Some days ago Dan asked the various writers and readers of Gear Diary to comment on their favorite currently in use gadget.
Results were very different, and the list of gadgets ranged from PDAs to smartphones, from notebooks to desktop PCs, and both a camera and a car (!) were mentioned as well.
I was answering Dan’s e-mail, explaining the reason why my favorite current gadget is still an old Treo 650, and I started thinking to the Palm Pre.
I bought my Treo as soon as it was released (March 2005) in my country (Italy), and I fell in love with it from the first moment.
The screen resolution and bit depth allowed me to see very well web pages and the text I needed (I was coming from a Treo 600); then the great native PIM applications allowed me to organize my work and personal life according to David Allens’s Getting Things Done (GTD) philosophy, without the need to install 3rd party software. I was also able to use both BT headset and GPS radio thanks to Bluetooth support. Finally the device could be fully operated with one hand, and the QWERTY keyboard allowed never ending useful shortcuts and text editing.
The vast Palm OS software library made me expand the system with many 3rd party software, allowing me to:
- improve over the standard PIM applications, pushing forward my GTD organization;
- watch movies without the need to encode them again;
- use my bluetooth stereo headset with my MP3 and movie player (with supporto to A2DP and AVRCP);
- have push email;
- record phone calls;
- remotely control my notebook during presentations, and while playing music and movies.
However, every rose has its thorns, and the limited data speed and Wi-Fi lack made me start to look for other devices. Thus I tried several different devices and platform, among which I recall:
- Samsung SGH-i600: small screen and font size, inconsistent menus, input dialogues too long;
- Nokia E61i: too slow, no support for categories in Symbian, major complaint is that I did not find a good GTD-like program;
- Apple iPhone 3G: lack of physical keyboard (I tried but my thumb was tired going here and there on the screen), lack of BT stereo, sometimes characters on Safari are too small (maybe I am blind…), 3rd party GTD applications did not integrate with the native PIM.
I tried Windows Mobile, Symbian and Mac OS X for iPhone, but I always went back to the “old mono-tasking” Palm OS. I also gave BlackBerry a chance, but I was still not satisfied – even if I must admit this was more than one year ago, and things have changed a lot since then.
I think I would purchase again my Treo 650, and if it breaks now I will upgrade to the next generation Palm Treo 680 or palm Centro.
Wait… are you suggesting a Palm Preo, sorry, I mean, a Palm Pre? Even if I am not Angelina Jolie?
Related posts:
Sprint site now live with Treo PRO by Palm
Palm Pre launches at CES 2009
TealOS? No more says Palm
Could Palm’s openness to hacking webOS bring about (another) downfall of their platform?
Palm Pre still not ready for mere mortals to hold
The MotionApps Palm Emulator Makes Me Want a Pre
For those about to tether their Palm Pre – we salute you
Got a Palm Pre? Better Get a Screen Protector
