Phone Scoop - Palm Treo 650 (CDMA) Info

User Review: Unhappy with my Treo

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 21:38:54 GMT

lkb847 submitted this review of the Palm Treo 650 (CDMA):

Overall rating: 1.5 (out of 5)

I am admittedly beyond low tech when it comes to my phones. Up until the Treo, I sported a clunky Sanyo, which looked silly, but got incredible reception. I used to walk into the cell phone store and tell the salesman that I didn't care if the phone made me lunch, I just wanted it to make and receive calls as consistently as possible. I decided to upgrade so that I had PDA and internet capabilities.

I am so frustrated with this phone in terms of its reception. I am constantly roaming event when I'm standing outside in the middle of an urban area. My calls are constantly dropped and I'm like a bad commercial because my calls frequently break up.

That said, I like the keyboard and have not as many problems with web access and texting.

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User Review: Charging Caution

Sat, 30 Dec 2006 05:09:14 GMT

Free2bme submitted this review of the Palm Treo 650 (CDMA):

Overall rating: 4 (out of 5)

I realize i'm late in reviewing this report but as you read on you'll understand why. I've had the Treo 650 for a year and 9 mos give or take - my 2 years would have been up in march. The phoen itself I think overall met almost all of my needs and excelled above others I wasn't expecting. But I caution everyone when it comes to charging their phone(s). According to Verizon Tech's in a local Corp store, charging the 650 and maybe other phones for extended periods can be hazardous to you and your phone/battery. Let me explain, due to personal circumstances I put my phone on to charge on a Saturday night, and having 2 phones, combined with other stuff, forgot about it til monday morning. At which point the phone was DED, no Dead... And upon visiting the local experts was informed that not only did the battery get fried but so did the phone. Poofffff - it was gone. Do not pass go, do not blah blah blah. Several hundred $$ later I was the hesitant owner of a Treo 700p - which i've had about a week now, and need to return/exchange etc because the bluetooth stopped working. I'm not a happy camper.

So to summarize: The Treo 650

Pro's: Great overall phone, mostly reliable and easily resettable except for having to remove the battery cover, battery life was better than expected at 3 days +-, using bluetooth, moderate phone calls, web etc. and that's with poor signal strength 8+ hrs a day @ work. I'm finding the 700p has less battery life. Web was mostly reliable, with the occasional lockup or too big a page error.

Con's: If you charge your phone for more than 4 hours as in overnight, be forwarned as it may not survive. Now i'm not one to watch my phone like a pot of water, and with the 700p have to plug it in when I get home from work, and remember to unplug it before bedtime for fear of the KILLER CHARGER.

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User Review: LOVE it!

Sat, 18 Nov 2006 23:32:27 GMT

TreoStoy submitted this review of the Palm Treo 650 (CDMA):

Overall rating: 4.5 (out of 5)

Realized I had a review ready-to-go in an email to a friend...only gave 4.5 stars because of lack of EVDO, flash for camera, and VGA camera. Read on...

How can you NOT love this thing? Q or no Q it rocks - already have 400+ songs on a SD card, two seinfeld eps and a Simpsons Halloween. Played solitaire while waiting for tax class, got all my To-Do's and calendars synched, and I can *almost* text message while driving! I have unnaturally large stubby fingers apparently - I can never hit the key I want. Didn't get the data plan so I won't be setting up my email (do I really need to see my spam on the road - or Pauline's jokes)? :) I also bought and downloaded 2 books yesterday. It's like my new best friend when the other kids won't play.

Best move I've made with a phone, period.

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User Review: I ditched my Q for this and I'm glad.

Tue, 24 Oct 2006 23:52:19 GMT

chocolateman85006 submitted this review of the Palm Treo 650 (CDMA):

Overall rating: 4.5 (out of 5)

I was very infatuated with the Q when I first got it (see my review). I had two Q's in 3 weeks. Then life progressed and I had problems with it such as frozen videos, inmternet problems, keypad issues, etc..... The secong Q i got was worse than the first. (Phone scoop should let people be able to place two reviews). But back to the Treo 650, a much superior phone. It may be used, but it does it's job well. It's less confusing to use than the Windows formatted phones (or maybe it's me). If Id've known about how good these are a long time ago, id've surely gotten one then!

Pros:
Great reception (Not one dropped call).
Vibrate mode works well (i gotta have it on silent at work, church, etc....)
Really good camera/video for being a VGA
I love the keypad. Good stuff.
Nice, big screen.
The text format is cool. It's completely different than what I've ever used.

