TREO 100wx Cell Phone

Rating: **** (4 Stars)

Pros:
It's like my mini computer
Voice command is extensive
Emails while we're on the road
I can play my music on it
SD Card is swappable to other toys

Cons:
Sometimes it takes two tries to dial out
Call swap doesn't hang up other line
Headphone jack isn't universal
Text, email, photo plan is overpriced


I love my Treo 700wx, it's like my own mini computer. It's got Windows, which you all can dog if you want to, but I am personally satisfied with Windows and for the Treo, it's loads better than Palm OS, which is like Windows' dimwitted little brother.

Sure I have some problems with my Treo, but they're minimal to the benefits that this little handheld provides. I love my Treo.

First of all, the voice command is extensive. I can call up my contacts, play music, access my calender and practically microwave dinner with this tool. "Call Craig Kennedy Mobile," I say while on the ski lift if I've lost my sweetie somewhere in that last powder stash. And I don't have to squeeze my Razor into my helmet, and freeze my hand off while doing so. I have the standard provided headphone set wired into my helmet, and all I have to do is press the button next to my cheek and talk. With my mitten on, mind you. All this while playing my music, pausing it to call, and then having it automatically start again. Brilliant.

I really needn't go on after that, but I will. Getting emails on the road with this tool is great, it's like a Blackberry, but better. Because as I've said, it also plays my music. I've got a 1gb SD card in the slot, and have dragged my music over from iTunes. "Play artist Dave Matthews," I tell my Treo, and she plays. Fabulous.

But if I run out of room on my Canon Powershot while on safari in Tanzania, I can swap out my SD cards. In fact, I try not to buy equipment that doesn't use SD cards.

Gosh, what else? I've downloaded Sudoku for it, and play solitaire on it daily. I purchased a Bluetooth keyboard for it and type my travel writing, emails, or spreadsheets while on the road, eliminating the need for a laptop if on a short trip, using Windows Word and Excel Mobile.

The internet is also a prize, seeing as addicted to it as I am. If I need to quickly look something up, it's literally at my finger tips. All these programs can be run at the same time, without slowing the system down too much either, a complaint I heard about prior to buying my Treo, and have had no problems with upon owning it. Every now and then it helps to stop running the programs, which is a bit of a downside, having to scroll through several screens to find the window to do so.

There are a few other downsides to the Treo as well. The one that bugs me royally is that sometimes when I dial, it just sits there, and then hangs up. Upon the second dial it works, but I always wonder if someone has heard me on the other end, bitching at the phone's ineptitude.

The outdated call swap feature is also a bummer. You can pick up one call no problem, swap back to the other call as well, but it won't hang up one of the calls at a time. You hit "end" and it ends them both. Stupid.

The headphone jack pissed me off at the get-go as well, as if I wanted to plug the phone into my car stereos to listen to music and use it as an iPod, I had to buy an additional jack adjuster, which diminshed the quality of the music considerably. If I have my iPod plugged into my car, I can't usually hear my phone ring because the music's so loud, so having the phone do both things for me was a plus. But the jack adjuster was a mere $5, and once I realized how to improve the quality of the MP3's I have on there, it plays fine.

Last, the plan. They get you with this one, at least on Verizon, which I have to use up here in the mountains. $25 per month for only 10gb of emails and photos, or $49 per month for unlimited. And the $10 unlimited texts is separate. That's high priced to me, but unless we're on the road, I don't use more than 10gb, so I only change it to unlimited when we're traveling for a longer period.

Other than those few cons, this phone rocks for my lifestyle, no question.