Gear Diary Reviews The Cingular Palm Treo 750

[Jon Westfall]

<i>"The Treo 750 is an awesome device; but then again, so is every WM Treo (except for the 700w, with all of its memory issues). The biggest draw for potential Cingular/ATT 750 users is the implementation of 3G and the loss of the stub antenna. The implementation of simultaneous data and voice calls insures that no matter where you are, no matter what you’re doing, as long as you have a signal, you’re going to get all of your mail, whether you’re on a call or not, thanks to MS Direct Push. The rubberized coating makes the device easy to hold, and easy to work with. While the stylus could use a bit of work, and the keyboard is STILL a bit cramped, as an e-mail device the Treo is hard to beat, especially with the 3G implementation."</i><br /><br /><img src=http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/parekh-20061218-CingularTreo750.jpg><br /><br />Christopher Spera has quite a few devices to compare the Treo 750 to, (He beats me by 1 WM PDA phone... guess it's time to go shopping...) but he seems to have had a blast with the 750 overall. I must agree with him - I've been using the 750v now for around 4 weeks on T-Mobile and am very happy with it so far. Anyone else care to share their opinions of this device with the world? :)

[dma1965]

I got a Cingular 8525 for testing when it first came out. Within a week I did not like it, as it suffers from problems my 8125 does not. Among these are constant locking up, losing the internet connection, and flaky bluetooth. I intended to replace our "fleet" of 8125's with the 8525, but found it too buggy. When the Treo 750 came out I decided to give it a try. I was sure that it would not work for my needs, but perhaps it could work for our other users. I fell in love with it almost immediately. As a phone it just rocks like no other Pocket PC phone I have ever used. It is a breeze to use one handed, and is very stable. The only thing I HATE on it is Microsoft Voice Command, which is a resource hog and is HORRIBLE over bluetooth. Cyberon Voice Speed Dial is much better for basic voice dialing. Battery life is also somewhat limited, and I do not like the proprietary connector (I wish every manufacturer would just stick with Mini USB). The Treo 750 also has a very stupid flaw in the device locking mechanism. You can lock the device during a call, but it unlocks when the call ends. This absolutely sucks when you carry it in your pocket and use a bluetooth headset to take calls, as it becomes vulnerable to button and screen taps when the call ends, and also stays powered on, draining the battery. This is such a glaring flaw I want to slap whoever let this get by QC. Despite these shortcomings, and the fact that many of my old applications do not play nice with the square screen, I LOVE IT, and will use it from now on.

[Jon Westfall]

...and I do not like the proprietary connector (I wish every manufacturer would just stick with Mini USB).

Agreed, but at least Palm is consistent lately. The connectors for the 650 will work fine with the 700 / 750, so just pick up some cheap 650 cables and you're set.

[VanHlebar]

So what are the differences between the 700wx from Sprint and the 750? Will this phone be available on Sprint? If it did become available, would it be worth changing to?

-Eric

[eugarps]

Hi,

The reviewer seems pretty understanding and able to deal with what I view to be really poor battery life. The battery is very small but but not so much so as to decrease the life by more than half over the 650 and 700 series. I wonder if Palm's working on firmware updates for the 750 and its sister the 680? I've had my 680 discharge to completely dead overnight from 99% charge with all of its radios and communications of and no SIM installed.

Other than that, I really like the form factor of the 680/750 and 3G on the 750 could make the change worthwhile.

It sounds like the reviewer had a similar glitch in the 750. I'm considering an upgrade to allow me to return from the Palm OS world but I really don't want to pay almost $700.00 for an unlocked 750 which can't give me a full day's service on a charge. :roll:

Best,

Bill

[lumi]

The previous posts describe how i think about my 750v.
I had a tytn and eten m600 pc phone, the palm is the best i ever had.
The best phone on the WM platform. stable and fast. much faster then my tytn.
The sound quality is perfect and easy to use one handed.
This gonna be my daily device for a long time.

[fone_fanatic]

Battery life is a big issue with 3g devices. I guess the radios need to be developed more to consume less power.

I'm currently using a IMate JasJam (hermes) and considering on getting a new device and thinking of the treo. I'm about to read thia review now but do you guys recommend the Treo over the Hermes? The only reason I haven't bothered with a treo yet is because the image of every sorority girl I know prancing around with one. But then again a Vaja Case would be great!

[seaflipper]

The Treo750 is the best phone I have ever used. Memory is not an issue, speed is not an issue. Even with just UMTS the speed is fine for me right now. Push email works great. I hardly ever even sync it up with my computer anymore - there is hardly any need.

There are a few little issues that need to be cleaned up by Palm or Microsoft:

battery life - yes it's not great but it's not the end of the world for m
disconnected calls - seem to be getting more of these lately. This is annoying

If Palm offers the WM6 upgrade to current owners i will be very very happy :-)

[aussienick]

So what are the differences between the 700wx from Sprint and the 750? Will this phone be available on Sprint? If it did become available, would it be worth changing to?

-Eric
The Treo 700wx is a CDMA phone and the Treo 750 is a GSM phone that can be used in any country around the world.

[aussienick]

I Attended the Treo launch in Sydney, Australia last night and it wasn’t anything too exciting, obviously it would have been more exciting if I hadn’t had my Treo 750 since November.

2 interesting things were said:

1) Palm is currently testing compatibility across the Treo range with Windows Mobile 6, but were not willing to release any prospective release dates or even official confirm that us Treo users will get an update.

2) No wifi in the palm. Palm have examined usage patterns of Treos and decided that people primarily use wifi in Airports (with difficult login pages etc) and at home and it was decided for this Treo that they wouldn’t put wifi in there as they wanted to make a reliable phone and at this stage the battery performance is lacking and therefore it would drain too much of the battery to have both the Cell radio and wifi radio on at once.

[PdaAddict]

Sounds like its great as a phone and for sending emails maybe but it has a 240 by 240 screen so how useful is it for browsing? also no wifi???

[dma1965]

Sounds like its great as a phone and for sending emails maybe but it has a 240 by 240 screen so how useful is it for browsing? also no wifi???

I got used to the smaller screen very quickly, and no wifi does not matter because 3g speeds rock.

[ricksfiona]

The ONLY thing is I wish it was compatible with T-Mo's 3G network... It looks like a GREAT device especially with the great keys. THAT's my big selling point.

[bnycastro]

Another 750v user here and I'd just like to say that this is a solid lil device. The 240 x 240 isn't something really hard to get used to. The always accessible front facing QWERTY keyboard is great for one handed use.

Battery usage will always be subjective [it depends on so many factors signal, location, usage etc etc]: I get 1.5 to 2 days off a single charge. I don't have push email on [my operator charges data via 30 min intervals so push is not practical atm] and I leave my device on GSM mode when I don't need 3G. I also keep the brightness down and turn it up only when needed.