Palm Treo 700p Smartphone (Verizon Wireless)

by Verizon

Product Details

• Item Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• ASIN: B000G2R0EQ
• Item model number: 700p
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #136,994 in Cell Phones & Accessories (See Top 100 in Cell Phones & Accessories)

Product Description

Amazon.com Hands-On Review

To keep your smartphone's applications up to date, and to optimize the performance of your device, you may need to perform firmware and/or software updates just as you would on your PC. To learn more about updates for your device, please visit Palm's support site. Note that by clicking this link you will be leaving Amazon.com.

The Treo name has been synonymous with QWERTY keyboard equipped smartphones for years - and with good reason. The devices have long been packed full of the features that power users require, while still fitting in the palm of your hand. The new Treo 700p from Palm is no exception. Based heavily of the massively popular Treo 650, the 700p gets a few upgrades where they really count while not messing too much with the rest of the Treo recipe for success. The main upgrades are a 1.3 megapixel camera, twice as much built-in memory, and EV-DO 3G data connectivity.

A palm tree on your Palm, in your palm.

But first, the physical design of the 6.2oz Treo 700p. The Treo has long had one of the best built-in keyboards on the market, and that is still true today. The QWERTY keyboard's keys are made of a hard plastic, but still have a good feel. The 700p's keys get a new square shape, and has had its direction-pad controller and hardware buttons reworked a bit: the green and red call keys are now located directly under the display, where the home and menu keys used to reside on the Treo 650. The 700p's menu key is now on the bottom row of the keyboard, a somewhat questionable position for a key that is so important to the Palm OS.

Speaking of the Palm OS, the version used in the 700p is virtually unchanged from that found in the Treo 650. As such, the user interface appears a bit dated, even though it is being shown on a very capable 320x320 pixel, 65k color touch screen. The stylus that is to be used on the display is stored in the back of the 700p and has a very nice heft to it, making it nearly as comfortable to use as a regular pen. Thanks to some clever work on the UI, though, there are relatively few instances where you truly need to use it.

In spite of the Treo 700p's somewhat dated OS, it is still a very capable and amazingly popular system when it comes to 3rd party application support. In fact, the Treo 700p ships with a number of 3rd party apps to make up for missing pieces in the OS, such as music playback. Due to the popularity of the Palm OS over the years, if there is an application that can be written for a mobile device, chances are good that it has already been written for the Palm platform.

The 700p features one of the best keyboards on the market.

Now that the 700p has over twice the available built-in storage as the 650 (and still has an SD card slot for even more), you should be able to load it up with all sorts of programs, games, and media files without problem.

The Treo's default PIM type applications like the Calendar and Contacts manager are all very good. Through the use of the included HotSync application, information from your desktop PC can easily be synchronized with the applications on your Treo. Another bonus from the use of HotSync is the automatic backup it provides. If your Treo ever gets lost or ceases to function, you can easily restore your existing HotSync backup to a new device with an absolute minimum of effort and be back in business in no time at all.

If you are an existing Treo 650 user, the biggest reason to consider an upgrade is the new 3G EV-DO data support. When used in an EV-DO coverage area, the Treo 700p will scream along at speeds many people would only expect to get at home with their DSL service. The 700p lacks WiFi support, but for those that live and work in EV-DO coverage areas, that won't be an issue at all.

Pros:

• Familiar form factor
• QWERTY keyboard
• EV-DO data

Cons:

• Outdated User Interface
• Somewhat large

--Reviewed by Michael Oryl, editor in chief of www.MobileBurn.com

Product Description

The Palm Treo 700p is equipped with a Palm OS® and powered by America's most reliable wireless network. This compact all-in-one smartphone also features BroadbandAccess Connect on our EVDO network, a 1.3 megapixel digital camera, Wireless Sync, a Digital Music Player and built-in Bluetooth® 1.2 wireless technology.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

284 of 286 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the phone I have been waiting for., June 22, 2006

By 

Steven E. Baker "...Steve" (TEXAS) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Palm Treo 700p Smartphone (Verizon Wireless) (Wireless Phone)

I have been a fan of Treo since it was Handspring, dating back to 1999 when I bought the Handspring Prism - and the wireless modem to connect to the internet. It was painfully slow, but it worked.

