Palm Treo 700p Review: The Must-Have E-mail Phone

A lot of sites have already done fantastic reviews on the Treo 700p, therefore I'll do my best to not recap the work they have already done. I'm going to take a look at the Treo 700p from the perspective of a techie and a businessperson, not just from a features standpoint.

Current Treo owners of the 300, 600 and 650 should take a good hard look at the 700p. While the Treo 600 to 700p migration will be revolutionary, the migration from a Treo 650 to a Treo 700p will only be evolutionary. If you rely heavily on communication, such as being able to get phone calls and e-mail on the go, the Treo 700p is an absolute must. If you are a techie who just likes to play with technology, then the need to upgrade is quite a bit smaller.

Evolution Data Optimized (EVDO) access
Every reviewer touches on how EVDO is the best feature of the phone and I must agree. I have yet to actually see anyone mention the primary reason for current CDMA users to upgrade, which is probably the most important feature in the 700p. For those not in the know, CDMA 1xRTT phones from Sprint and Verizon can do either a data connection or a phone connection. On my Sprint Treo 650, if I'm in the middle of downloading a bunch of e-mail, which takes a long time on the slower 1xRTT system, I am unable to receive incoming calls. All incoming calls are directed immediately to voice mail. GSM phones (Cingular , T-Mobile) do not suffer from this problem, but their data access plans are spotty in my area (to say the least), in many cases are slower than 1xRTT and cost a lot more. Features vary from area to area and even a couple cities away the cellular arena is completely different, but I have found that in general CDMA providers offer better service/data for less $$. Enter the Treo 700p with its EVDO access. With EVDO, I'm able to download at much faster speeds, on average of 500-700Kbps, and most importantly I am able to receive phone calls while in a data connection. If an incoming call starts while in the middle of downloading a 2MB e-mail attachment, the data will pause, the phone call will come in and ring, and I can take the call. My download needs to be started from scratch in many cases, but at least I can stay in touch with the office. EVDO is a great start but I'm excited for both EVDO Revision A and EVDV which is Evolution Data and Voice, allowing me to receive a phone call and download e-mail at the same time. Alas, we're a long way for both EVDO Revision A and EVDV (looks like EVDV development is gone at this point with everyone focused on EVDO only). That being said, EVDO is a great first step and anyone who needs to conduct business on a phone/data device should seriously look at the 700p. Missing even one important phone call because you're downloading e-mail can be costly and it is for this reason that I suggest all 600/650 users very seriously consider upgrading.

E-Mail
Awhile back I reviewed the Treo 700w, the twin sister to the Treo 700p. The big difference between the two phones is that the Treo 700w has Microsoft Windows Mobile 5 as the operating system and the Treo 700p has Palm OS 5 as the operating system. Frankly I'm not a huge fan of either OS, but there is one thing that the Treo 700p has the the 700w does not: ChatterEmail. As I'm sure you can imagine, I'm a very heavy e-mail user and by far the best e-mail application on any platform, Blackberry included, is ChatterEmail. With ChatterEmail, I'm able to connect to my Exchange server or IMAP Idle-based mail server and have all of my e-mail pushed to my phone. It's a lot like the Blackberry but without the monthly service fees, much faster and much easier to use (believe it or not). There are a couple of e-mail applications that come close on the 700w and one that even offers push e-mail via IMAP Idle (when it works), but nothing is as elegant or as incredible as ChatterEMail. I am able to check multiple e-mail accounts with a single summary page, I can have my e-mail pushed to my phone in real-time, check on a set schedule and set up blackout times when I don't want the phone checking (at night for example). Each account can be assigned a color to easily see where my mail is coming from and how I'll be replying. Frankly, ChatterEmail is the killer app for both the Treo 650 and the Treo 700p. Combine ChatterEmail with the 700p's EVDO access, and you have one powerful e-mail solution that is second to none.

There are a number of additional likes/dislikes I have on the Treo 700p, and I'll be covering those in the coming days as well as a side-by-side comparison of the Treo 650, Treo 700w, Treo 700p and the PPC-6700. In the mean time, the Treo 700p combined with ChatterEmail is my business and techie phone of choice. This is the ultimate communication machine.

I would like directions on how to back up the Treo 700P on a Mac. I understand this could be done using Bluetooth.

I'm a Treo 650 user and have been using ChatterMail for the past eight months or so now and it is EASILY the best email program for my mobile I've ever seen. I've used Blackberry and the VersaMail that comes with the Treos.

I'm probably going to be in the market for a Treo 700p in the future but still weighing the benefit versus a $500 price tag to upgrade.

