Why should/shouldn't I upgrade my T3 to a Treo 650?

[Palm Addict]

(For starters, I haven't been on the forum for while, so I haven't read or heard a lot on this. If there are other posts you're familiar with, please direct me there.)

So, here's he deal: I loooovvvee my T3 (w/Sena Case), but hey, it's a whole two years old now and I'm itchin' for a new toy! Furthermore, my 4 1/2 year-old cell phone is on it's last leg. A few specific questions I have are:

1. Will I be happy with the smaller screen? One of my favorite features of my T3 is the screen size. (I know, this is relative, but please share your experience and opinion.)

2. What's the deal with the way it handles memory? Will I simply need to keep a massive SD card handy to run all my stuff? If so, how does this affect performace?

3. Speaking of performance...pease comment.

4. I currently use Sprint for my cell and have no reason to swith right now. Any specific Sprint-related issues?

5. How does DateBk5 perform on the Treo?

6. My hands are probably slightly larger than average. Any issues with the small keyboard?

7. What's the latest on a new Treo for Palm? Any reason to wait?

8. What's the best price you've seen on a Sprint Treo 650 and where?

9. If I buy now, will all the latest patches/upgrades be already loaded?

10. Any specific instructions/warnings about transfering all my stuff to the Treo? Is it as simple as migrating from one Palm to another?

Thanks so much for these and other opinions you have!

Mark

[drgmtpalm]

Can I preface by saying that I now own a T5 and Treo 650 and I love them both. I dont really think one replaces the other. I think they are complementary.

Anyway here goes........


1. Will I be happy with the smaller screen? One of my favorite features of my T3 is the screen size. (I know, this is relative, but please share your experience and opinion.)

No you wont. Thats why a smart phone will in my opinion never be able to take the place of my T5. If you enjoy surfing the web or reading ebooks the big screen is essential.


2. What's the deal with the way it handles memory? Will I simply need to keep a massive SD card handy to run all my stuff? If so, how does this affect performace?

It handles memory in a different way to other palms. It uses NVFS, which basicly keeps your data if your battery dies. The only problem is that it has only 32Mb of ram (about 25 of which is usable). This means even putting programs on the SD card, most of my programs require a "shortcut" on the main memory or at least some part of the program. This 25 Mb of RAM is used up pretty quick. This is another reason I dont see it as a replacmemnt for my T5. I have alot of big meical programs on their and the space is needed. An SD card is must for this phone.


3. Performance issues

Well performance is great for me. I have the unlocked GSM so i cant comment on US carriers.


4. I currently use Sprint for my cell and have no reason to swith right now. Any specific Sprint-related issues?

Cant comment


5. How does DateBk5 perform on the Treo?

Cant comment


6. My hands are probably slightly larger than average. Any issues with the small keyboard?

I personally would have liked the keys to be abit bigger but it is still very useable and i think the keys were placed together to reduce phone size. The best thing is to go into a store and give the keys a try and see what you think.


7. What's the latest on a new Treo for Palm? Any reason to wait?

Rumours are a waste of time. Just buy the product that best suits you at the time. Firstly newer isn't always better (see lifedrive fiasco for reference). The lifedrive is revolutionary technology. New adopters are plagued with the bugs and problems of a poorly tested device. I bet the life drive II will be much better and my money will go there. Similarly, the treo 650 is an upgrade of the treo 600 and as such is a vast improvement on an already good baseline model. Secondly, you will always be one step behind with technology, so don't even try to keep up


8. What's the best price you've seen on a Sprint Treo 650 and where?

Dont know. Google would help here. Try ebay also.

9. If I buy now, will all the latest patches/upgrades be already loaded?

Maybe/maybe not. But in all honesty, installing updates is pretty straight forward. Especially when you buy the phone new as you dont have to backup etc and the phone main memory is almost empty (a prerequisite to installing updates). This forum has great threads for helping to install updates.


10. Any specific instructions/warnings about transfering all my stuff to the Treo? Is it as simple as migrating from one Palm to another?

There is a good Treo 650 compatibility software site at

http://www.palmfocus.com/treo650software.php

You need to be very careful and only install programs with stated compatibility. The new file system on the treo 650 is responsible for this.


Can I just finish by saying that one other reason I have kept my T5 is that many programs arent made specificaly for the treo and thus dont take full advantage of stylus free input. The program isilo which I use for medical documents is a perfect example. You still require a stylus to use this program effectively. While treo 650 has a stylus, its not as easy to pull out quickly and use as say on the T5. There are many other examples for me.

I love my Treo 650. It is a wonderful phone and have never had a soft or hard reset after almost two months of usage. I put a few important medical programs on their and it is great.

