Treo 700w Review: Part 2
As promised, following on my review of the Windows Mobile Treo 700w’s ActiveSync (1) and Today (2) functionalities below is the second installment in which I will cover the areas of Contacts and Calendar with their respective functionalities. Also, in parentheses again I add my personal opinion judging whether I consider each function to be better or worse overall than on our existing PalmOS based Treo 650.
3. Contacts (Worse)
On the Treo 700w the Contacts can be accessed either by typing the first few letters of a First or Last Name in the Today screen which brings up a pop-up in the Lookup Field (below left) of all the relevant matches with their telephone numbers. However, Palm/Microsoft have annoyingly omitted to include the email in this list which one could for example use to look up the name “John Brown” and then email him with one click instead of the four or five that it takes via the Messaging application.
Additionally, whereas on the Treo 650 you can type “jbro” (first letter of First Name + xx letters of Last Name) to quickly look for “John Brown”, the Treo 700w is limited to searching for either “John” or “Brown” but not the full name.
Using the 5Way Up/Down within the Lookup Field you can scroll through each of the contacts and individual telephone numbers. Clicking on the name will open the contact Summary (below left) while clicking on a number will automatically dial. Within the Summary you can also scroll to the Name then select Edit which will take you to the contact Details (below right) which has 39 data fields compared to 22 standard and up to 40 total data fields in our Treo 650.
Instead of using the Lookup Field, you can also access the Contacts by pressing the Windows button then either scroll down or press the letter “o” on the keyboard.
As with other Windows Mobile applications I found the ‘options’ to be extremely limited and in the case of Contacts the only two are “Show Alphabetical Index” and “Show Contact Names Only” (above right) and you can’t simultaneous search by Name and Company. You do have the option to select “View By…” either Name (above) or Company (below) but again no simultaneous search in both fields.
Using the 5Way Left/Right will scroll through the various contact details such as Work, Home, Mobile, Email and IM and pressing any name will again open the Summary (below left).
In the Contact example above you can select and press on either “Send Text Message” or “Send e-mail” to open the relevant Messaging application (above right with Outlook E-mail). As I pointed out earlier I really feel that both Messaging options should have been made available from within the Lookup Field instead of so many more clicks away. Our Treo 650 may also lack the “Email from Contacts” functionality but at least it is much better when it comes to “SMS from Contacts” which I use regularly.
4. Calendar (Worse)
The Calendar application includes five views: Agenda, Day, Week, Month and Year. My favourite view is undoubtedly Agenda which provides a simple uncluttered list view of all you appointments for the day. Although it lacks a dedicated on-screen “New” button like on the Treo 650 I found that holding the Center 5Way for a couple of seconds brings up a menu (below right) to create a new appointement but again annoying not the option to actually edit an existing one…
The remaining four Calendar views are next to useless – particularly the Day view which I found extremely difficult and annoying to use because it lists 24 hour slots instead of just 8 or 10 business hours (no Option to change this) and maddeningly scrolls across the screen in 8 hour increments. The only advantage that the Day view has over the Agenda is that you can use your thumb on-screen for your appointment start time and to automatically launch the New Appointment screen.
If some aspects of the Calendar views are somewhat frustrating then the actual New Appointment (below) creation process is no different. The main reason that I was disappointed here is because the Start and End times can only be set in half hour increments and you can’t use the keyboard to write say “3.15p” to set a time of “3:15 PM” (in fact you can’t use the keyboard at all). A little trick that I discovered is that once the cursor is on the time you need to click on the Center 5Way twice to scroll.
Overall I found both the Contacts and Calendar applications to be disappointing and was particularly annoyed at the lack of customization options available throughout. Having said this I have no doubt that corporate Treonauts will be pleased with particular aspects of the out-of-the-box integration with Outlook such as the option to set Attendees for a Calendar appointment.
