Palm launches £399 Treo Pro It's only a day later than anticipated, but Palm has now launched the Treo Pro. Available SIM-free or from Vodafone, the new-look smartphone is somewhere between the Centro and the iPhone 3G. It does indeed pack in tri-band 3G UMTS connectivity with HSDPA, and provide GSM, GPRS and Edge as a back-up. Palm Treo Pro Palm's …
It runs Win Mobile 6.1. I have Win Mobile phone. I used to like it, it never used to crash, just worked. With 3rd party software was actually really cool.
But... Since few months ago it started going bonkers. Sometimes I need to restart it to access Contacts! Application just doesn't want to start. Same with Phone App. I think it has something to do with huge amount of temp files lying in system folder. All that after about 1 year of using it. I mean, it's a phone it should last slightly longer than that! Why, oh why Win Mobile is the same like XP and slows down after a while because "it just works like that"?
Sorry for the rant, and thank God that my contract is almost over! Only 2 months left! GPhone, maybe???
Especially if it can bridge between those connections - easy WiFi for the laptop (and the wife's obviously)
My last WM phone used to crash when receiving calls - the screen would turn on - say "So and so is calling you", the ringtone would play (endlessly) and the vibrate would stay on (rather than pulsing like it's meant to). If you pulled the battery it would reset. then you could call them back.
Windows isn't coming to a phone near me ever again.
Nice looking phone. The reason I went with Palm phones for so long was the OS.
Unfortunately because they wouldn't release a Palm OS based phone with WiFi I eventually moved to an iPhone. I still miss some aspects of the Palm OS (copy and paste and syncing memos and todos.)
My favorite phone ever was the Samsung SPH-i500. Palm OS flip phone. Truly amazing.
But alas, this Palm phone doesn't even run Palm OS, so I'm happy enough with my iPhone.
Screw Windows Mobile. That alone might be the reason the iPhone makes a blip in the radar. Palm doing Windows was the main reason I just gave up and went for a Blackberry instead. (Ok, the unlimited data plan also helps...)
When (and if) Palm releases this baby with PalmOS, I might reconsider. But meanwhile, my BlackBerry is here to stay...
Firstly, my experience with PalmOS after 4.x has been horrendous. The version of Garnet (5.7, I believe) included on the LifeDrive was crap: couldn't switch between Bluetooth and WiFi networking without crashing (timer.c, blah blah,) sanctioned applications would crash regularly, Blazer is just a giant PoS, and I will refrain from detailing VersaMail pains.
Now, move on to the Treo with PalmOS. EVERY single person to whom I provide service complains about the phone crashing, locking up, synchronization problems, Bluetooth issues, and so on.
Putting the two together, I decided that perhaps PalmOS was the culprit and that a WM-based Treo would be better. Unfortunately, no such luck. After recommending Palm WM phones to several people, I was disappointed to find that they suffered crashes, lock-ups, networking issues, and, most annoyingly, schizophrenic Bluetooth.
But who to blame? Given the LifeDrive fiasco and later experiences with the T5 and T|X, I point squarely at Palm and its shyt OS -- one crashed application brings down the whole phuqn machine? That crap went out with the Atari ST, Amiga, and Mac.
But then the mobile phone introduced a whole new playing field: system software modified by Palm, firmwares then further modified by carriers, or so the story is told. Palm blames Sprint for the mangling of its beautiful Treo 700wx WM5 software, and Sprint blames Palm for doing the mangling in-house using Sprint specifications and requirements.
Irrespective of the finger-pointing game, we tire of phones which crash and lock up and do not function as promised. I have had great experiences with HTC phones (other than on Alltel, on which reception is horrible,) Sony Ericsson (love my K790a, even given its functional short-comings, it has rarely locked up or crashed,) and I hear great things about Nokia.
Paris, detailing the pain of poor reception (why does she never call back?)
...what a crap OS for a phone. Others have stated it that Palm OS is the way to go and I agree. Even the Jesus phone struggles to keep up with the usability of my aging Palm OS Treo 650 for THE MAIN uses of a phone / pda. Much quicker to find / enter a calendar appointment or send a text message or make a call. Whether they can get the Palm OS replacement out in time before the others catch up is debateable though. The iPhone with a real keyboard would get close if it happens.
Familiar interface, good synchronisation with my PC and Exchange Server so on backup worries with SIM cards, push email, contact and calendar updates without any middleware or middlenetwork, meeting today and tomorrow's calendar on my screen, together with reminders and quick little voice notes that appear in my Outlook as soon as I connect. Add in a Terminal Services client for on-the-run repairs and the ability to make phone calls and use SMS. What's there to complain about?
Currently running an HTC Tytn - no real complaints... battery life could be better, but then it spends much of its life USB'd to my PC so never normally a problem. Oh - and the occasional reboot - probably once a fortnight. I can live with that.
I'm no Microsoft apologist, but if you use your phone for business, and I do, genuinely - what's there to get so abusive about?!
@ David Cantrell - thanks for your foul-mouthed rant. Really added value to the discussion!
I've had it on my Treo for ages and have found it great. Stable, usable, better than I expected. Granted, I didn't expect much after 5.x but was pleasantly surprised.
I like the way that you can replace the shell and make it look nice and work better.
Can you do that on an iPhone or on Palm OS? Not owning either I don't know.
They not dead yet?
@Norfolk Enchants Paris
1. You forgot the "Hilton" in your nick ;-)
2. "I like the way that you can replace the shell and make it look nice and work better." Now I can guess what you like about WinMobile.
@Alan W. Rateliff
"That crap went out with the Atari ST, Amiga, and Mac" Common issue in the 90's for all vendors. I think you have forgotten Windows 9x and especially Me, which as its name implies came out in 2000 and was the last OS I am aware of to have been shipped with this "feature" lol
Well, actually, I like Palm, so I went and had a look at their phoney kit! Now, on their French website, the specification of their Centro mobile are in German! LOL
[http://eurostore.palm.com/epages/Store.sf?ObjectPath=/Shops/PalmStore/Products/1057FR-Z22&ChangeAction=ChangeCurrencyByCountry&CurrencyCountry=FR]
But I'm a nice chap, and attempt to let them know ... how? I am not gonna call the premium tel number and their link to the "contact us" form is dead - great job!
[http://eurostore.palm.com/epages/Store.sf/fr_FR/?ObjectPath=/Shops/PalmStore/Categories/telesales#q1]
They are trying hard, really hard! Chapter 11 by the end of the decade, as I already said on another comment about Palm!
Sad, I really like Palm OS!
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