Overview
Compatible with Cingular cell phone service, the Treo 600 combines a full-featured mobile phone and Palm OS organizer with QWERTY keyboard, providing users with a host of communication options including wireless email and text messaging, a Blazer Web browser, a digital camera, and thousands of downloadable Palm OS organizer applications, all displayed on a backlit, 160 x 160 pixel screen that supports thousands of colors.
Calling Features
Used simply as a phone, the Treo 600 can send and receive calls worldwide, and benefits additionally from its flexible PDA format. Users can dial with either the onscreen dial pad or the keyboard, and dial anyone in the Treo's address book instantly just by typing or tapping onto the screen their name or initials. To switch to speakerphone, a single screen command can be tapped for instant hands-free talking. Plus, there's a ringer switch on top of the phone that silences all system sound, including ringers and alarms. Other features include mute, caller ID, vibrate mode, and stereo audio headset compatibility.
Messaging and Internet
The internet browser included with the Treo 600 provides more complete access to the Web than you'll find with conventional cell phones: users can access almost the entire Internet, not just sites optimized for mobile devices. Email and mobile messaging features are fairly standard: via SMS and MMS, users can send, edit, forward, and receive image and text messages to and from compatible phones or PCs. With the built-in Internet browser, users can also download new wallpaper and graphics, as well as the games and applications already included with the phone.
Organizer
Organizer features here are predictably robust. The Treo's Palm OS version 5.2.1 suite includes the Date Book Plus calendar, which lets users check the calendar while using the phone, as well as a contact list with instant lookup, memo pad, to do list, advanced calculator, CityTime world clock, and more. There are also thousands of other available Palm OS software applications available separately, for which the Treo 600 includes a comparably large 24 MB of memory. Wireless synchronization works at the touch of a button, using Palm Desktop 4.1 for Windows and Macintosh, HotSync Manager and Microsoft Outlook (Windows only).
Fun and Games
To create photos for saving or for use with picture caller ID, the integrated VGA digital camera included with the Treo 600 sports 640 x 480 resolution, takes 0.3 mega pixel pictures, and is outfitted with automatic light balancing. The expandable Treo also comes with a built-in radio, and it is MP3-capable, so with the addition of third-party software, an SD memory card, and a stereo headset adapter, (all available separately), users can listen to MP3 music on the go.
Vital Statistics
The Treo 600 is loaded with 32 MB RAM (24 MB user-available), and its Lithium Ion batteries are rated at up to 6 hours digital talk time, and up to 10 days digital standby time. An external battery pack, available separately, can also add up to 3 hours of additional talk time and 180 hours standby.
1 Great phone,but don't use Cingular with it.Use Sprint PCS.
The New-Age Treo's are the best smart devices ever made! I have used the T-Mobile Sidekick, the AT&T Motorola MPX, a Nextel Blackberry, a Samsung i600, and even an older style Treo in the form of the Treo 300. And out of every smart device I have ever used, the Treo 600 and 650 are 1000 times better then any of them!
1# The Treo's have large color screens with full keyboards, but are still small enough to fit in your pocket.
2# The battery life is insanely long! Both of the new Treo's claim four to five hours talk time, I have found even longer. I often lay in my bed at night surfing the web for hours and hours, and by the time I am ready to go to sleep, my Treo 600 and 650 still have enough battery life to go a few more rounds.
3# Because the Treo's are so popular the prices for accessories, software, add-on's, ect are Much cheaper then those for the other types of smart devices on the market. There is even talk by Palmone to start using Linux as the Palmsource software core, so there will be even more software available. And because Linux is open source, the phones will eventually be cheaper then those running the Microsoft Pocket PC. With the added bonus of the dependability of Linux!
4# Because the Treo's are of the Candy-Bar style design, they are much easier to talk on. Because there is no flip, or antenna to fumble with.
5# There is a software lancher called "ZLauncher" which has many features for your Treo's software interface. One of which allows you to see the exact level of signal strength. By using this tool you can so how much better the Treo's antenna and related components work, compared to any other phone on the market. I get a great signal with Sprint, but with Sprint and my Treo, my service is even better! I get signals with my Treo in places where my Sanyo and LG did not. In fact, I get better signal strength with my Treo, then my friends get with their phones!
