View Full Version : palmOne Treo or Blackberry? need advice
Hi there,
I'm in need of a new cell phone/PDA. I live in Canada and have to go with Bell as my service provider.
Bell offers either the BlackBerry 7130e or the palmOne Treo 600.
Can anyone who knows these two units steer me in the best direction?
Thanks so much,
mhcbc
Until a couple days ago, I used a Treo 600. Great phone. In fact, I liked it so much that I just bought a Treo 650 :)
Never used the Blackberry, sorry.
Thanks Dave. So what's the difference between the Treo 600 and the 650? The website sort of gave me the idea that the 600 had better organizing features... but that may have been my (mis)interpretation.
Can you advise re these two phones?
mhcbc
Thanks Dave. So what's the difference between the Treo 600 and the 650? The website sort of gave me the idea that the 600 had better organizing features... but that may have been my (mis)interpretation.
Can you advise re these two phones?
mhcbc
The 650 is essentially a 600 plus Bluetooth, a better screen*, a faster CPU**, a newer OS, a removable battery, and non-volatile memory (on the 600, if the battery completely dies, it loses all your info***), and probably a few other things I'm forgetting. If anything, the organizer on the 650 seems better, but I haven't played with it enough to know if there's really any functional difference.
*Even though it's only 2x the resolution (320x320 vs 160x160, I think), it looks 10x better. To my eyes anyway.
**The extra speed is sometimes eaten up by the extra screen work, but when the screen is mostly static, I can tell it's quite a bit faster. It also feels Snappier™.
***It sounds scary, but I never had a problem keeping it charged. When the battery gets really low, it just won't turn on to preserve your data longer. Also, the SD Card is non-volatile, so it won't ever lose any data.
I'm too tired to repost the same stuff over and over again:
Link (http://forums.applenova.com/showthread.php?t=11815&highlight=treo)
Link (http://forums.applenova.com/showthread.php?t=7783&highlight=treo)
I'm too tired to repost the same stuff over and over again:
Link (http://forums.applenova.com/showthread.php?t=11815&highlight=treo)
Link (http://forums.applenova.com/showthread.php?t=7783&highlight=treo)
Thanks HOM. ;)
My apologies for not searching.
And my thanks for the links!
mhcbc
torifile
2006-01-07, 11:48
I will say that after using my BB 8700 for a month that it's a BETTER phone than the Treo 650. More ergonomic, clearer sound and BT that actually works. The only thing that the Treo 650 had over the BB is the Palm library of software. I miss real calendaring/contacts apps. But that's IT. The BB, IMHO, is a better phone and emailing device. Marginally worse as a PIM.
As a side note, the BB OS is brilliant. Designed from the ground up to be navigated quickly and easily with one hand. The only regret I have is that data access is 2x as expensive for the BB. But that's ok. It's a business expense.
I will say that after using my BB 8700 for a month that it's a BETTER phone than the Treo 650.
Well, after using a BB 8700c for a month I would say it is NOT a better phone than even the Treo 600. I had a Treo 600 for two years and in the phone area, it is way better than the BB. Let me list the ways:
1. 5 Pages of speed dails that you can use your finger (and see what you are speed dialing)
2. Better 'phone feel' in the hand
3. Louder (although in speaker, BB is much more louder)
Now, the BB excels in other areas (better key board, better screen resolution come to mind), but the biggest disadavantage is the lack of syncing with Apple by the BB. If you plan to sync to Apple Apps, go Treo.
Synching with my powerbook is critical to me, so I'm thankful for specific advice like this from jcoley2.
I appreciate all the feedback, in fact.
mhcbc
BTW--not sure you saw the Wall Street Journal review on Friday but DO NOT BUY the Treo 700.
I've had a long line of Treos (Treo 90 -> Treo 300 -> Treo 600 -> Treo 650) over the years, while my wife has always had Blackberrys. She currently uses a Blackberry 7230. From what I understand, the new 8700's are quite a leap forward so my comparisons are limited to the 7200 series and the like.
There are a few things I don't like about her 7230, like:
- On the phone dialpad, there are no corresponding alpha characters to aid in dialing names or numbers like 1-800-COLLECT. (She had to tape a decoder on the back of her battery cover)
- The screen's brightness and resolution makes it really hard to see on the 7230.
- 3rd party software is not as plentyful.
- Multimedia (MP3, video, etc) and Internet is vastly inferior.
Again, this is the Treo 650 compared to the BB 7230. I think the 8700 addresses some of these issues and I think that BB handles e-mails better than any handheld device.
BTW torifile: Are you who I think you are?
The 8700 screen is very bright compared to the 7230.
BTW, I did not mention this earlier but one other reason I like the Treo better is it was louder. I sometimes find it hard to hear on the BB. . . perhaps I am going deaf.
:(
BTW--not sure you saw the Wall Street Journal review on Friday but DO NOT BUY the Treo 700.
They are not OSX compatible without Missing Sync as well....:(
torifile
2006-01-11, 15:29
BTW torifile: Are you who I think you are?
Only if you were my roommate at UNC. :)
torifile
2006-01-11, 15:30
They are not OSX compatible without Missing Sync as well....:(
Right now, there are no WM5 devices that work with TMS. I'm hopeful that that'll change soon. markspace is pretty good about getting their software updated.
Only if you were my roommate at UNC.
Crazy small world.....drop me an email and tell me how things are going.
Right now, there are no WM5 devices that work with TMS. I'm hopeful that that'll change soon. markspace is pretty good about getting their software updated.
That's right....I wanted to forget that it was a WM5 device.
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