Treo 700w Review: Part 2 Update
Following my review of the Treo 700w’s Contacts functionality I’ve spent a lot of time rethinking my comparative rating of “Worse” against the Treo 650 and coming to the conclusion that it should perhaps have been rated as “Equal” or even “Better”.
Among others, a recent tip (thanks CTY) pointing me to the fact that you can actually have access to one click text and email messaging via the Lookup Field by “press and hold” the Center 5Way on a name (image below left) has done much to change my opinion. However, some marks are still lost simply because this function is not documented in the Treo 700w’s Quick Reference Guide and so like me new Treonauts are likely to learn about it only if they’re specifically looking for it or just happen to stumble upon it.
The other thing was a mistake on my part. I incorrectly stated that the Treo 700w does not allow you to search for the Full Name of a contact (either via the Lookup Field or in Contacts) when in fact it does. It simply does this slightly differently but arguably better than on the Treo 650. Namely, instead of typing the first letter of the First Name + xx letters of Last Name (jbro to look up John Brown for example) you can type the first few letters of the First Name followed by a Space and the first few letters of the Last Name (Jo Br again to look up John Brown) as in the image below right.
Overall, the fact that you can actually send both a text _and_ email from within the Lookup Field in the Today screen and also from within Contacts is indeed a significant improvement over the Treo 650 (only if people actually get to find out about it instead of being hidden as a “trick”) and enough on its own to bring my rating up to “Equal”.
Evidently I still have a bit of a learning curve to climb when it comes to Windows Mobile on the Treo 700w and I have no doubt that as I have done for nearly two years with my other Treo smartphones I am bound to discover something new on a daily basis.
Treonauts always get things straightened… 
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» Detailed Treo 700w reviews are posted from Randy Holloway Unfiltered 2.0
I wasnt sure if this phone was going to be available for release so early, but detailed reviews of the Treo Windows Mobile device have been posted. The highlights include that all current Treo 650 accessories seem to work with the device accordi... [Read More]
Tracked on Jan 2, 2006 10:58:42 AM
Comments
The more I am hearing about the different enhancements that the today screen of the 700w has, the more I am wondering why none had ever done these on the PalmOS. I have Facer, and love it for the today screen, but it seems that the plugins are read-only and therefore to do something like this hasnt happened. Arrgh. I want dirAsst on my today screen so that I can do this, waaaa waaaa :)
Do you know if you can sort contacts by category? Are you able to sent text msgs or emails to entire contact cateogries all at once? The 650 was unable to do that. I was hoping that the 700 can.
I think one thing that we all need to be aware of is that Treo 650 is more than a year old by now. It is like comparing a 1985 PC to a 1984 PC. The 1985 PC will always compare more favorably. Not taking anything away from Microsoft, the more accurate comparison will be the Treo 700p when it comes out in the next few months.
The Treo with the Palm OS will be toast if they don't upgrade to a multitasking OS real soon.
It is insane not to have a multitasking environment.
Did i read here that you can't receive calls when you use for instance the bluetooth GPS when driving?
I find the quality of the Treo very dissapointing, but if I buy a new one, it probably will be with the Windows OS. Eventhough I have been using the Palm OS from the very first day.
Hope some of you can help me.
I am considering a Treo. It will be strictly a business productivity tool - no interest in camera, music, etc.
Our database/contact management runs on networked ACT. We have ACT for Palm available.
I am also interested getting email and perhaps being able to do basic net surfing.
Do I get the 650 with Palm or go for the 700. From what I can gather, the 650 doesnt have net capability but I wont be able to interface with ACT if I get the 700???? Am I correct in reading that Palm will follow with a 700P which will run on the Palm operating system? If so, what time frame?
Your insights are much appreciated.
The Treo 650 doesn't have net capability? What gave you that idea? Well it doesn't have built-in WiFi (neither does the 700w) but you can surf the net and check email fine as long as your carrier has a suitable data plan (all do some just cost more than others).
I have true push email using ChatterEmail, an Over The Air RSS Aggregator with QuickNews, surf the web with Blazer and listen to Shoutcast radio streams with PocketTunes Deluxe from my Treo 650 without any problems.
Sad to notice that your "test" appears to become quite worthless ;( Given a fact you can give "Worse" judge one day just to change it to "Better" next day it a plain sign you should stay away from doing any tests (or even "tests" in such case) as people may find it trustworthy or even purchase goods based on your "reviews". I'm very disappointed to seeing this to happen here.