Cons:
Small internal memory.
Kinda slow internet, but what phone can really be perfect? (Still better than T-Mobile's internet {for 44.99, it sure the hell better be!})
No Ev-do.
No other cons at this time.

I wanted a Treo to begin with, but saettled for the Q for price reasons. You gotta give to receive, ya dig? The Treo is my phone for life. No more windows phones for me (unless they get their crap straight). Hopefully I'll feel this way a year from now.

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User Review: Its a good choice for the most part...

Sat, 02 Sep 2006 01:26:15 GMT

CSIdude42 submitted this review of the Palm Treo 650 (CDMA):

Overall rating: 3.5 (out of 5)

I got this phone last year around Christmas and it was a dream come true! After downloading the softwere it thought this was DA BOMB! I had payed to insure my phone b/c well it was 500.00! So after dropping it I took it back and thought I was getting what I paid for...not. I was very disappointed when i brought it back home. It had corrupted "Vers" mail and it shut it self on and off without me doing anything! We took it back and told Sprint the problem and they where nice about and gave us another(referb.)one. We took it home and had the SAME problems. So after taking it back 3 or 4 time we told them "Look we don't wont another refurbished one we want another one. did take it when they had a tec there and she looked at it) So they where real nice i got us a HOLE nother one for free and it is great! But,it has Lots of problems if you drop it and pretty much brake it in half. I would recommend the new Palm1 700 with Windows over the 650.(the 650 is a grate phone and you should get but take care of it)There are many grate things on this,it takes memory,1.3meg. camera and WAY more!

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User Review: Palm Trials and Errors

Sat, 22 Jul 2006 01:06:55 GMT

dscpl316 submitted this review of the Palm Treo 650 (CDMA):

Overall rating: 3.5 (out of 5)

I would have to say that overall the phone is useful and gives me the use that I am lookig for. I previously had the Blackberry 7130 and I turned in my first 7130 within 8 months after going for 7 1/2 months of frustration and wanting to throw the phone out the door. My Blackberry kept rebooting and locking up. The Palm keeps loosing a single which I would hope Verizon works on these issues and I will keep enjoying the PDA aspects of this phone, Nothing is perfect and until phone manufacturers make the perfect phone I will work thru the small problems i have with the Palm 650.

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User Review: Great for nerds, except for the battery life.

Wed, 29 Mar 2006 05:19:10 GMT

Dyslexic submitted this review of the Palm Treo 650 (CDMA):

Overall rating: 4 (out of 5)

I have the Bell Mobility version of this phone which seems not to have many of the problems users from other carriers report. It has built-in voice tagging for bluetooth devices. It has bluetooth dial-up networking. If you don't put your hand over the speaker on the back of the phone, the speakerphone works well. I haven't experienced any crashes yet. Surprisingly, it has a newer version of Palm OS than my Tungsten E2.

The biggest problem I have is the battery life. It's appalling. I need to recharge the phone everyday, even after very little usage. After charging the phone overnight, I unplugged it and put it beside my briefcase, but somehow forgot to take it to work with me. The phone was on, but the PDA and 1X connection were off. When I returned home 9 hours later, the battery was down to 52%! Bell Mobility assures me that this is normal, and that the phone doesn't need warranty work. They exchanged the battery, which didn't help. My Tungsten E2 lasts about a month between recharges, and my low end Audiovox 8910 (don't ask) lasted 4 or 5 days, so I don't know what's up with the Treo.

I was also disappointed that my Palm WiFi SDIO card isn't supported.

Pros:
- Endlessly customizable with 3rd party software.
- *THE* smartphone for Linux users.
- Good SDK/developer support from Palm.
- Great screen (I don't miss the E2 screen as much as I expected)
- Non-volatile file system is handy since running out of battery power WILL happen.

Cons:
- You'll need to purchase about 10 batteries from Palm if you plan on taking this phone on a camping trip, and you'll feel like you're purchasing 10 copies of Windows ME.
- No WiFi support even though every other Palm device of the Treo 650's generation supports it.

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User Review: Best PDA Phone on the Planet !!!!

Tue, 28 Feb 2006 02:06:43 GMT

itchy2000 submitted this review of the Palm Treo 650 (CDMA):

Overall rating: 5 (out of 5)

This is the best phone I've ever had...
No complaints...
All my friends using this phone say the same thing....
Best phone they have ever had as well....

Buy one....