6# Palmone has a patent on a new design of smart device that they are working to bring to the market. A design nothing like the designs currently available. A PDA phone that will be thinner and still able to have a large full color screen and keyboard. SO the next generation of Treo's will be even better!
The only downfall to the Palmone Treo's today, is price. That is because they are still new to the PDA phone market. Once they start making more and more phones, the prices will come down. And once they restructure their PDA manufacturing and company purpose in general, the prices will come down. I don't normally write reviews on phones, because I used to be a Die-Hard Motorola phone fan, and I guess still am. But if Palmone keeps making phones this perfect, then I will only buy their phones for the rest of my life! I can not say enough good things about these phones! Try one and see what I am talking about. Use it with Sprint PCS's $10 unlimited Visions access!
Russell
2 Crap Phone and Customer Service
PalmOne is an example of a company that doesn't care about its customers. I purchased one of these phones and it kept shutting off the wireless signal with the slightest bump. I contacted the service department by phone and after about a 30 minute wait, was connected with a representative who said a new phone would be en route within a few weeks. After 3 months and no less than 8 emails to customer service and many phone calls of waits that exceeded 45 minutes without speaking with anyone, I gave up. I finally got a replacement a few months ago, and now I am having problems with screen resolution, text messages received under different names than the person who sent them, dropped calls and poor signal. PalmOne can't stay in business with this type of product support - good luck if you decide to waste your money on this crap.
3 Do Not BUY!!! Warning!
All three of us in our small company got treo 600s in November. We were super pscyhed about the great features (email, web, camera, hotsync, etc) and couldn't wait to start using the new phones. The problems started less than a month later. The screen on one of the phones started getting a strange red pixilation that kept growing and a new one had to be sent. Then in February, the other two phones phones got sent back because the phone feature suddenly stopped working (a hardware problem). Then, just recently, another phone had to be sent back because of a very loud buzzing (apparently this is a very common problem), and ANOTHER one was just returned because it randomly just stopped getting service.
These phones are HORRIBLE. I've had lots of different types of phones and services, and these problems have actually affected the business, and our ability to answer our clients.
Don't waste the money! (p.s. i've heard from a very kind treo sales person that the treo 650's have just as many problems)
4 5 REPLACEMENT Phones in 7 months!!!!!
I was so excited 7 months ago when I bought this "top of the line phone". But my excitement has turned into regret for spending over $500.00 for complete junk! This phone has crashed and frozen more times then I can count!! I've had 5, YES 5, replacement phones sent to me since I bought this one!! Do NOT Buy This Phone!!!!!!!
5 Save yourself the headaches
Not that you'd have a reason to buy this now that the Treo 650 is about the same price, but in case you were thinking of it for some reason...don't. I bought my wife one. Now I'm waiting on hold for PalmOne (24 minutes and counting) to try to get it fixed.
Needless to say the problems didn't show up until _after_ the 30 day return period. It won't charge past about 40%, which isn't enough battery life to turn on the mobile phone. It buzzes, it crackles, and it keeps doing so after every conceivable kind of reset, even the "last resort" battery disconnect reset.
I haven't had these problems with my Treo 650...and I hope I won't, because the support situation appears dismal; a not insubstantial charge for any phone support over the first 90 days, a warranty of only a year, and reports online of people who have gone through several Treo 600s in a row.
Incidentally, after around 35 minutes on hold waiting for PalmOne, I got disconnected. Their sales department answers right away, though. And PalmOne wonders why its market share keeps slipping? It's about the service. And you won't find it here. Caveat emptor; if it breaks, you're _not_ in good hands.
6 Great as a PDA, Phone is terrible
I owned the Treo 600 a little over a year now. My husband bought it for me as an upgrade from the older Treo, first it was so great to be able to sync your data and bring your contacts from your Palm and able to sync calenders and to do list, download games and all that, and even to a Mac, how devine.
After a couple of months I noticed that the wireless mode turn itself off more than once a day and most of the time I can not even use the phone anywhere near my own house, I'll get cut off. But I do get good signal inside buildings and even in basement at work so I put up with the loss connections problems.
