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Palm Treo 600 PDA Phone (Unlocked)

Wireless/Mobile Phone Accesory/Cellular Phone Accessories

Built for professionals on the go, the PalmOne Treo 600 rolls all the functionality of a high-end PDA and a cell phone into one tight package. Complete with a backlit QWERTY keyboard and a digital camera, it's the ultimate mobile office companion.

Calling and PDA Features
As a phone, the GSM 850 MHz, GSM 1800 MHz, GSM 900 MHz or GSM 1900 MHz Treo provides a built-in one-touch speakerphone feature, a mute button and caller ID, plus a few other snazzy features. For example, you can slide the ringer switch on the top of the phone, and it instantly puts the phone in silent mode, so there's no more wading through screen menus in the dark before the movie starts. And, by typing in initials or a name into the keyboard, you can dial anyone in your contacts list instantly. The keys have a special ergonomic dome shape, designed to be extra thumb-friendly. Plus there are tons of single and double key shortcuts you can use to launch Palm applications, up to 25 at once. But, if you're set in your ways with your PDA, you can always forego the keyboard and simply use the screen dial pad and stylus. Other calling features include vibrate mode, 16-channel MIDI polyphonic ring tones, and external volume buttons and ringer/silent switches.

For your PDA needs, the Treo sports 32 MB of RAM (24 MB user-available), plus a calendar and Palm OS organizer (version 5.2.1H), with the standard features such as Contact List, Memo Pad, To Do List, and more. You also get 24 MB of available memory to hold additional Palm OS software applications of the thousands that are available, such as MP3 players. When you sync up, the Treo 600 provides one-touch transfer of your Contacts to your PC's Outlook.

Messaging, Internet and Tools
"Blazer", the 600's color browser, gives you fast access to the Web, including sites not optimized for the mobile Internet, so you can lets you track your stocks, read headlines, and get directions, plus entertain yourself with downloadable ring tones and pictures. You can also download Palm OS software applications directly to your phone, and enjoy access to wireless email (carrier email and wireless web service charges apply). Plus, you can send and receive SMS text messages to other phones or to any email address, and keep track of the conversation with threaded messaging.

You can even attach photos to your text messages. The Treo 600's built-in 640 x 480, 0.3 megapixel digital camera makes it easy to take and send the photos back to your PC, use them in text messages, or as picture caller ID by attaching the pictures to corresponding people in the contacts list.

Everything in the Treo 600 is integrated, so it's easy to perform multiple tasks like checking your calendar while talking on the phone or dialing calls directly from your contacts list. The handy design also provides a cell phone-like, 5-way navigation button, and the easy-access Favorites screen for the built-in Web browser. Other features of the Treo 600 include Contact List with Instant Lookup, a calendar, MMS/Picture Mail, Memo Pad, an Advanced Calculator, CityTime world clock, Palm Desktop 4.1 software for Windows and Macintosh, HotSync Manager, link to Microsoft Outlook (Windows only), IR capability, SD/MMC SD I/O-ready expansion, MP3-capability (with 3rd party software, SD memory card and headset adaptor).

Vital Statistics
This phone is rated with full charge at up to 6 hours talk time, and up to 240 hours (10 days) standby time. With an external battery pack (not included), you can add up to 3 hours of additional talk time and 180 hours of standby. It measures 4.4 x 2.4 x 0.9 inches and weighs 5.9 ounces. It operates on the GSM 850 MHz, GSM 1800 MHz, GSM 900 MHz or GSM 1900 MHz frequencies.

What's in the Box
Treo 600 handset, USB HotSync cable, ear bud headset, travel charger, pouch, user manual, synchronization software CD-ROM.

Features of Palm Treo 600 PDA Phone (Unlocked):

because treo 600 runs the popular palm os, there are thousands of applications you can download and use
qwerty keyboard makes entering text and accessing information fast and familiar-perfect for messaging and a must have for email
take a picture or share images with others via email-you can even attach a photo to a phone number so you can see exactly who's calling with picture caller id
treo 600 combines a full-featured mobile phone and palm os organizer with wireless applications like email, text messaging, web browsing and even a digital camera
unlocked for use with your existing gsm 850 mhz, gsm 1800 mhz, gsm 900 mhz or gsm 1900 mhz service provider and sim card. note: this phone does not come with service or a sim card.

