vB Easy Archive - Treo 680 questions

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Treo 680 questions
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Posted by: Cennatra

Hey, i was recently given a 680 and I know jack about the phone. The battery life thus far has been horrible ( I know it's a known problem) and I think the phone is clunky. However, given that it was free I'm trying to ride it out. I have no manual just the software CD so I have a few questions.

I know one of the advantages of palm is that you can download a ton of software for them. Are there any programs out there I can download that will let me play ringtones I have stored on a memory card?

Also, how do I do a three way call on this thing? I can't figure it out to save my life.

Thanks.

Posted by: KBoardBox

Check out the "My Treo" program that you have on there; it'll give you a good place to start for learning about your Treo. I personally use Phone Technician for my MP3 ringtone duties, but there's another thread here about that with other suggestions. Three-way calling is done when you call the first person, pause the conversation, go to the dial-pad then call another person. Something like that...I haven't done it in a while.

Posted by: Khris

Google search for "Minitones" which will convert MP3's to Ringtones (and it's free while Phone Technician is not). Having said that however, I also purchased Phone Technician and Butler as they include invaluable tools which should have been included in the basic functionality of the phone. One feature is easy 3-way calling.

Google is your best friend for just about anything......especially Palm software. Also check out the Treonauts website as well as TreoCentral.

Posted by: WoNGsTeR

Quote:

Originally Posted by Khris

Google search for "Minitones" which will convert MP3's to Ringtones (and it's free while Phone Technician is not). Having said that however, I also purchased Phone Technician and Butler as they include invaluable tools which should have been included in the basic functionality of the phone. One feature is easy 3-way calling.

Google is your best friend for just about anything......especially Palm software. Also check out the Treonauts website as well as TreoCentral.

and to add that with combo of minitones adding the mp3 into your default ringtone list.. and your contact list has a option to pick personalized ringtone for each person or group on your treo.

dont worry about the battery.. mine was crap in beginning, but after about a month using it.. it seem to have improved.. it is not the same as my treo 650 battery, but atleast its a lot better when i first got it..

Posted by: KBoardBox

Ditto for the battery experience I've had. Make sure you install the Camera Patch from Palm as well, as that supposedly helps with the battery life by making sure the camera stays off after you exit the camera app.

Posted by: Cennatra

Okay, cool. I got that mini tones program, works great. how do I do a three way call? It's driving me nuts. I can make another call with one on hold, but it hangs up the first.

Posted by: Khris

Dial your first call, put it on hold, select Add Call and wait until it connects, then you can either conference the two, swap calls, etc.

Pay attention to the icons on your screen while in a call.....it should be self explanatory.

Posted by: NikiLuv73

Umm.. I'm thinking of getting this phone.

Posted by: Khris

Ummm.....ok then.

Posted by: NikiLuv73

How do you like it?

Posted by: fishera

My battery life is really good, am I the only one experiencing this??

I use my Treo at school... about 100-150 txts a day, then probably 30 min of talking, 20 min of tunes via the headphones, about an hour of internet browsing, 10 min of pictures and usual PIM apps.

After about that, I get home around 4pm and have... 60-70% left, not terrible. it was only about 10% more on my old Treo 650 with the 1800mAh battery. I do have a second battery however, this is because I like to constantly keep going and hate having my Treo plugged in (sits unplugged in front of me). That way I can just swap out the batterys when it gets to 50% or so, it will charge in the cradle by my bed. then it charges at night when i sleep, and its ready to go.

Battery life, if you ask me, is the 2nd best I have ever experienced. First being the old Treo 650, and now the Treo 650. If that 1600mAh battery could fit in the 680, im sure it would get JUST as good life as the GSM Treo 650 did. But... oh well

Posted by: NikiLuv73

That sounds good.

Posted by: Bcollins521

I'm the same with Fish, I have a unlocked/unbranded Treo 680 and have had it for a few months now...I don't use it much but like yesterday I keep my phone's screen turned to about half brightness, and I texted all day. Not completely sure on the total but alot. And did the usual PIM stuff and made a few calls that were about 10min each, when I got home from working 730-5 I think I had 80% when I pulled into the house.

