AT&T Renewal, New Treo 750

Just yesterday I made the ultimate decision to sign on for another 2 year contract with AT&T and ended up getting a very nice discount on a brand new Palm Treo 750! Even though I already had a 750 model at the time, it was a refurbished model that was Cingular-branded and did not have a camera. In the midst of this opportunity to get a brand new device of my choosing I then found out just how limited my choices would be. In addition to my voice plan I also have a PDA Personal unlimited data plan bundled with 1500 messages for $40 a month. This data package made its debut with the introduction of the AT&T Tilt and I was so lucky to get it. After my two escapades with the iPhone plan I then switched back to this $40 data plan when it happened to still be in existence and have not changed since then. With the security of unlimited internet and 1500 messages I can freely surf the web and text and MMS to my heart's content with absolutely NO worry of any kind of overage charges! I learned yesterday that if I were to take this plan off of my account it would be permanently gone for good, and the comparable plan would be about $10 more...no thanks!! Being that this data plan is strictly for PDA phones I was stuck with the following models: Samsung BlackJack II, Motorola Q9, Palm Treo 750, AT&T Tilt, Palm Treo 680 and Palm Centro.

After a few brief moments of thought the choice was simply clear in the Treo 750 due to its portable size, reliable qwerty performance and powerful Windows Mobile 6 Professional OS...and the extra camera didn't hurt either. I spent the night after class updating the WM5 OS to WM6 and then began the Mac sync ritual with bluetooth as usual. Luckily all of my crucial apps were already stored on a microSD card with over 3GB of WMA music files, so after installing CAB files I was set to go full speed ahead. The old Cingular-branded 750 will remain in my arsenal as a back-up unless I can sell it for a good price. What I am loving right now about the Treo 750 is its no nonsense approach to flawless functionality as a smartphone, a 3G smartphone! Sure, it doesn't have all the sought after features in a modern day tech toy, but it WORKS without question and keeps on pushing through the day.

I think that a lot of this has to be to the benefit of having a branded device with AT&T. It was not too long ago that I would look at a branded GSM phone and immediately pass judgment for no good reason, and quite honestly I was a conceited know-it-all. No one could be on the same level as I with my collection of unlocked devices from overseas ranging from the Sony Ericsson M600 to the Nokia E90. I really got caught up in using my phone as a status symbol as if I were better than everybody else for carrying a model that no one else seemed to have. This also emerged in my acquisition of tech toys over the years...being the first one with the bleeding edge device was always a rush of euphoria for me as others around me would look on in amazement. Quite frankly there is a part of me that still gets into that, but I am trying to keep my tech hubris in check as much as possible. Showing off gadgets has never been good for anyone, but yet I have already been nicknamed "Go-Go Gadget" by a couple classmates at ECPI. Sometimes this kind of thing isn't always from my own intentions but from coincidence. One can't help but be noticed when they're reading on an Amazon Kindle on break time.

Anyway, my obsession with unlocked smartphones often got me into some tight situations, especially in regards to troubleshooting technical problems. While the average person with a locked device goes through no hassle as certain service settings are automatically uploaded to the device, this was not always the case for me. Sony Ericsson was a godsend with its support site which forwarded the appropriate carrier settings to your number via SMS and Nokia devices were good about getting the information via the SIM. But believe it or not, it was unlocked devices on the Windows Mobile OS that would give me the most difficulty. I have spent quite a few times on Google in search of settings for this and settings for that, and actually navigating the interface to input this stuff was another part of the battle!! Though I had the privilege of enjoying advanced features in extraordinary handset models, there was sometimes a compromise...like the unstable reception of a tri-band or the cheated web performance/inactive elements on something not optimized for American 3G. While it has been great to have these impressive models they did sometimes become a nuisance in my daily productivity from dropped calls to incompatible Mac syncing software. My last experience with this sort of thing occurred with the tri-band Samsung i780 optimized for only International 3G. After numerous failed attempts in setting up MMS and some network connection issues I soon overlooked its slim design and trackpad mouse d-pad and went back to the trusty and locked Treo 750. For right now I guess I have just run out of patience in having to tailor these unlocked gadgets to work on my terms. I probably just need a break from the monotonous feature-laden releases that always promise to be the next generation but only end up being a wasteful disappointment or just an outright iPhone wannabe flop!

In the meantime as I have said before, simplicity is good.

TRENT
Sent from my Treo 750