Treo 650 ... I am Already Behind

It finally happened ... I did what I said I wouldn't do -- I got a Palm-based Treo 650.  I have had it about a week and I actually do like the device for a lot of reasons.  I am already hating it for one BIG reason -- size.  The thing is actually almost as much of a pain to carry around as my Newton 2100 (that still works and has 802.11 wireless access).  With that said, I can now wirelessly sync with my Oracle Calendar, IM people anytime, get on the web and make sure stuff is running, and get email.  The last item there, email, is still giving me problems.  I can easily get my .Mac and Gmail but have had a real problem with PSU email.  When I get that worked out I will be set.

Having this much access has actually been a stress reducer.  I get this bad feeling when I am disconnected for any serious period of time.  Not on weekends, or during dinner, or times with the family, but times I should be working but I happen to be traveling or in a meeting ... I just feel better knowing that I can do a quick check of stuff.  Having access to mobile information is a good thing.

I am a little pissed at Cingular however that I couldn't get the newer Treo 700 or my first choice, the Moto Q. But at the end of the day the 650 is a good device.  So far I have noticed that the voice quality is no where near my Razor and the battery is a mess.  Other than that, Bluetooth works perfectly for syncing with my MacBook -- Missing Sync rocks -- and for the wireless headset I use with it.  The apps I am using to drive this little guy are:

• Toccer for AIM -- works great, is free, and lets me continue to get messages even when I am not in the app.


• VersaMail -- hmm, can't get PSU mail to work and that is killing me.  Other than that it works well.


• The Missing Sync -- if you are going to get a Treo and you have a Mac, just buy this. Everything works so easily, but read the directions on the first install and sync -- you'll thank me.  I can move specific playlists, photo albums, and contact lists to my phone with idiot-proof ease.

Are there other apps out there for this device I should be trying? I am now wondering how to integrate it into my larger (and ever growing) need for personal content management.  I spend a great deal of time trying to get things organziaed and done -- with the amount of information that streams in, I know I could be using this device just a little bit better. Who else is in the 650 boat and really working this device?

Comments

[Willie Kelty, Jr.]

Cole, there are alot of apps you can install on the Treo 650. The thing is you need to be careful as some apps will cause the device to reset over and over and you don't want that.

I have Mobi TV which is cool I'll show you this later on, but it's what it says it is TV...and some other weather related apps. I use Missing Sync very cool, and voiceit which I'm not impressed with at all, ML Sync for calendar sync and have some cool skins and other device setups I like as well.

The big thing for me is the WEB, My Documents and #1 Mail...this is how I do my job, I need to know where what is or what it is when I'm here or there. So if I'm away from my machine or traveling and have no access to it...I'm always connected or should be with the Treo 650. It's like your desk top your personality in your pocket.
I check the following sites weekly: mytreo.net, everything treo, and treo central. There are tons of things for it from games, to business apps and time saving sync apps as well.

We should be meeting soon in the hand held group with Bill Mountz here at PSU to discuss further what is out there and if you available perhaps you can sit in.

As for mail I'm currently looking into it with versa mail and chattermail the newer versions to see what is up there. I'm with you, Mail is the most important 24/7 not having mail at all last weekend and Monday killed me with Webmail 2 transfer from Webmail as I was about a day behind dealng with it...and getting lost e-mails and such.

I'll keep you posted!

Cheers,
Will

[Robert Shedd]

Cole,
I considered a Treo for my consulting business, but I currently have a hosted Exchange setup for my business email and apparently, Versamail doesn't work well with MSFT ActiveSync, so that made me shelve the plans. There's a rumor that the Motorola Q will become more widespread by the end of Q4 2006, so I may consider that, as it's MSFT platform should make it much easier to sync to Exchange.

Hope all is well in State College!

Rob

[Jason Johnson]

Hey Cole,

Just got my Treo 650 today and I am loving it. I had a nice chat with a Cingular rep who was quite into his Treo after ditching RIM's Blackberry. He hooked me up with a program called "Verichat" which is a multichat program. The app allowed me to designate my Unlimited data plan from Cingular as my source of Instant Messages. This kept me from blowing my text messages on each little IM (if someone didn't have the unlimited data they could use the SMS's as a means of using their IM client). The program claims that it is 24.99 to download and aprox. 21.00 to use per year. Since the Cingular employee sent the program (with a reg. code) to me directly I think I ditched the costs. Guess I will be finding out if I get a nice bill in the mail! I have not tried POP3ing my webmail (my account has not made the jump to 2.0 yet) but I did try to connect to the email by just typing webmail.psu.edu. My Treo got to the main screen after the log on and then froze. If I have any success with webmail I will post again.

~Jason

[Jason Johnson]

Cole,

I got my Treo 650 yesterday and tried to post a little bit ago on the blog (think my entry was lost). Anyway, I have 1 or 2 neat apps for you to try when I get back in the office. I will share them here as a preview:

1. Minitones - I wanted to use PSUintro23 as my ringtone for all calls so I first tried sending it via Bluetooth to my treo (first had to convert it to MP3). It went to the phone but said that I needed to store it to a SD card so I pulled one out and retried the Bluetooth send. This time the file went but would not show up in my list of useable ringtones. Finding Minitones made adding MP3's to the list child's play. With this app you can even hack up your MP3's so you can catch the exact audio that you want while reducing file size.

2. VolumeControl - Tiny little app that increases my control over every volume aspect of the Treo. Not only will the app give you one central area to work on the different sound outputs and inputs, but it also includes a boost feature to increase volume.

3. Verichat - This one apparently should be costing money which I am no fan of (purchase fee of about 26 and a little more than 21 per year after that). My Cingular rep sent this app along with a registration code to me before I left the store and it has worked well thus far. It lets me do all of my IM needs and it does an overall fine job. Let me assign my Unlimited Data Connect plan as my method for IM sending/receiving as opposed to SMS's. As long as it stays free I will continue to enjoy it.

Problems after 24 hours:

1. Crashed the "Blazer" web browser when I tried to physically go to my PSU webmail. I have yet to try to set up my webmail as a POP.

2. iSync refuses to recognize my Treo device. When I select "enable Palm OS" in the program it tells me that HotSync is "Not installed properly". Perhaps I need to manually install a Conduit for iSync into the Hotsync Conduit folder?

3. I would love to figure out how to sync my iCal with the Treo but I have not had any luck so far. i would rather use iCal as opposed to the Palm Cal.

Maybe the sync problems would be fixed by purchasing "The Missing Sync". I would much rather find a free fix before I drop the cash on the program however.

[Cole Camplese]

Jason ... get the missing sync. It changes the whole experience. Also, we are not able to get PSU email with the built in versa mail ... ChatterMail does the trick however. I am using the free and very capable Toccer for IM, it works very well. See you in a week!