Today, I have had the phone on vibrate and have made a few more calls and it is only 248p but I have 75% left on the battery. I haven't really had any days that I have completely killed the battery while I'm at work. It did alittle to break in the battery but most phones have that anway.

Posted by: davistld01

I want to add something that rarely gets mentioned in a discussion of the Treo 680 or any smartphone...and, that is how the device functions as a MOBILE PHONE.

The Treo 680 was the smartphone I settled on after going through about five of the competitors models...and I don't regret my decision. I use my Treo all day, every day...and it is my home phone, business phone & play phone, along with being the vehicle that allows me to check my three email accounts daily, answer those emails & send the occasional text message. But mostly...I use the Treo 680 as a mobile phone, and it is one of the best of all the phones I have ever had whether they be "smartphones" or "dumbphones". Reception is top notch, signal capture is amazing, call volume and call quality is on par with any other phone on the market...bar none. I am hooked on smartphones...but if the smartphone sucks as a daily communication device...I simply will not use the phone, no matter how many whiz-bang features it has.

In fact...I am using my Nokia E50 tonight and have noticed how much I prefer the Treo over this phone, even as a mobile phone. Nokia is supposed to be the RF-king and all...but where the Treo has great, even sound quality on calls...the Nokia has a little choppier incoming call quality, and not nearly the consistancy of signal reception that the Treo 680 has.

Overall...the Treo 680 is a solid, well-built, stable smartphone with amazing customization possibilities with a myriad of software downloads available. Plus the web-based support umbrella is second to none. But...it is really a great phone too. Who would have thought??

Posted by: fishera

I agree. The Treo 680 may not contain WIFI or HSPDA, or anything "fancy" but it does get the job done, in time, and done right! Because it doesn't have WIFI, the battery is just "wow" unlike competitors who pack WIFI and batteries drain faster then my sink!

I have owned many smartphones, Nokia's, T-Mobile's MDA & Dash, and find the Treo 680 to be the best up to day-to-day "abuse" as some call it. lol. It just keeps pushing. The call quality is outstanding (T-Mobile's network) and getting everything else done is a task, not a chore.

Thats all I come to say about my little buddy, it is the BEST phone I have ever owned!

Posted by: Torontonian

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishera

I agree. The Treo 680 may not contain WIFI or HSPDA, or anything "fancy" but it does get the job done, in time, and done right! Because it doesn't have WIFI, the battery is just "wow" unlike competitors who pack WIFI and batteries drain faster then my sink!

I have owned many smartphones, Nokia's, T-Mobile's MDA & Dash, and find the Treo 680 to be the best up to day-to-day "abuse" as some call it. lol. It just keeps pushing. The call quality is outstanding (T-Mobile's network) and getting everything else done is a task, not a chore.

Thats all I come to say about my little buddy, it is the BEST phone I have ever owned!

I agree fully with everything Fishera said. The call quality is top notch! I keep getting asked, "Do you have a home phone now? That's your cell?" I also do not use a home phone...since the late 90s. I always carry a spare battery but have yet to use it. I listen to hours of mp3s during my commute and while working. I use the web quite a lot and find the browser to be much faster than the 650.

Posted by: davistld01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Torontonian

You know...I just had to add that although I have an E50 as a backup, and an N75 coming as another backup/toy...they will not replace my Treo 680 as my "daily driver". They are nice, high-tech smartphones...but they are not as easy to operate and reliable as my 680. I am really suprised more people don't own this phone...but it's the ultimate "sleeper" without some of the bells & whistles of the competition.

And...if nothing else, all the girls really like the Crimson color

. And, that's never a bad thing, is it?

Everybody I know that has tried one...and given it a chance...has kept it as their phone of choice.

