For my needs and tastes, the Treo 600 is a far better PDA phone than any other Palm, Pocket PC, Windows Mobile, Symbian, etc. device I’ve checked out. But of course, there are still a couple things that bother me or I wish had been better implemented. Although this might look like a long list, that’s mainly because the Treo has so many features. A lot of these issues don’t even apply to most other phones, because the other phones are so lacking to begin with. I would generally rather have a 95% perfect, and useful, feature, than not have the feature at all. If Palm One/Handspring added all these features, the phone would likely cost even more, weigh more, and have worse battery life. But I reserve the right to ask for them, anyway.
- The camera is terrible. Lots of digital noise in images. Very low contrast. Update 2/11/04: It’s not as bad as I thought.
- Lo-res screen (only 160×160, but at least it is very readable, even in bright daylight, and it doesn’t apear to be a huge drain on battery life)
- Some MIDI ringtones are too quiet, even on max volume. If you’re willing to spend the time, you can usually boost the volume by editing the midi file.
- Weak vibrate mode
- Using headphones for MP3 playback requires an extra, and not included, adapter
- No built-in support for voice dialing
- No voice recording – Update: SoundRec and MovieRec fill the gap nicely, though.
- Location of the SD card slot causes the card to often pop out when I take the phone out of my pocket
- I can’t figure out how to easily drop a call when another call comes in, so I end up leaving my voicemail on hold (which eats up minutes) while taking a call that comes in while I’m checking voicemail
- No external LED to indicate waiting voicemail and/or SMS Update: Check out $6 add-on Treo Butler.
- No removable battery Update: though higher capacity replacement batteries are available
- Java runtime environment not pre-installed and integrated Update: but you can download the WebSphere J2ME runtime for $6
- No always-on LCD with a clock, like many flip phones have
- Selecting text requires use of the stylus Update: Check out $10 add-on TreoSelecText
Yup, the camera is aweful. Have you tried Qset
to set a better jpeg compression?
http://mytreo.net/downloads/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=viewdownloaddetails&lid=1
Minor improvement there, but the
camera has a bad vigenette problem, hotspots, and
lacks clear focus across the image. 2megapixel
would be fine, like the Sony Clie. Also should
support a movie mode.
Issue with ringtones are the midi files
themselves. Midi has a “velocity” parameter for
each note that equates to a volume. Some folks
author them so that they play well on synths.
If you want it louder, run it through a midi
editor (or even emacs) and set all the velocities
to 127!
I *hate* the fact the SD slot leaves the
card sticking out. If it were recessed a little,
a fingernail can catch it, but it wouldn’t pop
out almost every time I remove the phone from
the carrier.
Why can’t the LED also indicate a message like
on my old i705?
Why can’t I hang up by hitting the power button?
Why isn’t there a button to toggle between the
current and previous application?
Thanks for the tips!
I corrected the URL for QSetApp.prc in your comment to include the ftp directory. I downloaded it and upped the JPEG compression factor to 90. While searching for more info on the JPEG compression factor, I found this site, which lets you try out factors of 5, 10, 25, 50, 75, and 100 on a sample photo. I was surprised by how little difference there was between a factor of 50 and a factor of 100. Well, the slight improvement can’t hurt, since I have still have plenty of free storage space in the main memory and my 256 MB SD card.
I hadn’t thought about having the power button end a call. It’s in the natural location for the “end call” button on most cell phones. I’d like that feature, too.
Web browsers have spoiled us with their back and forward buttons (that, and alt-tab in most desktop operating systems). Now, I want nearly every software environment I use to support back and forward navigation.
Unrelated to your post, I’m afraid, but…
THANK YOU so much for your wonderful instructions on how to install MT on Dreamhost. They’re great!
Glad my MT install instructions were helpful!
Robert – thanks so much (as always) for your detailed analysis. I am playing around with Jetspeed and decided to have your RSS feed as one of my portlets – which led me to the article on the Treo. I have to get a cell phone device (finally) and I had heard good things about the Treo, but being the frugal guy I am, who is usually not more than 5 paces from a computer, I think I will go with the freebie. If I could only find a cellular provider that delivered service to my home in the dead zone of Alameda :).
Hi Robert
I don’t need a digital camera, and I have found that I really don’t listen to MP3s. Also I am too cheap to get a Treo 600… so I grabbed a Treo 300 from ebay.
I toyed with several PocketPCs (Siemens SX56, Audiovox Thera) but… its all about the form factor. And I just don’t want to picture myself with a PDA stuck to my head.
So I like the 300. I like the flip-top (but I know that someday that sucker will break off). I don’t mind the slower speed or smaller memory (compared to the 600)… the price is right now to get a troo 300.
I assume the 600 has same keypad as 300: so, what is the deal with the little “envelope” icon on the “1” key?
Also, I hate the way that the default phone screen is the “Favorites” screen… for me the best choice would be the dial screen… is this configurable on the 600 (its not on the 300).
-Paul
Yeah, most of the Pocket PCs make you look pretty goofy when you use them as a phone. But at least they aren’t as bad as the ridiculous Nokia N-Gage. You actually talk into the side of it. It’s so bad it spawned the semi-hilarious spoof site sidetalkin.com.
“…what is the deal with the little “envelope” icon on the “1” key?” VoiceMail is pre-programmed to speed dial for the 1 key. Hold the 1 key down for a couple seconds when you are viewing the dial pad and it should call into voice mail.
“Also, I hate the way that the default phone screen is the “Favorites” screen… for me the best choice would be the dial screen…” They must have gotten the message. On the 600, the dial pad is the default. You press up on the 5-way nav buttons to get to favorites. It’s cool that favorites can be a mix of phone numbers, email addresses, SMS, browser bookmarks, etc.
sidetalkin.com is a riot…. hmmm, what if all your base really ARE belong to us?
I continue to put people “on hold” when I am talking. I use the touch pad during calls so I do not want to lock the keyboard. Do you have a suggestion?
Wish I had a good suggestion for you, but I haven’t run into that particular problem. The closest problem I have had is that I accidentally put calls in speakerphone mode. That can be an embarrassing mistake.
good job!
I can’t seem to access http://www.bcbdev.com/ftp/QsetApp.prc... why?!?
I just updated the URL for Qset.
http://mytreo.net/downloads/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=viewdownloaddetails&lid=1