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iPhone vs TREO
- Thread starter BigPrince
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I'm converting from Treo 680 -
Treo is minimalist on media - it does music and video, but pretty poorly. The browser (Blazer) is clunky and really hard to use, at least for me.
The Treo is a mix of excellent software features, and a really clunky implementation - the current PalmOS (Garnet) is a grafted-together mess of older and newer code, and it's not very stable - my phone crashes a couple times a week. Palm had planned on replacing this OS several years back, but like many OS upgrades, it didn't really work out.
No real multi-tasking - Palm does an OK job of faking it, but it's really not able to do more than one thing at a time. Battery life is lousy, especially if I'm using 3rd party Chatteremail for push via IMAP-IDLE - it won't make it a full day in this mode, and it's right on the edge using the lame standard e-mail client. It's nearly twice as thick as iPhone, and heavy as well - David Pogue described Treos as looking 'obese' next to iPhone.
All that said, my Treo is remarkably functional - it does everything reasonably well, especially around its PDA roots - good calendar, good address book and the phone applications are surprisingly well-integrated. The browser is the only thing that's really bad, and some Treo innovations, like threaded SMS, have become the standard that others (including Apple) follow.
I've been pretty happy with my 680 for the last six months (I'd been holding out for iPhone, bought the Treo when it became clear that I had a six-month wait), and in some respects, especially syncing with 3rd party apps like Now Up-to-Date, and making use of the incredible variety of 3rd party apps written for Palm, it actually is more functional than the iPhone.
If I had to keep my Treo for another year or so, I'd be content - enough so that I've even considered not getting an iPhone. However, the current PalmOS is at the end of its lifecycle, and I'm willing to take some lumps to move to the new, and very pretty, iPhone.
Treo is minimalist on media - it does music and video, but pretty poorly. The browser (Blazer) is clunky and really hard to use, at least for me.
The Treo is a mix of excellent software features, and a really clunky implementation - the current PalmOS (Garnet) is a grafted-together mess of older and newer code, and it's not very stable - my phone crashes a couple times a week. Palm had planned on replacing this OS several years back, but like many OS upgrades, it didn't really work out.
No real multi-tasking - Palm does an OK job of faking it, but it's really not able to do more than one thing at a time. Battery life is lousy, especially if I'm using 3rd party Chatteremail for push via IMAP-IDLE - it won't make it a full day in this mode, and it's right on the edge using the lame standard e-mail client. It's nearly twice as thick as iPhone, and heavy as well - David Pogue described Treos as looking 'obese' next to iPhone.
All that said, my Treo is remarkably functional - it does everything reasonably well, especially around its PDA roots - good calendar, good address book and the phone applications are surprisingly well-integrated. The browser is the only thing that's really bad, and some Treo innovations, like threaded SMS, have become the standard that others (including Apple) follow.
I've been pretty happy with my 680 for the last six months (I'd been holding out for iPhone, bought the Treo when it became clear that I had a six-month wait), and in some respects, especially syncing with 3rd party apps like Now Up-to-Date, and making use of the incredible variety of 3rd party apps written for Palm, it actually is more functional than the iPhone.
If I had to keep my Treo for another year or so, I'd be content - enough so that I've even considered not getting an iPhone. However, the current PalmOS is at the end of its lifecycle, and I'm willing to take some lumps to move to the new, and very pretty, iPhone.
I own a treo right now and I can't wait to throw it in my glovebox and be done with it... unless god forbid something happens to my iphone one day and I need to use my treo again for a bit.
The phone just straight up sucks... even with EVDO it's ****ing pulling teeth when trying to use the internet. If anyone tries to say their treo is better than the iphone... please do me a favor and punch them in the face.
oh... and there were only two good things about the treo (650 unlocked). Battery kicked ****ing ass... I didn't charge my fone for 3-4 days and I'd be fine. Also, text messaging in AIM style convo... which iphone offers... so no biggie there. Everything else SUCKED.
