vB Easy Archive - help treo 650 or sidekick 2

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help treo 650 or sidekick 2
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Posted by: spooze

right now i have a phone with tmobile. i want a new phone . something that will keep me entertained for a bit at work. i want to be able to chat on aim and browse the net. ive done some searching. i dont know what to get . some of these phone terms i dont get. like EDGE, and Push email and stuff.
can anyone help me. or make any suggestions.

Posted by: vietalogy

for just aim and net i would get a sk2. if you want more like a mini comp get a treo. treo is will cost a lot the phone itself and programs you need for it.

Posted by: royalrepis

Ok, I will see if I can shed some light on this for you. First off push email is what the sidekick II uses. Basically the term means that emails are pushed to the danger server which is how you receive the emails on your sidekick. As soon as the danger server recieves any email then it automatically pushes it to your account on the danger server, which it then shows up on your sidekick without you having to do anything at all. The treo 650 doesn't use push mail. However there are plenty of email clients to choose from for treo 650, that should do a fine job for you. The difference between the sidekick mail and Treo 650 os that on treo you will have to either setup your email client to automatical check for emails ever so often such as every hour or so, or you can manually check for email within the email client on your treo.

Now on to network discussion. The term Edge is used for class 10 GPRS. See there was just GPRS which is slow like using dial up internet service. Then GPRS class 10 was introduced which is referred to as EDGE. Edge is GPRS on steroids, it's faster than dial up, but not quiet as fast as dsl. Now we have UMTS WCDMA also known as 3G. Umts is faster than EDGE which means it should be good enough for streaming video clips to be used on cell phones or smart phones.

Now for discussion on the actual devices. If all you need is something for instant messaging, text messaging, email, internet browsing and phone use then a Sidekick II is a good choice. However you need to be aware that the Sidekick has no java support and no flash support. That means you can't view sites with flash content,and if a site uses java applets then you wouldn't be able to use the java code written featurea of that particular web site. Otherwise the sidekick is a good little communication device for doing all of the things that were previously mentioned above.
The Treo 650 is a coomunication device that can be used for a lot more things other than im, internet and phone use. The Treo 650 is a good all around device, which combines good business tools with personal communication, and entertainment applications as well. Now the Treo comes with some basic applications, but you will have to pay to purchase other programs that you may need or want to use. You can get any kind of program from business applications to personal communication, gps, or entertainment programs. The Treo 650 uses the palm operating system. Therefore any program that you would want to put on your Treo would need to be made to run on Palm os 5 or higher. You can get a program called documents to go which enables you to view and edit microsoft office documents such as excel and word files. One of the great things about the Treo 650 is that it can be used for corporate email, meaning that if you needed to you could setup your business's email to go to your Treo. On the Treo 650 you can listen to music, play movies (provided that you have a memory card with enough space on it to place a divx encoded movie to it) you can instant message, text message, browse the internet, view and edit office files, etc... There are too many applications to go over but you can go to the palm gear web site and view all sorts of programs that are available for the Treo 650.

The choice is yours to make. I would recommend looking into an unlocked Treo. If you were to get an unlocked Treo you could then just pop in your TMobile sim card and away you go. Oh and unless you already have rhe $19.99 unlimted data plan with T Mobile then you would need to call T Mobile customer service and tell them you want to add the $19.99 internet plan to your account. Then you would need to call T Mobile tech support and have them walk you through the configuration and setup to be able to utilize the data plan that you purchased. Or you could always get the information from some kind and helpful soul here at HOFO. I hope this helps, take care.

Posted by: royalrepis

Forgot to cover a couple of things in the previous post. First the sidekick II has bo edge support it works only with gprs.
The web site is first formatted through the Danger server and then to your sidekick, overall it's not too bad at all. In fact I am sending this post using a sidekick II.

The Treo 650 does have edge support, which means you can get the higher data speeds as long as your mobile carrier has Edge service available in your area. Cingular has Edge available in most of their coverage areas. As a matter of fact Cingular is working on deploying UMTS service in most of their market areas. T Mobile is working on rolling out EDGE service to be available in all of their service areas. Word is that T Mobile already has Edge support available in certain areas.

Posted by: spooze

^^^ thats is alot of good info. my brother currently has the sidekick. we share minutes. i think we have 5000 anytime plus unlimited text(which i dont think they offer anymore says the sales rep) and its like 100 plus his 20 sickkick service. if i get a treo i can just plug in my sim and buy a 20 package or something from tmobile. right. do i get unlimited text?. and if you are on the internet will tmobile charge you by the minute or its unlimited. im a newbie on this stuff. thanks for helping.

