Some Pro Thoughts From A Lurker.

[In The Office]

Greetings, all. Please allow me to begin my first post by thanking all the participants on this site for the amazingly detailed, and incredibly valuable, information which you all regularly provide. The knowledge you all seem to display is uncanny, and I admire how much you all seem to know, and how many of you seek to educate others. You really are a credit to this site, and a compelling example of how valuable the internet can be.

I've been following the Touch Pro threads for some time now, and confess to being someone who has in his own way become caught up in the intense hype which has led to the release of this phone. And as someone who has long been out of contract with Sprint, and ready to renew, the release of the Pro seems to create an exceptional time to think about joining the fray and becoming an early adopter of this new hardware.

But you know what?

After reading a great deal on here over the weekend, I am not sure that I am ready to jump.

My current phone is a Treo 700wx. I find it to be highly reliable, especially for my needs. I use the phone as a phone. A lot. I send emails from the phone. A lot. I text, I make notes, and I access the internets (all of them) from my phone. I tether. Almost daily. And I find that the last few months - since I became aware of Sprint tracking this information and making it available on my bill - I have used in the area of 3 gigs worth of data. So I make workhorse use of my Treo. And while it is surely getting a little tired after two years of what I think is moderately heavy daily use (sometimes it doesn't turn on right away when I hit the activate button to either make a call or do a search, ets.), the phone works well in all the tasks for which I use it.

Still, I've had iPhone envy. I've had envy of those who can use YouTube or track themselves on Google Maps, or who can watch webcams which require flash. And it seems to me (unless I am wrong) that I would be able to accomplish all of these things, and more, were I to now "upgrade" to the Pro.

But this past weekend, despite all of the blazing excitement over the release of the Pro, I've read some things which make me think that maybe I ought be a bit more patient before I take the plunge.

First and foremost is my concern that I have read too many accounts of people saying, in sum and subtance, that the phone component of the Pro is not all that special. How can it be that right out of the box this highly advanced piece of hardward requires a tweak to allow the volume to be usuable? Is this not first and foremost a telephone?

And does it not seem as though there are a meaningful number of contributors out here who report other issues which are less than pleasing? LED issues, the need (or desire) to disable TouchFlo (isn't that supposed to be one of the great highpoints of this new equipment?), potential heat problems, and what many are reporting as close to dreadful battery life?

I see as solely personal preference the question of whether or not someone prefer the form of the phone. I often make one handed use of the Treo's keyboard, and have become so used to it's layout that the smallness of the keys are not at all a negative to me, but something I've come to appreciate. I realize that moving to a slideout keyboard is a choice for me, and one I may be willing to make.

But when it comes to the hardware's operability, and the integration of the software - including the OS and any applications - it feels to me as though there is a compelling case to be made that as eager as I am to jump on the Pro because of how beautiful the screen is and how much I'd like to take advantage of some of the capabilities which the Pro has and which my Treo doesn't, it may be a good time to be patient and to wait this one out a bit.

Or maybe I ought to just upgrade to the 800 and have what may be a marginally better version of what I am already accustomed to.

Or maybe I ought to just hold on a bit longer and see what the next few months bring.

I invite the thoughts of this board's esteemed readership.

And even from those of you who are less than esteemed. <smile>

Many thanks for your input. And for all the information you folks have so generously provided over the last few months.

Best,
Ito

[Cicatrize]

VERY nice first post. It's an extremely warm feeling knowing we have a new member who can properly compose sentences with the English language, and every thought is clear and complete.

With that being said...

Every time a new device is released, there will be problems, some subjective, and some objective. If you look at iPhone forums, people have issues with those as well. Personally, I don't think the earpiece volume is that terrible on the Touch Pro, but yes, I could see that some would think it to be a little too quiet for their tastes. If I were in a bowling alley at 10:30pm on a Saturday night, I probably would have a tough time hearing someone on the other line with the stock earpiece volume, but personally, I never want to talk to people when I'm in loud places anyway.

Like I said, that's a completely subjective point of view, but that's what it all really boils down to in the end. It really all depends on the user. I absolutely LOVE this phone. It's worlds above any device I've ever used, and I'm still finding new features every day.

Take the plunge. I'd say your chances are high that you won't regret it.

[antsin3d]

I would just like to chime in on the volume issue. I have no problem hearing other people, and vice-versa. In fact it's more clear on both ends than my venerable workhorse Sanyo that I'd had for two years. Overall it's a very nice phone, highly customizable if you know how, and just a great little device. I am finding its organizational capabilities indispensable.

