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I received a class action law suit notice a couple of weeks ago for my Palm Treo 650. Long story short: the settlement is worthless to the cosnumer and benefits only Palm and the Lawyers. Here’s a link to the official settlement site, here is my summary: You must provide proof that you sent your Treo 600 or 650 to Palm for repair and fill-out the claim forms. You wait for the settlement to be finalized. You then purchase a new Palm phone. You return your old Treo to Palm along with proof of purchase. You receive a $75 rebate. Here are the reason IRead More →

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After two years of use, it’s time to say farewell to my Palm Treo 650 and start looking for a new phone; this is my longterm wrap-up review. I’ve used a Palm OS device for the past 8 years. The OS is ancient and hasn’t received any significant updates in years, but even so, the Palm Treo line could be so much more they just put some effort into what the consider the status quo. Palm has a new executive chairman (Jonathan Rubinstein of iPod fame), and their new Treo 500 is the first significant step forward in years. Hopefully they will continue to makeRead More →

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Palm needs to get their act together. FedEx attempted to deliver my Treo 650 on Thursday, July 30 even though their website says it is still in repair and will not be shipped until July 12. At least I have it. They fixed the screen and the keyboard key. However, a note was included stating that the modem could not be programmed properly and that I would not be charged for the repair. My initial thought was: “Great! No charge!” Then I tired to use my phone. It crashed / rebooted continuously as soon as I turned the phone on. I noticed that they installedRead More →

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I complained earlier about the horrible customer support from PalmOne. Well, I finally received a reminder e-mail 2 weeks after I submitted my repair request. It complained that I hadn’t yet sent in my Treo, but didn’t mention having any previous problems with their e-mail servers sending initial shipping instructions. Anyway, I sent in my Treo via next-day FedEx air. They promise a 5-7 day turn-around on repairs, so I log-on to their website to check status on the 7th day. Estimated completion date: 12-July-2005. You’ve got to be kidding me — another 2 weeks! $190 and they don’t send me mailing instructions and thenRead More →

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The repair of the cracked screen on my Treo 650 is not going well. I paid PalmOne $190 to send in my phone and have it repaired. I was supposed to receive and e-mail from them with shipping instructions, but it never came (and no, it was not a problem with the spam blocking software on my mail server — I checked). I check the status of the repair and it says “e-mail sent”. There is no way to have it re-sent, there is no contact information, e-mail address, phone number, or anything. So I’ve basically paid $190 for a repair order number with noRead More →

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Most people seem to forget that there is a free option to the Verizon high-speed data plan that uses your minutes but otherwise is free. It’s called QNC and it operates at 14.4 kbps speeds, which is fine for infrequent use. Here are the details for enabling this feature, based on info from this thread on TreoCentral Forums: From the Palm main screen, select Preferences and then select Network Hit the menu drop-down key, select New Enter the following settings: Service: QNC Connection: Virtual Modem User Name: qnc Password: qnc Phone: #777 Details… –> Advanced… –> Modify –> Script… Send: at$qcmdr=2 Send CR: Send at$qcqnc=1Read More →

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I had always hated carrying my Treo 650 in my shirt pocket. It falls out much too easily any time I would bend over for anything. This time, I just happened to be leaning over a piece of cast iron. I just ordered a belt holster despite my wife basically forbidding me to do so because it “looks terrible on your belt”. Maybe it does, but it doesn’t look as terrible as a screen that is cracked into 5 pieces with a space bar that doesn’t function. I have no option other than returning it to PalmOne and having it repaired for a fee ofRead More →

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It figures, just a couple of weeks after I convert a Sprint Treo 650 to Verizon, Verizon announces that they are going to carry it. Oh well, at least I’ve been able to get a few extra (early) months of enjoyment. I’ve tried to get by with not using a case or belt clip because my wife thinks phones look terrible when worn on your belt. However, it’s now fallen out of my pocket about six times and three of those were on tile or concrete, so I order a belt case from TreoCentral.com. I also ordered the Treo Wireless Bluetooth headset and the PalmOneRead More →