Treo 700p Day 1
My Treo 700p arrived near the end of the work day. Here’s how things are going so far.
I unpacked the Treo, plugged in the optional travel charger (very slick — it lights up to let you know it has juice.
Next, I called my Verizon store, and they guided me through a simple procedure to activate it with my old phone number, 805.680.8086. He even called me to make sure it was working correctly.
Since I use a Palm Tungsten C, next I backed up all those files to a server so it should be impossible to screw them up. I did a fresh install of Palm Desktop, and accepted their offer to update from the web. The process went smoothly.
My first download was ChatterEmail. My employer owns a site license for SnapperMail, but my research indicates that ChatterEmail may be even better than SnapperMail, so I decided to experiment by using the free 30 day trial. The download was easy, and hot syncing to the Treo worked as expected.
When I tried ChatterEmail, it informed me I needed one more file on the Palm. It was easy enough to run a second hot sync to pick up that missing piece.
Next I tried ChatterEmail, and therein lies a tale. It offered a free six month IMAP mail account, which I accepted (although I do not need it). But when it tried to connect to the mail server, ChatterEmail said it could not reach the server, possibly because my wireless data was weak,
It was no big deal. So I packed up and went to the grocery store to buy a few things for dinner. Before I went into the store, I decided to try again, but I ended up in ChatterJail. I get a screen for my mailboxes, but I can’t seem to do anything useful. I’m sure there will be a way out, but it certainly is not obvious. I’ll drop a note to Marc Blank, ChatterEmail developer who’s famous for his fabulous support. I’ll keep you informed.
My early reaction to the Treo 700p is positive. It has a great screen and the keyboard works fine. So far I’ve only used it as a phone, and find it’s very good in that department.
I prefer (for now) dialing the phone by using the screen. The on-screen keypad has large, easy to see and press buttons. And I LOVE how easy it is to use the speakerphone (quality there is so-so) and especially appreciate the 700p’s large and OBVIOUS (on screen) “mute” key.
It is far too early to evaluate this new toy. But after a first touch and feel, so far I am OK with my decision. Besides, a co-worker and friend got the Motorola Q today. So we’ll be able to compare Treo 700p and Moto Q as we each get experience. My buddy is an ex-Treo user, so his analysis of how the Windows OS compares with Palm OS in terms of usability will be especially valuable.