No more PalmOS...buy me a smartphone!

January 9, 2009 1:28 PM

I'm done with my Treo 700p and I want to move on to a non PalmOS smartphone. I want to get a phone without having to get a data plan, but be able to sync up with Gcal ideally.

My 700p has been a nightmare... innumerable crashes, hot-syncing with data disappearing, etc. IT is going to the trash. I have been using PalmOS products since the original US Robotics PalmPilot. I'd love to have an all-in-one phone and PIM and ideally I'd like for it to be GCal. EssentialPIM would be nice too. I am not familiar with any others.

I do not desire to text, email, or web-surf with my phone and I'd like to keep my existing phone plan (i.e., not get a data plan) Help me duplicate CONTACTS, DATEBOOK, TASKS, and MEMOS with a non-Palm smartphone that I can locally (USB or bluetooth) *hotsync* with my data.

Alltel is my carrier.

posted by teg4rvn to technology (5 comments total)

I don't know what Alltel has to offer, but if you have a copy of outlook and Google's outlook<>google calendar sync, you could use a windows mobile based phone. Gcal and outlook will sync, then MS ActiveSync will connect your phone via USB or Bluetooth to Outlook.
posted by JuiceBoxHero at 2:06 PM on January 9

Not sure about US -wise but I have successfully used a combo of gcal and nuevasync with a windows mobile based smartphone, with over the air sync, on a o2 xda orbit II, similar to a HTC something or other. or alternatively a bog standard phone, using a java based applet which syncs with gcal also, oggsync i think. generally i would avoid windows mobile smartphones. they blow goats. maybe the new palm pre? you will still need to use data to sync to gcal, but not a vast amount.
posted by spyke23 at 2:10 PM on January 9

Alltel is now Verizon, correct?

I'd guess you should be looking at the various blackberry family offerings that Verizon provides.
posted by Oktober at 2:23 PM on January 9

Help me duplicate CONTACTS, DATEBOOK, TASKS, and MEMOS with a non-Palm smartphone that I can locally (USB or bluetooth) *hotsync* with my data.

From what I've seen and worked on, it's really difficult to migrate all this data easily.

I'm a really old Palm user myself, still using a Tungsten + Palm Desktop. I skipped the Treo, the Centro and just did PP + phone.

If Palm doesn't do it with this new Pre then it's adios forever. I guess I'm suggesting that you check that out as one final option.
posted by ezekieldas at 7:23 PM on January 9

I got a good deal on a 700w: It functions fine: I spent most of the spring break trying to find SOME way of making it almost as usable as the 650 I'm replacing it with, but as spyke23 so eloquently points out above, WinMob blows goats if you actually want to use the PIM functionality.

As far as hotsyncing data without a plan, I don't know what to tell you. The iPhone will function and update just using WiFi, and (IIRC) you can use it without a data plan, but it's not going to be happy about it. I think, if you're using a CDMA carrier, you might be out of luck on Symbian, so I guess that leaves BlackBerry, as above, though I don't know how data synchronization over cable would work for that.
posted by Orb2069 at 11:04 PM on January 9