As I’ve mentioned before neither the Treo 650 running PalmOS nor Treo 700w running Windows Mobile are perfect but each have unique functionalities that Treonauts may like more or less to suit their particular needs…
UPDATE: The Treo 700w is now available to purchase from the Treonauts Shop for only $299.00 (after mail-in rebate and 2 years new voice & data account).
Treonauts always look at the details… 
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» Treo 700w review, part 2 from Treo Today
Andrew of Treonauts has posted a follow-up to his review of the Palm Treo 700w running Windows Mobile. This time around he looks at the PIM applications - Contacts and Calendar.
Both suffered in comparison with the Palm OS versions - I would attri... [Read More]
Tracked on Dec 27, 2005 7:28:38 PM
» Treo 700w Review from Windows Mobile News
Treonauts.com have been reviewing the new Windows Mobile Treo 700w.
The review is in several parts:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 2 Update
... [Read More]
Tracked on Jan 2, 2006 6:52:47 AM
» from
http://www.fundslender.co.uk/?kw=a... [Read More]
Tracked on Jan 7, 2006 1:23:40 AM
Comments
the search function to me is much more powerful than on my tre0 650, I have lots of contacts with the company name only, and the only way to find them with the 650 was to hit option and then find. With the 700w I just start typing and I find the company much faster. When I moved from my Samsung I700 to my Treo 600 this was the first thing I missed.
Question was.... will the treo bluetooth headset work with the 700w
Answer: YES
We are considering changing from the 650 to the 700w. We have had quite a bit of problems with reception with the 650 as compared to the 600 when we changed a year ago. We like the 650 however are considering the change to the 700w, however if it has the same reception as the 650 we may not even though the WindowsOS may be a breath of fresh air. Has anyone had problems with the reception (we are in Denver Metro with Verizon) on the 650? Does the 700w have better reception?
Any help would be appreciated....
I am returning my TREO 700W because I live in a "fringe" area. My V710 gets one bar but the TREO gets nothing. The phone function is useless in my area.
This will be an even better comparison when the 700p arrives, same hardware and different OS.
I am also looking forward to a comparison between the 650 and the 700p too.
Anyway, this is a good read, thank you.
Great review. How do you like the screen resolution between 650 to 700?
I was a Palm user back with the Palm V and I loved it. About 5 years ago I switched to a Pocket PC and I really like it. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. I just purchased a Treo 650 through Cingular and I'm struggling. Based on the information below can you tell me if I've made the best decision or do I need to look at going back to 2 seperate pieces of equipment - phone and pda.
1. Using the treo for a phone is a little awkard and doesn't fit to the ear as well as a true phone. I have a bluetooth headset that should help.
2. My main purpose in switching was to be able to get my email when i'm out of the office without a lot of setup issues. I can do this with the treo but i am disappointed that when i hot sync I don't sync all messages - so if i have messages in outlook on pc that i've read they don't come over to the palm. If I have an important email with a lot of information i can't get that to the Treo unless it was never read on the pc.
3. The tasks list - on the Treo it assumes the start date is the day you enter it - only gives you the option of a due date. If I make a lot of to do's at night and then sync the next morning everything transfers in red and is overdue. I have to manually change all the start dates.
4. I really liked to the Pocket PC but so many web site suggeted the Palm. I think I can learn the palm since I had it before and maybe I'm just missing some of the small things i had with the Pocket PC. I really liked the auto sync in Pocket PC and Palm I manually have to hit hot sync to get it. Cingular says this will probably be the case with the Pocket PC Treo.
Have I made a mistake in my purchase? Should I learn the Palm, switch to the Pocket PC version or go back to 2 pieces of equipment?
Like how palm OS has .prc what does this have.
Does treo 700w have A note like tungstun E5
When is treo 700w being realised.
an treo Compose and edited excel,word,acess andpowerpoint.
Has anyone tried SKYPE on the 700w over EVDO? How is it? Does it work well. This would be a HUGE selling point for me. What about the EVDO Bluetooth DUN? Is there anyway to enable this? Are there any hacks in the works?
