It took a year or two, but I finally joined the league of Treo users yesterday (thanks StickyC!). Overall, I'm thrilled to be able to carry a single Phone+PDA instead of two separate units, even if the two separate units have better capabilities than the Treo.
After several hours of usage, here are some first impressions:
The unlocked GSM model worked instantly out of the box. Just popped in my SIM card and it worked perfectly.
VersaMail is much nicer than I expected. I wish it was as thumb-friendly as SnapperMail.
The 312MHz CPU is very snappy. Probably the fastest Palm I've used.
I miss my Sony T637 already. Symbian is an outstanding cel phone OS, Palm isn't anywhere close, but maybe with some customization.
The Tapwave Zodiac [zodiacend, zodiacreset] is the best PalmOS PDA ever made. They got almost everything right, from the hard buttons to the launcher and built-in shortcut apps. I miss it already. The Treo is miles from the Zodiac's elegance.
The keyboard is so much easier to use than Graffiti handwriting. And it beats the pants off of T9 input. Hey, where's the shortcut for clipboard functions?
Outlook syncing is excellent. Goodbye to PocketMirror and the obnoxious dialog click overrides.
USB 2.0 HotSyncs are super fast.
The launcher hasn't changed since the PalmPilot. Come on Palm, this stuff is ancient and clumsy.
I am able to use my Bluetooth Access Point for internet access. Worked on the first try. Oddly, the manual says that this isn't supported.
I wish there was an easier way to change network connections. Maybe a 3rd party app will help here.
The default font looks very clunky, with poor kerning and uneven bold characters. After a few hours, I installed Fonts4OS5 and replaced it with a much nicer and more readable font.
DocumentsToGo 7.0 is included for free. I just bought it 5 months ago. Bah.
Using Excel spreadsheets in DocumentsToGo makes me really miss landscape mode on the Zodiac.
Why do I need to create dialing shortcuts to assign individual caller ring tones?
No voice dialing. Looks like I need to buy another app for this.
Why is the 5-way control beveled inward and not outward? I keep hitting the center button by accident. When will consumer electronics designers learn from video game hardware designers?
The rounded slick shape of the Treo seems designed to slip out of your hand. I wish the back was rubberized and non-slip.
I wish there was a rubber "lip" of some kind just below the keyboard so my thumbs won't slip off the bottom of the unit.
Those peel-and-stick screen protectors are terrible. They cloud the screen, you can never get rid of all the bubbles, and they really dull the touchscreen accuracy. I need to find a better solution for this. Maybe the excellent Hoodman screen guards will work.
The shortcuts on the Phone screen menu are ugly but powerful. You can use every key on the keyboard as an app launcher. But why can't I delete or reconfigure the default buttons?
I wish I could delete RealPlayer. I plan to use TCPMP instead.
5 hours in, and the Treo has already reset on me once.
Launcher-wise: ZLauncher works well with the Treo. I've used it for so long, I've forgotten what the original Launcher app even looks like. SDWiFi: I'm not sure if it's a conscious decision on Palm's part, but neither PalmOS phones support any of the SD WiFi cards. Ringtones/Users: I've found Ringo to be one of the few low-level phone apps that works well with the Treo - allows assigning MP3s as ringtones (with some plugin) and images/ringtones to users/groups of users. Beveled 5-way: Good question. I know Palm has patents on using concave buttons so the stylus doesn't slip off. Is it possible they had the same thought with the 5-way? (cuz nobody uses their thumbs with cell phones, right?) Resets: The Treo is VERY picky about low-level software. I'd suggest doing a hard reset, and installing one app at a time. It's especially annoyed by anything that might throw off it's phone timing - Ringo was guaranteed to cause regular reboots for many versions. After going many weeks with great stability, I just installed TealGlance and Pocket Express and now I'm rebooting daily again. Bummer.
Cool Treo-specific apps that I _have_ had success with: ZLauncher Ringo and it's Mp3 plugin Butler (allows timed phone setting profiles) DirectoryAssistant (from yp.com - phone number lookup tool) QuickNews RSS reader (even does Podcasts!)
