Soon to be Treo 680 owner with a couple of questions.

[mythic10]

Hello everybody,

I'm finally upgrading to a pda phone and have pretty much decided on the Treo 680. In pricing the phone I've noticed a bit of a range between unlocked and locked phones. I already have cingular/at&t and have had them for 5 years and don't plan on changing anytime soon. With that in mind, I have a few questions.

- Is there any difference, other than the limitation in carrier, between a locked and unlocked phone? (I don't travel internationally much and it looks like from the posts that if you do, cingular has the flexibility to open it up)

- The mall kiosk (cingular/at&t) is offering a locked Treo 680 for $300 with a $200 mail in rebate. They will then unlock it for me. Does this seem ok? Do I need to watch out for older versions of the 680?

-I also saw this list somewhere, are there different models?
Treo 680 unlocked
Treo 680 4GB
Treo 680 8GB
Treo 680 locked

- Some of the forum posts mentioned using a diff data plan than the $40 one offered by cingular, one that was $19.99, does anyone know how/if that works

- Will Cingular/At&t allow me to not sign up for the data plan and just use the treo with the voice/text plan i have now. (I know it's cool, but I don't need the internet on my phone for $40 a month, I get it at my desk 12 hours a day)

- I have a mac at home and a pc at work. One of the main reasons I'm getting the Treo 680 is that it theoretically will allow me to sync the two. My main concern is my calender and my contacts. I've heard of missingsync, any other suggestions or software for making this run smooth.

- The phone and sim card I have now store my contacts numbers as individual numbers. My previous phone stored them grouped. I'd like to bluetooth the older phones grouped contacts on to the Treo first and then the newer numbers from my latest phone. Does the Treo have an easy way to eliminate duplicates?

- I had a palm pilot way back when and am comfortable using the stylus for input, I actually prefer it to the tiny qwerty keys. However in looking at the phone in the store, it didn't look like the stylus was used for writing. Am I wrong or do I need to download an application?

I can't think of anything else for now, but any advice you have for a first time buyer is more than welcome.

Thanks,

Mythic

[LotusLord]

Wow that's quite a few questions lets see what I can answer for you:

- Is there any difference, other than the limitation in carrier, between a locked and unlocked phone? (I don't travel internationally much and it looks like from the posts that if you do, cingular has the flexibility to open it up)

at&t subsidizes their devices so you'll be looking at a cheaper device, rather than getting one that's unlocked from Palm directly. at&t also legally has to unlock the device if you request it, after 90 days. Unlocked GSM phones can be used in different countries, with different carriers.

- The mall kiosk (cingular/at&t) is offering a locked Treo 680 for $300 with a $200 mail in rebate. They will then unlock it for me. Does this seem ok? Do I need to watch out for older versions of the 680?

That seems about right to me but you may want to look around for better prices. Treonauts Store has a good deal for example.

-I also saw this list somewhere, are there different models?
Treo 680 unlocked
Treo 680 4GB
Treo 680 8GB
Treo 680 locked

There are no differences in those, other than the 4 and 8GB ones come with 4 and 8 Gig SD cards respectively. Locked and unlocked I already explained.

- Some of the forum posts mentioned using a diff data plan than the $40 one offered by cingular, one that was $19.99, does anyone know how/if that works

I haven't looked into this for a while.

- Will Cingular/At&t allow me to not sign up for the data plan and just use the treo with the voice/text plan i have now. (I know it's cool, but I don't need the internet on my phone for $40 a month, I get it at my desk 12 hours a day)

Yes you can keep the same plan. You'll have to sign a new contract.

- I have a mac at home and a pc at work. One of the main reasons I'm getting the Treo 680 is that it theoretically will allow me to sync the two. My main concern is my calender and my contacts. I've heard of missingsync, any other suggestions or software for making this run smooth.

Are you allowed to install software on your work computer? If not you'll have trouble syncing there. MissingSync is typically recommended by Mac users, though I don't have any experience with it, or much with Macs.

- I had a palm pilot way back when and am comfortable using the stylus for input, I actually prefer it to the tiny qwerty keys. However in looking at the phone in the store, it didn't look like the stylus was used for writing. Am I wrong or do I need to download an application?

There is a program that you need to install to allow for Graphiti input. The keyboard is easier to use in my opinion.

I think you'll want a screen protector, and a case.

[cartogary]

Wow, that's a good price for an existing ATT customer. You may find better deals but most will be for new plans and customers. So if you can get the 680 for $100 you're doing good. The SD cards, 2gb - 8gb, you can get later from Office Depot or CompUSA, prices are coming down fast, I saw a 1gb for 9.99 yesterday, so don't pay up at Cingular/ATT store. Data plan - can always be added later, even online, so I'd recommend you transfer your current plan over to the 680, see if you need other services, ie. Web, Email, RSS, etc.. in the future. Then you can decide which data plan works for you. I'm still using my old 24.99 unlimited data plan so I've no idea what's available in this new ATT system, but I'm still using the old ATT Wireless Plan.

And IF you have an old ATT Wireless plan, the one's that Cingular is just dying to get you to abandon, so you pay more for fewer minutes, then you'd need a unlocked 680 w/o a plan, unless you want to start a new plan with Att/Cingular.

Anyway, it's a great phone, just condition the battery, and check the ROM is 1.09 ATT ( See 680 forum )

[mythic10]

Thanks to you both for the clarifications, my brand new graphite Treo 680 with ROM 1.09 ATT is now on the charging portion of the battery conditioning and I can't wait to play with it this weekend!

[k7brown]

Originally Posted by mythic10

Thanks to you both for the clarifications, my brand new graphite Treo 680 with ROM 1.09 ATT is now on the charging portion of the battery conditioning and I can't wait to play with it this weekend!

Awesome!! Congrats, and Enjoy!!!!