[Phreddo]

sounds to me that in your case, you may not what to fix what isn't broken.

However, as a treo owner, you may find that you can't move as fast on this phone as with the treo, due to the lack of immediately accessible hard keys on the face. I was watching a guy with his treo this weekend, and he was just flying on that thing. I've never had to really power-use this, like taking notes in a meeting or something. Therefore, if you are well-experienced with the treo, you may be kinda stuck with the treo.

I just have this image of you trying to whip this thing out and snap it open, and it just goes flying across the room. :/ But that's what TEP is for

New hardware is always going to be a crapshoot. I felt comfortable buying this phone because I decided that it would have to be at least as reliable as the mogul. Mind you, there is a bit of a learning curve to achieving maximum reliability with the mogul. I've had it totally crash on me once while i was on the road, and I had to hard reset. I had enough info on the storage card to get me by until i got home like 3 days later, but that was it, and I managed to survive.

I drive truck, and the mogul did it all for me, phone, gps, internet and music. I expect this one to do it at least as well, and the extra memory alone tells me i won't regret my decision.
At it's heart, it's a windows mobile device. It has come configured from the manufacturer in the way they think will sell the most units. However, we are not committed to the manufacturer's vision, so we can tweak, enable and disable to our heart's content.

My biggest regret is that this phone still seems to use the same standard touchscreen interface as all phones, and I would really like to try one with the capacitance input. Mainly because this phone requires a plastic/flexible cover, whereas the other ones can be made of glass or something much sturdier like hard polycarbonate or something. I worry about scratches. However, with the flush screen on this one, installing the screen protector is a snap and driving it with your finger is pretty good. might have to press hard on the corners, but that's it.

In the end, i'm guessing you could afford to buy this phone and keep your treo handy for a test drive. Buy it, try it, if you don't like it, sell or return it.

My opinion, this is a very solid and well put-together phone, and it feels so -nice- in my hand.
oh, and as far as the speaker goes, i almost always use a headset with any smartphone. I think that's probably the best way to go.

[DaPeeps]

First off, welcome to PPCGeeks!

I would say if you are feeling uncomfortable, then waiting it out for a month or so wont hurt. That way you can watch the community and see what develops. I am almost positive that within 3 months, thism phone will be customized up and down in every aspect. The hacks and tweaks will start pouring in, and the Roms will be plentiful. I bought my Pro on Saturday, and have no regrets. This is my 4th Windows Mobile device, and its definitley the leader of the pack. It takes the best of the best (Keyboard, Wifi, camera flash from Mogul, improved memory, touchscreen, and form factor from the Touch) and puts them all into one, with more improvements of its own added in, such as the gsensor, nice camera, touchflo3d.

I can tell you I love this phone. Its beautiful and works great. Sure, there are some bugs...but I am 99 percent confident they will be worked out by the talented people here and at XDA.

At any rate, great first post, and again....welcome to PPCGeeks!

[bkaz]

I've been observing the TP posts and here are my observations:

Unlike many people here you are coming from a treo. So your experience will be different. Most of us are coming from a titan, apache, or vogue to the touch pro. So the difference for us might be minor. The TP's screen is the same size and has the same aspect ratio. Software-wise, our devices have been unlocked/cooked/hacked to do almost anything the TP can do - including emulating touchflo3d. We are used to having a big hardware keyboard. So to us the TP is more evolutionary than revolutionary.

Regarding the form of the phone - I have also had a treo. I felt it worked better as a phone than the HTC devices that lack hard dialing buttons. I liked the treo's keyboard for one-handed stuff, but it didn't take long for me to prefer the larger titan keyboard. With the extra row for numbers, the TP's keyboard is even better. As a phone only, I gave the treo a "B" and the mogul/touch a "C" - mostly due to the lack of buttons.

Regarding touchflo3d - We are biased here. People around here prefer to modify their phones and you'd be hard pressed to find anyone running totally "stock". So take comments about disabling touchflo with a grain of salt. We've been playing with touchflo3d for a while now and many prefer to be more customized.

Regarding the battery/heat - just about the only solution is a bigger battery. Custom roms might eventually help extend battery life.

I should mention that I do not have a TP yet - verizon will probably make it available in just few short years!

[porcaccio]

Well, I don't post here that much myself, but I am a longtime Treo user. I have been through my share of HTC slide devices on sprint, though (PPC6700, Mogul and now Touch Pro). Yesterday was my second day of use with the TP coming from a Treo 800w (and previously a Treo 700wx).