Andrew, Your Insiderness,
Is there any possible way whatsoever that you can give any kind of idea as to when the 700P will be coming out? I have called Sprint and Palm, and neither say that have no idea as to when the phone will come out. Plese give me some idea so I have a date in mind and the countdown can begin. I know you said there were rumors it was supposed to be released the same time as the 700w. Is this still true? Plesae any info you have on the subject would be GREATLY appreciated!!!!
Treonauts ROCKS!
Any idea if 700w can function as external EVDO modem with either DUN bluetooth or USB cable?
Great! I have to switch to some other product. Years of happiness with Palm - then I get my first treo, didn't work, sent it back, got another, didn't work, sent it back, got another, didn't work, sent it back, got another. It finally got one which worked! Now they want to change over to windows. Why should I care anymore? I'm a big mac user but frankly for ease of use and good sense nothing ever beat palm. I use windows at work so I know it's a cranky program. And I love Palm. RIP I guess. I'm not going tangle with some half-concieved windows program.
I reminise about my old Treo 180. In technology it's not always better to go forward. The treo 180 was the best computer I ever had.
Questions for the reviewer:
1) Does WM5 on the Treo 700 have the one button favorites like on the 650. I currently have a PPC6700 with WM5 and it does not have this functionality (I really miss this feature!)
2) How is the speakerphone/ external speaker compared to the 650.
3) Is the bluetooth better than the 650. Most 650 users (including myself) are/were very disappointed with the Treo's BT radio.
4) How is the day to day phone operation compared to the 650? How is the voice dialing? Can you activate it from the BT headset?
Thanks for the great info so far. I enjoyed your review very much!
have a few Questions about the treo 700
does it have gps,landscape mode,backgrounds,or any security? please email me if you know. ([email protected])
and does it have a drawing app like windows paint or does it have voice memos? ([email protected])
Can't wait for the 5th! I have a Blackberry 7250 that I'm going to run over with my car as soon as I confirm my first call on the Treo.
I read in your review that the new 700w will work with all of the Palm OS 650 accessories. But what about software? Are there a lot of applications available for Windows Mobile 5.0? (e.g., GPS, calculators, city directories, translators, etc.) How do they rate compared to Palm applications? A note about this in your next review would be very helpful. Thanks!
I have got to say I am pretty disappointed in the lack of review material generated here so far. Andrew has had the phone for almost a month now and it comes out tomorrow yet we've only seen 2 parts of the review + a camera comparison no one really cares about. Can we please, please, PLEASE get some worthwhile info on the phone's actual PERFORMANCE like:
web browsing
program speed/functionality
reception/EVDO speed/call quality
speakerphone
media player/AV quality
The first 2 parts were informative but people want to know much, much more. I was really hoping to use this as a preview of the device but so far it's been a big, big let down.
Does the treo 700w have the standard windows mobile variety if text entry methods? Grafiti, etc?
How does the sms and mms functions compare to the 650? is the sms like the 650's "chat" like style.
I have two questions on the 700w that I am hoping someone can answer:
* Browsing - tried it in a mall kiosk and the browsing was horrible.....fast on wifi, but needed to scroll in two directions...is there something Blazer-like for Pocket PC?
* Wireless Bluetooth Stereo - dying to cut the MP3 cords...it supports Bluetooth 1.2. Does that mean that it supports the Bluetooth stereo protocol and I could get some of those wireless BT headphones and listen to MP3s without wires?
Looks like PDANET will have software to let us use the 700w as a modem, via wire or BT.
I used it with my TREO 650 and loved it.
Their website says that it'll be ready on 1/17
I'm considering upgrading from the 600 to the 700. Is it possible to transfer my calendar, contacts, etc. from Palm Desktop to Microsoft Outlook?
Also, I am an AOL user. Does anyone have experience with using AOL on the 700w? Thanks in advance! tg
Not one mention of the Voice Command feature which allow for voice activated dialing and application navigating. I use the side button to launch voice command and in a normal speaking voice say "call bob jones mobile" it asks for a confirmation "yes" and the number is dialing. I hardly ever enter into the contacts function to get a number or email address.
I just bought the treo700. The text messaging is different than my 650. Is there a way to set the text messaging on the 700 to "chat format" like the 650??
Please email any response to [email protected]
THANKS!
Will voice activation work on a bluetooth headset using the 700w and which headset works best?
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