I have a Treo 600 on Cingular and didn't get the 650 because I was waiting for the 700. Just learned from Cingular that it has "no plans" to offer it. Now, my choice is to get the 650 or change providers. I'm a moderate email user (just my personal Internet email) and Web browser. I was looking forward to a higher res camera and faster Web access. I use Beyond Contacts and Chapura Pro to sync and maintain Outlook subfolders. Any suggestions?

I noticed you didn't mention the feature of the 700W that includes using the AUTD section of ActiveSync on windows mobile 5. Does the 700p have this similar feature to keep exchange mail live and active using(direct push)? I'm contimplating whether to buy a PPC 6700 or just got for the Palm 700p since for some reason Sprint won't release the 700w... not sure why.

But anyway, is the ChatterMail always live and when you say real-time it functions exactly the same as the PPC WM5 AUTD technology? and is it compatible with Exchange 2003 like the WM5 ActiveSync is?

1 - If your phone goes into a reboot loop it's not a brick. Perform a hard reset and all will be fine, although all data will be lost.

2 - I'm not a fan of Cingular or any GSM provider in general, but it depends on your needs. If you travel the world and need a phone that will work just about anywhere, then stick with GSM. If not, my first choice is Sprint (horrid customer service but great phone signal/data speed and price), and my next is Verizon. If I had to choose between sticking with Cingular and getting a Treo 650 or jumping ship to Sprint and getting a 700p, I personally would jump ship. All depends on needs though.

3 - Chattermail does not function exactly like Exchange 2003 with direct sync... It's actually a bit better and cooler. Chatter will push e-mail from any Exchange server that has IMAP turned on, so if you can IMAP into your Exchange, then it will push. The connection will stay open (in a sense) and the moment e-mail hits the Exchange server Chatter will run out and grab it. No background SMS, nothing... It's all part of the IMAP Idle spec. I typically get my e-mail to my Treo 700p 1-3 seconds before it shows up in Outlook. The great part about Chatter is that it works on ANY IMAP Idle server. Exchange 5.5, 2000, 2003, Merak 8.5, etc. etc. As long as your server supports IMAP Idle, you support push e-mail with no middleware. While it's a bit different than the WM5/E2k3 model, I think it's a lot better.

Final note is that ChatterEmail is e-mail only. No calendar or contacts sync at this time.

I am having lot of issues with my Treo 700P from Verizon. About every 3-4 weeks the device will get stuck in a loop and keep rebooting until the battery dies. I have not installed any new apps or done anything unusual to the device. There are times where the phone will reboot during a phone call. I am constantly on the road and performing a hard reset on the device simply sets me back and is a big hassle.

I too had a problem like yours and if it is identical, the final results are not good. Basically at the end of everything, my phone was a brick. No amount of hard resets would correct the problem. It would loop on the access powered screen indefinitely until the battery died. I brought it to sprint and got it fixed up, but sadly still don't know the exact reason, though I do have a really good idea. Since it was still able to turn on(just not boot) but hard reseting didn't fix it, my guess was that it was some type of hardware problem, but only one that software could cause... I take way too good of care of my phone. The thing that seems to fit is an application called VolumeCare, it amplifies the volume of voice calls to the phone(and while it worked great) I do not doubt it may have baked something inside. It's only a guess, but with all the people online having the same problem with varying serial numbers it may be something to look into. If you do have volume care I would suggest disabling it and see if the problems stop.

Can Anyone tell me how to stop my Primary Yahoo Plus Account from sending emails to my 700P and Allow my other 2 Yahoo Accounts to come to My 700p instead. I spent 3 hours on the phone with Verizon only to determine its a Yahoo thing. Please help...Thanks

Just got a 700p for my wife. It looks like a great PDA/Phone, but we can't mange to find a setting to keep reminders going for missed email, voicemail, text, etc. Can the phone do this, is there a third party app (like phone alarm for PC Mobile)?

I had chattermail for my Treo 600 and it drained the battery horribly when I used it. it was so bad that I had to trash the program and just use versamail. Having said that, I did like the way it worked and wonder if that battery drain issue has been corrected.

I now have a 700p (love it so far) and curious if anyone else is having a battery drain problem with this phone and chatter.

I just got a Treo 700p for Christmas and read that it has a recording feature that allows you to record messages or reminders to yourself. Can anyone please explain how to do this?

Paul, try Butler from Hobbyist Software See the Attention Grabber feature to make reminders repeat. It's a great app in general with many more features.

I am looking at the tre 700 and trying to decide between the 700p and the 700w, does anyone have any feedback comparing the phones and the operating systems?

Derek, if you've used a Palm before, you'll probably prefer the P. If you have to sync in a corporate environment than doesn't support Palms, well, that can make the decision pretty easy too. Personally, I prefer the Palm interface. It's easier to navigate with one hand or without a stylus, for example. The hardware is the same.