Take my comments for what they are worth (nothing). The Treo 800w is fantastic. What palm does to customize their phones makes the experience fully worthwhile. I have 28 days to choose to go back to the Treo. I will be considering that. One handed functionality is key, and the hardware keyboard is magnificent. I also miss some basics, like the Soft buttons to close applications and such.

The Today screen on the Treo 800w was well organized and I could get to Texting (thanks Cody PPC) and email very quickly. On the inbox, i can soft key delete instead of reply all, which made it easy to wade through the hundreds of emails I read in a day.

BUT, I started figuring out the Touch Pro. It's light years ahead of my experience with the PPC 6700 and the Mogul. I can access Voice Command so easily that I don't even miss the Speed Dial pictures on my Treo. Sending email takes an extra step, but I don't mind.

Here is the biggest one for me, though. The flush screen is gorgeous AND bringing up the software keyboard allows me to one hand type even in the car. To top it off, the screen is so responsive that I don't feel that I am losing that much time typing one handed. That for me is a first.

My negatives, though, are on that TF3D interface clunkiness and lack of speed. Opera renders better than IE, but damnit if I can open a link when I need/want to.

I think the TP has a lot more going for it than what people are seeing in their first couple of days with it. Consider that I use Slingplayer Mobile and I would actually watch those streams now. The Bluetooth stack works way better than my Treos ever did and the music streaming from it is quite good.

I'm happy for now, but who knows... I might sour like others...

[In The Office]

Thank you all for your informative, and kind, responses.

I especially appreciate Porcaccio's reminder that one can always bring up the keypad on the screen for one handed dialing; that's a good thought.

I hope that others will offer their opinions.

This is very helpful stuff, and I hope others are benefiting from these comparisons as well.

Cheers,
Ito

[ecker]

Originally Posted by porcaccio

Well, I don't post here that much myself, but I am a longtime Treo user.

actually this was your first post here, lol. i just thought that was funny.

but anyways, i had both the 700wx and 800w. i loved both of the phones. very reliable, awesome to have the qwerty on the front for one-handed use (while driving lol)

i think if you are comfortable using a winmo phone and customizing things and tweaking things how you like it, the touch pro will be a more powerful/capable device. if you are average at winmo and just want to keep a phone how it came, 800w is the way to go. i still love the 800w and if i wasn't such a techy i would have stuck with it.

[cmanbrazil]

I have used treo 700wx for the past few years, mainly for the exchange syncing with my office email and calender. This was transformative for me because it gave me access to all the changes my admin assist did to my schedule while I was out of the office, and allowed me to in turn make changes while I was out.

Needing a gps gave me the option to rationalize the purchase of this phone. I have purchased the diamond and am thinking about exchanging it for the pro, for its extra functionality and hopeful resolution to the lag problem with the gps the diamond is experiencing.

For what I use the phone for, either the diamond or the pro is an upgrade from the 700wx, for the following reasons:

1. Gps. Its cheaper than buying a good gps and allows you to call a # and speak the address in which is great when in route. In addition, it shows the cheapest gas and reroutes depending on traffic. My wife's Nuvi 350 charges per month for this service, which is included in my everything price.
My biggest concern, and it is big, is the gps lag. The voice is on time, but the map isn't, which is horrible when you have a lot of close streets. I have tried to find out if this has been fixed in the pro, but have not read any reports either way thus far.

2. Web browsing is much better on the diamond/pro -when it works correctly that is. The ability to read text is amazing compared to the treo. Even though the screen is small the resolution is great, and the windows resize when you zoom -in most cases-, so you can make the text much bigger.

Youtube is excellent, much better than my laptop actually. I watch youtube for enjoyment, but have increasingly found good info for my non-profit as well.

The touch screen is way better. I want to try the keyboard of the pro, but I have surprisingly done very well on the diamond. While they keyboard looks small, my fat fingers seem to usually find their way.

The phone does have bugs which plenty of people have brought up on here. I actually was done with my contract so I though about taking the phone back and getting the iphone until I checked it out. THe iphone won't let you edit office documents, and the exchange -I think- only works with email and my contacts and calendar are more important to me than email. Plus the phone is so big. I really don't want to carry around a phone that big. And google maps suck compared to sprints navigation. Not to mention I don't know why I would pay 30 more a month for the same plan. btw, I am writing this on a macbook pro, with windows on the other side when needed.

I don't think these phones are perfect, but to me they are a step up from the 700wx