Reviews:

A good smartphone plagued with a few serious problems

Rating: 3

I recently bought an unlocked version of this phone off eBay to replace a Moto Razr phone and an older Palm PDA. It was a pain lugging both of them around and I wanted a device that had both a PDA and phone in one plus e-mail and web browsing capabilities like a Blackberry. A tall order but this phone nearly pulls it off.

Palm users will have no trouble using the familiar PalmOS apps that we've all come to know and love such as Calendar, To-Do List, and Memo Pad. The 4-way navigation button makes it faster and easier to navigate than using the touchscreen although I do find myself whipping out the stylus every now and then. There is no graffiti input on this PDA instead you must use either the qwerty keyboard or touchscreen which have their own inherent difficulties. The tiny keyboard buttons are hard to press and often results in typos. Its slower than using the touchscreen keyboard and definately not ideal for writing long e-mails and such. The touchscreen on this phone is not as forgiving as the one on my old Handspring Visor. You have to be extremely gentle when weilding the stylus because even a small amount of pressure can cause yellow spots to form on the LCD screen. I use the touchscreen occassionally with great care and with a protective cover on the screen and yet I still got a faint yellow spot on the LCD within days. For me this is the most dissappointing thing about this phone.

As a phone the Treo 600's performance is mediocre to average at best. It gets horrible reception indoors. People often complain about static when I'm inside buildings. Poor reception is also accompanied by a loud, annoying buzzing noise that both people on the line can hear. I looked it up on the web and discovered through user reviews that this was an all-too-common problem amongst many Treo 600 users. When it does get good reception, however, the call quality is superb even better than my Moto Razr. The speakerphone is nice and loud although it can be hissy sometimes.

But my favorite feature by far is the ability to send and receive e-mail. Using the Snappermail app (the built-in mail app isn't very good), I can seamlessly link up to my Gmail account and use push e-mail just like on a Blackberry. Plus, its a lot cheaper to use T-zones for e-mail and Internet access on a Treo than the Internet/E-mail plans offered by T-mobile for Blackberrys.

All in all, this is a phone I can live with for the time being although I am ever so-concerned about the LCD screen going bad with use. The fragile screen, hard to use keypad, and subpar phone are the only real drawbacks of this phone but they are serious enough that anyone thinking of getting this phone should give it a good, hard second look. I've heard the Treo 650 has fixed some of these problems and if that's true I would definately consider it over the 600. I do plan to upgrade to another smartphone in a few months when my contract expires such as T-Mobile MDA or Treo 650.

Palm is not interested in supporting - provided misleading info

Rating: 2

Hi,

Before buying this phone from Amazon, I called Palm and they told me that there would be a 1 year warranty on this item as long it is new. I subsequently bought this unlocked version of the phone and I am using it on the T-Mobile network.

I now have a problem on the display within 2 months of purchase. I call Palm and after multiple run arounds with tech support, they asked me to read out my serial number. It starts with a HAGA which, they indicate, means that it has to be on the AT&T Wireless Network. According to them, I am in violation of the warranty since I am using it on the T-Mobile network. How am I know what the serial number on the back of the phone means prior to my purchase? If I am purchasing a GSM unlocked phone, obviously I need the flexibility to move to a different network.

Palm is taking the easy way out - they want you to buy an unlocked phone from their site and not from Amazon. Amazon, itself, does not provide any warranty.

If any of you have had better luck with Palm or have any suggestions - please let me know.

Thanks

Not bad

Rating: 4

Picture quality sucks for the price. Colors are way freaky. The screen is perfect for text but not for pictures. Viewing pictures on this is terrible. Keyboard is ackward at first. The manual needs to be much more detailed. Sorta confusing to use if not familliar with palm pilots. I expected to use it like a typical pilot, where you write on the screen. This feature is not implemented. Overall, this is a very good phone. Good reception, great sound quality!! Speakerphone is great! Neat features. Worth the $$.

By Palm