vB Easy Archive - Treo 650 Stability?

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Treo 650 Stability?
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Posted by: iso100

I'm having a HELL of a time trying to figure out what smartphone to go to from my Nokia 6600. I like the Symbian OS because it seems pretty stable. It has it's occasional reboot, but that might be twice a month. What I don't like about the Series 60 OS is that it's SLOW. Web browsing is painful and SLOW. I have T-Mobile, so chime in if browsing will always be slow on T-Mobile.

Here's what I'd like to know from Treo 650 users: How often does your Treo crash, lock up, or throw 'C' errors?

I've had a Handspring Visor in the past, and currently have a Dell Axim X3i. Both have crashed and locked up, but I'm not sure which one is more stable.

I'm trying to decide between these 3 phones:
Treo 650
Nokia 9500/9300
Siemens SX66

My first priority is stability, followed by web/email access, phone reception/stability, etc. Bluetooth is a must.

Posted by: CarlGalgano

Quote:

Originally Posted by iso100

I'm having a HELL of a time trying to figure out what smartphone to go to from my Nokia 6600. I like the Symbian OS because it seems pretty stable. It has it's occasional reboot, but that might be twice a month. What I don't like about the Series 60 OS is that it's SLOW. Web browsing is painful and SLOW. I have T-Mobile, so chime in if browsing will always be slow on T-Mobile.

Here's what I'd like to know from Treo 650 users: How often does your Treo crash, lock up, or throw 'C' errors?

I've had a Handspring Visor in the past, and currently have a Dell Axim X3i. Both have crashed and locked up, but I'm not sure which one is more stable.

I'm trying to decide between these 3 phones:
Treo 650
Nokia 9500/9300
Siemens SX66

My first priority is stability, followed by web/email access, phone reception/stability, etc. Bluetooth is a must.

I have owned"
PPC (HP Jornada 820 and 548, and a PPC PDA2K smartphone)
Symbian SE 910a
Palm based (Original Pilot, Kyo6035, Samsung i300, Treo 300, 600 (both a GSM and CDMA version) and Treo650).

You will not find anything that is as stable as Symbian, it is by far and away the best in stability. My PPC based phone crashed the most, or needed to be rebooted constantly because stuff just stopped working correctly. Palm based phones also have this problem, but in my experience, not nearly as much. My 650 has been rather stable, I have owned it for about 2 months, and it has crashed maybe 3 times, mostly loading webpages that contain java.

On the stability meter I would rate the PPC as a 5, Treo650 as a 7 and Symbian as a 9.

YMMV.

Posted by: iso100

Thanks for the information. That helps greatly.

I guess that kicks the Siemens out of the running. I can't tolerate a phone that crashes... I need to be able to rely on it.

So it's down to the Nokia 9300/9500 and the Treo 650. I think I'm leaning towards the Palm due to the fact that there are absolutely TONS of applications.

How would you rate the web browsing speed and usability? I'm a Web Manager and need to be able to log into my remote admin interfaces from the road if I need to work on a server or update content. I can almost limp along on my 6600 but it's so slow... especially for large pages.

I've heard that the 9300/9500 is still slow because it has a slow processor. The wide screen would be nice, but if I can have a faster browsing experience, I'll deal with the smaller screen.

Posted by: CARZ4EVER

Quote:

Originally Posted by iso100

I've had my treo 650 for a month today and no crashes yet!
I think this phone rocks.

TA

Posted by: cng.

How stable your device is really depends on how you use your PDA. If you have lots of third party software, lots of beta software, and low memory in Ram then you better expect your PDA to crash. Generally, moving files would not be too much problem but if you were moving program dependant files then any OS would say: "Wait, this doesnt seem to work out, dont take/ delete that file" and then crashes. It is really simple logic. There are users, like me, who doesnt experience a crash in a month that I dont know why. I always know why my device crashes and I just learn not to do what my device doesnt like. Right now I feel that my Clie UX50 is very stable, even of its aging hardware. Very rarely would your device crash because of hardware and the Palm OS CAN be one of the most stable OS out there.

Posted by: iso100

Thank you for your input. I'm now REALLY leaning towards the 650...

Anyone else?

Posted by: WoNGsTeR

i never used the other phones... but for my treo 650... its very good for me.. i use it to watchs avi episodes of naruto and bleach at work or any other jap anime series at work during break which is good... receptions very good.. bluetooth is not bad as long as you get the right head set...

Posted by: snugglebunny

I have used the S-E R380 World, the T600 and T650 - those being the only 'smartphones' in the vast range of devices I've used over the past 20 years.

The R380 was THE most stable phone I've ever owned. It was Symbian (the first). The T600 was garbage and the T650 has similar stability issues - I guess it is related to the ability to put 3rd party applications on the device.

Before I got the T600 I had always used Windows-CE based PDAs - they have always been perfectly stable. Check out the Ipaq phone. Maybe look at the S-E 910

Posted by: CarlGalgano

I found one of the huge disadvantages of my Symbian phone was the lack of apps (either pay or free). I searched high and low of a 5250 telnet emulator. I could not even replace some of the more basic apps I depend on on my palm. I tried to use work arounds, but in the end, I did not have what I needed, and ended back up with the Treo650.

