west3man

Besides being pretty blown away by the 800w specs, I'm also blown away (in the opposite direction) by the rumored omission of a headphone jack.

I'm all for a thinner/smaller/lighter device, but along with that usually comes decreased battery life. That'd be challenging enough (as this power user needs the "baby got back" battery with my 755p) but being forced to use Bluetooth audio is going to cripple battery life even more. A headphone jack would allow me to listen to audio on a longer period of time without destroying my battery. And who wants to keep up with a mini-usb to headphone jack adapter?

Imagine streaming audio through Kinoma and listening via Bluetooth audio, on a device with less battery power than the 755p (and probably the Centro).

Do you care if newer Treo's lack a headphone/headset jack?


[Additionally...
I don't have any Windows Mobile Treo experience to speak of, so I don't know if they, like the Palm OS Treo's, are only able to connect to one Bluetooth device at a time. If they suffer the same limitation, then that could be a problem.

Hmm. Now that I think about it, the devices I usually connect to my Treo via Bluetooth (besides my Bluetooth stereo headset) are my laptop and my GPS receiver. If the 800w has a built-in (real & true, honest-to-goodness) GPS receiver, maybe that wouldn't be such a problem.]

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Jas O

Not a problem as long as it has good BT. I haven't used my jack in a couple of years.

dave75

To me, the jack is just another thing to break. Let it go the way of the 8-track.

west3man

I feel you. I even discourage people from using their headset jacks if they don't have to because it's a vulnerable piece of hardware (that'd be a pain to replace).

But for those times when I want or need a wired solution, I want that to be available to me. The other day, for instance, I was biking and forgot my Bluetooth stereo headphones. Luckily, I keep my wired earbuds around and was able to plug them in. They were somewhat less convenient (in some ways) but when I needed them, they were an option.

Besides, the longer the trip, the less I can use Bluetooth stereo. Either the headset dies or the Treo battery (depending on which one I'm using) dies.

Then there are the times when interference keeps me from enjoying a good Bluetooth connection.


I wanna retain that option. Maybe an adapter is a small price to pay for it, but I feel like this is a step BACKWARDS. First, we had a headphone jack that was too small for regular headphones, which required my keeping an adapter around for that, and now we lose the jack altogether?

Maybe the usb option will be less vulnerable to damage, but for now, I'd rather have a headphone jack.

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pdxtreo

What, am I supposed to buy an ipod?

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GFONG

I think Palm will still provide the usb headset. Therefore it is not a big deal.

westronic

Are you forgetting that a wired solution exists (or, more accurately, will exist)? You can connect your headset via a mini-usb adapter.

To me, that will be fine and far less vulnerable to breaking that the current headset connector.

Marty1781

I don't think the lack of a headset adapter will matter to most (but not all). HTC devices that use this same connector like the Tilt, Touch, and 6800 seem to be selling just fine so it can't be that much of a dealbreaker. In addition, Sprint included a headphone/headset with my 6800 that terminates in a mini-USB connector so headsets do exist that will allow you to use them without an adaptor. And if you want to use a specific headset or headphones that doesn't have a mini-USB end, you can always use one of the small adaptors out there like this one:
http://www.seidioonline.com/index.as...ROD&ProdID=865

or this one:
http://www.mobileplanet.com/p.aspx?i=138247

Really, I think if this was a big problem, we would have seen a lot more complaining from current HTC owners a long time ago. We all have our own little preferences for what we want in a device but I think for the majority of the people out there, this isn't going to be an issue at all. I'll take mini-USB and no dedicated headset jack anyday over that horrible athena connector with a dedicated headset jack. I think the tradeoff (if any) is minor at most.

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TazUk

An adaptor is required at the moment to use standard headphones with a Treo so there's no real change apart for the type of adaptor used.

westronic

I hope so. That would be a good thing; the min-usb connector is far more reliable than a jack (2.5mm OR 3.5mm) anyway.

west3man

I'd rather not be limited to Palm headsets.

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west3man

Are Palm 800w and Apple iPod the only options?

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west3man

I mentioned the adapter in the original post. My only edit was to link to the TreoCentral article.

I hope so.

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west3man

That's an adapter to use standard headphones, but not to use ANY wired headphones/earbuds. There's a difference.

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Malatesta

Just think of it from Palm's end too: it'll save money on the part but more importantly, it'll save them having to repair broken headset jacks, which are a common occurance.

As long at the BT is solid and I believe it will be, I have no issue.

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treoconvert

I've already gone wireless. Won't go back. I love not getting tangled up in that stupid wire.

west3man

That's one of the strongest points I can think of in-favor of the change, but I have to wonder... Haven't other phone manufacturers made headphone jacks that aren't as "weak" as Palm's? If so, why can't Palm go that route instead of eliminating the port... or potentially cluttering up the sync port?

I dunno that anyone here has the answer to that. I'm just wondering.

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gadgetfreaky

I think they are just trying to bring a little apple into their products...make the thing slimmer/smaller and get rid of excess elements

west3man

You may be onto something, but I don't think Apple found the jack excessive if they left it on their iPhone.

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Jas O

Don't get me wrong just becuase I don't use it doesn't mean that I wouldn't at least like to have the option. It just wouldn't be the end of the world to me if they didn't include it on the 800