The phone just straight up sucks... even with EVDO it's ****ing pulling teeth when trying to use the internet. If anyone tries to say their treo is better than the iphone... please do me a favor and punch them in the face.
oh... and there were only two good things about the treo (650 unlocked). Battery kicked ****ing ass... I didn't charge my fone for 3-4 days and I'd be fine. Also, text messaging in AIM style convo... which iphone offers... so no biggie there. Everything else SUCKED.
If they have a 700wm or 750, they could flash their Slingbox player right back (or any movies they have stored on a memory card, for that matter).
I'm planning on getting an iPhone today, but as a 750 owner, it sounds more than a little uninformed to suggest that the Treo (or any WM device) can't perform the same multimedia tasks. That is, unless your world is locked up in AAC and protected M4V files.
Here is what I am going to miss on my Treo:
- Applications
- Tasks
- Notes (that sync)
- Lots of cases and third party stuff (this will come with iPhone)
That being said... I am looking forward to everything else!
BZ
- Applications
- Tasks
- Notes (that sync)
- Lots of cases and third party stuff (this will come with iPhone)
That being said... I am looking forward to everything else!
BZ
I've had several generations of Treos since the first. All had major problems with crashing and losing data. My first Treo used to turn itself off randomly. The next one would freeze for no reason and need a reset. It's replacement had a screen that went blank. None of them were damaged.
THe current one drops calls all the time. I do like the available applications but email is agonizingly slow and forget watching Tv on it, the picture is teensy.
Syncing my data with my Mac has been iffy even using Missing Sync.
And Sprint sucks.
I live in an area where I almost always have 4 bars signal strength and can have the phone on my desk and the calls sometimes go straight to voicemail.
Yeah, goodby Treo and Sprint. You will not be missed.
BTW...anyone want to buy a used treo 700!
THe current one drops calls all the time. I do like the available applications but email is agonizingly slow and forget watching Tv on it, the picture is teensy.
Syncing my data with my Mac has been iffy even using Missing Sync.
And Sprint sucks.
I live in an area where I almost always have 4 bars signal strength and can have the phone on my desk and the calls sometimes go straight to voicemail.
Yeah, goodby Treo and Sprint. You will not be missed.
BTW...anyone want to buy a used treo 700!
Hold it up while you are looking at a picture and say "Portrait, landscape, portrait, landscape" while you swivel your iPhone.
Im' with the person that says they aren't in the same arena.
That said - enjoy your iPhone!!!
I'm the odd duck that doesn't use her Treo for email or internet. The calendar, Handyshopper & HealthFile to track the kids medical issues.
I use my iPod for Video & Music for entertainer the other kids at the doctors office - while i'm using the Treo to fill out the forms or reference other appointments they have had.
It will be a no deal for me right now with the cost & the carrier.
BUT, i'm still excited to read about it - and hope someday we might get a non-phone PDA type one. Time will well......
That said - enjoy your iPhone!!!
I'm the odd duck that doesn't use her Treo for email or internet. The calendar, Handyshopper & HealthFile to track the kids medical issues.
I use my iPod for Video & Music for entertainer the other kids at the doctors office - while i'm using the Treo to fill out the forms or reference other appointments they have had.
It will be a no deal for me right now with the cost & the carrier.
BUT, i'm still excited to read about it - and hope someday we might get a non-phone PDA type one. Time will well......
I'm a long time Treo user on Sprint as is my Brother.
The thing about my Treo, is I put some 3rd party applications on it like the one to edit word/excel docs, but I ended up only using it to really read documents or make small notes (which the iPhone notes is a much better implementation and looks great). And the Treo had a Memo option similar to that, but it was worst implementation of a Memo ever.
But overall, I used my treo to text, e-mail, and make phone calls... What I'm sure 90% of the people with Treo's use it for. I know it's possible to put VLC, Slingbox, Music players, etc on your Treo, but how many people use these even if they have them installed? I know I had Slingbox and used it once or twice to just show off.
Now if you look at what 90% of the Treo users probably use it for: text, e-mail, phone calls... the iPhone does all of that and not only makes it look pretty, but is probably 10 times better at the implementation; especially the phone call interface.
