Some Questions re: Treo 680

S

stoney

举人
I'm returning to China in a few months and want Pleco, plus I could use a new cell phone. I found a Treo 680 for $319 Canadian and am thinking of getting it, but still have a few questions.

1. Is the bigger screen size of a Tungsten TX (320 * 480) a significant advantage when using Pleco ?( I might get this instead and stick with my old cheap cell phone)
2. Does the Treo do a good job of sending text messages? With my old cell phone I enter a couple letters and the most likely word pops up, so I don't have to enter the whole thing, which speeds up the process. Does the Treo also do this?
4.Can the treo send/receive Chinese Character text messages. Would I have to install CJKOS for this, or would that make a difference? Would a Treo bought in China do this, but not one in Canada??
3. Would you recommend a separate PDA and phone, or does the Treo do both well enough?

Thanks for reading this and hope you can help.
 
I

ipsi

状元
1) The bigger screen size is nice for watching videos, and would probably be nice for the document reader. I personally have no problem with the Treo's screen size, except for the above two points. And they're both still usable, but a bigger screen would be nice.

2) It's not bad, but it doesn't have that sort of text input. I don't think I'd appreciate it much anyway - the QWERTY keyboard is fast enough for me, and is much better at entering abitrary strings...

4) Yes, it can. You will need to install CJKOS, otherwise you will see '???????[...]' where characters should be, and it's not possible to read that text message at all, ever. That only applies if you receive it without CJKOS being turned on though.

It makes no difference buying the phone in Canada or in China. The only difference may be the warrenty, and one bought in China will have CJKOS loaded into the ROM.

Some carriers won't handle Chinese SMS though, which is the case for some (or is it all?) US carriers. Not sure about Canadian though. Obviously Chinese ones do.

3) It doesn't make much of a difference. I find that I vastly prefer having one device to cart around, but others feel differently.

Also, if you do buy a Treo, consider ordering stuff like an Extended battery and such before flying to China, as the battery life isn't great. I have the Sedio 2400 Mah, and it's really good. Does add some bulk though.
 
G

gato

状元
Also, if you do buy a Treo, consider ordering stuff like an Extended battery and such before flying to China, as the battery life isn't great. I have the Sedio 2400 Mah, and it's really good. Does add some bulk though.
Click to expand...
It's nice having the phone and the pda in one device. That point's obvious, and I don't need to explain it.

The downside of the Treo 680 is that
(1) Though the reception is better than the Treo 650, it's still not as good as most cell phones, so beware if you are going to be somewhere where the signal is not strong; otherwise, it's not too big of a problem.

(2) The battery life is not great. You have to charge pretty much every day. I don't think you'll want the extended battery, unless you like having a big bulge in your pocket (but if you are female, then....)

(3) Most PDA's operating systems, the Treo's included, are not as stable as plain cell phone's and sometimes crash in the middle of phone call. But the Treo 680 is better than the Treo 650 in this regard, as well.
 
M

mulechicken

秀才
Definitely go with the Treo over the tungsten, and DEFINITELY get in China, not Canada. It'll be slightly more expensive in China, and you'll only be able to find Treos in the big cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong is the easiest) There are a couple of very good reasons for this.

1. It's so nice to have your palm pilot and cell phone in one device. All your contacts are backed up on your comp, as well as any tasks etc. Unless your really vigilant about keeping your cell phone contacts backed up in another place, if you lose that thing, those number are gone gone. Trying to keep your palm contacts synced with your other phone is also a hassle.

2. The treo is the BEST for text messaging. Have the qwerty keyboard makes input very fast, and it keeps your messages in "conversations" just like gmail. The treo does not do predictive text like other cell phones, but after you get used to the qwerty keys (especially if you can already touch type) it's just as fast as having predictive text.

