My Treo680 – the first week

I admit I have been sweating a bit trying to troubleshoot mysterious soft reset loops – the thing will keep looping and only a hard reset will stop the torture. Error logs show a strange “Carrier Config Manager” crash. Initially I thought it might be some software imcompatibility and I slowly I eliminated all – and pinned it down to a hardware issue. It was my Sim card! I use a multi-Sim (Magic Sim) and since switching to a regular Sim card, all is well. The Treo is very stable and only a few rogue apps crash it. The generous DBCache Ram (24MB) also helps alot with stability.
As a phone – the most important basic function – it works well. Now with 66 MB Ram, you can really load it up with alot of utilities to help you manage phone calls. As a hospitalist, one may have the need to recall phone calls from hospital (on a busy day I may have like 30 calls from hospital) so a utility like CallRec or RecorderX for the Treo680 which can automatically record phone calls is very handy indeed.
Data backup is crucial – especially my contact backup. I have found that a freebie called NV Backup does perfect backup and restores, but the caveat is that it will work only for one machine – which means you cannot restore on another Treo which suits me fine as far as privacy and security is concerned.
My initial concerns about battery life have been allayed with the early release of the camera patch by Palm. Kudos for their prompt response. The battery will easily take me thru a fairly busy day with depletion about 5% an hour of PIM & PDA, phone calls, SMS use. On standby I think the drop off rate is like 1-2% per hour.

My verdict so far is that the Treo 680 is a great PDA for doctors. You have tons of Ram now and it has a nicer looking form factor. Maintenance is easy compared to WM machines. All the usual medical software which work for the Treo 650 will work on the Treo 680. In my hospital alone, about 20 colleagues have bought or are planning to buy a Treo 680!

General/PDA

Comments (5)

  1. I agree – the treo 680 is the best compromise for hospital doctors. It combines speed and reliability with ease of use. I have helped set up 12 of them since release only a month ago, with only one confirmed hardware fault to date. I can’t say the same for the XDA Atom users who still endure random crashes, slowdowns and data loss, all in the name of vanity!( since most of these users insist on them because they like the “look” of the device, or insist WiFi is an absolute must)

    I personally use Resco Backup rather than NV backup – it’s very reliable and the creators are keen to listen to feedback to fix it.

  2. I would be interested in MD’s experiences with text messaging/SMS versus old fashioned pagers.

    I finally got our answering service in the past month to text message me, and I got rid of my page (GOOD BYE!).

    What a relief-I carry a Palm TX, and a SLVR L2 and receive text messages on my SLVR L2.

    Compared to a pager, it’s much easier to read, allows “call back” without redialing, and I can forward text messages from the phone.

    It took forever to get the answering service to change (teenagers have been text messaging for years), but it was worth it!

  4. An interesting article would be pager alternatives (I’d write one if I had the time). I’ve diagnosed “pager paralysis” in several of my colleagues-a general loathing of pager’s, but a fear of changing to a new system and the headaches involved in new technology.

    My SLVR L2 allows for “almost” push email. With Yahoo mail, you’ll be notified of new email throughout the day. I believe the system works by downloading new email every few minutes-you don’t get instant notification of new email.

    And, of course, you can IM from any desktop computer to many IM empowered cellphones.

    You save money by not renting/buying your pager, and the range of a cellphone is unlimited, unlike many pagers.

    S.Kirk,MD, Massachusetts, USA

  5. Not only that, I’ve experienced paging delays with my ex-pager company – the main reason for ditching them and just sticking with a cellphone.

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