What's with Windows Mobile?: Ask the Editors
Q: I need to replace my Palm Treo 650. Here's what I need. I need the organizing/calendar as well as contacts features. It needs to be a quad-band phone; have a screen similar in size to the Palm 650; a camera so it can record video clips and photos. It also needs to send text messages with photos attached and a QWERTY keyboard.
I'd buy another Treo, but I hear that Windows Mobile 6 works really slowly and is unreliable (at least on the Palms). I've also heard that Treo keyboards tend to die (like mine has). I've definitely ruled out the BlackBerry Pearls. Have I heard wrong about the Treos and/or Windows Mobile? What else is out there that fits my demanding feature list? Thanks greatly! -- thracker11 via e-mail
(Credit:
Microsoft)
A: I'll be honest (and I don't think I'm in the minority here), the Windows Mobile operating system has its fair share of problems. It's not the most intuitive OS in the world, and it has a checkered past of stability issues and slow performance. So thracker11, you have reason for concern. That said, I feel like Microsoft has made strides in improving the OS.
Windows Mobile 6 and Windows Mobile 6.1 brought a number of enhancements, such as a Getting Started menu for quicker device configuration, a more robust Microsoft Office Mobile Suite, and new app shortcuts, that improved overall usability. In my opinion, performance has been more stable, but there's still some of that sluggishness that plagues the WinMo devices. The delays aren't so crippling that it prevents you from working, but it can be frustrating. Still, no operating system is perfect, and Windows Mobile offers plenty of good points as well, particularly for the business user, so don't discount it.
As for a Treo 650 replacement, I've listed some of my recommendations below based on your requirements. And a quick note on the Treo's keyboard. I haven't really heard that the Treos' QWERTY keyboards die quickly; I'm not sure how long you've had your Treo 650 but the model is at least three years old so it just may be a normal wear and tear. I'd also like to invite my readers to share any of their recommendations or Windows Mobile success/horror stories. After all, you're the ones using these devices day in and day out.
My picks:
AT&T Tilt
Palm Treo 680
T-Mobile Wing
Nokia E71
Samsung BlackJack II
Bonnie Cha is a senior editor for CNET, covering smartphones and GPS. When she's not testing the latest gadgets, you can find her chasing after her crazy lab or surfing in the chilly waters of Northern California. E-mail Bonnie. 
I do not recommend this system.
It frequenlty hangs and refuses to awaken. Often, I need to reboot -- sometimes several time -- to get it to wake up.
The feature set on this system is good, but Windows Mobile, is, ultimately, Windows. It has all the advantages of desktop windows -- bulk, slowness, balkiness, and crashes, combined with unique problems of juggling multiple communications efforts, managing the touch screen, keeping track of memory, and remembering where things are.
I'm eagerly awaiting Android, and hoping there will be a port for this phone. I like the hardware, especially the really big screen, but the OS is just a pain in the butt.
Ben
I used to be on Verizon and had the Treo 650... I loved it. The Treo 650 was easy to use and had an intuitive interface. I was dissatisfied with Verizon's service, so i decided to switch to T-Mobile because of their great my Faves plan... Anyways... The T-Mobile representative kept trying to sell me on a BlackBerry Device and I stubbornly wanted to try a Win Mobile device... so I went with the Dash (t-mos version of the blackjack)... I absolutely hated that phone from day 1. I tried to adapt to its interface and afer a year of crashes and cracked screens etc... I finally threw up my hands.
Maybe if i had upgraded from a regular 'non-smart phone' device... to the Dash... maybe then i wouldve been impressed (but even then, only mildly) The move for me from my Palm Treo to Win Mobile seemed like a serious DOWNGRADE in my opinion...
So as I said... I was frustrated with the Dash and figuring the Wing would be a better device... (plus it has the touchscreen that I missed so much) I picked up a wing.... Let me tell you... WHAT A PIECE OF JUNK!!! I am shocked to see that this made it to the editor's list of reccommended WIN MOBILE devices????