Especially if your name is
Louie or Chris.....

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User Review: Awesome Tool/Phone, Great Choice

Fri, 24 Feb 2006 14:56:27 GMT

Anisoul827 submitted this review of the Palm Treo 650 (CDMA):

Overall rating: 5 (out of 5)

I think that Palm really put their backs into this one. It's an excellent phone, especially for Sprint. The only thing I kind of wish the 50 had was the Windows software as opposed to the Palm OS. Overall, I've been very pleased. It's cool to be able to edit my papers on the go, use AIM and keep myself organized with the calendar/tasks. Email at my finger tips is also another definate plus. Also, I wish that there were more customization options.

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User Review: AWESOME BUSINESS TOOL

Thu, 19 Jan 2006 21:57:20 GMT

jwoppert submitted this review of the Palm Treo 650 (CDMA):

Overall rating: 5 (out of 5)

I love the whole phone, from front to back. I use it is Verizon Wireless, and it picks up reception everywhere I am, and have access to all my email and everything. The bluetooth headset is also great with this phone. Not having to have the phone near me to answer is great for when it comes to business..... I have to give this phone an overall 5.0. The camera and camcorder is awesome. I was able to send all my contacts from my iPAQ over to it via bluetooth, picutures via infared, and everything else over syncing it with outlook. I love this device. BYE BYE iPAQ.

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User Review: Very Happy Treo User

Thu, 29 Dec 2005 15:20:31 GMT

stafinskijm submitted this review of the Palm Treo 650 (CDMA):

Overall rating: 4.5 (out of 5)

I've had the Treo 650 for a few days no and I must say I am extremely happy with the device! I haven't had a single reset with the device, every application I have installed has been 100% compatible. The phone quality is good, I was on the phone with a friend and they told me it sounded much clearer than my VX-8100. Battery life has been mediocre, to be expected from a PDA/Phone that is used almost constantly. Phone syncs fully with Outlook Calendar, Tasks, Address Book, and Notes without problems, Documents to Go is also a much welcomed feature. I feel my experience has been much more positive than others as I have not had a single problem (except for something I did myself experimenting with Butler). The one thing that keeps me from giving this device a perfect 5 though, is the bluetooth capabilities. It isn't possible to initiate a call from the bluetooth headset and the sound quality (using a Jabra bt250v, the exact same one I used with my 8100) is very poor. There is a lot of static to the point where it interferes with my hearing of the person on the other line. Other than that, as I have said many times, I am extremely happy with the device and would recommend it to anyone who is looking to buy it.

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User Review: Started out as love at first sight but...

Sat, 03 Dec 2005 17:36:29 GMT

Imtheweezel submitted this review of the Palm Treo 650 (CDMA):

Overall rating: 1 (out of 5)

Ok...I've had Sprint for 2 years and they suck...more so after trying to get them to replace my treo which is under warranty. I thought I was the only one that experienced such problems with the phone (most of my friends love it), but after reading this I realize I'm not alone, and I decided to let the truth out about the Treo 650.

Pros: lots of software available, it can really increase your productivity (if it would actually work), very user friendly.

Cons: When I bought the phone I thought I had won the lotery. Guess what...I was wrong, actually it was a waste of money. I've owned it for 5 months. The phone would reset itself every day a couple of times, it would crash and I would have to manually reset it, and on top of all the software problems the flimsy charging slot died on me and couldn't charge my phone, and therefore had been out for a week (still waiting on my replacement from Sprint). I have no complaints as to looks, and size, or the keyboard. I find them pretty useful, but the software problems are driving me to change OS.
I'll switch companies as soon as I get my "new" phone. I'll probably go to Cingular and try the new Wizard. I'm not very familiar with the WM 5.0 platform, but it gets good reviews.
I really don't recommend the phone or Sprint. They suck, they overcharge me every month and try to make it up, and on top of that they give you hell if your phone is under warranty. Like I said, I've been to the store numerous times and I'm still waiting on a replacement. (one week), wo compensation (I had to buy a pay as you go phone to be able to get in touch with people). The only reason why I haven't switched already is because I want to keep my number and get what I'm entitled to (a new phone). I even emailed palmone about it and never heard from them. Lousy service.

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User Review: Treo 650 - Very poor choice

Fri, 02 Dec 2005 07:42:55 GMT

macman329 submitted this review of the Palm Treo 650 (CDMA):

Overall rating: 2.5 (out of 5)

The Treo 650 has a number of nice features ... if you are looking for a PDA. However, if you are looking for a cell phone, keep looking.

