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Palm Treo 600 (GSM)

 

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3.16
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Still useful - not fragile

 

Jan 13, 2007 by mobiletoypuzzle

I got my Treo 600 two years ago heavily used. I dropped it 2 weeks later as I was getting into my car. It hit the pavement, sliding 10 feet. The cell service disconnected but it's an easy button push to reconnect. I dropped it many times since. The worst happened as I biked down the street while untucking my shirt. It launched and flew under a parked car. I saw deep gauges in the plastic and thought that was the end. Again, just needed to reconnect & everything was working fine. I had it in my pants pocket in a crowded restaurant entryway. I tried to move out of the way of someone and hit the corner of a table directly in the center of the screen. The screen lost some color saturation in that spot but still displays fine & touchscreen works perfect.

600 is still useful if you're like me & like to take a lot of applications, music, photos and other data with you. There is a ton of freeware and shareware for Palm OS (check www.versiontracker.com/palmos/ but make sure to look for programs for screen res 160x160). I bought MP3 software which worked as expected - not hi-fi but a good jam. I bought a French/English dictionary and used the heck out of it for figuring out menu items while traveling.

Pros:
Easy to navigate (each key on the QWERTY keyboard can be a shortcut plus touch screen that works well without the stylus)
Tons of applications, many for free
Buttons are nicely curved, easy to type rapidly
Very easy to toggle between ring and vibrate

Cons:
Technology curve is outmoding the graphics
No wifi (true of all Treos, sad to say)
Yellow/orange screen cancer has been reported (look for permanent yellow dots starting from the corners)
Disconnecting from cell service when hit and it's a computer so it can crash and disconnect

After repeated beating, mine is finally having permanent hardware trouble (will pretend to make a call with full bars and then hang up). The system and applications work fine so it still functions as a PDA.

Get a cheap used one and have fun.


Never again

 

Feb 12, 2006 by jnem

I've been a Nokia/Motorola owner for about 10 years. I bought this phone unlocked 4 months ago. It has been a complete failure of a phone for me. At 2 months, it developed an "orange cancer" on the screen that slowly grew. At 3 months, it stopped ringing when people called. After going rounds with Palm's terrible customer service, I finally gave up and bought a Nokia 6200. At least with Nokia, I know that I can count on getting a quality phone

First, the pros:
- it has a keyboard
- it synchronizes with my Outlook contacts, calendar and e-mail

Cons:
- Customer Service - If you need it, save yourself the stress, just toss the phone.
- Friends consistently told me that they couldn't hear me clearly.
- Speakerphone feature constantly frustrated people on the other end who were trying to talk to me because it was so noisy.
- The camera is pathetic. I didn't buy it for the camera, but I've seen far cheaper phones with far better cameras.
- NO HANDWRITING! What's a palm without handwriting?
- Keyboard buttons are round and slippery, making it hard to type fast.
- Headphone that comes with it is fragile. Fell apart in first two weeks.

I'm now waiting for the Nokia 9300/9500 to come down a little in price. At least I know that Nokia will do a PDA phone right.


Treo Starts off good and then nose dives

 

Jun 7, 2005 by muddymac

I bought my first Treo 600 in October of last year. Two weeks later it locked up and never came back. I had to go through Palm to get a new one. The WORST customer service via India I have ever experienced. They lost my service number 3 times (luckily I wrote it down in a safe place). After two more weeks without a phone, I called and they said they were back ordered after they said it had been shipped! Another week went by and I finally got the phone. Then they would not pay for the return. I finally paid for it myself and then they claimed they never received the phone and charged my credit card $500. I used FedEx and gave them the tracking number and disputed the charge. If ever I was frustrated to the point of physical violence, this was it. It took all of my relaxation exercises to not smash the new phone to bits with a rock. The new phone worked on and off for two more months (massive dropped calls, freezing of the screen, head set jack has a short). I am so disappointed with Palm and Cingular. They have re-defined terrible customer service. I just called to exchange the second phone for a third (they will not trade me for a $75 regular phone). I would not recommend this phone to anyone. Just stick with a normal cell phone and wait until the technology improves. Trust me, you will only be frustrated and out about $300.