In a review I read, which I am now unable to find. There was reference made to logging onto the web (Verizon) and bypassing the use of the teathered usb cable and paying the $15.00 monthly fee charged through Verizon. Is anyone aware of the procedure, I would greatly apprecaite any guidence that can be offered.

The hardware's not the same in the 700p as the other 700 models (w/wx). The 700p has a 320x320 resolution screen while the Windows Mobile units only have 240x240. Another weakness of the 700wx is the speakerphone. It's not as loud or as crisp of clarity. Lastly, the 700wx is missing the calendar and messaging buttons in place of a "windows" button. Could you imagine that??? The screen resolution is the biggest difference to me since the pictures and videos are not so clear on the windows unit. 700p is much more superior in my opinion. From a software perspective, things work much more smoothly in the palm OS5 than WM5 and many apps seem to work faster in palmos.

I too am having serious battery drain issues with 700p and Chatter email. I have upgraded chatter and it seems a bit better but still cannot stay connected for man than 5-6 hours before battery drains. I have to offline sync every 90 minutes to keep phone running during day and I only use phone for calls may 1 hour per day. I do get a lot of email 75+ messages per day.

I tried the extended battery sold by Seido, don't recommend that. It seemed to make the phone unstable and I noticed no increase in battery life.

Any suggestions for battery life issues? Other than that I love my phone and couldn't live without it.

I have the Bell 700wx. Everytime I check my pop email account with the devise I get the same messages downloaded over and over again unless the message is already on the devise. If i delete the message from the devise it downloads again. I want to keep the messages on the server so... what do i do?

Cingular is advertising the 750 with the ability to simultaneously transmit voice and data. Are they using EVDV to do this?

treo 700p is an utter disappointment. my phone is a huge part of my business. this week calls dropped every few hours as the treo does continuous looping. soft reset, hard reset - doesn't matter. i've spent hours. Support starts from the beginning everytime I call. The treo is for the birds. As soon as I can exchange it I will.
This has been a huge disappointment. You'd think palm would have the kinks work out since they charge a ridiculous amount of money for an inferior product.

Frank, have you installed any software on your 700p? I've been using one for months without any major issues. It's not perfect, but it's still the best smartphone I've used to date.

Verizon Treo 650
ChatterEmail with push through Everyone.net
Do Not have Exchange (therefore the Everyone.net for IMAP Idle)
The IMAP Idle for instant push is fantastic. Is there an alternate or better to acheive this?

The 650 seems to have signal strength issues. My RSSI is floating around -103 to -104 while my wife's RAZR is -90 and never drops. Verizon recommends upgrading to 700W for a better signal but will I lose IMAP Idle and push?

Hey I have a Treo 700p and im getting some lag.. after i make a call and hang up, in the upper left corner it says "Phone off" and i cant place another call right away for about 20-30 seconds... also when i try to view the rest of my hotkey enteries (gives two rows and then press down for the rest) in the phone mode, it lags getting to the third row... any suggestions? like a reformat or something?... i have a 2gig card in it and a total of about 400mb used on it of music, video and pictures... can that contribute to the lag?.. only thing saved to the phone is my contacts.

I have a 700w and I don't know how to setup my email on my phone. and I can't send emails from my yahoo account

Comments

1. Posted by: Chris Barber on June 18, 2006 1:22 AM:

Wanna turn your Treo 700p into a brick?

Simply delete the default mail program from the phone's memory. A few seconds later it will crash, reboot, display splash screen, crash, reboot until the battery dies.

Good thing you paid the extra $5.99/mo to insure it... or kept the packaging.

Required fields marked with: *
Name*:

Email Address*:

URL:
Remember personal info?

Comments*:

HTML Tags you can use in your posts:
<b>Bold</b> = Bold
<i>Italicized</i> = Italicized
<a href="http://www.othersite.com">Link to Other Site</a> = Link to Other Site

Please keep comments on-topic. Contact authors or other commenters
directly for off-topic conversations.

Notify me of future comments via e-mail

Technology Evangelist Digest - Free Newsletter

Sign up for the free Technology Evangelist Digest to receive daily updates, editorials, and practical advice on emerging technology trends in hardware, software, webware, marketing and beyond.

Technology Evangelist Digest will keep you up to date on the technology trends that will help make you more productive and efficient both in business and your personal life.

Let's face it: If you made it to this line, you must have found something valuable on this page, right? Think about how cool it would be to have something free and interesting to read every day from Technology Evangelist by signing up today.

1. Fill in your email below,
2. Then click on the confirmation email you receive.
3. That's it. Your first Technology Evangelist Digest will arrive within 24 hours.