Since then, I have picked up a BlackBerry Curve and can tell you honestly that I LOVE IT.. this thing has finally made me forget about my Treo. Out of the box, it lacks video record capabilities .. but a simple (very simple) firmware update (you can find it to download if you google for it) fixes this.
If your heart is just set on the WIN Mobile OS, then I say definitley test drive them at your mobile provider's store... I cannot speak for the other devices on this list, but I feel the Win Mobile OS has potential, but it is just not ready for prime time yet. Go blackberry... I couldnt be much happier with mine.
Go with the wing and start making it YOUR phone not the phone that TMO sends you.
I would like to inform you of what I do know. I have owned a treo 650 and a treo 700p. While I liked the Palm OS (most intuitive OS I have used) I found that as I customized it and used 3rd party apps it became unstable. Also, palm has serious issues with bluetooth and its phone radio. It just wouln't connect or when it did after a call it would stop conecting. The radio was just weak. I can pick up calls with my current phone that I coule never pick up with either of the palms. I now have a XV6700 and while I am not in love with WM6 (installed it myself) it is better than WM5 and much more stable than palm OS. Also, construction and materials are far improved. Every time I dropped my palm there would be these big dents in it and the plastic would be scraped up. I drop my 6700 from time to time and there literally isn't a scratch on it. I can't believe how sturdy it is.
The more I researched the Palms, the more problems I found other users having. Just take a trip to one of the treo user forums and you can see the issues people are having, and as far as support, forget it. I would call the palm support or go online and they would refuse to even acknowledge there was even a problem. They market the phone as having a huge 3rd party library but give no support what so ever when something goes wrong.
I have been away a while so I go back from time to time to the forums to see if things have gotten better and you know what, several new products later, people still have major issues with their phones.
My advice, honest, and I really am not trying to be bitter, steer clear of the palms, BB and everyone else will give you better support and better quiality.
I would like to inform you of what I do know. I have owned a treo 650 and a treo 700p. While I liked the Palm OS (most intuitive OS I have used) I found that as I customized it and used 3rd party apps it became unstable. Also, palm has serious issues with bluetooth and its phone radio. It just wouln't connect or when it did after a call it would stop conecting. The radio was just weak. I can pick up calls with my current phone that I coule never pick up with either of the palms. I now have a XV6700 and while I am not in love with WM6 (installed it myself) it is better than WM5 and much more stable than palm OS. Also, construction and materials are far improved. Every time I dropped my palm there would be these big dents in it and the plastic would be scraped up. I drop my 6700 from time to time and there literally isn't a scratch on it. I can't believe how sturdy it is.
The more I researched the Palms, the more problems I found other users having. Just take a trip to one of the treo user forums and you can see the issues people are having, and as far as support, forget it. I would call the palm support or go online and they would refuse to even acknowledge there was even a problem. They market the phone as having a huge 3rd party library but give no support what so ever when something goes wrong.
I have been away a while so I go back from time to time to the forums to see if things have gotten better and you know what, several new products later, people still have major issues with their phones.
My advice, honest, and I really am not trying to be bitter, steer clear of the palms, BB and everyone else will give you better support and better quiality.
Treo 650 (Palm OS)
Samsung i700 (Windows Mobile)
Treo 700wx (Windows Mobile)
Samsung i730 (Windows Mobile)
Treo 700p (Palm OS)
BlackBerry 8830
Samsung i760 (shipped with WM 6, I upgraded to 6.1)
Out of all of those PDA's, I found that the Samsung i760 met my needs the best. I'm willing to put up with occasional crashes for the totally decent web browser in WM 6.1, the ability to browse the memory of my phone, save and edit word/excel files on the phone (used mostly for gas mileage and gin rummy scores) and store a large amount of email/contacts/calendar without any big issues (Palm OS' VersaMail had awful problems with large email databases). I also like the contact management on WM6.1 and the texts being organized into conversations is nice, finally!