Tero 600

 

Apr 27, 2005 by KEVIN1270

What a peice of hardware.

cons
user hostile does what it wants not what you want.I used this unit for a week I hated it people say palm os system is the best .As a blackberry user I say wrong blackberry os is head and tails above palm
this unit has no back button whats up with that second must used button is gone. also poor battery life heavy usage battery will die half way thru the work day battery is internal so you can't get an extend one.
camera would have been better left off of this unit is is the worst camera on a cell phone I have ever seen.Buttons are so small hard to type fast.

pro mp3 player expandable memory sd memory


I hate this phone!!!!!

 

Apr 14, 2005 by QW77

This phone is definitely the biggest waste of money that I have ever seen. All the hype that surrounded this phone, and then to make it worst the people at palmone decide to make the 650 with bluetooth. This camera. Is it really a camera, or a true test of your patience? I have none with this phone. The SD card slot makes it easy to add images, and file extensions for the ringtones make it almost impossible to find ringtones for it. But this phone on top of all this does not have a easy to use user interface which makes it completely worthless.


Get the 650 if you want - the 600 is junk.

 

Mar 30, 2005 by mattinfll

I have had the Treo 600 since 12/2003, and my boss got his at the same time and just went with the 650. My partner is now on his second warranty replacement for the 600. I have tried every fix that is published for this phone's faults and I am finally so annoyed, I bought a Nokia 6230 today. My partner will do the same if he likes my Nokia.

Just please don't buy one of the remainder 600's from Cingular. If you want this type of phone, pop for the 650. I have used my boss's and they have fixed the problems.

The only reason I have held out as long as I have is because I have such a good ATT plan, and to switch, I have to go to a Cingular plan.

The main problem is the constant buzzing whenever the battery goes down just a little. And most people say you sound like you're in a wind tunnel, even when there's no buzzing. I have done the "tin foil" fix for the buzzing, and it only works for a while. (Palm did not properly shield one of the wires in the phone. You can open it up and fix it with a little foil. There's a help forum on the internet to show you how.)

Pros: Uhh, maybe the easy syncing with Outlook.

-people think it's a cool phone when they see it.

Cons: Phone is fragile. And if you use one of the cases, it's very hard to use keypad and touch screen.

-actually, even after a year and 3 months it's still hard to use the keypad and touchscreen intuitively.

-Camera is really bad. Not just cell phone bad. Really bad.

-The buzzing and windtunnel effects. Calls drop all the time. I can have full bars and people call and it goes straight to voice mail.

-Battery life.

-found the email interface to be cumbersome.

Since I never used it to browse the web, and the camera sucked so bad, I think I can deal with the Nokia and its smaller screen. I had Nokia's for years and never had problems. Every time I stray, I come back to Nokia since they always seem to get the main thing right - the phone works like a phone should.


THE TREO 600 IS NOT IT!

 

Nov 9, 2004 by Darrylc

As a Realtor I depend on my phone for my living...I use it all the time!

The speaker function on this phone is the WORST feature. In handsprings infinite wisdom they made this device USELESS, by making it incompatable with blue tooth!

Speaker volume is fine...if you know how to work the phone. What is not fine, good, or acceptable is the fact that when you activiate the speaker function, your client GETS to HEAR EVERY WORD THEY HAVE SAID come back at them in the form of very LOUD feedback!

I've had 4 Treo 600's in less than 8 months!

1st Treo volume did not work period...speaker phone feedback

2nd Treo, speaker phone feedback, phone would not let me pick upp incomming calls

3rd Treo, big orange blob developed on my touch screen could'nt use the phone anymore! Speaker phone feedback, plus spotty reception

4th TREO, 4 lines to no lines all over the Las Vegas Valley, on the same call less than 20ft from where the call was initiated! Feedback issue on speaker phone.

I rue the day Siemens stopped making the SX56. I can not wait util the Siemens SX66 comes out.

1 year of HELL with AT&T charging your account for defective devices, claiming they did not recieve the returned phones and the last straw...AT&T covers these phones for 30 days thats it!!! Then the warranty reverts to Handspring... they don't send you a new phone to replace the defective device that they sold you for $700.00! They send you a reconditioned piece of crap that was defective when it was manufactured, and remains defective after it has been returned and "reconditioned"

The Palm FEATURES ALL WORK... but the phone SUCKS!!!!

SERVICE SUCKS

STAY AWAY!

PROS'

If you purchase the TREO for non GSM network ie SPRINT they seem to work Flawlessly !

