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Unlocked Cell Phones - Customer reviews - Palm Treo 680 Unlocked PDA Smartphone with MP3/Video Player, SD/MMC--U.S. Version with Warranty (Silver) |
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Manufacturer: PALM
List Price: $799.99
Our Price: $224.99
You Save: $575 (72%)
Refurbished Price:
Used Price: $469.99
Average Customer Rating:
-  
Product details
Offers (3)
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Name: Joel
Location: USA
Date: 2008-04-19
Customer Rating: -
Summary: Palm OS is much worse than older versions
Comment: I now give it just one star.
Pros: Palm OS for PDA. While Palm has compromised their PDA features ... (see revised comments below)
The Phone seems generally quite good. I have no use for the email or web browsing and I have no opinion on how well they work on this smartphone. There is no WiFi, even though Palm has it on their high end PDA.
Specifics: Battery life is ok, but not nearly as good as some stand alone phones I have used, including really cheap Motorolas which have exceptionally long battery life. Palm needs to partner with some company that has already figured out how to build a phone that doesn't suck the battery dry so quickly. Screen is nice and is visible in bright light, but a notch below the best. PDA can be a tad slow sometimes, so you just can't go wild pushing buttons. The 5 way button did not work properly at first, but it seems to be fine now after some use. Tone quality of calls at Treo 680 end lacks higher frequencies which makes understanding callers more difficult than is desirable. There is no excuse for this and Palm should again be embarrassed that it didn't get this right. Documentation is not the best and does not even describe some features that are on the phone, such as the screen keyboard (different from the dial pad on the screen)
UPDATED on 5/2/08
Now that I have used the phone a short while I have a much different and worse opinion of this device.
I knew how good the old Palm OS was. The OS now used by Palm in the 680, and possibly its newer smart phones, is a screwed up version of what they had years ago. Too bad I didn't know this before purchasing. I used to like the Palm OS. But Palm has worked hard to diminish the usefulness of their OS. For example, in Contacts, there is no longer a compact listing form, but you must view all phone numbers for each entry on separate lines in the main listing. No choice. Also, if you are not careful about entries, and put a word description with a phone number, you will just get a blank line, unless you put the description after the number. (Palm Desktop actually is better than this, but I am speaking of the PDA here) (Also, Neither Palm Desktop or the 680 are backward compatable in this regard, despite Palm claims to the contrary) But even then you will not see any user entered descriptor. For example, if you have two home numbers, one for Dad and one for Mom, you can see that description information only if you go to the edit page. On the old OS if you selected a listing, you got to see every none empty cell of information. Now you have to go to the edit screen and scroll through all the blank lines to see, for example, anything in "custom" entries. (Correction. This is if you have very much information. Also, there is a scroll function; it just isn't shown. I bumped the screen in the lower rt. corner and discovered it.) Palm had the OS right, but then messed it up badly. Finally, if you press a letter, such as "J" to see all the last name listings that start with "J", in alphabetical order, you are out of luck. It finds every bloody listing entry with a "J", whether it is first name, last and gosh knows what, that you have to scroll through. The older OS did it sensibly and returned an alphabetical listing of last names starting with "J". But it looks like Palm has fired any developer with an IQ over 2 digits, and they have made the expected "improvements." You will also find similar stupid changes in the Calendar. For example, you could in the old OS hit an entry for 9am on a particular day and it would start an appointment with 9 am as the default entry for start time. Now it doesn't. But enough. You might as well use some other OS. Palm has ruined theirs. It is one thing to design a poor OS from the start, and then work to improve it, but when you have a good one to start with, it takes real stupidity to ruin it.
In short, if you want more bugs and reduced functionality, then you may like this smartphone.
Name: Mark B. Wise
Location: Orlando, FL
Date: 2006-12-22
Customer Rating: -
Summary: 600 ---> 680, only sort of an upgrade
Comment: The form and function of the 680 are a marked improvement over the 600. Unfortunately, the battery life is beyond sucky. Palm's claim of 300 hours standby time is laughable. My battery drops 10% every three hours with the phone on, no calls, no screen use, and no 3rd party apps running in the background.
I can't recommend this smartphone for anyone until Palm resolves the battery life issue.
Name: MAURICIO AGUIAR
Location: Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Date: 2008-01-04
Customer Rating: -
Summary: If You Are Planning to Upgrade from the TREO 650...
Comment: I started with the Treo 600, moved on to the 650 and now I've had the 680 for some time (all GSM). If you are planning to upgrade to the 680 from the 650 here is what you should know in a nutshell:
- The 680 is smaller than the 650 so it is somewhat lighter and easier to carry. This is the only "pro" I have for this phone.
- The 680 battery sucks - it has to be recharged almost daily if you use the phone.
- You will need to remove the battery if you want to remove the SIM card. That's a "downgrade" in relation to the 650 where you had the SIM card in an outside slot. This will be inconvenient only if you need to remove the SIM card (that is, if you have more than one phone and/or GSM service provider)
- The software is slower to respond, but it may be only my phone
- It crashes as often as the 650
- The camera is as bad as the 650's
Although the 680 is certainly usable I do not recommend the upgrade from the 650 to the 680. I did it only because my 650 died. Hope this review helps potential buyers of this phone.
Name: E. Varisco
Location: Baltimore, MD
Date: 2007-06-27
Customer Rating: -
Summary: Better than the WinCE O/S? -- NOT
Comment: I do like the convenience of a combo PDA-phone. My Dell Axim became a doorstop pretty quickly as I see no real practical use for a simple PDA. I selected the Treo because I wanted to get away from the buggy, erratic Microsoft O/S.
The problem is that the Palm O/S has its own problems. It frequently locks and I'll need to re-set the thing by removing battery--usually about once a day. I've missed several important phone calls because of this.
Speaking to co-workers about this problem they tell me that this O/S doesn't like 3rd party application on it - so beware.
Name: Jonathan
Location: bristol, ri United States
Date: 2006-12-15
Customer Rating: -
Summary: good smartphone with some problems
Comment: I wanted to carry only one pocket device and chose this unit because it is 1: palm based (i've had a clie for 5 years) and 2: Because it's an unlocked phone meaning I'm not married to phone service. So far so good. There are few glitches with this phone though. The first and most frustrating problem is it has no Bluetooth activated voice dialing. What gives? Every BT phone out there has voice dialing and this "state of the art?" devise does not? Another problem is that there is a propriatory sync and charge connection instead of using a standard USB mini. Because of the third problem (lousy battery life) it means you're stuck buying a cradle for home a cradle for work and a car charger in order to get a full days use.
Pros:
Palm. Easy, reliable, highly useful pda.
Phone. Seems to have better than average voice and reception.
Cons
Bluetooth. You can not voice dial with BT. (Hoping someone will come out with software soon)
Propietary Charge/Sync. You have to spend about an extra $120 to get a full days use, instead of just plugging it into a computer.
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