Treo 750 review

[Certs]

I know some people passing through here are thinking about getting this phone when it comes out, so here's a review for you. If you're impatient, then the conclusion is to GO BUY IT!!! I absolutely love it!

First- exterior: A little smaller and thinner than the 700. The shell feels as if it is made of rubber, which is a nice feel when you grip the phone. Sits on your ear well also when you need both hands. The keyboard, however, feels a little moe cramped, but not too much. Enough to notice, too little to hinder you. Jus thave to get used to it I guess. Top half of the stylus is also that rubber material, so it doesn't fall out easily. Will that change? We'll see, but I don't think so. The mini-SD card now has a cover, and under it is the reset hole. No more removing the battery, and no more card catapults when you drop the phone. Both very good things. Battery is tiny, I have yet to test long-term use, since I am always charging it at home, work, and in the car.

Call quality is great. I noticed that when connected to UMTS you don't get the feedback in nearby electronics. In G mode this is not the case. Speakerphone is fine, same as 700.

UMTS is awesome! The speeds ary drastically. If I can get the HSDPA hack working my speeds are 800kb+, but most of the time I can't get it to work, and the speeds are in the 300 range. Still fast enough to not notice in PIE, but I'm sure when I DL a large file I will notice. I can't wait for the Cingular ROM to enable this properly. But the main attraction of it? I made a phone call after checking my email. When I got off the phone, there were 3 new messages waiting for me on my device! It DLed them while I was on the phone. YEAH!

A2DP is great. I have the moto 820's, VC 1.6, and am loving it. I can't say that it is CRYSTAL clear, but better than I thought it would be after hearing all of the complaints. When the phone rings, the RINGTONE that the phone would play (not the beeping noises) come THROUGH THE HEADSET. I thought I would need the Widcomm stack for that, but I guess not. When people call me that have their own ringtones, I know who's calling without touching the device. And the music starts back up after the convo automatically. Now I have not gotten VC to use the mic on my headset yet, but I believe that has been hacked and will search for it tonight.

I was able to put my device to the test this afternoon. I was emailing one friend while SMSing another. I sent an SMS, and as it was sending I tried to open outlook, because an email was coming in; but hit the today plugin for IM PLUS instead by accident. While all this was going on the phone rang, which I have a 30 second mp3 ringtone set up. All this happened within 2 seconds, and thought for sure my phone was going to freeze, if not explode! I waited maybe 4-5 secinds, and the treo caught up and I was able to answer the phone properly, and have my convo. And it was so bad that I said to myself "I have to mention this on the board!"

Summary: If you have a 700w/wx already, I don't think the TWO added features is enough to switch carriers. Besides, I believe they will be included in the next ROM update anyway, but who knows. Those who love the Palm OS, keep it. If you want something more involving (feature-wise AND time-wise) Windows Mobile is what you need. It is more complex than Palm, and requires more "get to know me" time, and more time to get all the settings to your preferences, but it is well worth it. There's plenty of other comparison threads, I'm not starting one here. Try it for yourself!

[Wideawake]

Great Review! I really like this Treo. I never like the form factor, but this one without the antenna looks great to me. Even tho im a big fan of the sliding keyboard. So how much u end up investing in it if u dont mind me asking?
~Mike

[budney]

Very nice review! I am starting to look into getting a GSM WM5 device with a data plan only. This Treo sound great, too bad I all ready have one or I would pick this one up.

[Certs]

I bought it off ebay for 700. Going to sell the 8525 after I'm done "experimenting" The 750 isn't much different from the 700, but thoselittle changes at least show me that Palm cares about their products a bit.

budney- if you're looking for a data only phone you'll probably be better off with the 8525. It has every feature in the book (literally), and ease-of-use isn't so imperative when using as a pda-only. Plus HSDPA works out of the box, still working on the 750.