Since that time I have used the Samsung i600 with Verizon that used the Microsoft Smart Phone interface. It was ok - I could view web pages and the email interface worked fine. But it was hard to enter text and the screen, while larger than other cell phones, was simply too small.

I then tried the Sidekick II with T-mobile, and I was impressed. The keyboard is great and it worked fine for email, and the web browser allowed me to log into sites such as Paypal.com and even my work email server.

But then I dropped it, just a couple of months before my contract was over and I decided to let it slide and buy the Treo 700p from Verizon.

I have had it a week and have found it to be the best phone I have ever owned. While there is nothing new with the Palm interface - it works well and is stable and reliable.

I will break down each feature and how it works for me:

Phone: Works great. People can hear me fine, and I can hear them. Calls come in even when I am playing Bejeweled or checking my email. While the stylus or the keyboard can be used to dial, you can also use the touch pad to scroll through recent calls or contacts with one hand it and redials no problem.

1.2 Bluetooth

I use a bluetooth headset quite a bit and it works 95% of the time. However, from time to time it will become unattached and I have to go through a re-pairing session, and at least once I reset the device in order to get it to pair. Once I did this, it worked fine for days... before happening again. Minor nuisance and I continue to use the blue tooth.

2 PDA

You have to love Palm for it's simplicity and stability. I travel a lot and have to keep track of multiple flights, rental cars, hotels and various appointments. The Treo 700p works wonderful for all of this, I especially like the memos where I jot down notes, or have lists of my passwords and account numbers. Dangerous, I know.

2.1 Hotsynch

The hotsynch worked FLAWLESSLY every single time, including pictures and videos. Until I tried to use AT&T Yahoo's online synch program, that tries to interface with your laptop and device to bring them in line with your online data. While this was a functional service back in 2001 when I tried it last - it seems to no longer work and completely messed up my Hotsynch. I had to uninstall the Palm desktop from my laptop and reinstall, then synch and do a hard reset on my Treo 700p and do a fresh hotsynch reinstall.

2.2.1 Hard Reset vs. Soft reset

Soft reset it done with your stylus tip inside the battery door in the back. Very easy to access. Gives you control when 3rd party apps start acting up.

Hard reset is done by holding down the red power button (aka hang up button) ont he front while you press the soft reset button. When you let off of the red power button, you will get a confirmation message that you answer with your keypad.

2.3 Hotsynch summary

I included the above section for informational reasons, I don't want to sound like I have had a lot of problems. My warning to you is not to attempt the Yahoo synch, or any other three way synch. You are exposing your trusty Treo and Laptop to a 3rd party vendor that may not have worked the bugs out.

3. Camera

1.3 megapixels and the pictures look great. With a 1gig SD card, you have enough room for over 2000 pictures. Does not work well in low light conditions.

4. Camcorder

Excellent little camera that produces .3g2 files that can be played in Windows Media Player or uploaded to YouTube without any conversions. It has two different resolution sizes, and at the max size with a 1gig SD card you can record over 7 hours of video.

It will not replace your main camcorder, but this device blows away other camera phones that feature video. I.E, the Motorola Razr looks sick compared to the video on the Treo 700p.

5. Voice notes.

I use this when I am driving and need to remember something. Works great and captures your voice perfect. There are third parts apps you can use that will record phone calls.

Very interesting.

6. Games.

It's a Palm - there are a lot of games. I only like bejewled. It seems to focus me, and it comes free with this version.

7. Documents to go

This comes bundled with the Verizon Treo 700p and it works great. Not only can you view MS word, excel, powerpoint and PDF documents - but you can also edit them. I have my resume on there right now, and it looks great. I have also uploaded a few time sheets in excel, and I store my PDF version of flight confirmations and hotel confirmations. Beats the heck out of shuffling paperwork when you are travelling.

8. Email

Versamail comes bundled with the phone and while it is not "push" email, it can be set to download new emails every five minutes. There is a standard email app that you can use that has less features than the free versamail, but it does feature push. Push, meaning when the email arrives on the server it is downloaded rather than waiting the five minutes maximum.

