Palm Treo 680 Review Part 1: Introduction

I definitely recommend upgrading to the 680 from the 650. Yes, it is an upgrade.

Here are the pros:
1. Better call quality
2. Better speakerphone quality
3. Faster EDGE speed (twice faster!)
4. Three times more memory (22mb vs. 66mb)
5. Better form design (thinner, lighter, antena-less)

I, too, thought it wouldn't be much of an upgrade, if at all. But I am pleasantly surprised.

I ve been playing with 750v for almost three weeks now. I feel my 650 as an inferior compare to this 750v

I love the multitasking, rubbery finish, bluetooth dial up networking.

My friend who is a regular user of windows mobile feels 750v is a complicated device. So I guess palm has done a good modification on WM5 to make it more like a palm than a regular WM5 device

I'll be in New Orleans next march for the ACC meeting for 3 days.(I'm from Argentina). Were can I buy the 680 there ?

Alberto-
You probably won't be able to find an unlocked 680 anywhere in the city. If you want to pick one up from Cingular to get unlocked, there are Cingular stores all over the city.Assuming you are going to be in the downtown/convention center area, there are 2 separate Cingular stores in that immediate neighborhood.

Here is something strange: the Palm GPS navigator 2 bundle is not listed as being for the 680. I called palm and they said that they have not tested it with the 680.

I cannot understand why it would not work with the 680. Bluetooth is bluetooth. Palm OS is Palm OS. what could not work?

Alberto-
As a Latin American tat usually waits the whole year to buy his gadgets when I travel on business to the US here's my advice:
-Unless you're an American citizen or somehow you've landed a SSN (aka Social Security Number) you'll have a terrible time trying to land a contract/cell phone in the US.
-If you're planing on using it in Argentina, you'd probably need it unlocked anyway, so Cingular might be not the best option.
-If you're staying for a week or so, your best bet is Amazon, if I recall correctly they have it unlocked. If you can and know the address where you'll be staying beforehand just order 3-2 days before you head to the US and chances are your shiny new Treo would get to you on the second or third day of your visit (this is actually my plan to replaces my broken Treo 600 in the foreseeable future).

Alex-

Depending on where in the US you'll be visiting, why don't you just pick one up at a Palm store? They're suppose to have them in stock on December 1st.

Does anyone know if the docking ports are all the same from one version of the Treo to another? I just ordered my 680 online thru Palm today (OMG I'M SOOOOO EXCITED) and I didn't know if I needed a new cradle too. (I currently have the 600) I like the cradle for sync-ing cuz I'm spoiled. Thanks!

TrafficGeek - He's coming to New Orleans and there is no Palm store here.

Andrew, do you know if the Treo 700P has the same new phone interface that the Treo 680 has, or will there be a software upgrade to make the 700P's phone interface to look like the 680?

Wow, got the 680 yesterday. It is great. I just upgraded from the Palm TX and Moto MPX220 combination. Quite a nice upgrade. I've been reading a lot of the comments, and for what it's worth, here's my take...

Favorite feeatures:
- Call quality, excellent compared to my old Moto. The best I've had so far.
- Great display.
- Size is great, fits right in my pocket.
- Edge speed. I didn't know what to expect, but I think the edge speed is quite speedy. For handling mail and some quick surfing it's quite good. I guess 3G is faster yet, but since its availability is limited, the edge is totally fine.
- Speaker phone is quite loud, at least to me
- Camera, I don't know how, but the Treo's 0.3 mpixel VGA camera is much better than my Moto's 1.3 mpixel camera with flash. For me, this is a huge improvement. I love it. Perhaps it's because the lens is bigger on the treo that it captures more light?

Minor Gripes:
- I wish the treo came with the Notes application that is built into the palm handhelds. I like the ability to quickly scribble notes right on the screen.
- The keyboard is a little cramped, but it is much better than using grafitti. My favorite PDA keyboards are still the Q's, blackjack's, and Nokia's. Although, the Treo keyboard is one of the best out there.
- It's a little slippery including the center action key. Too bad it doesn't have the rubber finish like the 750.

For $199, it's awesome! Although I didn't find the way around the expensive data plan ($40), I'm still happy...

JUST GOT THE NEW 680, AND AM ALREADY HAVING A PROBLEM. THE PHONE BUTTON BRINGS UP THE CALENDAR SCREEN, AND EVEN WHEN I TRY TO RE-ASSIGN IT, IT DOES NOT ALLOW ME. IT IS GRAYED OUT IN PREFRENCES. OTHWISE, THE PHONE IS GREAT, ANY IDEAS TO CORRECT THIS?

Joe (#37),
Start by hitting the key with the little arrow pointing up.

I've been having some problems with my 650....mostly with the Blazer and Versamail apps. Had to return and replace the phone three times without really resolving the issues. Still love the thing, mind you. But have ordered the 680 simply because the OS is an upgrade and I haven't seen that upgrade offered to us yet on Palm's site. Has anybody else seen it? I'm with T-Mobile so have to buy the darn thing unlocked...that's the sticky part. Would much prefer to wait on a 700p unlocked than have the 680 but Palm tells me they have no idea when they'll release one. Anybody have any thoughts?

And to the guy who bought the 650 within the last 30 days: Return in. And get the 680. That's within the contract, as you describe things. With any luck, that agent can get you the 680.

Has anyone tried the confrence call feature? It won't work on my 650 or 680. I can have one call on hold and swap back and forth, but cannot combine them. I was thinking about calling Cingular. Maybe it is something with my plan...

Novii Remote doesn't work. It gives you a pop up stating your IR isn't supported. Bummer.

A2DP doesn't work natively. Even Softick's program won't work. I cannot get it paired properly.