[budney]

Originally Posted by patmannyc

I bought it off ebay for 700. Going to sell the 8525 after I'm done "experimenting" The 750 isn't much different from the 700, but thoselittle changes at least show me that Palm cares about their products a bit.



budney- if you're looking for a data only phone you'll probably be better off with the 8525. It has every feature in the book (literally), and ease-of-use isn't so imperative when using as a pda-only. Plus HSDPA works out of the box, still working on the 750.

That's what I thought going from the 6700 to the 700wx. And I bet they will continue to improve future devices.

Yes, I have been looking at the 8525, 8125/MDA. I as much as I like the 8525 I can't see paying the extra for a HSDPA device. Their is no HSDPA in my area and it looks to be a couple of years away from happening. I am leaning toward the MDA, at $100 w/ contract through Sam's Club it's hard to resist. That is compared to the 8125 @ $200 and the 8525 @ $300.

[SpeedDemon]

Really gr8 review. You mention the points why I like my treo!

[cnssupport]

Just thought I'd add my 2 cents on why I like my treo 750.

1)productivity - imagine all my reminders, tasks and contacts on one mobile device that you ALWAYS have w u...how likely r u to miss that appt. now when u r being constantly reminded of it. Voice command software also voice enables the reminders...very cool.
2)Portable documents. Mobile office, word, excel, powerpoint etc..... your essential documents are always handy and never far away, this includes pdfs (imagine the potential to regain lost time while waiting in someones office or in (grdlock) traffic.The opportunity to provide much faster response to people whether u r on the road or in office. (As a salesperson imagine having your pricelists or critical product info w u always.) You don't always have to lug around your laptop (although I would never say it is a total replacement for the laptop)
3)Nice form factor with plenty of accessories
4)Take your favorite music and podcasts w u anywhere. Go jogging, cycling etc. with one device instead of 2. (phone + mp3 player. there are ruggedized cases available) Media player stops playing when yr phone rings and resumes after the call - automatically.
5)natual handwriting recognition with Microsoft transcriber or other 3 party app. U have to experience this to really appreciate it. A great productivity booster.
6)many many 3rd party apps writen for it. quite a lot is free eg. engl-spanish dictionary & phrase book, tcp utils, games etc. U will need a mini-sd card (i recommend the largest size avail either a 4gb or a 2gb.)
7)Very well supported (unofficially) in a variety of forums see my attached document: treo 750 online resources.
Built in 1.3 MP camera. I cannot tell u how much u would use this once u have it to record everything. Many possibilities
9)speaking of recorder. U can also use this as a digital sound recorder, use it in lectures, mtgs etc. I personally use Audacity Personal recorder (www.audacityaudio.com). Very nice and easy to use.
10)Quad band operation (unlocked). This phone has quad band capability - 850/900/1800/1900 and UMTS (a higher std. than GPRS edge) but it does work w gprs. I have it working on the phone.

Treo 750 centric online resources:


1) http://portal.treobits.com/forums/in...?showforum=316 - treobits treo750 forum portal – I am the only one who posted in it so far
2) http://forum.treonauts.com/treo-models/treo-750/ - treonausts 750 forum. Much more postings than (1)
3) http://www.gadgetech.info/treo/hacks/hsdpa/ and http://www.gadgetech.info/treo/hacks/cingularvideo/
4) www.treocentral.com - Treo 750 Hardware found in the discussions section
5) Brighthand.com Smartphone and PDA Discussion Forums > Device Suppliers > Palm Treo 750 and Treo 750v
6) http://www.pocketpcfaq.com/
7) http://www.everythingtreo.com/forum/treo-750/
http://mytreo.net/forum/index.php/board,54.0.html
9) http://www.freewarepocketpc.net/s.php?querywords=chess
10) http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/ - has treo forum
11) http://msmobiles.com/news.php/5647.html
12) http://pdaphonehome.com/forums/treo-700w-700wx/ for the 700w but say what…
13) http://promo.pocketgear.com/?treo700w - really for the 700w but say what…?
14) http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index...me=HTC_Cheetah – these folks are incredible. One of the most valuable resources on the Treo 750 I have found to date! Found the rom updates here.