I've been using skype with the 700. unfortunately it freezes the phone after making a skype call. then when you go to reboot it freezes again. it took me two returns to figure out what was going on.
I went into the Verizon Store with my Palmone Wifi card, and turned off phone mode on the live demo. I then inserted the card and was surfing as a list of networks of the mall popped up in a message. (For anyone worrying about WIFI you have to get the Palmone wifi card. about 60 bucks if not cheaper somewhere online)
Does anyone know if this phone will be available for Sprint carrier?
So, can anyone confirm that these Treo 700W's are now shipping with AKU 2?
Hi,
I'm sure this has been asked before.
I'm an ACT and Palm PDA user. I don't need mobile e-mail, simply my contact details, history, notes etc when on the road. It'd be nice if a contact's record appeared when receving a call.
What combined PDA + phone / smartphone would you recommend please ?
Thanks,
Victor
Suffolk, UK
Great site Treonauts!!! I just got a 700w but am struggling with not having DateBk5 functionality (Tungsten T3 owner). Has anyone found a replacement on the Windows version? Also, has anyone found any alarm programs on the 700w? I hate to set up an appointment in Outlook just to have an alarm. I miss BigClock. :( Awesome job on the reviews Andrew.
Hi Andrew-
I am a Mac PowerBook user and I have a Treo 650 on Verizon. I want to upgrade to the 700w but I was wondering if you happened to know what the compatibility is like between a Windows Mobile device and MAC OSX
I have had my Trio 700w for a few months now. I love it although it has many connection problems. The main problems with it as a phone are:
1) Echos. There are many times when using either the speakerphone (more so) or the regular phone, that you get echos on either side...this to me is poor phone quality for a device like this and drives me nuts. For $500, I shouldn't have any of this!
2) Sometimes I answer my phone and people can't hear me...on the flip side, I'll call someone, they pick up and keep saying "hello, hello"...for some reason, this phone loves to do this....and it's not a problem wtih my phone, I have returned it once and this is a new one doing the same thing!
3) The speakerphone while much better than small regular cell phones is better, but all phones don't really have that great of speakerphone still to this day unless you get a house phone. I still don't get why that is.
4) BIGGIE - I bought a Motorola headset...the latest model at $100. It was working fine for a month then all of a sudden either the phone or the headset (still to this day I can't figure it out) starts to work like crap, you can no longer hear the person clear and they are so scratchy, you should return the headset at that poitn, it's useless. I though at first it was my phone, so I returned it. Then I thought it was the headset so I tried a different brand. botht times, after about a month, this happened for both headsets so my theory is IT'S THE PHONE! the phone was completely charged so that's not the issue either which Verizon might suggest.
so overall, a great PDA...but the phone has many problems....and it's getting to me.
Forgot to add, yes, as everyone stated reception is very poor. I live in the Chicago Suburbs and still get a weak spot and can't even use it much at home. When I'm out and about, it fluctuates from high to low connection way too much compared to standard cell phones I've had in the past!
Does anyone know if there's a way to scroll up and down by hour using the 5-way on the Calendar today page?
Is there any software that will allow a Treo 700w to sync with the Novell Groupwise e-mail system? Most important (e-mail is the least of concern) is the calendar and tasks lists.
I purchased the Treo 700w 5 days ago and I am completely happy with it. Like any other new/different device (Im new to Palm) there is some getting used to, but I have had no major obstacles in my using of the phone, calendar, email, IM, Contacts or anything else. I am curious though - if I can use MS 2006 Streets & Maps with this device. I also have Ostia/Pharos which do not appear to be compatible without purchasing another GPS device. I purchased mine to work with a Dell Axim x50v.
Purchased the 700W in February. Have had nothing but problems. Have had two replacements sent out - neither worked. I'm downgrading to the 650!!
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