Then my friends and family starting to tell me that they hear interferences and loud, buzzing noise when I called them on the Treo from. Some even says it sounds like a thousand bees buzzing at the same time. My aunt in San Francisco told me not to call her with this phone anymore if i still want to talk to her.
I was never a believer in a device that can do more than a few things at a time, i.e. all-in-one printer, scanner, copier, fax machine, and now I will have to add the Treo 600 smartphone to the list. If the device had to try to do too many things, it will never be good at the one thing you want it to do.
The Smart PDA is should be call - but not so Smart of a Phone..
Finally I would like to add that if you have a preblem with your phone don't wait too long, after your warranty (usually one year) is up, when you have a problem and go to the manufacturer, they will say it is your wireless service fault and the phone company will have no problem saying that it is a hardware problem.
I probably will have to get another cellphone, and the Treo will just have to be an extremely expensive PDA for me...
7 Great gadget, phone terrible
This would be the neatest, coolest, handiest thing in the world if the phone worked well. The problem is extremely loud buzzing makes phone almost unusable. I finally was able to exchange it for another, which is starting to have the same problem. Seems like these phones have a life span of several months before the buzzing starts, and then it's all over. Other than that, it is a great device that works well all over the world.
8 Down with Palm
If you like a loud buzzing to override all your conversations, then this phone is for you! I exchanged my first Palm with another, which, thankfully, does the same thing. Hey, gotta give them credit for consistency!
A phone that is as big as a poptart, loses connectivity without warning several times a day, costs a butt-load, freezes while using call waiting and switching between applications, and, ah, the buzzing! Yeah, this was the phone for me, and if you want a really expensive and really crappy phone, then it's for you, too! Cash in your daughter's college fund and buy one today!
9 Just bad luck, maybe.
I got my treo 600 as an upgrade thru cingular online. After couple of days of using it, I noticed that the wireless mode keep on turning off by itself ocassionally. Tried to call cingular customer service, most of their tech support is not even familiar with treo 600, I got transferred around waiting 10-15 minutes each time i transferred, with the machine telling me that my call is important to them. I keep on wondering, if my call was important to them, why am I on hold for more than 30 minutes. Anyway, I ended up returning the unit. It's possible that I got a lemon, but I'm not willing to give it a second chance.
10 Watch out for A1 Wireless.com
This review is a warning and is being posted at every possible website...including Amazon. And has nothing to do with Amazon itself. I buy from Amazon frequently and am very satisfied.
If you are planning to purchase a cell phone with plan, a smartphone with plan and happen upon A1 Wireless.com and are impressed by they're low prices, do yourself a favor: take the money you would spend on whatever it is they have to offer that you want and flush it down the toilet. You will never, ever see any kind of refund from this company.
I had the misfortune of getting sucked into ordering a smartphone w/plan from this company. I later found out that the phone has been receiving terrible reviews and decided to cancel well before the order shipped. That was over 2 weeks ago and every time I call this company's customer service they inveriably tell me " your money will be refunded and you will see in 2 to 3 business days."
They tell me this everytime I call them...about every 2 to 3 business days and I've called them more than 5 times.
Don't let the Better Business Bureau affiliation fool you. This site has no interest in consumer satisfaction.
Be aware.
11 Cingular deceptive
My review is on Cingular. I bought a phone w/service and was told I could return for full refund and only charged for any air time used. THEY LIE. THE PHONE DID NOT WORK IN MY AREA AND I CANCELLED THE NEXT DAY. THEY ARE CHARGING ME FOR ACTIVATION even though it never worked in my area. If you are uncertain you will keep the phone and service, DON'T BUY from Cingular. Amazon will also do nothing to reimburse.
12 Great phone - get it from Cingular though, not Verizon
Well, as an early adapter, I guess I should be used to taking it hard. I bought Verizon's PalmOne Treo 600 the first day it came out - over a year after Cingular released it. My plan is 400 anytime minutes, unlimited in-network calling, unlimited nights and weekend, and $5 for Internet access a month. Unless I go over, it should cost me $49.95 a month. I just got my first bill.
$1,641.66.