Posted by: alann

Don't even bother with the SK2 for emails or web browsing. I had one few months ago and most of the time Danger email server is either down or extremely slow. I get their "push" email 1-2 hr later from the acutal sent time. Same with web browsing, you cant browse anything on it because is either down or so slow that I just gave up. AIM or Yahoo messager was the only service that was stable and working most of the time.

Go to www.hiptop.com and see all the threads regarding network outtage or connection issues.

Posted by: royalrepis

Ok if you are inetrested in getting a Treo 650, then you have to make sure that you get one that is unlocked. Also, you need to make sure that it's the gsm version and not the cdma version.

If you get the T Mobile internet plan, it is unlimited usage and you will not be charged by the minute or by how much data that you use.

Posted by: royalrepis

If it's the treo that you want, then you need to make sure that you get one that is already unlocked. Since T Mobile does not currentky offer the 650 in their line of phones therefore the only gsm modles are the one's that are sold by Cingular. And that is the main reason that you will have to make sure to get one that comes unlocked if you want to be able to use it with your T Mobile sim card. Also make sure that when you make your purchase that you get that is a GSM modle. The reason for that is there are cdma and gsm versions. CDMA are the ones that are made to work with Sprint or Verizon networks. T Mobile operates using the GSM signal.

If you get the T Mobile unlimited data plan it will be $19.99 each month for unlimited use. You will not be charged by the minute nor by how much data that you use. I am not sure about how T Mobile bills for text messaging. I would assume that if you have the unlimited data plan that text messages would be included in that package. But that's just my assumption so please don't quote me on that. You should ask a T Mobile representative if text messages are included as part of the unlimited data plan. Hope this helps,

Posted by: spooze

i am leaning towards the treo. where can i find an unlocked one. ebay? and abut how much do they go for. are there any bad things about the treo. i havent even looked at other palm's. thanks for all of the help guys. also for ringstones. can i get them from my computer , like mp3s i download . is the ringer quality and speaker quality good/

Posted by: spooze

what about the nokia 9500. are there any other options besides treo650 thats good for the money.

Posted by: vietalogy

Quote:

Originally Posted by spooze

i am leaning towards the treo. where can i find an unlocked one. ebay? and abut how much do they go for. are there any bad things about the treo. i havent even looked at other palm's. thanks for all of the help guys. also for ringstones. can i get them from my computer , like mp3s i download . is the ringer quality and speaker quality good/

for a unbrand and unlocked treo will cost around $550 last time i checked. you might be able get a cheaper one with cingular logo but unlocked. if i were you get the unbrand and unlocked one.

Yes you can use Mp3 ringtones but you will need a app to use as a ringtone. and the quality is pretty good for a phone.

Posted by: mikecp421

I agree I tossed around the idea of a SK2 and a treo but I wanted the palm pilot part of the phone which the SK wouldn't have. I use, need and live for the organization of the palm/treo and the games. With the internet, email and IM I have been completely satisfied and wouldn't think of trying to replace it.

Posted by: royalrepis

Spooze,

Sorry I should have mentioned where to look and what prices you should expect to pay for an unlocked 650. They are not cheap, you should expect to pay anywhere from $550 to $600 dollars. There are several different gsm unlock services that have them for sale or you can always look on Ebay. Just be carefule if you want to go the Ebay route. You will want to read all the specifications and fine print to know what you are getting before you make a bid on any item on Ebay. Also check for seller feedback and make sure that you are making a purchase from a reputable seller. You can do a google search for unlocked treo 650 and you should be able to find some sites that have an unlocked 650 for sale. Hope this helps.

Posted by: SimonLarimore

I currently have another year and a half on my Verizon contract. I have an LG camera phone right now, not sure of the exact name, but I was looking to upgrade. I was thinking about getting the Treo 650. Are there any better phones out there? Also, does Verizon have an unlimited internet use plan that I can add? And, would i be best off just buying a CDMA Treo from the Verizon dealer since it has to be CDMA?

Posted by: royalrepis

Simon,
Yes, I assume that you would be better off buying a cdma treo 650 from Verizon. There are a lot of other phones out there, it just depends on what you want in a phone. I think Verizon offers one made by Audiovox that has a slideout keyboard, infact it looks just like the Siemens SX66. That one runs Windows Mobile as it's os.

Yes Verizon does have an unlimited network plan if you feel like paying $80 dollars a month. Otherwise I suggest you wait until your contract is up and then go with a different carrier. Cingular has decent prices for data plans on a Treo. T Mobile by far has the cheapest prices for data plans, but the worst coverage.