Round Robin: TiPb on the Treo Pro

[Jennifer Chappell]

So this week it's Rene's turn to take the Treo Pro for a spin. Rene is no stranger to Palm devices as he's owned and loved quite a few of them before he transitioned to Apple's first generation iPhone.

Like Kevin at CrackBerry.com, Rene also had a little trouble realizing that you can't get the Treo Pro's screen to come to life by pressing on the Center button as you can on the BB Bold and the iPhone.

Rene's video is really fun to watch, especially in the beginning where he does a paraody of Zero Punctuation I've always enjoyed Rene's graphics over at TiPb, and this little animated section was really super sweet!

Head on over to TiPb and watch Rene's great video preview! And let him know what you think. Each day that you post on any of the official Round Robin threads, you'll be entered into the contest.

And be sure to chime in here in our Round Robin contest thread daily for your chance to win! Good luck!

This is an Official Round Robin Contest Thread!

[dudley228]

Everytime I read a review of the Treo Pro or read something about it I want it. I want it so bad. I am waiting patiently and hoping all the while that AT&T will subsidize the phone because if I paid $500 for it now the wife will kill me. She didn't like it when I bought the Treo 750, but we weren't married at that time. We weren't even engaged. But now that we are married she can't see buying a $500 when there are other bills to pay. Now if I only have to pay $300 to $400 on it I could probably swing it since I just replaced her phone and it cost me over $300.

[T-ulk]

palm shud have made treo pro instead of treo 750 or whatever. i just think they are late and worst of all they again made a mistake with pricing tp WHEN similar or better devices on the market are cheaper or almost same price!!

[berdinkerdickle]

Originally Posted by dudley228

Everytime I read a review of the Treo Pro or read something about it I want it. I want it so bad. I am waiting patiently and hoping all the while that AT&T will subsidize the phone because if I paid $500 for it now the wife will kill me. She didn't like it when I bought the Treo 750, but we weren't married at that time. We weren't even engaged. But now that we are married she can't see buying a $500 when there are other bills to pay. Now if I only have to pay $300 to $400 on it I could probably swing it since I just replaced her phone and it cost me over $300.

What is it about the Pro that makes you want it the most?

[Q]

Originally Posted by T-ulk

palm shud have made treo pro instead of treo 750 or whatever. i just think they are late and worst of all they again made a mistake with pricing tp WHEN similar or better devices on the market are cheaper or almost same price!!

Bear in mind that the 750 first came out in 2006. Yes, it's easy to say Palm should have done things differently (and in some ways they should have!). There are some jumps, though, that are just too far.

[berdinkerdickle]

Originally Posted by T-ulk

palm shud have made treo pro instead of treo 750 or whatever. i just think they are late and worst of all they again made a mistake with pricing tp WHEN similar or better devices on the market are cheaper or almost same price!!

The only prob I had with Palm and the 750 was that they didn't give us wifi.

[Q]

The pricing thing is really just a question of subsidized vs. unlocked anyway. $549 is not a surprising price for an unlocked phone--it's just that not that many people (in general) are familiar with unlocked phones. At this point, rumors have the Pro on Sprint come January, and at some point--still TBA--on AT&T. That, for whatever reason, seems to be a US thing, though--Vodaphone's been carrying the Pro since launch.

[sabre23t]

Originally Posted by berdinkerdickle

The only prob I had with Palm and the 750 was that they didn't give us wifi.

I now find WiFi overrated. I first moved off PalmOS to WindowsMobile because of WiFi; that was from Treo 600 to O2 XdaIIs (made by HTC too). However limitations of hotspots and inability to use on the move (trains, cars); limits usage of WiFi for me. I find myself using GPRS, EDGE, UMTS and now HSDPA much more often than WiFi.

[Geo-Treo]

The Treo Pro's small, square screen is a major handicap. Strike 1: it has the smallest screen of the 5 phones. Strike 2: it is the only square aspect ratio; most things look better in a rectangle. Strike 3: Windows is cluttered. On top of that is Palm's poor reliability history. At $449 (the on-line price right now) the Pro seems over-priced.

