Verizon Treo 650 - anyone happy with it?

[bbtkd]

I am a long-time Palm user and am thinking of switching from Sprint to Verizon and getting a Treo 650. I started researching it and found an overwhelming number of web hits indicating that I would have to endure several returns of the phone to address hangs, hangups, poor reception, poor audio, etc. From reading these posts, it would seem that those folks participating in the class action suit should win. Almost sounds like nobody is happy. Is that the case? Are we just not hearing from the silent happy majority? Have early problems been resolved with the new slot and firmware/sofware upgrades? Or is it still problematic? Is anyone happy with it? Thanks!

[Visor]

I am a long-time Palm user and am thinking of switching from Sprint to Verizon and getting a Treo 650. I started researching it and found an overwhelming number of web hits indicating that I would have to endure several returns of the phone to address hangs, hangups, poor reception, poor audio, etc.

Seeing those kind of posts used to concern me, too. However, I've read stuff like that about almost everything I own. I decided a while back to take it as informational and with a grain of salt.

Seems that people that have no problems tend to be very silent. I think if the people that liked their products posted like the unhappy people we'd be VERY overwhelmed.

With a return policy, etc., I decided to give the Treo 650 a try. Wow, I really like mine. I was thinking of it as a phone with a PDA and saving me from carrying two items. As I've played and learned I'm finding it to be quite a bit more than that. Starting to feel primitive for not having one sooner.

One thing, from what I've read, you get the best data price ($15-20, unlimited) from Sprint so, unless you aren't happy with Sprint you might consider staying there than switching. They may even offer incentives to keep you.

When I checked a week ago I got mixed information about Verizon's data plan. One person at Verizon told me it was $45 and another also said it's $45 but there's a $20 discount if you also have a voice plan. Not sure which is correct. Cingular offered me some incentives to stay so I did.

Either way I think you'll enjoy the 650. I'm enjoying the heck out of mine -- and annoying my friends and associates with my "wireless" emails and messages with attached photos.

Good luck!

[chris]

I started researching it and found an overwhelming number of web hits indicating that I would have to endure several returns of the phone to address hangs, hangups, poor reception, poor audio, etc.

95% of the people who post are those seeking help for issues with their Treo. There are a large percentage that have no issues whatsoever and you will not see as many posts from these folks. The Treo 650 runs the Palm OS (think Windows XP, Mac OS X) which is a complete OS. As with any OS, problems do arise from time to time. Like your desktop, it could be a problematic program that was installed rather than the OS itself that causes the issue. Often one of the first responses to any issue is "Have you installed any 3rd party programs?". That being said, for the most part, you can install an abundunce of 3rd party programs and have no issues at all.

There isn't a smartphone out there that replace the functionality of the Treo - that's why it's so popular. As a Palm user, just be sure to check the compatibility of your existing programs with the Treo. You wouldn't want to start your Treo experience with a "rogue" application that's not compatible.

Also, as a Palm user, I think you'll find the comfort of the Palm OS and the pure joy of convergence.

-Chris

[chris]

The Treo 650 runs the Palm OS (think Windows XP, Mac OS X) which is a complete OS. As with any OS, problems do arise from time to time.

Sorry, I didn't have enough coffee before responding to your post. As a Palm OS user, you already know this...

-Chris

[kabeyun]

Seems that people that have no problems tend to be very silent. I think if the people that liked their products posted like the unhappy people we'd be VERY overwhelmed.

95% of the people who post are those seeking help for issues with their Treo. There are a large percentage that have no issues whatsoever and you will not see as many posts from these folks.

These guys are correct. Statisticians call this "selection bias" and it reduces the validity of any conclusion based on those data.

The problems I have with the Treo 650 (voiced elsewhere in no uncertain terms) have to do with inherent hardware limitations (voice utilization, Bluetooth implementation, RAM, WiFi) that are small compared to the overall excellent delivery of a device that reduces my necessary beltline gadgets from 3 to one.

