Customer Reviews

Palm Cradle Kit for Palm Treo 650, 680, 700, 750

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I was pleasantly suprised to find that this cradle came with not only the charger and USB sync cable that you can use separately, but it also came with the travel adapters for foreign countries!

The cradle has a separate compartment for charging an additional battery.

I hooked everything up and hotsynced without issue.

Just like the cradle for the older Treo 600, this one allows you to see what's on the screen and use it upright as upposed to laying it flat. It makes speakerphone calls bearable and also makes it easy to use your palm apps while using a headset and charging at the same time.

Amazon's price is much better than Palm's direct price at about forty bucks.

As others have described in reviews on Amazon over the past several weeks, there is a bad batch of these cradles floating around at Amazon. I ordered two, and both are DOA, although the sync function works fine if you connect the Treo 650 directly to the USB cable. Both of the defective cradles I received are stamped "REV B 0525". I bought one at CompUSA stamped "REV B 0529", and it works perfectly. Amazon needs to inspect the stock of this item in its warehouse and return the bad ones to the manufacturer.

How can palmOne design the best damn smartphone on the planet, yet keep coming up short with just about every accessory that they've produced for it? This docking cradle is yet another case in point.

Want to charge your Treo 650 in its case? Not with this cradle you don't. However, if you want to synch or charge your phone six feet away from your computer, the cable on this puppy has you covered! And the total package is particularly appealing for secret agents and globe-trotting celebrities who need to carry a half-dozen or so voltage adapters around, just in case.

I will admit that the spare battery charger is nice to have -- if you have a spare battery. Which I don't.

Which brings me to the recently released and identically priced Seidio INNOdock cradle. For some reason this third-party manufacturer does Treo 650 accessories better than palmOne.

One -- count it -- one USB cable (reasonably shorter, too) that when plugged into your desktop or notebook recharges and synchs your data from a single source. And if you happen to use the Seidio Shield holster or a similar case which seats the phone with the screen facing in, you can tuck them both into the cradle at night together.

But wait, there's more! Like many Seidio devices there is a nice bonus feature ... a standard 3.5mm headphone jack in the cradle that allows you to listen to your tunes or watch a video while your phone is replenishing its vital juices.

Unfortunately, neither the Seidio cradle or holster is available on A yet. If you can't wait, most of the websites and blogs that have sprung up to preach the gospel of the Treo 650 have an online store that can hook you up. Just Google it.

So, um, I guess they're improving Quality Control, right?

A charging/synching cradle is absolutely neccessary for a Treo- the nice bright screen eats batteries FAST, as does an active internet connection. I leave mine charging most of the time that I'm in the office, and with it in the cradle, I can easily grab it if the phone rings-not as easy with it plugged in.

I returned my first cradle after a month, thinking I had just drawn the unlucky dud. My second one conked out after a few months. Same symptom for both- would not reliably synch. Usually I can get it to work if I jiggle everything just so, but it is quickly getting to the point where that doesnt work EVER.

I have a third party cradle coming in the mail. Keeping my fingers crossed!

I enjoy the Treo 650 a good deal. This cradle, however, is junk. It's already in the trash...I'm not even bothering to return it.

I just don't understand product designers. They obviously don't use the products themselves, or they would never make them so badly. This doesn't have any weight to it, despite the fact that the connector is a very snug fit. This means that docking or undocking the Treo is always a 2-handed operation...which is simply inexcusable.

Also, the sync capability works about half the time. I've even switched out cables. It's just garbage. Don't buy it. I just bought the Seidio Innodock instead. It's also a 2-handed job (hate that), and the sync button is so small and takes so much pressure to depress that even THAT is a 2-handed operation. But at least it syncs when you hit it.

VERY SAD. People who design products should be forced to use them for 60 days before they are released to an unsuspecting public.

Opened the box, plugged it in, didn't work. No light on cradle, didn't charge my Treo. What a big waste of time. Next time I'm going to trust the low ratings from other reviewers.

As you'll see in the other customer reviews on this product, I share the same pain... This should have been tested before Palm released this item - it simply doesn't work. (I won't even bother selling the item online because I would feel terrible for the buyer). DO NOT PURCHASE THIS CRADLE.

I have to return it for a refund because I cannot Sync by pressing the button on the dock, but if I use the cable by itself, then it works fine. Also, it is not easy for me to remove the Treo from the dock.

I love this docking station. It charges and syncs at once, and has a drawer for charging an extra battery (which I haven't used.)
Much easier than plugging in the sync cable that comes with the Treo.

The PalmOne Docking Cradle works great but it takes some force and two hands to get it in and out of the docking cradle. It's more of a Palm Treo design problem when it comes to the complicated connection.