I guess that is the bleeding edge for you. I am waiting for patches so two of my favorite programs can work.

i havent been able to use the confrence calling with my treo 650 either- i think you need to have it activated with cingular maybe? i cant remember if it worked with my other cingular phones or not-i know with at&t i had to activate it tho.

(#20) Bearmaiden - Since you're on T-Mobile I would personally buy an Unlocked Treo 680 for $399. It's slightly more expensive than an Unlocked Treo 650 (currently available for $299.95) http://shop.treonauts.com/content/smartphones/index.htm but the $100 difference is worth it.

(#30) Harry - [Correction] For some odd reason TomTom 5 will work fine with the Treo 680 http://shop.treonauts.com/content/accessories/10-41--379.htm but the SD card included in the Palm GPS Navigator 2 (with TomTom 6) will not work. I still need to test to see if TomTom 6 will work when installed from the CD though..

(#33) DaHonay - the docking ports are the same on all Treo smartphones from the Treo 650 upwards (ie: 680, 700 and 750 but NOT 600)

(#35) Blake - the new Phone application is not currently available on the Treo 700p and Palm have not yet made any public comments about whether they may do this in the future.

(#36) Tommy - thank you very much for your comment and list of favourite features. It's particularly helpful to read a fresh take on the Treo 680 by a newly minted Treonaut.

(#39) Dianna - Palm will not release a Treo 700p Unlocked since it currently only works with CDMA networks and there are no plans to release a GSM Treo 700p to work with Cingular or T-Mobile.

(#40) Rob - the new Conference call feature is not immediately intuitive to use (I will review it fully in the coming days). You need to 1) place your existing call on 'hold'; 2) a new button to "Add Call" will appear - press it; 3) the Phone app will open - choose between the Dial Pad or Contacts to dial your second call; 4) a Conf button will now be available to start the conference. The great thing about being on a GSM network with the Treo 680 is that you can also 'extract' one of the two parties in your conference call. Also, I am sure that both Novii Remote and Softick will soon have updates to work with the Treo 680.

(#41) David - please try pressing the 'Hold' button on the screen during a call. You should then have an 'Add Call' button - press it to add another call then conference both.

Cheers, A.

Andrew,

Finally got the Treo 680 on Friday and love it! (I had dropped my trusty 650 a month ago and the screen was completely shattered inside and full of black blotches -could only see a few words on the screen which was agonizing). So I was able to buy one first thing Friday morning at my local Cingular store in Framingham, MA (the store had received 6 and had already sold one when I called).

My question is regarding the battery - is seems to run low very quickly. I was home the last few days and only used the Treo to make a few quick phone calls and send some text messages (one with a voice memo attached - love that new feature). Do you think there is something wrong with the battery or does it need to be charged daily even with minimal use? My 650 used to last a few days. Thanks.

Elise - congratulations on your Treo 680 purchase!

Yes, it is a fact that the battery performance on the Treo 680 is somewhat lower than on either the Treo 650 or 700p (particularly if you've been used to the performance of an Extended Battery http://shop.treonauts.com/content/accessories/8-37--580.htm ) and I would indeed recommend that you recharge your Treo 680 nightly and also purchase a spare battery when it becomes available in about 10 days.

I will address this in more detail in both my Treo 680 Hardware Review and Treo 680 Accessories Review this week.

Cheers, A.

Hi -
I have an 'original 600 that I've been happily using. I wonder if the 680 is enough of an improvement (speed of email, browsing) to warrant the expense - I'm with T-Mobile and would need the unlocked version + accessories (car charger, extra charging cables, etc.). Would my current Piel Frama case work with the 680?

Will be grateful for any advice.

emack - the difference between the Treo 600 and Treo 680 will be like night and day... I simply don't think that there is any point of comparison. Unfortunately, the Treo 600 is the only Treo that does not share the current standard connector and you will therefore need to purchase new accessories for the Treo 680.

Cheers, A.

questions:

Bluetooth DUN?
Voice dial?
Video? Create? Play?
wifi card work?

magiclink:

Bluetooth DUN: Yes it's enabled
Voice dial: Not available
Video: Yes, I highly recommend TCPMP (free) or CorePlayer
wifi card: No, the Treo 680 does not support WiFi - this is still the most contentious issue with all Treo smartphones even though I personally don't find it that important...

Cheers, A.

i stopped by one of my local stores in orlando & all they had was a dummy! they thought it was a 750 too! lol! told me it would not be available until january 07!! so i promptly sent them to treonauts & palm to give them some schooling...duh!

one thing no one has mentioned is the fact of cingular selling the 680 for $199 w/a 2 year contract it's actually $299 up front w/a mail in rebate...if you look at the fine print in the rebate form you'll see that after you complete the forms & mail it in, 10-12 weeks later you get a cingular visa card w/ lots of restrictions! + they are only shipping one color - graphite - black is not yet, available as previously predicted.

also it's odd that you can get the same deal @ palm w/a contract, but it's $449 if you keep your existing plan!! lmao! why would you pay more for a locked/branded phone!!

i'll be buying the $399 unbranded version & get free next day shipping + all those extra goodies!

For Tommy post #36 that was disappointed there is no built in "Notes" application. Here's a free notes app called "Diddlebug" that I really like. Its also very customizeable and FREE

http://diddlebug.sourceforge.net/

Also how fast is the 680 "Edge" compared to 700p "EVDO". That was the main reason I upgraded from 650. I've been very happy w/ that upgrade as well as all of the other upgrades w/the 700p. The next reason I'll upgrade is for form-factor, but I'm not willing to "compromise" so it looks like I'll be waiting for 750p...or whatever it will be called?