1. Volume and quality of speakerphone makes this useless in the car as mild road noise overwhelms it.

2. Reception and signal strength are an absolute joke compared to any other cell phone I've used. I also now own a Moto 815 and have spent several days comparing these two phones, side by side, as I travel through different areas. It is difficult to comprehend there could be such a startling difference.

3. Volume of handset is very inadequate. If the reception and signal strength are at their highest with little extraneous noise, it is okay. Outside of those parameters, it is a struggle to hear the other person. Again, compared with the Moto 815, incredible contrast.

4. How wonderful it is to spend $300 on a high powered PDA phone with numerous bells and whistles ... only to find ... it doesn't come with preinstalled voice command software!!!! Further, you find you get to spend an additional $25 or so to purchase a 3rd party solution. Finally, you find that the morons at Palm didn't include the hooks in their firmware to allow the third party voice command software to be initiated by pushing the button on the paired bluetooth device. LMAO Dooooohhhhh

I guess if you make the majority of your calls in a very high signal strength area ... in an environment where there is minimal extraneous noise ... and you don't require a bluetooth head set with full functionality ... and your needs are 90% swayed towards pda capabilities and 10% or less towards the cell phone capabilities ... the Treo 650 may be the perfect choice for you. If you fall outside these categories, do yourself a favor and evaluate other offerings.

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User Review: All in one

Wed, 30 Nov 2005 21:03:57 GMT

jadyer submitted this review of the Palm Treo 650 (CDMA):

Overall rating: 5 (out of 5)

This phone is great!
Pros:
*qwerty keyboard--buttons stick up so easy to use.
*great OS, lots of software options, check out treocentral.com
*easy to use controls
*very "customizable"
*great reception
*slim design for all it carries.
*SD memory expansion
*works well as an mp3 player, but it eats the battery
*good fun and great pda teamed together

cons:
*sometimes gets into reset cycles if you use old software
*talk time could be longer

YOU HAVE TO GET THE INSURANCE IF YOU SPEND THIS KIND OF MONEY ON A PHONE!

LOOK INTO THE VAJA CASE FOR IT, IT'S SPENDY, BUT WORTH EVERY PENNY. KNOCK OFFS ARE CLUMSY AND VERY POOR QUALITY.

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User Review: treo 650 for sprint GOOD!!!

Wed, 23 Nov 2005 07:24:16 GMT

princessmiah submitted this review of the Palm Treo 650 (CDMA):

Overall rating: 5 (out of 5)

i love this phone

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User Review: Treo650 is Solid.

Sun, 06 Nov 2005 21:08:09 GMT

loomis42 submitted this review of the Palm Treo 650 (CDMA):

Overall rating: 4.5 (out of 5)

SprintPCS Treo650 CDMA
Fargo, ND 58103

I pruchased my Treo650 in february05. Best purchase to date. people who do reviews after having a phone for 14 days think they know it all but take it from me. they've missed key experiences and handling time to make a good review. remember though, i love this phone so this is biased but i'll try be objective.

Pros Hardware: Excellent design, slightly bigger than a deck of card with an added antenna(think, tip of your thumb). QWERTY keyboard with backlit keys. sometimes hard to push only one key if you have fat fingers. memory card slot(SD/SDIO/MMC) for expandability and device add ons(remote, GPS, barcode scanner, etc). IR port for beaming info to devices. programmable side keys to open your fav apps at the push of a button. bluetooth has file transfer capabilities.

Pros Software: PalmOS 5.4. ROMupdater available from 1.08 to version 1.12 with multiple bug fixes. The phone comes with a cd that includes many usefull/necesarry apps for the phone/pc. DocumentsToGo lets you put Windows office documents onto your Treo and view/edit whenever. helpful for the office. Many many many sites are available online to download freeware/shareware/purchase software to improve this device. there are huge developer communities dedicated to improving the treo's software useability.

Pros Coverage: in my area, fargo, ND i get OUTSTANDING reception and clarity during phone usage. wireless internet is flawless but limits to only 2mb downloads. text messaging is on point also. keyboard makes it easy.

Cons Hardware: Camera is ancient with .33 megapixels. BUT somehow still returns satisfactory pictures/video. phone large in pants pocket. RAM is only 24mb usable which forces the need for mem card for docs and mp3s

Cons software: Dialing phone application sometimes stalls with ROM1.08, delay fixed in version ROM1.12. newbie developer software can cause crash. just delete bad programs.

