Review: Ringo Pro
Ringtones are probably the easiest way to customize your Treo 650 or
any cellphone for that matter. The Treo 650 ships with the capability to modify
your ringtones using the default set of polyphonic ringtones. The Treo even has it’s
own ringtone in three versions. Classic, Treo and the new Treo Techno. But if you could
do without Bach Sonata or the terribly annoying Ringer Loud, then you’ll need a
ringtone manager to unleash the power of ringtones on your Treo 650. Ringo Pro, from Electric Pocket, is a ringtone manager that promises to "bring your Treo alive".
Installation
Ringo is a small app weighing in at just 172k. Installation was a breeze and I
immediately navigated to my applications to start playing with Ringo. I was greeted
with a very simple interface. There are three major sections:
- Default Ringtone
- SMS Tone
- Incoming Call Display
.
Simple enough. You select the drop-down menu to select your default ringtone for either callers or SMS. The interface has a small play button which allows you to preview the tone you’ve selected. I prefer Palm’s sound preferences where changing the tone results in an automatic quick preview of the tone. I would like to have had SMS tones seperated from the ringers, but this is more of a Palm issue than with Ringo. My preference is that SMS tones should be shorter than standard ringtones. A quick browse of the ringtones using the play button to preview and I had a clear understanding of which ringtones would do the job best. After all was said and done, I opted for plain ole’ vanilla "Alert Beep" for my SMS tone.
Customization of ringtones
The real power in ringtone managers and Ringo is to customize your ringtones
and expand the inherit capabilities of your Treo 650. Coming from a Treo 600, I was
no stranger to custom ringtones. For me, it adds personality to my smartphone and allows me to know who’s calling from the first note. Ringo allows you to use MP3’s as your ringtone which offers many benefits.
- You can use virtually any MP3 (music purchased from iTunes will not work).
- No size restrictions on your ringtone, so you don’t have to create a loop
- You can store your MP3’s on your SD card (which is recommended)
- Easily distinguish who is calling
- Sound is better than polyphonic
If you plan on using MP3’s on your Treo, either for audio or ringtones, it’s best to invest in an SD card. To access your SD card, you can either use CardExport, an SD USB Card Adapter or you’re standard variety HotSync Install. The first two will be faster than using a HotSync. Mac users can rely on Missing Sync which includes something similar to CardExport allowing you to mount
your SD Card. Doing this allows for drag and drop of your MP3 files to your SD Card for use on your Treo.
Assign MP3 Ringtones
I had several MP3’s on my SD Card, so I was ready to customize my ringtones using Ringo Pro. You can easily modify your default ringtone by selecting Pick MP3 Tune from the drop down menu. Ringo was very intuitive in that it immediately to me to my MP3’s stored on my SD Card. I chose California by Phantom Planet (Yes, I admit I a fan of the OC) for my default ringtone. Now, anyone who does not match my address book will use this ringtone.
Interface
The Ringo Pro interface features two small icons in the bottom right hand corner which depict individual callers and groups. The groups are determined by what I had set up in my address book. So, I was able to set up ringtones for work, friends, family and so on. Selecting the individual caller allows you to personalize a ringtone for each caller. Ringo Pro also allows you to set an SMS tone for a particular caller. A good feature is the ability to match all numbers. So, instead of having to customize your ringtone for each number within a contact, you’re able to set a global ringtone for a caller. Since my homephone is obviously the same as my wife’s, Ringo used the default ringtone rather than match the number within my wife’s profile. A simple workaround was to set up the same ringtone for myself. Since I wouldn’t ever call myself, this worked out great. I went on to customizing ringtones for a number of my contacts.Ringo Pro also has a selection that will make your Treo annouce callers. To my dismay, this required another piece of software which retails for $9.95.
Picture Caller ID
In addition to allowing for personalization through ringtones, the Ringo application also has an Incoming Call Display. Check the Picture box and you’re off to select photos for your callers. I was particulary fond of the icons on the top right which allowed me to select from either photos on my Treo or photos on my SD card. This feature was seemless and I enjoyed being able to further my personalization of my Treo. The picture caller id on the Treo displayed who was calling at the top, thumbnail and the answer/ignore buttons. I would have preferred an option to make fill the screen with the caller.
Overall
Overall, I think Ringo Pro excels in it’s simplicity and ability to make the most of ringtone and caller id management on the Treo 650. With the ability to globally match phone numbers for individual callers and set both default and group ringtones, it offers everything you need to personalize your Treo 650. You’d be hardpressed not to enjoy hearing your favorite MP3’s on incoming callers. Ringo Pro can be a flat out fun app to use. My only issue was occasional soft resets. This caused me to miss calls as the soft reset put the phone in it’s off setting. I’d recommend test driving Ringo Pro before purchase. Ringo Pro retails for $29.95 which is a bit pricey for the feature set. We’d like to see them include EPSpeak, rather than require another purchase. Either that, or remove the check box to announce callers since the feature isn’t included it’s a bit misleading. They offer a 7 day trial, so prepare your ringtones prior to beginning your trail to get the most of Ringo.
Ringo Pro is available for a 7-day trial and retails for $29.95.
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