[Linx]

Palm is just like a woman who found out she's pregnant ... LATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This phone should have been out 2 years ago ... without the bugs.

[berdinkerdickle]

Can you imagine a phone with a static kb (full qwerty) with a 320x240 screen?
The thing would have to close to 7" tall.

[Q]

Originally Posted by Geo-Treo

The Treo Pro's small, square screen is a major handicap. Strike 1: it has the smallest screen of the 5 phones.

I'd say that's more of a tradeoff. No one has yet fit a big screen and a physical keyboard into a device you can use one-handed. Some of us prefer a one-handed device. How many people do you see walking down the street while reading from a slider, especially with the slide open?

Strike 2: it is the only square aspect ratio; most things look better in a rectangle.

Depends... I prefer the higher resolution of 320x320 to a rectangle of 320x240--portrait or landscape--which is still common. Do you have comparative screenshots or other side-by-side stats?

Strike 3: Windows is cluttered.

No argument there. However, you can customize that and other aspects with 3rd-party software much, much more than any of the others at this point. That may change, especially for Android.

On top of that is Palm's poor reliability history.

Which Jon Rubenstein is working to change, though it's obviously still a work in progress.

At $449 (the on-line price right now) the Pro seems over-priced.

$449--or even the regular price of $549--is perfectly normal for an unlocked smartphone. Comparing it to the price of a locked (and subsidized) model is what makes it seem high. While I'd be surprised right now to see it before January, there are the rumors of both Sprint and AT&T offering the Pro in the near future.

Is the Pro a perfect device? Far from it. However, it's still my top choice of any of the 5 devices in this Round Robin--and that's despite Windows Mobile (speaking as a hard-core Palm OS user).

[Geo-Treo]

Originally Posted by Q

I'd say that's more of a tradeoff. No one has yet fit a big screen and a physical keyboard into a device you can use one-handed. Some of us prefer a one-handed device. How many people do you see walking down the street while reading from a slider, especially with the slide open?

First, people have no business trying to walk or drive while fiddling with their phone. Second, any of the 5 phones can be used one-handed for simple tasks such as dialing or reading email. The main advantage of the Treo Pro's design is quick accessibility to all functions but the sacrifices are significant.

Originally Posted by Q

Depends... I prefer the higher resolution of 320x320 to a rectangle of 320x240--portrait or landscape--which is still common. Do you have comparative screenshots or other side-by-side stats?

I was comparing the 5 phones in the round robin, the other 4 of which have bigger screens. 320 x 320 is small for a smartphone.

[berdinkerdickle]

I'm eating a sandwich in one hand and typing on the other. I'm not driving.
Some people like static kb's, some like apples, some like oranges.
It's a simple as that.
It'd be like me saying 'strike 1 - the iphone doesn't have a static kb'

[berdinkerdickle]

Here's a crude proto:

What do you expect with Ms Paint

[cliephoto]

Rene's video preview was funny. Highlighted some interesting differences between the Iphone and the TP.

[red-beard]

The review of the Pro has me seriously considering ditching my Tilt for one. Since dropping my Treo680, I have missed the ability to "thumb" the keyboard. I expect in the next couple of weeks I'll pickup an unlocked Pro and ebay my Tilt, while they still have a little value.

[Geo-Treo]

Originally Posted by red-beard

I expect in the next couple of weeks I'll pickup an unlocked Pro and ebay my Tilt, while they still have a little value.

When I win the Pro, maybe we can make a deal and I can use the proceeds for a new Nova Palm. One can dream!

[scottymomo]

Good idea

[Geo-Treo]

Originally Posted by berdinkerdickle

I'm eating a sandwich in one hand and typing on the other. I'm not driving.
Some people like static kb's, some like apples, some like oranges.
It's a simple as that.
It'd be like me saying 'strike 1 - the iphone doesn't have a static kb'

Well, you can retire that 750 now! To think, you were responding to my post!! An Oregon sweep of the prizes--good teamwork!!!