9. Music.

Yes, it plays MP3 files and they sound good. I have not tried to wear headphones or anything and I doubt I will use this as an mp3 player, but that option is there.

10. video player

Interestingly enough, this device plays MPG and AVI files with no problem. I have a Terapin VCD recorder that records MPEG from my Tivo, and I transferred the season finale of Sopranos and watched it. What is remarkable is that I did not have to scale the video down, I played the same file that I would have played on my laptop and it played perfectly.

This is very interesting to me since Treo is going to do an update supporting 2gig SD cards, and possibly a SD card mass storage interface.

11. Ringers.

Lots of great sounding ringers that play fine when a call or email comes in. I mention this because with previous smartphones, the ring tones sometimes kicked in a moment later than the call came in. I like to hear the ringer right away, just a pet peeve of mine.

12. Messaging

12.1 Instant Messaging

No native support for IM. You will have to use a third party solution for now. This is not a big deal to me, but I wanted to mention it.

12.2 Text Messaging

This is a big deal to me because my wife and I use text messages to communicate a lot. They have designed the text message interface on this device to look and function exactly like an IM interface - besides the inherent delay you will not be able to tell the difference. This works very well and even shows a green check when you txt has been delivered. I use this a lot and think it is great.

14 Web Browsing

It uses the Blazer web browser to load pages over the Verizon Evdo network. If you use it in an area that features this network, you are going to love it. Web pages load fast and you have the option of viewing them in the same format as on your computer - a lot of scrolling is involved, but it is the actual web page. I have used it to log into several web sites such as Paypal.com and Adsense and Adwords.

It's a very, very good internet browsing device. There will be times when you dont even need to use your computer because you have everything you need bookmarked.

The downside is that the EvDo network is not everywhere - but Verizon is comitted to bringing it coast to coast, so hang on. Everywhere I have been so far (NYC Area and Houston/Galveston) has been fine.

15 Summary.

You might be able to tell at this point that I think this phone is great. I am glad I bought it and I will be trying to get my wife to buy one also.

But she wants the Motorola Q....

120 of 129 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally ..., July 12, 2006

By 

John 3:5 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Palm Treo 700p Smartphone (Verizon Wireless) (Wireless Phone)

palm Treo 700p Smartphone (Verizon Wireless)

... a phone/PDA for mommies! Seriously, I can get myself organized for once, browse the web without logging into a separate laptop, and have a phone with actual songs as ring tones. I thought this thing was going to be monstrous compared to my previous phone (Samsung A650 flipphone). I definetely thought that "going bigger" was a step down. Plus, I hadn't used a PDA since I left work when I had my first child! But when I saw it on display at Verizon, I was impressed that it was smaller than previously thought. So after we browsed through the accessories and looked at some of the initial positive reviews, my husband and I thought we'd give it a go. Within a week, we both got our Treo 700p's via online (no hassle, really, and easier to activate yourself) and have not been able to put them down since! We've purchased additional accessories (bluetooth Motorola H500 headsets, skin case for me, hard case for him, antiglare screen protectors, styli, car chargers, 1-2 G exapnsion cards) and extra software (mRing, MobileWrite, pTunes, DocumentsToGo Premium). Although its only been a couple weeks, here are some likes and dislikes we found so far, for those considering the 700p:

PROS:
1. Small, lightweight, easy to grip in one hand, especially with an external skin used over the Treo, like the Boxwave silicone skin (I purchased the frosted clear, no clip). If I didn't purchase the silicone skin, I think I would have dropped it easily or my kids would have gotten a hold of it and dropped it.
2. Styli, keyboard, on/off, reset, expansion card slot, battery cover easy to locate.
3. Already familiar with Palm OS. Free programs are easy to use and navigate! Web-browsing in Blazer with the Verizon BroadbandAccess is comparable to speeds experienced with IE on my desktop broadband. Also can view websites outside the Palmsites (ie, version of Yahoo! just for Palm browsing), as long as sites can download quickly (minimal cookies, adware, pics, vids, etc).
4. No problems syncing and adding new items to Palm & expansion card. Just ensure that you have latest versions of MSOffice, esp. Outlook (version 2000 or 2003 which we have) on MS XP Home Edition. It looks for a certain *.pst file to upload contacts list. If it is corrupted or renamed from default, then Hotsync errors will ensue. Nevertheless, it seems to upload and install the free software, MS files, and MP3 files without problems on the XP platform. Just make sure your antivirus software and all firewalls are disabled while doing so.
5. Just like previous Palm PDAs, you can personlize your new Treo with free display skins, fonts, name, and attach pics & specific ring tones to each contact listed in our directory. Time is needed to do so with a long contact list. mRing allows MP3s as ring tones separately for calls and text messaging - really fun!
6. Expansion card a must! The Palm Quick Install software automatically directs downloaded MP3s and MS Office files to the expansion card. I purchased the 2G and so far have occupied 500M with MP3s! Cannot wait to download word files and spreadsheets to see how they look on Documents-To-Go software!
7. Text messaging is fun - Message thread looks similar to Online Chat Session. And fonts, colors, and display can be personalized too. You can message to other 700p users, as well as email addresses. Sending messages to conventional cell phone users will probably cut off the message on their end. We found out that messaging is faster with MobileWrite - handwriting the message rather than using our clumsy fingers typing on the QWERTY keyboard. MobileWrite letter writing is slightly different from previous Palm writing software, but the learning curve is not that steep.
8. Camera is good for on-the-spot photos that you may want to send via email or attach to a text message, from your smartphone. Its only approx. 1 Megapixel with no flash, so we did not expect sharp, adequately lighted photos.
9. pTunes is good starter for MP3 listening, but eventually need to upgrade to paid Deluxe version. We've already downloaded fun, free display skins.

CONS:
1. User Manual not detailed enough to even show how to turn off phone separately from turning off PDA (had to use trial and error).
2. Bluetooth items need time to pair with Treo. Better to leave them on all day rather than turning on and off & then resetting the pairing sequence.
3. Wanting sound off involves several steps on each Palm function (ring tones, phone alerts, calendar, messaging, system). No easy one-step off button found on conventional cellphones.
4. My Treo has froze several times when web-browsing or visiting sites with too many cookies or adware. Beware of websites that are "too busy". The Useless Manual actually has a warning for trying to view websites like these. The Reset button is not reliable for me. Maybe stylus doesn't actually fit in reset hole? I've had to take battery out and back in, instead of known reset steps outlined in useless User Manual.
5. Battery does need recharge everynight or everyother night. We are getting the extended battery soon. Also, from previous experience with Palms, we are charging the Treos when battery falls in red zone (below 10%), not when the battery is completely dead, for fear that all data other than default will be lost. Again, the Useless Manual does not provide any information on recharging tips or warnings. So we don't know what will happen to the Treo if we run the battery out completely.
6. Stylus needs daily re-calibrating as the precision wears off with repeated use. This is probably because its a PDA as well as a phone, which also involves the stylus to dial numbers.
7. Cannot feel the Treo vibrate on an incoming call or message, when it is in the Palm Hard Case (feedback from hubby).
8. Need adapter to plug in older stereo headsets. Bluetooth Motorola is only for one ear, so this did not work for hubby, when he wanted to listen to his MP3s. Otherwise, need to order special newer stereo headset (Palm Hybrid stereo headset).
9. Hotsyncing with cable charges battery, even if the power source is not attached. This may not be good for the battery life when syncing a Palm with a battery at 50%. Better to hotsync when the battery is below 10% or try wireless syncing (option available with free software included with Treo). If you try wireless sync, just a word of warning: Turn off wireless sync after use or else the darn Treo will wireless sync in intervals without your knowledge! I've caught my Treo doing this, and spent hours trying to figure out how to turn it off. Again, Useless Manual nor free software no help.

We are sure that there will be more thoughts that will arise as we extract more mileage out of our 700p's. We have yet to download the VPN client and other professional-type software to review. We know that Palm already has a good track record, so we can rely on adequate customer service in case something happens to the functionality of the Palm OS or the unit itself. This is why we did not purchase the windows-based smartphones, yet, as the reviews have proved that these smartphones need alot of rework. Maybe in a couple years the 700w or MotoQ will truly become as user-friendly as the existing Palm-based smartphones. For now, we recommend the 700p for those that want a reliable smartphone with unlimited capability, usefullness, and of course, entertainment value.

