After panting and wishing to get my hands on the Treo 650, I finally got hold of one this past March. My family went on a vacation during Spring Break to Tokyo and Hong Kong. I finally bought an unlocked GSM Treo 650 (they don't subsidy lock the phones in Hong Kong). At the time, there was a new version called the Blue edition of the Treo 650 in Hong Kong. The new blue edition wasn't any different underneath from the other Treo 650 except for the color of the casing. It included an extra battery, extra stylus, screen protectors, bluetooth headset but obviously cost a bit more. I opted to save some money and bought the older Treo 650 which also came with the bluetooth headset.
Being a previous Palm user for a few years (I bought my Zire 71 in October 2003), I thought that I would have no problems using the device. Although some things were the same, underneath, a lot of things were quite different. I was quite surprised to "re-learn" how to use the Treo 650, especially when the method of input was now strictly via the keypad. No longer was I able to input via the screen (but I found out later that I could) so, inputting an underscore was turning out to be a challenge.
There were new buttons: Options (blue button), Alt. I didn't know that to access some symbols or actions that I needed to use a combination of Option and Alt buttons. As well, the underlying Palm programs have gone through some changes. The Address Book is now called Contacts; Date Book application now Calendar; Memo Pad now Memos, To Do now Tasks. And to my surprise, there' no Note Pad application. So I no longer can scribble a quick handwritten note and set an alarm as a reminder. Of course, I can always get a third party application but this was quite a nice program that I expected. As well, gone too was the Expense program, which I thought was quite useless so I didn't miss that too much.
Aside from the default programs changing names and undergo a facelift or underlying changes, there was something very different about the new Palm device. It's called NVFS (Non Volatile File System). In the earlier days of the Palm, all data stored in the Palm device and not in the external flash memory SD (Secure Digital) card are stored in RAM (Random Access Memory). RAM is very much like RAM in computers. They require a trickle of electricity to retain the data in memory. without that trickle of electricity, the data is lost or gone forever. There is no way of retrieving it. Remember how we were always told to "save" our work every five minutes or so in case the power goes out? That's why. Anyway, with the Palm, the same applies and the trickle of electricity comes from the internal battery. If the battery is completely drained, the data stored in RAM will be wiped out. In those days, many Palm users were angered by this and Palm decided to implement something that will retain the data even when the battery goes dead. And, NVFS is the result. Unfortunately, it was not without problems. Although NVFS is able to retain the data when there's no power, the problem now stems from how the Palm device stores the data. Unfortunately, due to this new system of data storage and memory management, the Treo device and other NVFS devices tend to be less stable and may reset or crash every so often. But, most crashes are due to a low level of free DBCache. If you monitor the amount of DBCache available and do a manual soft reset in addition to scheduling a reset during the night, most times, the Treo device will work fine without exhibiting crashes or problems. But sometimes, software conflicts will occur, and with the newer NVFS devices, they may occur more often when running older software that does not support the newer database structure of NVFS. But after saying all that, provided that you install software that is known to work fine on the Treo that may help prevent known problems, the Treo can work reliably and crash free. So it's not all bad news.
After owning and using the Treo 650 for over five months, I am quite satisfied and happy with it. The pro's do outweigh the cons. Having an all-in-one device that allows me to place and receive phone calls while having access to office documents and personal information management info is quite nice. At any time, I can surf the internet using the cellular carrier's GPRS data service or look up my flight status or weather information. I can also chat online with people in my instant message program and write and send emails on the go. Of course, just like with many other Palm devices, I can listen to music, watch movies, play games, work on my office documents and many other tasks. With the Treo 650, it can be said that this device carries my entire life with it, all the while, keeping me connected to the rest of the world.
The Treo 650 (GSM version) is a quad-band cellular phone, suporting the 850, 900, 1800, and 1900 mhz frequency. In North America, depending on the GSM carrier, the Treo will support the 850 and 1900 mhz bands, while in other parts of the world, it will support the 900 and 1800 mhz bands. This can truly be called the "world phone" as it can literally be supported in all countries that have GSM signals. While I was in Hong Kong, I bought a pre-paid SIM card from SmarTone which operated in the 900 and 1800 mhz bands and I never experienced a dropped call. Also, back home in Canada, same thing. So, reception wise, the Treo 650 is quite good.
With the CDMA version, the Treo 650 only suppots 800 and 1900 mhz bands. In addition, most CDMA carriers in North America will refuse to allow a competitor's CDMA phone to be used on their networks (ie. Sprint phone won't be allowed on a Verizon network and vice versa). So, unless you're happy with your CDMA carrier, signing that three year contract for a cell phone and then hoping to use it on a competitor's network will not work. So consider these before deciding on the network and version you will purchase.