Just also make sure that your work allows camera phones also.


Hope this all makes sense and helps.

drgmt

[Gerorne]

(For starters, I haven't been on the forum for while, so I haven't read or heard a lot on this. If there are other posts you're familiar with, please direct me there.)

So, here's he deal: I loooovvvee my T3 (w/Sena Case), but hey, it's a whole two years old now and I'm itchin' for a new toy! Furthermore, my 4 1/2 year-old cell phone is on it's last leg. A few specific questions I have are:

1. Will I be happy with the smaller screen? One of my favorite features of my T3 is the screen size. (I know, this is relative, but please share your experience and opinion.)

My Reply: I my previous Palm device was the Tunsten T5. I too liked the large screen, but I can live with the small Treo screen, because of all the other benefits it gives me. The only up side is since the screen is smaller while still being 320x320, the screen looks crisper.

2. What's the deal with the way it handles memory? Will I simply need to keep a massive SD card handy to run all my stuff? If so, how does this affect performace?

My Reply: The type of memory is no problem, since the latest update has fixed the initial problems that people had with it. But yes, you will most likely need a memory card. You only have about 22 or 23mb to work with. I keep all the phone related programs that are running in the background, and basically everything else on my card with Power Run (and zlauncher does that too, don't know what other programs will let you do this.)

3. Speaking of performance...pease comment.

My Reply: It works great! Especially when I first got it, and didn't overload it with programs that I'm doing right now. Great blend of phone and pda.

4. I currently use Sprint for my cell and have no reason to swith right now. Any specific Sprint-related issues?

My Reply: I have the Sprint one too. I switched from Verizon to Sprint, because I found they had the best Data plan. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and reception is wonderful.

5. How does DateBk5 perform on the Treo?
I only recently purchased datebook, so I don't know how to take full advantage of it, but it's working just fine.

My Reply: And I might as well add something else in here, but it applies to every other program as well. Having a dedicated menu button is soooo useful. It's very easy to navigate through many programs without using a stylus. And if you get a good screen protector that doesn't leave finger prints, then that's even less reason to use the stylus. (I still DO use the stylus for lots of things, but I don't have to a lot of the time when I don't want to.)

6. My hands are probably slightly larger than average. Any issues with the small keyboard?

My Reply: The keyboard works surprisingly well. After a week or two, you will get pretty quick with it.

7. What's the latest on a new Treo for Palm? Any reason to wait?

My Reply: As for rumors... I don't think a palm OS Treo is coming out soon. The lastest rumor is about the 670 which will run Windows instead of the Palm OS.

8. What's the best price you've seen on a Sprint Treo 650 and where?

My Reply: I didn't really shop around, and just got it from a booth.

9. If I buy now, will all the latest patches/upgrades be already loaded?

My Reply: Yes. Mine did.

10. Any specific instructions/warnings about transfering all my stuff to the Treo? Is it as simple as migrating from one Palm to another?

My Reply: Use the previous posters link to the compatible software list. Do basic things like not installing a bunch of programs at once. Use a backup program, or the free Sync all program.

Thanks so much for these and other opinions you have!

Mark

Overall: I dont' think I'm ever going to go back to just a pda. It's smart phones all the way for me. Hopefully always with the PalmOS.

It's so great to have it all combined so I save pocket space in my pants, and don't have so many things to keep track of.

[Palm Addict]

Thanks for the helpful insight above.

I have two more questions:

1. I loaded Launcher X (even tried the beta version listed on the software compatability site posted above), but had a similar problem as described here. I had to do a hard reset and scrap LX Only temporarily, I hope). So, my question is, does LX work on the 650? If so, what's the secret? If not, what launchers do work? I miss not being able to run apps from the card w/o going to the built-in launcher and selecting the card category first.

2. What kind of case/s do use and/or recommend and why?

Thanks!

[Gerorne]

1) I use zLauncher. It's very customizable (It can be a little overwhelming at first)

It can also move programs to the card while remaining in the category you assigned it to, just like you wanted.

It also has a nice file manager.

It probably does more that I don't know about.

2) I use the magnetic flipper case by Sena:

- I like leather cases, and the leather is pretty thin so it doesn't add much bulk

- It's quite stylish

- Open access to the screen when open

- It opens downward for easy access to the phone

- While the clasp on top covers the IR port... it also keeps the SD card safe when it accidentally pops out (hasn't actually happened to me... yet... but I hear it happens to a lot of people.)

- I keep my atm card and driver's license in the pocket.. so I have most of stuff (phone/pda/cards) all in one... so it's harder for me to misplace my stuff.

I think that's it.