Treo Palm and Mac syncing

[ssmidt]

I need a new PDA and want to simplify by combining w/cellphone and mp3 player. Most important feautures to me are cellphone ease of use, using my current Palm programs, syncing notes and contacts and loading songs from my Mac to mp3 player. Is Treo Palm a good move for me?

[chris]

I need a new PDA and want to simplify by combining w/cellphone and mp3 player. Most important feautures to me are cellphone ease of use, using my current Palm programs, syncing notes and contacts and loading songs from my Mac to mp3 player. Is Treo Palm a good move for me?

Yes, the Palm Treo is a great option and very Mac friendly. Depending on your preference for wireless carrier, you have either the Treo 680 (Cingular) or Treo 700p (Sprint and Verizon) (see Treo 700p review). The Treo 700p offers EVDO enabling broadbandlike speeds. There is a big difference in data speed between the Treo 680 and Treo 700p (as noted in the Treo 680 review). With the Treo 680, you do get a "friendlier" phone interface and a new sleek design. Gone is the stub antenna and they've curved the back of the phone making it smaller. You get a similar set of apps with each. From a cost perspective, Cingular charges roughly $40 for data, VZW is $45 for data and Sprint is $15.

With regards to your existing Palm programs, you'll want to see if they are compatible with the Treo. In some cases, you'll need to upgrade the particular program. When you first hotsync with a new Treo, the software quarantines the programs to avoid any conflicts.

Hope this helps. Good luck with your decision.

-Chris

[chris]

Both phones come with the very excellent Pocket Tunes (basic version). You won't be able to transfer music from iTunes that you purchased from iTunes. However, you can move any of your MP3's to a removable media card. You'll also need a headphone adapter. To get music to your SD card, you'll want to mount it on your Mac as a hard drive. You can do this one of two ways:

1. Purchase Missing Sync which offers a utility allowing you to mount the Treos SD card.
2. Purchase an SD card reader which connects to your Mac using a USB port.

-Chris