My brother actually got the newest Treo that Sprint offers a couple of months ago, and we did some tests with his phone(without any 3rd party apps installed because he didn't have any) and my iPhone.
First was the Google Maps test. We looked for Borders near where we were, and we both found it in about the same time. However, for him, he only had 2 buttons on the screen for going between the locations. I had Satellite View, List View to see all places in a list and could even click on them to instantly call, I had Map view with traffic(which he had also), and I could even pinch the screen, double tap to zoom, all of which he couldn't do on his simple Google Maps program. And not only that, all the animations from the pins falling on to the map, to the bouncing titles when you click on the pins, to the flipping of the menu when you click List was all beautiful compared to his simple tap and laggy transitions from one option to the next.
The other interesting test we did was to call our Mom, and then call someone else to conference. He conferenced them, but wasn't able to switch between the calls privately or even add any more people on. He had to hang up on both of them to finally end the call.
Then I called with my iPhone and was able to seamlessly, with just a tap of my finger, switch from conference to private, and I even added 2 more people to the line and switched between them. Why hasn't a phone manufacturer who's been around for YEARS not made the CALLING part of the PHONE that simple yet? That's like the most basic feature, and the iPhone kills it at that.
So I mean, it's all about quantity over quality. The Treo focuses on packing lots of features that you'll never use in the phone, while the iPhone takes all those features you are most likely to use and makes them not only look beautiful, but tends to be a better implementation and more usable.
You're more likely to use a Calendar App when it looks and feels great instead of when it's full of features in the menu but looks like crap.
And the funny thing is the iPhone isn't even a full-fledged Smart Phone if you think about it. It lacks a lot of the features the Blackberry has for businesses users, but it seems to be scaring that crowd already. Imagine when they start really marketing the iPhone towards that crowd with newer features. Right now they're just trying to make it somewhat work with those people, while marketing it more as a phone/ipod/wifi/internet device with intuitive menus.
The thing about my Treo, is I put some 3rd party applications on it like the one to edit word/excel docs, but I ended up only using it to really read documents or make small notes (which the iPhone notes is a much better implementation and looks great). And the Treo had a Memo option similar to that, but it was worst implementation of a Memo ever.
But overall, I used my treo to text, e-mail, and make phone calls... What I'm sure 90% of the people with Treo's use it for. I know it's possible to put VLC, Slingbox, Music players, etc on your Treo, but how many people use these even if they have them installed? I know I had Slingbox and used it once or twice to just show off.
Now if you look at what 90% of the Treo users probably use it for: text, e-mail, phone calls... the iPhone does all of that and not only makes it look pretty, but is probably 10 times better at the implementation; especially the phone call interface.
My brother actually got the newest Treo that Sprint offers a couple of months ago, and we did some tests with his phone(without any 3rd party apps installed because he didn't have any) and my iPhone.
First was the Google Maps test. We looked for Borders near where we were, and we both found it in about the same time. However, for him, he only had 2 buttons on the screen for going between the locations. I had Satellite View, List View to see all places in a list and could even click on them to instantly call, I had Map view with traffic(which he had also), and I could even pinch the screen, double tap to zoom, all of which he couldn't do on his simple Google Maps program. And not only that, all the animations from the pins falling on to the map, to the bouncing titles when you click on the pins, to the flipping of the menu when you click List was all beautiful compared to his simple tap and laggy transitions from one option to the next.
The other interesting test we did was to call our Mom, and then call someone else to conference. He conferenced them, but wasn't able to switch between the calls privately or even add any more people on. He had to hang up on both of them to finally end the call.
Then I called with my iPhone and was able to seamlessly, with just a tap of my finger, switch from conference to private, and I even added 2 more people to the line and switched between them. Why hasn't a phone manufacturer who's been around for YEARS not made the CALLING part of the PHONE that simple yet? That's like the most basic feature, and the iPhone kills it at that.
So I mean, it's all about quantity over quality. The Treo focuses on packing lots of features that you'll never use in the phone, while the iPhone takes all those features you are most likely to use and makes them not only look beautiful, but tends to be a better implementation and more usable.
