purchase Decision September 13, 2006

TI – Unless you or one of our readers can convince me otherwise, I’m getting really close to a Mac purchase over a PC purchase.  I’m still not sure if it will be a an iMac or a Mac laptop.  But I’m almost sure it’ll be a Mac.

Did you check out the Apple iTV that will be available in January? Or the new iTunes with full movie download capability?  Of course, both of these things items can be used with a PC as well.  But what about the new $999 price on the entry iMac, or the the $1499 price on the 20 inch iMac?  I might even do a $799 Mac Mini since I already own a nice 17 inch monitor with keyboard and mouse.