One week review of palmOne’s Handspring Treo 600

This review is slanted because I’m comparing my experience with the Treo 300 to the new Treo 600. I liked the Treo 300 for what it is, a PDA with an embedded phone. However, I love the Treo 600 for what it is, a phone with an embedded PDA.
The Treo 600 is intuitive. Its functions are easy to access and use.
-The new 5-way navigation adds to that easy of use. It is so useful; I’m amazed it wasn’t included on the Treo 300.
-The screen is backlit so well that you can view it in direct sunlight.
-The appearance of its size is more phone-like. It even has a thinner and shorter profile than many flip phones.
-Battery life is much improved. Normal usage without recharging during the day hasn’t drained the battery to the halfway mark. Normal usage is a few phone calls totalling an hour or so talk time, internet access thru out the day, playing games when bored, text messaging, taking pictures to play around, IMing etc.
-New Palm OS 5.2 is more stable.
-Internet access is twice as fast as dial-up.
-New keypad layout needs about a day to get used to, but once you are used to it, it works well.
-The device is highly customizable without the need for third party software.
-It can communicate in every from of electronic communication type available: Voice; SMS (full functionality requires TreoSMS600 on SprintPCS version); AOL, Yahoo, MSN and ICQ IM chat (with VeriChat); fully fuctional Internet; IR beaming of course; and can even send Faxes (using free Adobe Acrobat software). Additionally, Blue Tooth and Wi-Fi SD cards will likely be compatible with the Treo 600 shorty to add even more avenues to the internet in addition to PCS.
Ok, ok, I’m getting tired of listing thangs about the Treo 600. Just take my word for it, the list of qualities and thangs this device can do is at least 5 times longer than what I’ve included here. It’s a great, intuitive, flexible, and powerful tool that eliminates the need to carry around multiple devices, all in a relatively small package.

Essential Software for your Treo 600

To get the most out of your Treo 600, these additional software packages are necessary.

Adobe Acrobat Reader for Palm OS : Enables your device to view PDF files. The package also has a program that allows you to print from several programs to a fax machine, among other things.

pTunes or Pocket Tunes: Plays MP3 files from SD Cards. You can install various skins to change its look too.

QuickOffice : Open, view and edit Word, PowerPoint and Excel native formats.

Snappermail : POP3 email software that handles file attachments. This software package also includes a program for handling and creating ZIP files.

TreoSMS600 : For SprintPCS Treo 600 only, this allows full SMS functionality. Why does Sprint not allow this without third party software right now? I dunno. But given the fact that SprintPCS's CDMA network has twice the speed of GSM networks of the other carriers, I don't mind too much.

VeriChat : Enables you to chat on AOL, Yahoo, MSN and ICQ instant messaging all at once. It also allows you to keep these IM sessions open on standby 24/7.

Update on another cool program:

Skinner 2.0: Let's you change your dialpad and favorites screens with different skins.

Trouble with CDs and online music alike!

The people who are geared to selling music CDs just do not seem to understand that consumers' buying habits are changing rapidly.   Additionally, it is pretty obvious that CDs are way over priced. Too many customers have seen DVD movies (which have millions of dollars in production costs) selling for less than the average mundane CD (which often have production costs less than $100,000). How long do recording companies think they could hold their prices so high?!

The prices for music online are just as ridiculous! One dollar per song is just too much! At that price, the average albums would cost $8 to $15. There's no manufacturing cost to justify this price! This is just as high as the CDs!!! wtf??

The whole recording industry is lost right now. Here's my advice:

• Music CD's in the store should sell for $4.99 to $6.99, depending on the artist, quality, and number of songs on the CD. CDs will eventually be replaced anyway with online music anyway.
• Online music should sell for 15 to 50 cents per song, again depending on the artist and quality.

That's it.

49ers kick Cardinal ass

What a great game to watch in person! I'm glad this is the game I took my dad to see. Damn, it was fun to be a fan! 50 to 14. At some points, you'd almost forget that the Cardinals were on the field! Ouch! LOL Woohoo!0

49ers Game and this Turkey Day

I'm taking my dad and my g/f to a 49er's game at Candlestick againt the Cardinals on the 7th. This is the first time either of them will be at a football game, let alone a 49ers game. This is going to be fun. We have good seats in the lower reserve. this is under the overhang, so we don't get wet in case of rain. I'm working on getting prepaid parking pass too, to make the endeavor even more enjoyable by not having to worry so much about parking and getting in some good tailgating. :)
This Turkey Day was interesting. I met my g/f's parents on Thurdays. That worked out pretty good. But then I took my g/f to my parents place for Friday and Sat. Well, my mom likes my g/f now. Damn, poor thang, she got her ear talked off by my mom. lol

Bad Santa

Bad Santa is a great movie. Gross, funny, good twist ending (though traditional), lots of laughs that don't depend too much on sight gags, and enduring. To paraphrase once critic, once you watch this movie, you'll never believe in Santa Claus again. lol