54 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ultimate TREO vs BLACKBERRY review, December 26, 2006

By 

Muhammad Miguel Ali Hasan "Film Director & Po... (Sunset Beach, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Palm Treo 700p Smartphone (Verizon Wireless) (Wireless Phone)

I often hear debates over who has the better smartphone --- Palm or BlackBerry??

I have two lines with Sprint PCS, with my personal line having a Treo 700p and my business line connected to a BlackBerry 8703

First off - I love both phones! However, they are very different, particularly in their strengths and weaknesses --- my review is based upon how well each smartphone handles the following things -

- PHONE FUNCTIONS

- EMAIL

- INTERNET

- PHOTOGRAPHS

- MULTIMEDIA (Music & Movies)

- SPEAKERPHONE

- BLUETOOTH

- COMPUTER SYNCHRONIZATION

- MISC - (Text Messaging, System Stability, PDA Functions)

Okay..... here we go -

1. PHONE FUNCTIONS

For me, the Treo 700p has much better phone functions --- this is mostly because of their touch screen capabilities

When I wanna dial a number off of the Treo, I immediately start spelling the person's name on the keyboard, and I immediately go to my phone book, where I can touch the number I want to dial

The BlackBerry is a bit more complicated, as I cannot touch the screen --- therefore, I'm limited to dialing based upon scrolling to the right name and then pressing the number

Overall, the BlackBerry isn't bad ---- however, I know a lot of people like to use their phone while driving their car (with a bluetooth headset on) or like to use the phone in situations that require a quick reaction.... if you wanna use your phone in the car, then the Treo is the best choice, mainly because the touch screen allows one to go to any name and dial immediately --- as funny as this sounds, you can really only use a BlackBerry, for phone calls, in situations when you can give it total devotion

With that said.... if you are not dialing numbers while driving in the car, then the BlackBerry's phone functions are fine.... they take a bit longer to get going, due to scrolling.... but they get the job done just fine (and yes, you can use the keyboard to look up names in the address book, as well)

2. EMAIL

Okay - this is really the only category where the BlackBerry really beats up the Treo 700 and beats it up GOOD!!!

First off, email on the Treo 700p is no totally useless.... the Treo comes with VersaMail, a program that handles all POP, IMAP, and other email accounts with ease..... there's also a program available called CHATTER EMAIL for the Treo, which makes the Treo's email functions even faster and more versatile

However, the big problem with Treo email is that one has to download the email --- in other words, you have to log onto ChatterMail or VersaMail and wait for a few mins as the program downloads all of the email you've received --- now you can configure a program like ChatterMail to be constantly downloading your email, so one receives it immediately, however this is a BAD choice because such a function basically keeps the Treo on a 'constant' phone call, as it downloads email --- in turn, your cell phone mins get eaten up, battery life goes down quickly, and phone calls are missed do to your phone being occupied on the 'other line'

THe BlackBerry, on the other hand, downloads all of your emails immediately, without draining the battery, without interrupting phone calls, and without eating up your cell phone mins --- my BlackBerry can download my emails more immediately than my own laptop

In addition, the BlackBerry 8703 keyboard is absolutely awesome --- so I much more prefer to write emails over my BlackBerry than I do over my Treo 700p

In summary on this one, the BlackBerry is clearly much better with email.... and if email is the most important thing to you, then go BlackBerry for sure! --- however, the Treo 700p holds its own with email, provided that you are willing to wait and download your emails over something like Chatter or Versamail

3. INTERNET

Both phones handle internet similarly, however, I would give the edge to the Treo 700p mostly because of the TOUCHSCREEN, as it allows one to navigate webpages with more freedom

That said, the BlackBerry is fien too, just a bit more limited

Both phones can connect your laptop to the internet, depending on your cell service --- I've been very pleased with the Treo's ability to connect my laptop to the internet, provided that I use its USB cable with the program USB MODEM ----- I don't have as much experience doing this with my BlackBerry, but I have heard that the results are favorable when doing so