You're more likely to use a Calendar App when it looks and feels great instead of when it's full of features in the menu but looks like crap.
And the funny thing is the iPhone isn't even a full-fledged Smart Phone if you think about it. It lacks a lot of the features the Blackberry has for businesses users, but it seems to be scaring that crowd already. Imagine when they start really marketing the iPhone towards that crowd with newer features. Right now they're just trying to make it somewhat work with those people, while marketing it more as a phone/ipod/wifi/internet device with intuitive menus.
mmmmm
iithought its easier to make a call on treo?
anyway, your generalization is bold. i mean, obvious plus for treo is 3rd party apps, if nobody need them, sure treo loses its biggest advantage, lol
I agree 3rd party apps is a big plus for the Treo, but I personally at least never really used them even though I had them. The most useful was probably VeriChat, but it would crash my Treo about 3-4 times a week.
3rd party apps for the iPhone would be incredible. Especially if most of them were able to keep the same look and feel of the other Apps.
The main point I was making about 3rd party Apps is that people are more likely to use them, in my opinion, if they 100% need to or if it looks completely aesthetic. That's why I think even the most basic, useless Apps that could be made for the iPhone would probably be used a lot, simply because of how great they would look and feel.
You can't say this about most Treo Apps. Even the most used 3rd party apps feel clunky and you're only using it because you have to in most cases.
Is that really a deal breaker? Besides, if the Treo/Blackberry is so good at e-mail, why don't you just receive an e-mail from an iPhone with a picture? Obviously that won't work with regular camera phones, but still... If you're using a Treo to MMS another person with a treo, you might as well just be sending an e-mail with a picture like you can with the iPhone.
And Also, the MMS on my Treo with Sprint sucked. You would get a text message that would open up the Blazer(sp?) browser and go to a page on the Sprint site, and it would have a tiny thumbnail, and you would click on it, and it wouldn't fill the screen, but rather just be a little bit bigger inside that window.
Other carriers might implement that a little better, or maybe newer Sprint phones fixed that, but I never really used MMS on my Treo because of that.
Oh brother.
Comparing an iPhone to a real Smartphone is like comparing a Calculator to a Laptop. They have some work to do before it becomes a real comparison.
Oh brother.
Comparing an iPhone to a real Smartphone is like comparing a Calculator to a Laptop. They have some work to do before it becomes a real comparison.
What is a smartphone.
In some people's cases, they are right.
In cases like mine and yours, they aren't right
Depends on the person
I have a Treo 700p on Verizon. I'm too cheap to buy it. I had a Treo 600 that broke after years of use, the insurance gave me a refurbished 650 that was defective, and replaced that with a brand new 700p. At that point I added the unlimited data plan for $45 dollars - note that's 45, not 20 as ATT gets - and I've been websurfing since then. The 600 had data on the calling plan, that is I used my minutes, didn't pay extra for the data unless I went over my limit. So when I had the old phone I would web surf at night. But the unlimited plan for the 700p is great, I can web surf now during boring meetings.
I added TCPMP (free) which is a video/audio player to watch movies, and used Handbrake to downsample videos to a size that the 700p could use - same size as the iPod and I presume the iPhone. I also use pTunes ($20) which is an mp3 player, somewhat better than TCPMP for songs but won't play AAC files. I added a 3rd party calendar program ($20) because the built in Treo calendar doesn't have a week view (I know, the iPhone doesn't either, too bad). What else? a few games that I never play except for Klondike - but Palm OS has some great old games like Shadowgate that are really fun if you ever played them in the old days. Googlemaps which is free. A few utilities, e.g., a program that beeps if the SD card accidentally pops out, which it does once in a while by accident, usually when I drop the phone (one reason I haven't rushed out for the iPhone, being such a butterfingers, besides the problem of having a Verizon contract that doesn't run out till next February).