Posted by: Torontonian

Wirelessly posted (Treo 680: Palm680/RC1 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows 98; PalmSource/Palm-D053; Blazer/4.5) 16;320x320)

I think the reason the 680 does not appear to be selling is the lack of promotion. I have never seen a single Rogers ad include the 680. I have never seen a single Palm ad here in Canada.

Posted by: davistld01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Torontonian

Wirelessly posted (Treo 680: Palm680/RC1 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows 98; PalmSource/Palm-D053; Blazer/4.5) 16;320x320)

I think the reason the 680 does not appear to be selling is the lack of promotion. I have never seen a single Rogers ad include the 680. I have never seen a single Palm ad here in Canada.

I agree that I have never seen one single Palm ad here in the States either...as least on the stations I watch. I think that the Treo is a very specialized market...and the buyers of Treos buy because they know what they like. I was lucky...I chose the 680 as my first smartphone, or the first one I kept more than a few days anyway.

I have a couple of Nokias now (the N75 came today and is charging as I type this...) and I really like the Symbian OS...but not enough to give up my Treo 680 and the Palm OS as my "daily driver". It is simply too easy to use, too reliable, too stable...and the support is too vast.

If more people would realize that bells & whistles are not always "better", you would have more Treo buyers. Plus you had a lot of Cingular salespeople turning would-be Treo buyers away because of some first-run problems...and the main reason: most of them didn't have a clue as how to operate the Palm OS. Sad but true...

Posted by: KBoardBox

Most of Rogers' ads regarding email and data have the 680 on them, but as for Palm itself, yeah, they don't have many ads if any at all. Apparently there was one in a bus stop here in Vancouver (a big one too, I may add). One of my local dealers say that people are returning the 680 in droves, but if you ask me, they're probably just idiots who can't understand just how awesome the 680 is!

Posted by: RobertMfromLI

One major help (for me) regarding the battery issue was as follows:
-Download and install the Camera Software Patch (from Palm's Site)
-Fully charge and discharge the phone a few times

My battery life was at about 6-10 hours before that, and now is lasting a few days (5-6 calls a day, and a few text messages, occassional internet access for traffic and weather apps).

The other things I have done (which may or may not be related to the battery issue) were:
- Install Security update (again from Palm's site)
- Cut a business card to the size of the SIM Card (leaving a small piece to fit into the pull-out notch at the end of the tray) and place it on top of the SIM before I inserted it.

This resolved my "Check Sim Card" error, and seems to have also resolved the occassional (few second) hangs after sending SMS messages or after calls. I have a feeling (that I cant confirm) that it also has affected (improved) battery life, as the intermittent connection to the SIM card seemed to be causing the phone to drop service, and/or display the "Check SIM card" error, and/or not reconnect after dropping service unless I powered the phone off and on... so I am thinking, all the reconnect attempts (failed and successful) would probably be a big drain on the battery as well.

I was previously planning on buying an extended life battery when my phone was only getting under half a day on a charge (as Palm bragged this phone got near the same talk and standby time as the 650 it replaces), but decided to try a combination of the fixes I saw here and elsewhere. Since then, every problem I have been having with my 680 has went away except one... the antenna on the 650 seems better. Where I live, I am often at the fringe of acceptable service, so in my house, I lose signal on the main floor, but get it upstairs - just barely (anywhere in the closest to outside walls/rooms). The 680 needs to be sitting near my window to get service, while the 650 could be almost anywhere in my upstairs room. All in all, (now that I've found a spot that it gets service, which happens to be close to my bed and a table), I'm happy with the phone. It reconnects to service far quicker than the 650, and seems a little faster in many things.

Posted by: davistld01

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobertMfromLI

- Cut a business card to the size of the SIM Card (leaving a small piece to fit into the pull-out notch at the end of the tray) and place it on top of the SIM before I inserted it.

This is a "fix" I have never heard of before. Do you put the business card piece in the SIM card tray first, and lay the SIM card on top of it before closing the tray...or do you put the business card in after the SIM card goes into the tray, on top of the SIM card?

Hey...anything is worth a try for better battery life! Mine is ok...but better is always better.