EVDO speeds on both phones are very good

4. PHOTOGRAPHS

If pictures are important, then the Treo 700p is the CLEAR winner

The Treo 700p comes with a great multimedia program, fueld by an embedded Kinoma player, which can allow you to show off pictures with pretty good ease

I'm a Mac user, so I use MarkSpace to get my pics onto my Treo and I'm very pleased with the Treo's ability to show off pictures --- the resolution and quality are shown off very well

I have yet to get pictures onto my BlackBerry though --- I have seen other friends of mine show off pictures on their BlackBerry, but the program does not seem as sophisticated or as user friendly as Palm's

Clearly, the Treo 700p is made to handle pics, whereas the BlackBerry is lagging in this area

5. MULTIMEDIA (Movies/Music)

I am actually DEEPLY impressed with how well the Treo 700p can handle multimedia, both music and movies

I am a filmmaker myself --- with the use of the program, KINOMA PRODUCER, I have compressed many of my short films to small files, for the purposes of showing them off of my Treo to some friends --- the Treo 700p plays the files excellently, with sound coming out of the speakerphone and the resolutions of the films looking excellent!

Even better is that the Treo 700p can handle MP4's and MPEG4's, allowing me to encode the best resolution and best sounding files onto my Treo ---- sadly, the Treo 700p cannot play songs downloaded from the iTunes Music Store, as those are copyright protected, but it will play anything that one encodes with my own devices

The music/mp3 player on the Treo is also excellent, playing tunes through the speakerphone, or through the headphones that the Treo comes with

As far as I can tell, the BlackBerry 8703 does not have any multimedia functions, so good luck getting an MP4 or MPEG4 onto this thing ---- however, Blackberry is working on this, so future BlackBerry's will have this capability --- but if playing movies and music is important to you, then the Treo 700p is the only choice in this department

Lastly - important to include that the Treo 700p also has a built in camera and a built in camcorder --- and the camcorder movies taken on the Treo are actually pretty good quality! --- the BlackBerry 8703 has no camera and no camcorder

6. SPEAKERPHONE

The Speakerphone on both phones is excellent and easy to use, with both being loud and clear

If speakerphone is your main buying point, then you couldn't go wrong with either phone

7. BLUETOOTH

Bluetooth is very solid on both phones

I've been especially pleased with the Treo 700p, whose BlueTooth capabilities are much more solid and stable than the old Treo 650p

The BlackBerry seems to have few problems connecting with my bluetooth headset and other devices ---- I would say that both phones boast great bluetooth capabilities

8. COMPUTER SYNCHRO

It's important to note that I have a MAC and I sync all my phones off of my Mac

For the Treo 700p, I use MarkSpace's Missing Sync, as Palm's software is terrible

For the BlackBerry, BB has launched free Mac-Syncing software, that can be found on their website

Syncing any smartphone off of a Mac is never an easy thing and I've not been too happy with the process

With that said, I'm pleased with MarkSpace's Missing Sync as, for the most part, the program does a good job of syncing my Treo's contacts and calendars, as well as doing photos and music --- unfortunately, the syncing process seems to take forever (usually at least 35 mins) but syncing once a week isn't a big deal

I was pleased with how well the BlackBerry synced to my Mac, however, none of the email addresses for my contacts have transferred --- so there are some kinks to work out, and it could be that I'm just not syncing it right

Main point - both phones sync fine with the Mac, but expect some minor probs --- however, for what its worth, I'm pretty satisified overall

9. MISC - (Text Messaging, System Stability, PDA Functions)

It is important to note that the BlackBerry is MUCH MORE stable than the Treo 700p --- I have had my BlackBerry shut down on me once in the last few months, whereas the Treo 700p probably shuts down once a week

So if stability is important, than the BlackBerry is the way to go

The calendar and address book functions of both phones are excellent, but I would say that the Treo 700p's PDA functions are a 'bit' better

Both phones are fine with text messaging, as well

--- CONCLUSION ---

If I could only use ONE of these phones, then I would definitely pick the Treo 700p --- the reasons why are because the multimedia functions very much impress me, as I like to store some pics and movies on there

In addition, the phone functions are easier to navigate and the touchscreen is something that I couldn't live without on a daily basis ---... Read more ›