650 upgraders report

[dgarts]

Hey folks,

I had a Treo 600, upgraded to the 650 and was very happy I did. I have not been impressed with the newer versions so have held on to my trusty 650.

I'd like to ask those who used a 650 and upgraded to the 680 some of the things they really like, comparatively speaking, in the upgrade, as well as some of the things they miss. In other words, I'm I nuts - should I drop everything now and make that upgrade or sit tight and cherish the functionality of my 650 for the time being.

If you haven't used a 650, please don't comment, because I'm hoping to get insight in the upgrade experience based on becoming familiar with the 650 and then becoming familiar with the 680. Thanks.

[forgot]

Honestly the only thing I really miss is going 2+ days without charging. Battery life has gotten better (following the battery reset and camera update) and I keep a charger in my car, so I'm good. I wouldn't go back.

[dgarts]

Thanks for taking the time to reply, much appreciated! I've definitely got to do SOMETHING since my beloved 650 was dropped into some cleaning liquid. It still works (!) almost perfectly except for the microphone - people on the other end of calls almost can't hear me, not good.

[bluenadas]

I burn through some data useage and bluetooth and can still get 2 days with my 680....

Other than the typical b/s you get with a new Palm model, I wouldn't move back to an older treo model....

[akwarner]

As a recent convert to a 680 after having been a 650 user for the last 21 months or so, I have this to offer. I love the 680 and I could not see going back to the 650. In fact I was going to keep the 650 as a backup and I ended up selling it since I knew that if something happened to my 680, I'd be immediately looking for another one (until Palm releases something better).

I too had to go through the battery conditioning stuff but I now get two full days with lots of calls, software installs (still testing out lots of new apps), some game playing and reference look ups. I do not have Internet access on the 680 as yet and I do not use a Bluetooth headset.

While I took the upgrade as an opportunity to update several of the programs that I use, pretty much every program that I used on the 650 carried over and works just fine on the 680. The upgrade a pretty smooth. I did multiple back ups onto my SD card before I started. Then I renamed my backup folder, un-installed the Palm Desktop that came with the 650, installed the one from the 680, and re-installed all the apps I use. I tried a restore from a 650 backup to the 680 just to see but that (as expected) caused problems and several things did not work or did not work properly. it took a while longer to do it this way but I highly recommend taking the time to do it this way.

Right off the bat I noticed a few things. It is a bit lighter but noticeably so. It also has had the sides resculpted so that it feels smaller in your hand. The screen has better color saturation. I prefer not having the antenna sticking out of the top. The extra RAM is nice but I already had Zlauncher running most of my bigger apps (pretty much anything over 100kb that did not NEED to be in RAM) from the SD card. Now I have about 50MB free when I used to hang around 9MB free. I also took the opportunity to upgrade from the 1GB card I had been using to a 4GB SDHC card. The 680 has native support for the larger card. Access times are comparable if not a tad faster. The card also now is completely enclosed and is inserted at the side of the phone. No more occasional accidental presses on the card like I did sometimes on my 650. Several of the buttons have been moved around but I got accustomed to their new positions in about a week or so of usage.

That's about it. I am really enjoying my 680 and I would definitely miss it if I was forced to go back to a 650. My wife took possession of my 650 for about a week but like I said, I ended up selling it. She too now has a 680 as an upgrade from the Palm Tungsten E/Motorola V300 combo that she had been using previously. She is not a power user by any means, but she is learning it and finding it useful. My best friend also recently converted from a 650 to a 680 after he got a good review as to how much I was enjoying mine.

Hope that helps.

A.

[cartogary]

Like others here, I love my new Copper 680. Aside from the color and form factor, the extra RAM was the biggest selling point for me. I'd struggle on my 650 to keep 3mb free to make Pocket Tunes run, but no more with 40mb free on the 680. The battery conditioning is a requirement for the 680 plus the ROM update, but with both of those in place now I'm getting 2 days use between charges, with email during the day, Audible books, Pocket Tunes, xWeather downloads, and RSS updates. Similarly I've sold my 650, with mixed feelings, but knowing that the 680 is that much better than my trusty 650.