Treo mobile ‘phone replacement

After my Palm III handheld, that I’d had for many years, died I replaced it (and my mobile at the time) with a PalmOne Treo 600.

Initially I used my Palm III for calendar, contacts, memopad, passwords (through a free little application called ‘strip‘) primarily, but also used Avantgo for reading some web news, and occasionally Mappy. All the data I entered was done so into the Palm III (rather than through ‘Palm Desktop’) as I had it with me when I needed to add the information.

Moving to the Treo I gave up using Avantgo due to a combination of me not syncing the device as often as I should (data not being added through the PC, so no need to sync to see it on the Treo) and Linux being my primary OS (no Avantgo app, or any other app that provides new data to my Treo).

Combining my handheld and mobile proved to be of mixed benefit – it meant I carried around a single device instead of two, which was good; however it meant that the ‘phone was quite chunky, and it also proved annoying if I needed to look something up when I was on the ‘phone (eg a password, ‘phone number, or check my calendar for availability).

The web browser on the Treo was pretty basic but functional if required; the email program’s lack of IMAP support (POP3 only) meant I didn’t use that.

The biggest niggle I have/had with the Treo (and it is big under the circumstances) is that there is a race-condition that means you may have to hard-reset the device and lose data. The pre-requisite is that I lock the Treo with a password. When I missed a call and someone left a message, a screen comes up on top saying “XX called a left a voicemail” with  a “listen” and a “cancel” button. Sometimes ifI press the “listen” button the Treo reboots and forgets I’ve pressed the button. Thus, the Treo boots to the lock screen, and then the “you have voicemail” application runs after and pops up. The problem is that the screen doesn’t redraw properly so you end up with a blank screen where I can type my password, but no button to click “OK” to let me in. I can’t backup the device when it’s locked and the only way to get back in is to do a hard reset! Bye bye any data since I last sync’d!

Two years ago I was looking for an up-to-date replacement and ended up getting the Nokia E70 as it was able to do VoIP. Running a Series60 OS (Psion’s handheld OS, before Nokia bought the remnants company) I thought it should be quite good. Unfortunately the VoIP application was severely limited (no use to me) and the pain of exporting/importing/fixing data from Palm to Series60 meant that I never used the E70, and the Treo lived to fight another day (or couple of years, as it turned out).

Fast-forwarding to today, I was looking for what I had hoped of the E70 and a bit more – email, web access (finding out if the London transport system is working, etc), a map application (preferably with GPS) to avoid getting lost, secure terminal (ssh), and a camera would be nice (for emergencies) .. and a suitable mobile talk-plan. I’ve become wary of getting a ‘phone off-contract (Orange were happy to  pay towards the new handset if I signed a new contract, but would not support or insure it which they would do otherwise) – I’m not that desperate to get a particular ‘phone!

I shortlisted to two smartphones – the Apple iPhone 3G on O2 (hardly a surprise) and the Nokia E71 on Orange (my current mobile operator). It would have been great to actually try these ‘phones out to check real-world functionality and useability, but that is reserved for the realm of the reviewer; in liu of this you have to make do with reviews (that tend to cover the basics) or ask friends.

For the iPhone 3G I asked friends who had them and they all raved about it. For the Nokia E71 the most in-depth review I could find was from allaboutsymbian which proved to be very good but left me wanting to try the ‘phone for myself.

In the end, and despite an excellent offer from Orange (who I’ve been with for 12 years or so), I tentatively purchased an iPhone 3G and talk-plan, hoping that the iphone would live up to the hype and the O2 service would be as good or better than Orange.

Let’s hope I made the right decision!

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