Got To Play With a 680 Today!

[tommc4]

Well, my local Cingular store got ONE in for demo and I got the chance to play with it for an hour or so. My feelings and observations:

• LIGHTWEIGHT! Feels much nicer in the pocket or in my beltcase.
• FAST! I know it is still just EDGE, but I tell ya, it was MUCH faster than my 650. I went to a number of websites, and I know how they repond on the 650. A winner here...
• Brighter Screen - much more richness in the colors.
• Bluetooth works great! - A big issuue I had with the 650 was the lousy BT implementation. I paired my Jabra 250V and set the 680 to auto answer immediately - and it DID! WOW!
• Sound Clairty - I guess this one had a hooked up mic ; I called my son and he said the clarity was MUCH better on the 680. I have to admit, the received audio was clearer as well.

Is this a BIG jump? No, I have to agree that this is what the 650 SHOULD have been. I do wish it had HSDPA/UMTS, but hey, I don't surf THAT much. I put my money on the table to get one as soon as it arrives.

Just my $3 worth...

Tom

[diatribe69]

Palm's method of introducing the 680 should be used in business classes as a model for how NOT to rollout a new product. It's evident that they have never driven by nor attended an Apple product release, even though the companies are geographically next door to each other.

How long ago did Palm introduce this product? And that doesn't include the leaks that preceeded the official Palm press release.

Simply atrocious.

My 600 was running on fumes and I needed a new phone a few months ago. I saw the 680 news release and thought to myself that I could wait until it was released so I could replace my ailing 600. The days and weeks passed, and no phone. On top of that, purportted release dates came and went, to no avail.

Ridiculous.

Needless to say, after owning three different iterations of Palm products (Tungsten, Treo, Handspring, etc.), I am now a happy Samsung Blackjack owner because I couldn't wait.

Had the Palm brass came out and gave a hard release date, I could have planned accordingly. Like Apple does. (Although Apple, the iTV notwithstanding, usually allows you to start ordering a product that they just announced online immediately.) How Palm is currently treating the 680 (and 750) release is akin to vaporware. No release date. Just a product that will come out at sometime in the future.

Sad. They lost a customer. Has anyone else fallen into the same boat?

[chris]

The wait is over.
Palm announces availability of four colors of Treo 680

Cingular offers new look Treo 680 at $199