The screen on the 650 is certainly not as big or nice as the 9300/9500, and having never used the 9300/9500, I can not really comment on one. Web browsing speed is determine by two factors, the speed of the data connection (ie EDGE v. GPRS..... WifI on the 9500 would be nice) and the speed of the processor to render graphics. I have an old HP Jornada Palmtop I use once in a while for very light duty stuff at home. It has a Wifi card in it, and if I use it to browse the web, the experience is VERY slow, because the processer is slow.

I use my Treo all the time to VPN into my network and manage servers (mostly IBM iSeries). I'll get an SMS alert sent to my Treo that somehting is not quite right, log on from anywhere and fix the issue. The Treo sure makes for happy customers.

Posted by: Paul-the-Phone

Quote:

Originally Posted by cng.

How stable your device is really depends on how you use your PDA. If you have lots of third party software, lots of beta software, and low memory in Ram then you better expect your PDA to crash. Generally, moving files would not be too much problem but if you were moving program dependant files then any OS would say: "Wait, this doesnt seem to work out, dont take/ delete that file" and then crashes. It is really simple logic. There are users, like me, who doesnt experience a crash in a month that I dont know why. I always know why my device crashes and I just learn not to do what my device doesnt like. Right now I feel that my Clie UX50 is very stable, even of its aging hardware. Very rarely would your device crash because of hardware and the Palm OS CAN be one of the most stable OS out there.

I agree with this wholeheartedly. I've found almost all crashes are due to third party apps. I used a Palm IIIc from 2000 until March of this year and had no crash for at least the last two years of use since I was no longer experimenting with new software. I've had a 600 since March and I average I'd guess around a dozen crashes a week, all from trying new shareware. A crash is not a big deal on a Palm. You stick the paper clip in the hole to reset it and you're up and running again. I've only had to use a hard reset once since I've had the Treo and that occurred after I installed seven shareware programs simultaneously and got a loop reset. Hard resets, which do remove all user data, are not that big a deal either. I have several complete backups on the SD card, including an older one that I know is stable, so it only takes a couple of minutes to restore the last stable system. The Palm OS is far more stable than Windows XP. I have about two Windows crashes per month and they are always a mess. It all depends on use, and especially on the use of amateur-written not-fully-debugged software. I have over 120 third party apps on my Treo and still have over 60% free memory by using PowerRUN to keep the apps on the memory card. If you want stability, wait for the new Linux-based Treo. I've never had a crash in Linux.

Posted by: iso100

Thanks for all the replies. I'm really loving HowardForums (this was my first post)... you guys are very helpful.

I ended up just pulling the trigger and going with the GSM Unlocked Treo 650 off of a reputable seller on EBay for $488. I think that's a pretty good price.

My plan is to stick with applications from the big main PalmOS developers like Iambic, TealPoint, etc. Maybe that will keep my stability.

It sounds like the 9300/9500 really wasn't the phone for me, so I feel pretty good about the 650 purchase. The one thing in the back of my head is that I COULD have purchased the Siemens SX66 for a similar price. For some reason I feel more comfortable with a phone that uses the PalmOS rather than Windows Mobile.

As for accessories, I purchased the following from BoxWave:
ClearTouch Crystal screen protector
MiniSync retractable sync cable
FlexiSkin Clear with belt clip

I also purchased a 1Gb SD card.

Thanks,
Ian

Posted by: CarlGalgano

Ian, congrats on your purchase. You did indeed get a good price. Regarding the SX66, it is basically the Cingular version of the iMate PDA2K. I had this phone for about 6 weeks and really hated it. On the plus side, the Wifi was very nice, the screen was very big and it provided a great web browsing experience. But, I felt the device was too big, I had serious issues with the phone (cracks and pops, and others on HoFo reported the same problem), the slide out keyboard felt lose after just a few weeks, and it was very difficult to do much without pulling out the stylus and using 2 hands. Dialing while driving we very difficult. It was also my first Windows based phone, and while it did not crash a lot, I often had to reboot it to get something to start working again. I have tried a lot of smartphones, but I always come back to the Treo. YMMV.

Posted by: cng.

I am also going to purchase the Boxwave bundle but because I dont have a credit card, I sent my money to some guy in Toronto to help me. He received my money though he has to receive his new cc in the mail. My Treo 650 came with nothing, just battery and stylus. Congratulations on your purchase and hope you enjoy your Treo as much as we do!

Posted by: iso100

Carl, thank you for your post. Now I feel 100% confident in my purchase of the Treo 650... the other phone I was interested in was the Siemens and now that I read you had problems with it, the buyer's remorse is gone. Now I just can't wait to get it.

Thanks everyone!

Posted by: paypalbid

How about Motorola A1000 w/ Symbian. Sony Ericsson P910i. Motorola A780 or E680i Linux but very stable with 3rd party Java applications. There are so many great PDA phones out in world not just Treo650 and cr*ppy Mpx220 available in US market.

Posted by: bfree9102

I just pick up my 650 yestarday and I am very happy. I had the Jam ( want to sell it if anyone wants it) I did not like the fact that I had to use the stylis for everything. The feel of the jam just was not for me. The palm on the other hand is great. I love the keyboard and the stability of the phone. The apps rock. One problem I cant get the update to load any one else with this problem. ???