Crazy About the Treo 650? Here's Treolog

Welcome to PC World's newest blog.

My name is Andrew Eisner, PC World's executive producer, and I'm a self-confessed technology addict. That's my mug below in this self-portrait--shot with my Treo 650, of course.

I haven't used a PDA seriously since the Palm III. However, I was getting along okay with a Sony Ericsson T616 cell phone, while keeping an eye on the smartphones that seemed to keep getting better with every new release.

I have no particular allegiance to any handheld platform, but decided to jump back into Palmworld when Cingular released the Treo 650.

Turns out a few of my colleagues here at PC World took the plunge around the same time. Harry McCracken, PC World's executive editor, and I would excitedly compare notes on software we were installing and accessories we were buying. Then, Senior Denny Arar joined the club along with Senior Associate Editor Melissa Perenson, so we thought, "Why not try and blog our experiences?"

We hope you'll help us too. We'd love to hear your ideas on things we should look at or topics we should discuss. Post your suggestions here or send me an e-mail at andrew_eisner@pcworld.com.

Fun With Verichat

When America Online's instant messaging client for Palms brought my Treo 600 to its knees over a year ago, a helpful Handspring publicist turned me on to PDAapps' Verichat, a universal IM client that worked like a charm. So I hastened to install it on my Treo 650, and am pleased to report that not only does it still work great, it's gotten even better.

For starters, interface tweaks over the last year have made Verichat easier than ever to use. And the software added a major new feature called Bots that enable automated information retrieval using the IM interface. For example, send your flight info (airline and flight number) to the Flight Status bot, and you'll get back a report on whether it's still on track for an ontime departure (along with gate and baggage retrieval information). Other helpful bots include a currency converter, a weather reporter, and a stock tracker.

My favorite Bots are little games. Dining alone at a recent out-of-town conference, I amused myself with the Scramble Bot, which sends scrambled words and then awards points for correct responses. The Bot also tracks how long you're taking to respond, so your final score is the amount of time it takes you to reach 100 points or so (the less time, the better).

Bots aren't terrifically intuitive to use at first. There are no launch buttons, or clues as to how to enter data. But even typing "hello" to a Bot usually elicits a response with all the information you need to get going.

Verichat requires installing software and then maintaining a subscription that covers costs of all updates. The first year, you pay $25 for the basic IM service, $35 if you want to use Bots; renewals thereafter are $5 less than the initial cost. I consider the cost well worth the value received.

Treo Myths

Myth number one; you won't have to buy anything else for your Treo.

I've had my 650 for about a couple of months now. I have to admit it's been a mixed experience. When it works--which, I have to say, is most of the time--it's a wonderful device.

Unfortunately, for the first month or so, my Treo required rebooting several times a week. I'll admit that problem got better when I switched SIM card brands, but it's still not rock solid. On the other hand, it's an addictive product. When it's good, it's very good and makes you want more.

The other thing I've found is that it's easy to spend a lot of money and time on this gadget. The initial $500 or so is only the beginning.

First thing you do is start adding the list of must-have utilities (we'll get to those later). These $20 purchases add up--before you know it, you're another few hundred dollars into this thing.

Next come the accessories. Here's where you can really get carried away. There are leather cases, adaptors, chargers, a 1GB SD card (I paid $80), and a whole host of cool gadgets that you just have to have. Before you know it, you've spent another $500 on your new obsession, and that's not including the cost of the service plan.

Is it worth it? Well, so far I?m still hooked and eager for more.

What are you buying for your Treo?

Great Expectations

I've always been interested in handheld devices and waited for the day when someone would offer a product that came close to delivering everything I needed in one package.

All I wanted was a few simple functions:

1. Cell Phone. With good coverage and reasonable rates, please.

2. E-mail. As much as Lotus Notes, which we use at PC World, frustrates me, it does the job and we're pretty much stuck with it here for the foreseeable future. So I needed a device that would give access to e-mail from as many places as possible. Synching with my Notes calendar was a requirement.

3. Internet Access. I wanted to be able to access the 'Net at a decent bit rate.

4. Multimedia Player. I wanted something that would play MP3 files, videos, and stream audio from the Web.

5. Note-taking Device. I needed something to easily record ?notes to self,? either written or spoken.

6. Good, Cheap, Third-party Apps. The more you can give me, the better, including good utilities, specialized apps, and games. Oh, and lots of cool add-ons too.

What were you looking for in an all-in-one device?