Shame on AT&T , Handspring & PALM for putting this CRAP out into the market place...


SO CLOSE YET SO FAR

 

May 21, 2004 by Alpinista

I purchased an unlocked, GSM version at a local retail store in the LA area three weeks ago. After waiting three weeks, I decided to call PalmOne and cancel my order, since it was going to take approximately six weeks to receive. Fortunately, I found this one store that hand closets full and was ready for purchase.

I now have my Sony ET68i, JABRA Bluetooth earpiece, and Tungsten T in storage. I am now the proud owner of a Treo 600. It was too much of a bother to carry my mobile and my PDA so I opted to break the piggy bank and purchase my Treo 600. It was great to just take my SIM card and install into the Treo. Amazingly simple. I make phone calls, send & receive email, take photos (recently went on a trip to San Francisco and left my digital camera phone...just used my Treo which was quite adequate), jot down new entries into my calendar, use it as an alarm clock to wake me up in the morning, read Word documents on it and surf the Web while I'm riding the train...and I'm still discovering new things.

There are a few NEGATIVES:
Nothing too major that can't be fixed. If you don't use a wired earpiece for phone calls, the screen becomes rather oily from pressing against your face. Answer: Clean it. Or...Use the earpiece. Unless, of course, you don't mind it.

It's so pricey that I have to be extra careful with it. I really baby the thing. (I even feel guilty just calling it a "thing"). Definitely get a case for it. Vaja cases are great. Then again, the Palm cases are fine. Definitely encase it in a shock-absorbent case.

Worst thing by far...The phone speaker went dead on me last night. I made a phone call several times to friends and I just wasn't able to hear them (pressed against my ear...not using the earpiece). I was told that it has happened to a few Treo 600 owners. Fortunately, I came back into the store and exchanged it for a new one. I believe the fellow told me that maybe four out of 100+ have had this problem. I'M HAPPY-period.


So Sad to Say Goodbye

 

Oct 8, 2004 by MontereyRealtor

After thinking about it for months, I finally had to replace my Treo 600 phone yesterday. Palmone has made a valiant effort on this product, but they didn't get it right just yet. First let me say that I loved this phone at first, and I'm so sorry to have to move on, but after a year of annoyances, it's time to move on. For anyone thinking of purchasing this phone, be aware of the following:

PROS:
- Great touch screen interactive OS
- I use it as my realtor eKey, and can have the whole listing service on the phone
- Take photos of properties, and email from the phone

CONS:
- Poor quality on the camera
- Poor quality in general
- No bluetooth compatibility
- And finally, Poor telephone implementation

That's right... as far as I can tell, the telephone part of this telephone is the weakest link. My clients were beginning to get very annoyed with a loud buzzing noise that I couldn't hear on my end, but that was very irritating on their end. I had the phone replaced under warranty, which was very simple and quick. Then the phone I got as a replacement had a bad problem with randomly shutting off the wireless service. Over the next week or so, as I decided whether I wanted to just get a new phone, or try another replacement, the phone started developing the same buzzing in the background. I finally decided to give up on it. Love the form factor, love the idea, but #*&%@!!! It just doesn't work.

If you work on the road a lot, and need your phone as part of your livelihood, a quality smart phone is a great addition to your life, but I have to recommend against the TREO products. The quality of the implementation still has a ways to go.


Waited a long time....and now THRILLED

 

Dec 16, 2003 by JoeDoc

I have been waiting for this phone/pda combo for a long time...and I have to tell you that it has been worth the wait.

Love the ability to carry only one device with me and have it be small enough to hold up to my ear without looking like I have an encyclopedia attached to my head.

Some pro's and con's:

PROS:
-Size
-Ease of use and navigation
-Qwerty keyboard
-Sound Quality (Tmobile)
-SD expansion slot
-Cheap data access (Tmobile TZones)
-Favorites screen makes navigation, dialing, and web usage even easier

CON'S:
-Keyboard just a bit too small for someone with large fingers
-Screen Resolution could be better
-Camera Phone isn't all that great and you cannot edit the camera software
-Need to do a "soft" reset just about once a week (Version B)
-No Bluetooth

The cons really aren't all that bad considering the amount of technology that they fit into this little device.

Overall I highly recommend this phone to anyone looking to decrease the number of devices that they carry around each day. I've been very satisfied since it arrived just over two weeks ago.

 
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