Posted by: fishera

I like the business card idea. Way to think original! I like it! Im gonna give it a shot tomorrow. My battery life is fine, haven't charged it in two days and just reached 49% after a rampage of 200-300 txt's! lol

Only of Palm would release a Treo with bells and whistles, but keep the easy functionality that we currently have. I wouldn't mind a better camera, like the one in the 755p, and UMTS speeds for data. Especially now that im switching to the new AT&T!

The internal memory is fine! 128MB, I still have 45MB free on this bad boy! And its loaded to the brim! Maybe WIFI Drives would be nice, for those who WANT to use WIFI. I don't... but it would be a nice selling point to be compatible with a WIFI card. I honestly can't imagine the need for a PDA with WIFI, especially with UMTS and EvDO speeds. Its a PDA people, not a laptop!

Posted by: RobertMfromLI

Quote:

Originally Posted by davistld01

Hi!

Here's what I did in detail.
(1) Take out the SIM Card
(2) Trace it on a business card (I aligned two edges to save cutting)
(3) cut inside the traced lines so when you are done you have a SIM card sized piece of business card
(4) cut a notch on the top end across from the notch on the SIM card (this is because the tray has a retainer piece for the SIM card that the business card wont fit under)
(5) on the end farthest from the notches, I left a little piece hanging off to fit into the cutout on the tray that you grab when you pull the tray out
(6) re-insert the SIM card, contacts down, and then place the business card on top of it in the SIM tray. You will (should) find it fits within the tray nicely. Make sure the business card is not curled and flush/below the card tray edges.
(7) Gently, slowly slide the tray back in, keeping the business card in place over the SIM. If it doesnt slide in with a little pressure or gets pushed out, the thickness of the card is probably too much and you have to try a cheaper business card, or a few pieces of post-it notes (use the sticky part so the sheets stick together).
(8) Make sure you slide the tray in totally straight. There will be more resistance because of the added thickness, and it kinda feels like you will break or crack something (most likely the tray) if it starts to go in crooked - which it is more likely to do with the card in place.

(9) BE CAREFUL... this worked for me and others in other forums, but you can conceivably damage your phone or SIM if you arent careful.

Hope that helps everyone...

-Rob

Posted by: RobertMfromLI

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishera

I like the business card idea. Way to think original! I like it! Im gonna give it a shot tomorrow. My battery life is fine, haven't charged it in two days and just reached 49% after a rampage of 200-300 txt's! lol

Only of Palm would release a Treo with bells and whistles, but keep the easy functionality that we currently have. I wouldn't mind a better camera, like the one in the 755p, and UMTS speeds for data. Especially now that im switching to the new AT&T!

The internal memory is fine! 128MB, I still have 45MB free on this bad boy! And its loaded to the brim! Maybe WIFI Drives would be nice, for those who WANT to use WIFI. I don't... but it would be a nice selling point to be compatible with a WIFI card. I honestly can't imagine the need for a PDA with WIFI, especially with UMTS and EvDO speeds. Its a PDA people, not a laptop!

Hi Fishera,

I cant claim the entire idea was mine. I got it from a post on TreoCentral... though the suggestion was a bunch of sheets of post-it notes... I thought a business card (if thin enough) might be a better or easier idea, so I modified the idea and tried it - and thus far it has worked. I have only gotten the "Check SIM Card" error once since, when my phone was totally dead - powering off and on the radio resolved that and allowed me to make another call before my phone battery totally gave up. No pulling the battery and reseating the card numerous times to get it to work like previously. So, so far so good.

-Rob

Posted by: NikiLuv73

Question... for the 680, what other email services are available? Besides snappermail?

Posted by: Loiselle313

i'm stepping up to this phone thanks to a generous offer from AT&T... i'm finally ditching nextel... I know where i'll be getting my information!!! Thanks guys! and gals!