It turns out that the connection to the Internet doesn't shut off - even if you chose "Disconnect" from the web browser's menu. Even if you turn off the unit. It continues to ping the Internet looking for data every six minutes. Hence my bill show some 1023-minute calls.
Steve in Verizon's data division said they've received a lot of calls on this issue and isn't sure why they even offer the $5 web-only feature, when customers need to get the $49.95/month unlimited data transfer or deal with $1,000-plus monthly bills. When I asked if there was a way to stop the pinging every six minutes, I was told no, "it's a data phone first and a cell phone second."
Interesting, as my friends who have the phone with other carriers have never had this problem. Interesting, as I was never told this when I bought it. All I wanted was a freakin' cell/PDA combo, so I don't have to carry both with me, making me look like I'm sporting a chubby in two pockets at once. With Verizon, the cost for doing so is $44.95 plus your calling plan a month, which for me will come to about $100.
After 58 minutes, I was told my bill should be adjusted within 24 to 48 hours.
Also, on Verizon Wireless's PalmOne Treo 600 Smartphone web page it lists a 5 MB transfer for only $24.95. When I asked the technical rep about that option, he said getting it would still cause a Treo 600 owner's bill to be over $1,000 a month. He said it was up there for use with other phones. He had no answer when I said there are no other phones on that page.
Now, I probably could return the Treo 600 - except I already sold my old phone and Palm on eBay.
Of course, if I could just get a free minute for every time I heard "Oh, that's the new phone. I'm not familiar with it" none of this would be an issue.
Buy the phone from Cingular and don't deal with the problems I had with Verizon Wireless. It is a great product for all the reasons listed in the other reviews.
13 AMAZON with CINGULAR a nightmare
Thers no doubt the TREO 600 is an outstanding PDA phone, probably the best. Having migrated from the TREO300 on sprint its lightyears ahead. It should have had a higher res screen, it should have had bluetooth (we'll see both of these simple improvements in the next version) Pricing is ridiculous. I chose Cinglar as the rebate on amazon brought the phone to an OK $299, and given well see a newer phone soon not bad. However HUGE issues with the CINGULAR/AMAZON system - 10 days not resolved. The head & tail dont know what each other is doing (long story - probably more cingular & the AT&T acquisition). Anyway go TREO 600 if you cant wait for next the next model. GO VERIZON as has best coverage and skip AMAZON as they cant supply the phone any cheaper than the cellular store..
14 Cingular 600 Treo
Wow, I love my Treo. Of course it's only been 3 weeks but so far so very useful. Primarily, I use it as a phone and a contact manager for my real estate work.
15 Great Toy
Great phone quality, the speaker phone works very good, I have my phone service with TMobile. The best part about this phone is its size and combination features of PDA, web browsing and phone service.
Forget about the camera portion of this phone, as far as I am concern, this Palm would have been better product w/o this feature. Where is the voice activation? The FM radio Module? The MP3 portion of it great ?with a sd card?, the memory could be double. You?ll need to purchase some good applications for this device; however the ones given are good enough. As for web browsing, and email, receiving and sending emails work good, the browser are a bit slow, depending on where you?re.
Overall, this is a very good product if you?re looking for an almost all in one, I change my phones about every 6 mths, I might hold on to this one a little longer.
16 I like it!
I'm not a professional reviewer, but I just felt like I needed to say a few nice things about this device. Also, I've only had it for one week and I have Cingular service.
My initial thoughts are that this Treo 600 is wonderful. As a phone, it works great. Speakerphone is clear and loud, as is standard mode. The camera is so-so, which doesn't bother me since I really didn't get it for the camera. I can surf the web, which is nice but slow. But the PDA part is where this device really shines. I have it hooked up to receive my work e-mail, which is fantastic. I can send and receive e-mail without needing my laptop. This alone gives this device 5 stars. I imagine the Treo 600 does most things my Ipaq did, but I'll have to wait and see.
Pros:
E-mail is downloadable.
Small and compact.
Speakerphone.
Sound is great.
Cons:
Keyboard is kinda small, but I'm getting used to it.
Web browsing is slow. (But about what I should expect, I guess.)
Camera is not the greatest quality.