My problems with Verizon are the same as everyone's problems with cell phone service from all carriers everywhere. The promise (read: advertising) of cell phone service as an entity exceeds its delivery by a long shot. I don't think Verizon users, myself included, are any more dissatisfied, on average, as any other service's customer. As frustrating as signal holes and dropped calls can be, I take them in stride. Expect less from the industry and you'll be satisfied. It'd be like blaming the book if I couldn't read it after removing my glasses.

My $0.02.

-K

[bbtkd]

...
One thing, from what I've read, you get the best data price ($15-20, unlimited) from Sprint so, unless you aren't happy with Sprint you might consider staying there than switching. They may even offer incentives to keep you....

My son will probably be going to college across the state next year, and Srint has no coverage all the way there or in that town - and they have no plans to. I can get a "free roaming" feature added to my Sprint contract, but he would be roaming all the time and I would too when I visit - and some features won't work with roaming. From yours and the other posts - it is apparent that a lot of folks seek these forums because of problems, while those happy with it are likely not coming here. Thanks!

[tts52]

Overall I am very happy with my Verizon Treo. I will say that the Treo is the most unstable palm platform I have ever used. Frequent backups are now a way of life with me as I frequently undergo fatal resets will loss of some or all settings. I don't know if I just have one unstable program(ZLauncher) or this is just the nature of the Treo beast. I am also constantly fighting the memory war. My Treo seems to work best with at least 4-5 M of free memory. I am consistantly bumping along with 2-3 M which might help account for the frequent resets. It also means that I have to forgo some applications I like (Vindigo and AvantGo).

[stevetaz]

Overall I am very happy with my Verizon Treo. I will say that the Treo is the most unstable palm platform I have ever used. Frequent backups are now a way of life with me as I frequently undergo fatal resets will loss of some or all settings. I don't know if I just have one unstable program(ZLauncher) or this is just the nature of the Treo beast. I am also constantly fighting the memory war. My Treo seems to work best with at least 4-5 M of free memory. I am consistantly bumping along with 2-3 M which might help account for the frequent resets. It also means that I have to forgo some applications I like (Vindigo and AvantGo).

tts52...I do not know if ZLauncher is unstable, but I do agree with your thoughts on memory. When I hit 2.7mb left the Treo becomes a bit unstable with random soft resets and slow responses to opening applications, etc.

I have tracked down that for me, Versamail seems to be a big memory hog. I use Versamail for my private AOL account and if I am not diligent about dumping old mail, the Treo memory really gets eaten up quickly. I really don't pull the AOL mail any more unless I am away from a PC more than three days. Since keeping on top of this, my free memory remains between 6-8mb. I use Outlook for corporate email and I am on BizConnect Enterprise Edition. I must say, the BizConnect system has been working flawlessly since April. I receive between 75-100 emails per day, but that never seems to affect the memory like the AOL mail through Versamail.

I do use Avantgo, but I keep the saved pages (data) on an SD card. The program must reside on the Treo. With my travel, Avantgo has kept me amused and informed while hanging around airports and I would miss it.

By the way, there is a special version of Avantgo for the Treo (palm OS5) and you should ensure you are not using the older version.

My phone service is with Sprint.

Good luck!!!

[TreoTim]

I have had my 650 for over 1 month....Love it!!!!
The only thing I don't like is that you have to pay additionally for voice dialing. This should have been included with phone. Have the Sony HBH-662 BT headset. Everything works great!

[dgresens]

I am a long-time Palm user and am thinking of switching from Sprint to Verizon and getting a Treo 650. I started researching it and found an overwhelming number of web hits indicating that I would have to endure several returns of the phone to address hangs, hangups, poor reception, poor audio, etc. From reading these posts, it would seem that those folks participating in the class action suit should win. Almost sounds like nobody is happy. Is that the case? Are we just not hearing from the silent happy majority? Have early problems been resolved with the new slot and firmware/sofware upgrades? Or is it still problematic? Is anyone happy with it? Thanks!

I returned my 650 to Verzion, crashing, resets, buggy and vowed never to go back to the 650. A week later I really missed the product, and tried it through Sprint, and glad I did. No bugs, stable, and calling plans are cheaper and unlimited data is substansially cheaper. Glad I made the move.