If I was more of an email junky I'd get a Blackberry - you can setup some really badda$$ filters on it, but you can't save and edit .xls attachments.
If I was more of a multi-media junky I'd get an iPhone even though the network is crappy on the San Francisco Peninsula where I live.
I do carry a 16GB iPod Touch because it does an awesome job of storing my podcasts, music and photos, but I'm still stuck on my Samsung i760 for my PDA, I just haven't found anything better for what I need it for.
No major issues. Had a Treo 650 in the past and once I got past the youch screen loss it was great. Both do everything you ask.
The BJII has a few more features but reception on the Motot Q Global is better.
I use the Q more for business while she is a picture/video/email/text kinda person.
Suggest - go to a AT&T store and play with the models.
Either way, Win6 or 6.1 is okay - has quirks, but then I have yet to see an OS that does not.
The only other phones that I can think of that would work for you are the Palm Centro and HTC Tilt. The Palm would be an excellent choice because the operating system is the same and the transition would be seemless. They have worked the bugs out of the operating system so there are no more annoying freezes, and the keyboard, while small is not as difficult to use as it seems. The screen on this device may be an issue though. Lastly would be the HTC Tilt, which is a Windows Mobile device. I have not had a chance to use this one yet, but have heard great reviews on it.
I'm not sure about the instability issues since I personally do not experience the horrors and crashes that others have indicated. Just like any other operating system, I believe that a lot of the instability and crashes may be due to third party programs that have not be debugged (ie. betas). I would stick with well established versions or stable versions of third party programs of popular recommended apps instead and contact the developer or the forums if you encounter problems. Most of the problems can easily be fixed by getting the latest update or fix.
Both 650 and 750 work fine, each offering something that the other doesn't. I do agree that if you have gotten used to the simplicity of the 650, going to 750 will take a bit of time since it's not as user friendly or simple but it does offer a lot more features that the Palm OS doesn't. Being a fan of the Palm OS, I have gone the Window Mobile route because I have found that the platform is very limited in functions and I do enjoy what Windows Mobile provides.
Again, this is my own personal opinion.
The first version of this phone was a little slow, but HTC released updates that fixed those problems and in general HTC is a very good company about fixing issues. If they don't fix something to your liking there are the XDA Developers that create custom software/updates/ROMs for the various HTC phones...They are another great way to update a phone if you are so inclined.
Since we are so close to the next round of WinMo phones, I think it would be the better part of Valor to wait... a> IF you are going to buy one of the phones out the new ones will drive down the price! b> If you get one of the new phones then it should last you as long as possible where a phone you buy today may not last as long (Feature/Power wise).
This happened for me back when I moved from a Palm V to my 1st Windows Mobile phone (we called it a O2 XDA Mini, not sure what it is called in the US). The interface seemed sluggish and didn't make sense, the handwriting recognition seemed worse, and nothing felt right. However, I didn't really have an option since there weren't any Palm based phones in the market then.
After awhile, the phone grew on me. Mainly because of the large number of 3rd party apps developed for it that made the device easier to use and today, I find it indispensible. My conclusion is this. If you need something that works out of the box and do not want to ever do any customisations, then Windows Mobile is not for you.
If you are the type that do like to tinker around with the settings, try out 3rd party apps, etc, then WinMo should fit you well. One thing though is that you really need to try out the phone. The various vendors (HTC, Samsung, etc) have fairly different implementation of the OS so they offer different experience, even with the same OS.
- by lhbalesjr August 25, 2008 4:47 AM PDT
- If you don't have small hands, I would also recommend the Motorola Q9 Global. The keyboard is great and much better than the Blackjack II. Bonnie's CNET review is the only review I could find that rates the Blackjack II higher than the Motorola Q9 Global. The only reason I can see to choose the Blackjack II would be if a person had small hands. The feels very sturdy and durable compared to the Blackjack.
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