3. Get it IN CHINA and get the Chinese version, this is important. Why? it comes with CJKOS pre installed (you can switch it back to English) and it comes with a writing input system called PenP where you write on the screen to input Chinese. This will make your writing badass, and is super convenient. PenP is a pain in the ass to buy otherwise, you can't find it sold anywhere, you have to fax the company. Hacks of PenP don't work on the 680. The CJKOS pinyin input is a bit crap, but there's a great downloadable pinyin input called 掌易Zhangyi that works great.

I believe you can download it here http://www.treo.net.cn/down/data/soft/80.html (if this doesn't work just google 掌易下载)

4. Having a smart phone kicks ass! Download emails on the go, surf the web, write, notes, docs, emails, edit spread sheets etc. Input without the qwerty keyboard is just not practical for anything too long. When I was on vacation I had a mega load of proofreading to do. Whenever I was by myself, grabbing lunch, waiting for a flight, anything, I could just pull out my palm and continue my proofreading and editing. Yea you can do the same on a laptop, but try pulling your laptop out standing in the subway.

A friend of mine has been on the fence about getting a Palm OS smart phone but loves my Pleco Dic. Last night he asked me to show him how long it takes from pulling my cellphone out of my pocket to looking up a character. One button to turn it on, one more button to unlock it, two button shortcut to Pleco Dic and BAM, I'm looking up a word.

Also don't get the 750 or any windows mobile phone, it looks slick, but I have a few friends that have it and are very unsatisfied.
 
L

lmcjipo

榜眼
Make sure that when you buy the Treo 680, it is unlocked. You don't want to go to China with a locked Treo 680. Of course you can find someone to unlock it over. However, I agree with the previous posters that it is probably best to get your Treo 680 directly in China to benefit from the added Chinese software.

In regards to what gato mentioned, my opinion differs from his. I have both a Treo 650 and a Treo 680 and I find that the reception (signal strength) is better on my Treo 650 than on my Treo 680. In an underground garage, I would have 1 or 2 bars and be able to make a call with my Treo 650. In the exact same location with my Treo 680, the bars sometimes goes down to zero and making a call is impossible.

What we do agree on is that battery life is also better on the Treo 650 over the Treo 680 (even with the camera patch that Palm released).

I've heard/read that health/safety-wise, the Treo 680 is safer than a Treo 650.
 
A

AJ

秀才
Stoney:

I just bought my Treo 680 a couple of weeks ago in Shanghai and I really like it. I can't say that I have mastered all of it's uses yet and still have some things not fully set up that I had set up on my PDA previously, but all in all it is a good experience. I resisted combining my phone and my PDA for several years, and now I'm not sure why.

I purchased mine in Xujiahui for 2600 RMB btw. I think it was probably a HK model but is a new one, has the powered by Access logo on the back. I would advise looking closely if you purchase in China though. Before purchasing mine I saw a couple of Treos that looked very much like they were second-hand and dressed up to look like new, I could be mistaken, but think not.

I agree with the others that I particularly like the threaded SMS messages, that was something I wasn't even really looking for, but now find to be a great plus.
 
M

mulechicken

秀才
A friend of mine was shopping in Hong Kong last weekend and found treo 680 for between 3000-4000 HKD, not sure how much he shopped around. 4,000 HKD sounds a little steep. Still though, he bought it for Pleco dic, and is more than pleased.

I agree with Imcjipo and some of the other posters, the 680 has some minor reception issues. In my house it sucks, but all people that come to my house have some reception issues, but not as much as I do with my 680. Sometimes if I'm not in the right room it's almost impossible to have a conversation.

I've also found using a bluetooth headset on the Treo 680 to not be very effective. Then again, this might have something to do with my house and using cheap blue tooth headsets.

As for the battery, I find mine to be more than sufficient for a days use, but two days is pushing it and three days is really, really pushing it. However, if you turn the phone functionality off, switch off blue tooth and don't keep the screen too bright, you can use it as just a palm device for several days.

If you can find an extended battery, you might want to pick it up, but I wouldn't call it essential.
 
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