Posted by: Catt With A C

New to the Palm as I recently decided that I wanted to branch out into the world of Smartphones. I must say that I love this phone. The reception that I get on it is amazing as well as the fact that after I installed the patch on the Palm site for the AT&T version and I've had no issues with the phone since (had the battery and weird text issues).

I've recommended this phone to several coworkers and so far those that have purchased it seemed to like it.

It takes some getting used to however I think I'm getting there.

The only thing I don't like is the amount of ringtones available for the phone. Those that are pre-installed -- yuck!

Still trying to figure out how to use Minitones and do some of my own.

One personalization at a time!

Posted by: WoNGsTeR

If you need any help let us know!!

Posted by: azhjph

Treo 680 from AT&T had a highly recommended update of the O.S. in June which required a formated blank SD card. Mine keep not working. Took it to store and found that Palm had supplied the pre-programed SD chip to the store (it was kept un-advertised in a drawer that not all employees knew about). It boosted my O.S. to version to Treo680-1.09-ATT. Among the pre-update problems was a sudden loss of Network and jibberish appearing on the upper left corner.

Posted by: Ardy

I use a 650 now (for the past 2 1/2) years. it seems it's on its last leg, I was hoping for a 755p from at&t, but I guess i have to settle for a 680.

You people think an at&t branded will suffice or for extra bucks an unlock version?

thanks.

Posted by: ladyceres

I just got my 680 and I am loving it so far - a friend pointed me towards these forums and the information here has been invaluable! I'm currently on the T-Zones plan from T-Mobile which has suited me so far, but I'm eagerly awaiting this Mundu update that is supposed to work on this plan. In general though, how do people find surfing the full internet on their Treos, in terms of viewing pages that aren't optimized for handhelds? I'm in two minds on whether I really NEED the full internet for the extra $14 a month...but I can see it coming in handy, even to be able to use apps like google maps or the java-based Gmail.

Posted by: choirchick4life

I just got a palm treo 680, and I was wondering if there was a way I could change the OS to Windows mobile OS. The 750 has it, so there must be a way to do it. Please HELP!!1

Posted by: PatrickS

Quote:

Originally Posted by choirchick4life

I just got a palm treo 680, and I was wondering if there was a way I could change the OS to Windows mobile OS. The 750 has it, so there must be a way to do it. Please HELP!!1

Never been done, to my knowledge. Not even by the uber hackers. You either buy a Palm model (680, 700, 755, etc) or a WM model (750) and, well, there you are.

Sorry for the bad news.

Posted by: RobertMfromLI

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ardy

I use a 650 now (for the past 2 1/2) years. it seems it's on its last leg, I was hoping for a 755p from at&t, but I guess i have to settle for a 680.

You people think an at&t branded will suffice or for extra bucks an unlock version?

thanks.

Or an AT&T branded unlocked...

Personally, though I love the phone, I still think it has issues:

Poor battery life (compared to my 600 & 650)
Weaker antenna
Periodic pauses after certain functions (text msging, hanging up, etc)

-Robert

Posted by: Ardy

Ouch! I think I'll wait for now, it seems Palm finally is taking its head out of his other end and coming up with better smarthphones now that they finally killed the Foleo today. Centro is coming down the pipeline and others soon to follow. Will see.

Posted by: namjasohn

Hey everyone. I just bought my friend a At&t Treo 680 yesterday. Everything works fine except he cant seem to import his contacts from his old Cingular simcard. I put my other friend's simcard into the phone and his contacts came up fine on the Treo. I checked to make sure he save all of his contacts from his old phone onto his simcard. Does anyone have any ideas why he's not able to see his contacts?

Posted by: InFeXiOn

Just ended up buying a Treo 680 off someone here on HoFo and just patiently waiting it to arrive later this week I'd imagine. Can't wait to get my hands on the Palm OS and officially call my outdated V3i a back-up phone, and move on to something better.

I was stuck a while between the 650 and 680 'cause of the battery life and price difference but after being able to find an amazing deal on the 680 I just couldn't refuse to go for that one.

Here's for hoping Palm OS is easy to get used to and was worth the money.