OK, that's the background. Good and bad about the Treo 700p:
GOOD:
-week view in calendar if you pay for DateBk6
-syncs so so to ok using iSync and Palm Hotsync (won't update contacts for some weird reason though - so I have to manually change phone numbers for example when someone gets a new phone) but for what I need it for, appointments and contacts, does fine
-Klondike. Can't believe they didn't build that into the iPhone. Jobs is a tyrant about what he thinks is elegant, isn't he
-search contacts easily to make a phone call by typing first letter of first and last name, or typing out first part of first or last name. iPhone can't do that yet.
-battery lasts for several days unless you are in marginal coverage area or you're using web browser a lot
-web browsing for text based sites good enough. But Verizon EVDO on the Treo sucks, believe it or not. It's as slow as descriptions of the iPhone on EDGE. I dunno, maybe this is a flaw of the treo, maybe other EVDO phones are faster.
-I wind up using my finger(nail) on the touch screen, not pulling out the stylus which I hate. 5 way directional button works pretty good, that plus fingernail on the touch screen means I rarely have to use the stylus.
-iPod formatted movies work great in TCPMP. Little tiny screen is quite sharp thank god.
BAD:
-see above for web browsing. Little tiny screen lousy for most web sites. And the site often realizes I'm on a mobile phone and forces me to use an even worse mobile version of the regular site. Gah.
-little tiny screen makes using your fingernail difficult, occasionally have to stop, pull out the stylus, then put it back... very inconvenient
-I can get my email, but no where near the ease of use or elegance of the iPhone. Basically I stopped checking email on my phone, it was just too small, couldn't see attachments, too long to check, I don't know why just couldn't stand it.
-as others have said, programs, even the ones built in or included, bomb periodically meaning you have to wait for a lengthy reboot
-this is in my opinion a killer problem: start to web browse for a while, and the browser won't let go of the phone if you want to switch to checking the calendar or do anything else for about 3 minutes. Yes you have to stand there staring at the frozen screen after you push the button to go to another function forever! Terrible.
-People complain of the iPhone virtual keyboard, but I find the Treo little tiny buttons hard to push and as a result rarely type into the thing or send emails or MMS from the phone.
Bottom line: with effort, I've gotten the Treo 700p to do most of the basic chores the iPhone does. Phone bill is higher by a lot, and nothing works perfectly or easily (except for search function), but it does everything I want a phone to do. Just not well.
I'm certain the iPhone is a better phone for "everything I want a phone to do". But yes, Treo fans can list comparisons and claim there isn't that much difference, on paper at least.
Finally, if you use a 3rd party program such as doctors use Epocrates which lists drugs, interactions etc., the Treo is actually a better choice.
err.... palm's buildin calendar does have a week view, and year view, and month view.
I know its a personal usage problem, obviously for what you need, iPhone is enough.
on my Palm, i have
Legacy, Free,(waiting for pocket hero's palm version)
GrxView Lt, free, picture viewer
Kinoma (youtube, online radio, flash player)
pocket Tunes, pre-installed now
Card reader, operating SD card as an external HDD
FileProg/FileZ, Free, file manager
NVBackup, Free, Complete system backup/restoration
ScreenShot,
AIM, Free
GoogleMaps, Free
Kmeteo, free, weather
Opera mini, 3.1/4.0Beta, Free, 4.0 b now behaves similar to picsel/isafari
Noah Pro, Free, dictionary
Document to go, pre-installed version, for viewing and simple editing MS word, excel, ppt
Palm PDF, Free, PDF viewer
VisualCalc/C4me, Free, they looks ugly, but they are very professional, equation supporting, mathematical functions supporting calculators
Mine Sweeper, Free
Tetris, Free
Chem Table, Free,
Friends of mine have the Treo and some are keeping their Treo while others are switching to the iPhone.
Depends on how often you use the 3rd party software on the Treo. My friends who use the Treo software DAILY are not switching as the iPhone doesn't have enough features for their taste.
But, the ones who just need email, text, and phone stuff are eager to switch.
Depends on how often you use the 3rd party software on the Treo. My friends who use the Treo software DAILY are not switching as the iPhone doesn't have enough features for their taste.
But, the ones who just need email, text, and phone stuff are eager to switch.