Responding To A Bad Travel Day With My Treo
It’s funny how within a few short hours one can go from almost idyllic tranquility to utter chaos. At least this is how I felt yesterday as I left the luxury, peace and comfort of the Wynn hotel where I was staying in Las Vegas to the considerably less welcoming and more hectic surroundings of the city’s airport.
The last moment of peace I remember before my departure to the airport was having lunch on the terrace of the Wynn’s Country Club restaurant overlooking its golf course and waterfall (image above) with a radiant and warm sunny day. The idea was to take half an hour to unwind before my departure in this spot at the hotel where its almost impossible not to relax when you’re sitting there taking the views.
However, from there on onwards things started to go downhill. First there was the interminable wait in the taxi line to get to the airport just in time to check-in. Then the even longer line to get past security as thousands of people appeared to leave Las Vegas at exactly the same moment after the CTIA show. And finally running to my gate with only minutes to spare before my scheduled departure time only to find that my flight had been delayed by two hours because of mechanical problems…
Since I don’t like to sit idle when I have some ‘free’ time on my hands stranded in an airport (image above with a view of The Strip from the terminal) my Treo smartphone, accessories and software evidently came into the picture pretty quickly.
First I called Amex Travel to try to get booked on another flight out as well as change my rental car reservation for the later arrival time in San Francisco. Since I knew that the call would take a while I donned my Jabra JX10 Bluetooth headset to have my hands free as I paced around the terminal pulling my carry-on luggage.
With my calls finished I then pulled out my Treo 700w, HotSync cable and laptop to wirelessly connect to the web at what often seems like ultra-fast broadband speed (2.4 Mbps within EvDO coverage area) with the absolutely fantastic and essential PDANet software for Windows Mobile using Verizon’s EvDO network.
I will review PDANet separately next week but if you currently have a Treo 700w I can already categorically state that this application should be at the very top of your list. This is because (as existing Windows Mobile Treonauts will already know) the Treo 700w does not natively support Dial-Up Networking (DUN) and PDANet steps in to provide this must-have add-on functionality.
All the while using my Treo 700w to provide wireless connectivity to my laptop I was listening to some relaxing classical music on my Treo 650 with Pocket Tunes and stereo headphones which saved my sanity as the plane ended up being delayed for four and a half hours…
Evidently I would much rather have preferred not to have suffered any delays whatsoever but overall thanks to my Treo(s) at least I managed to keep boredom to a minimum and make my journey both productive and fun.
Treonauts always focus on the silver lining… 
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Comments
C'mon, you're advertising your accessories vs. coming up with a good post. That's nasty.
This is a business blog and as such Andrew's primary purpose while enlightening us on the many features and capabilities of the Palm Treo devices is to promote his business. Since discovering Treonauts I have enjoyed all his posts in whatever capacity he presents them. I do sell cellular products among them, Treo's. I often refer them to Treonauts to better inform them of their Treos capabilities. Granted this is after the sale but I hope they are spending some money at Treonauts store. They often express their gratitude by refering customers to me. In their eyes I am something of a Treo expert and I would like to express my gratitude to Andrew for making this possible. Keep up the good work.
Oops! Make that "I often refer customers to Treonauts". Long day. Sorry.
Dano - actually, I was merely using a 'Treonauts Lifestyle' story to illustrate how my Treo, accessories and software can be used in a particular scenario.
Perhaps more importantly I write and recommended only a 'select' group of products/services that I personally use myself and which I consider to be in the top of their respective categories.
sanclemman - thank you for your kind comment.
Cheers, A.
Don't be dissuaded Andrew (not that you would be) but your cavorting and marketing approach is a must read. I look forward to becoming a Treonaut (customer) myself once the 700p hits the market. My wife continues to enjoy (although minimally by your standards) her Treo 600.
Thanks for the stories.
I have this little yellow taxi roll across my screen every so often. Anyone know what that is?
Janet - that's some kind of little easter egg-like function that I have NO IDEA how to bring about. You must be doing something right;)
See Andrew, with your posts you aren't catering to Treonauts worldwide - you're catering to yourself. It always 'select' apps you use blah blah blah...how about apps WE use? How about a little more consideration for the most popular apps within the Treo community, rather than apps you yourself prefer?
Love your blog Andrew, but I did have a bit of a chuckle - hving just returned from vegas the airport has free WiFi access anyway - no need for the Treo on that occassion! Keep up the good work.
RG
OK. Very clever to use your 700 as a modem to connect to the EvDO network. That said, McCaren airport has airport wide free Wi-Fi which is plenty quick, so why bother with the yard sale of the extra devices?
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