So, here are the pros and cons of the device:
Pros:
All-in-one device allows you to carry one device that can do a lot: phone, PIM, office work, etc.
beautiful high resolution screen of 320x320 screen
great reception in many places all over the world
quad-band world phone can be used all over the world
keypad allows you to quickly input text without having to learn how to input via the special "Graffiti 2" input method although you can use Graffiti Anywhere to enable the "Write anywhere on screen" feature back in
SIM Card tray is very easy to remove to replace or swap a new SIM card
Aside from just having a phone, you have a fully featured Palm device that is capable of doing a lot of tasks
Answer a call while you look up a contact info or document using the speakerphone
supports up to 2GB SD card (4GB if you are brave and do a manual ROM upgrade)
listen to music, watch videos, play games
The speaker sound is much louder and sounds great. No wonder people want mp3 ringtones on their Treo.
built-in camera allows for quick snap shots that you may not necessarily be able to take normally
built-in video capturing program allows you to capture videos on the Treo
Cons:
320x320 screen may not be as nice as a 320x480 screen that other Palm devices offer
Being stuck with one device for everything means that your phone is tied when you are doing something that is turning off the phone (ie. resets or crashes). An alternative is to swap out the SIM card and put it on a backup cell phone.
The antenna tends to stick out and get in the way
The infrared signal is extremely weak so you can't use this Treo as a TV remote like you can with other Palms
The keypad may be too small for most people
The CDMA version is mostly limited to North American calling since not many places offer CDMA and there's no way to enable your phone to be used with the local carriers without paying your carrier's hefty roaming charges.
Less stable than other older Palm devices due to NVFS. Sometimes crashes or resets will wipe out the preferences and you will lose settings and registrations of programs so will need to re-set and re-enter them again. But, if you monitor and use some third party programs, this could be minimized.
22MB RAM may seem like a lot, but after installing a few programs, you are left with less than 10MB. The optimal level of free RAM required is about 10MB. Below 6MB, frequent crashes and resets may occur. This is where memory management programs and tricks can help.
the camera is 640x480 resolution so you're not getting a high resolution camera
the video capture is at a maximum resolution 352x288 so again, it's not great
Specifications
wireless radio
• GSM/GPRS model: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz world phone
• CDMA model: CDMA2000 1xRTT digital dual-band, 800/1900 MHz
battery
• Removable rechargeable lithium ion battery
• GSM/GPRS model: Up to 6 hours talk time and up to 300 hours standby time
• CDMA/1xRTT model: Up to 4 hours talk time and up to 11 days standby time
operating system
• Palm OS® 5.4
size
• 11.3 x 5.9 x 2.3 cm
weight
• 178 grams
display
• Colour TFT touch-screen
• 320 x 320 resolution
• 16-bit colour (displays over 65,000 colours)
expansion
• Supports SD, SDIO and MultiMediaCards
audio
• RealPlayer included – requires SD memory card, sold separately
• Stereo audio headset compatible – requires a stereo headset adapter, sold separately, for use with standard stereo headphones
digital camera1
• VGA with 640x480 (0.3 megapixels) resolution and automatic light balancing
• 2x zoom
• Self-portrait mirror
• Captures video
additional features
• Full backlit QWERTY keyboard with number pad
• 5-way navigation button
• Speakerphone
• Polyphonic MIDI ringtones
• Infrared port
• External ringer on/silence switch
• Vibrate mode
• Stylus
• Keyguard
• 2.5 mm headset jack supports stereo audio
• Customizable side button
Software Included on Device or CD-ROM
• Phone
• Contacts
• Calendar
• VersaMail
• Messaging
• Media
• Camera
• Camcorder
• Web browser
• RealPlayer
• Tasks
• Memos
• Calculator
• World Clock
• HotSync® Manager
• PalmOne™ Installation Software
• link to Microsoft Outlook (Windows only)
• DataViz® Documents To Go® 7
• AudiblePlayer
• Palm® eReader
• Handmark PocketExpress (trial version)
• Zap! 2016
• Handmark Solitaire
In the box
• Treo 650 smartphone
• Lithium-ion battery
• AC charger
• USB HotSync® cable
• Headset
• Software Installation CD
• User guide
system requirements
Windows
•Windows 2000 or XP (later versions may also be supported) with USB port (USB HotSync® cable included)
• CD-ROM drive
Macintosh
• Mac OS 10.2-10.3 (later versions may also be supported) with USB port (USB HotSync® cable included)
• CD-ROM drive
Being a Treo owner and a Palm user, and someone who writes a Palm blog called Palm Discovery ( http://palmdiscovery.net ) where I discuss more at length of the Palm and Treo, it's quite obvious that my review is somewhat biased. The Treo 650 is not an "excellent" device but it's not bad and quite good. Don't expect that it will solve all your problems and that you won't encounter problems, but a lot of the times, it can be quite handy and useful to have, especially if you are busy person who needs to have access to a variety of things during the day. And once you get used to it, the Treo can be quite reliable.
Besides this written review, I have also done a video review of the Treo 650 showing how it looks and operates as well as other Palm related videos. You can check it out here:
Hopefully, that should provide enough info and insight on the device to help you make a decision.
Thanks very much for taking the time to read and rate my review. And sorry for taking over a few years before pushing out an Epinions review. As you can see, with a Palm blog that takes up the bulk of my time as well as taking care of my son, there isn't much time left for Epinions anymore. Thanks to those who still have me in their Web of Trust and read my reviews.
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