No cons for coverage here.

-loomis42

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User Review: Bluetooth but no voice activated dialing??????????

Thu, 03 Nov 2005 06:18:45 GMT

Fader.sr submitted this review of the Palm Treo 650 (CDMA):

Overall rating: 3 (out of 5)

I liked the phone to replace my Kyocera 7135...but.

What use is blue tooth if you have to look down pick a key, dial and activate the blue tooth ear piece?

I sent the phone back and kept my Kyo.

I did love the bright screen and speed of processor but I need the voice dialing.

big mistake leaving that feature out!!

fader.sr

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User Review: Warning

Sun, 30 Oct 2005 01:59:10 GMT

sdiegoswm submitted this review of the Palm Treo 650 (CDMA):

Overall rating: 1.5 (out of 5)

Switched out three of these Treo 650 phones before switching back to my Kyocera 7135.

Connectivity is poor even with Verizon, dropped calls renders the phone unreliable.

Lots of cool features some needed purchased like voice dialing and scrip text.

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User Review: Reliable but........

Mon, 17 Oct 2005 01:09:51 GMT

bsf submitted this review of the Palm Treo 650 (CDMA):

Overall rating: 3 (out of 5)

Used the Treo 650 for one month on Sprint PCS.

Pros;
-Palm Operating system is much more reliable then MS. In one month phone rarely froze.
-Flexible and reliable to sync with outlook however, you must buy additional software such as Pocket Mirror. Pocket Mirror does allow you to sync Outlook public folder like calendar and private folder for contacts.
-SMS format is very convenient. Works like a chat session.

Cons;
-Battery will not last entire day of heavy use.
-You will spend at least another 100.00 on software to make the phone do what would justify its price and carrying it around.
-keys are small and often push wrong number but better than Treo 600.
-reception is not as strong on this phone as others. I often found myself dropping calls and signal strength will go in and out while you hold the phone. Sprint said the phone was working properly.
-bluetooth is limited and as others stated you must hit button on headset after each call. It does not automatically connect.
-email works but very limited. I bought snapper mail which is more reliable however, even then not true push email. Simply goes out and checks your POP or IMAP server every half hour. You can set it to check more frequently but really eats up the battery time.
-difficult to carry because of its size but all pda phones are.
-camera is a joke.

Overall, i don't think this phone accomplishes enough or is reliable enough to warrant the inconvenience of carrying such a large phone.

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User Review: Palm Treo 650 - Good PDA, poor phone

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 06:32:36 GMT

soccerdad submitted this review of the Palm Treo 650 (CDMA):

Overall rating: 2 (out of 5)

I've had Palm PDA's (Palm IIIc, Tungsten T) and AirTouch/Verizon cell phones (Qualcomm/Kyocera, Nokia), but this is my first PDA-Phone. I got one for me and one for my wife.

Pros:

1) Excellent PDA. Data imported fine. Excellent screen, nice to have an actual keyboard, and nice integration of the contacts list into the phone functionality.

2) Nice value compared to buying a phone + PDA.

3) Sharp looking, and not much bigger than my previous Palm which is a big net savings in size since I don't have to carry a separate phone.

Cons:

1) Most importantly this is a poor phone from a sound standpoint! The normal speaker is very poor and the signal seems to cut in and out (Verizon, San Diego). Much worse than the Nokia 3589i we are replacing, and much worse than the LG VX5200's I got for my kids. Since we got two Treo's I can't attribute it to a bad unit either. I suspect that Palm is just not as good as Nokia (or LG, or whomever) at making phones, although they make nice PDA's.

2) Additionally, although the integration of PDA and phone is nice, holding the thing up to my ear isn't as nice as a normal phone, and I was disappointed while watching a soccer game to realize that I got sweat and sunscreen on my PDA screen! This is a minor gripe compared to the sound quality problem, but a negative.

3) Another negative (that I should have been able to anticipate) is that it is bigger than a normal phone. While riding my road bike, I wouldn't want to take it. With a normal phone, I don't have to take my PDA on the ride.

4) Lastly, one of the two units had a defect. Often, when I turned it on, then hit the center button to unlock, it would turn itself off! I had to return it for a replacement which Verizon was quick to do.

Summary

Nice concept. Highly recommended by friends and relatives, but at the end of the day what good is a phone where you can't hear clearly! Today we returned the Treo 650's for a LG VX8100 and LG VX5200. Wish us luck!

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