Palm Treo v. iPhone 3G. And the winner is …

By Tony Pantano

So, let me first say that the first and only Apple product that I would concede to owning was an iPod. Once I got over my initial "Oh, my God I bought an Apple product" shock, I began to realize that they really had put together a nice interface. This was the beginning of my journey to the dark side.

When the first iPhone came out, the hype was just too much for me to take. Thank you very much, but I would just keep my Palm Treo 680. Palm was not my first choice. My previous phone ran Windows Mobile , but it was an older version. It was slow and had some bugs, so I was talked into buying the Treo.

Fast Forward two years and the only way I can describe my feeling for the Treo is complete disdain. It's an awful piece of technology and would be better under the tire of my car than in my pocket, pretending to be a phone (and a "smartphone" at that.)

Frequent reboots, dropped calls, not ringing when calls would come in … you name it. Along comes the iPhone 3G. I took another look at my iPod and thought, "How bad could this be?" I went to the AT&T store to look at the iPhone demo and thought, "I'm going to hate this." I wandered over to the AT&T Tilt display and considered going back to Windows Mobile. I read the reviews and even had a friend stop by my office to let me see her iPhone in action. "I'm going to hate this," I thought again, but what the heck, I can always get a new phone if this one sucks, right? So I ordered a 16GB, black, iPhone 3G.

This was two weeks ago and all I can say is: My journey to the dark side is now complete.

The iPhone is frankly the best phone I have ever owned. Let me give you a few reasons why:

1. Phone: As a phone, the iPhone doesn't drop calls like the Treo did. The calls are clear and best of all it actually rings when a call comes in. I know what you're saying, "A phone should do that." Well I agree. But it was hit or miss with the Treo.
2. E-mail: I use Exchange for work. In order to use Exchange in push mode on the Treo my provider had me install GoodLink. Once I did this, the Treo was never the same. E-mail was OK, but the additional software caused all sorts of problems. On the iPhone, Exchange was a breeze to setup. It took about three minutes, tops, and that was only because I wasn't used to the touch screen yet. The ActiveSync with Exchange has been flawless and seamless.
3. Contacts: This really goes along with No. 2 except that the Palm version of the contact screen gets replaced when you install GoodLink contacts and simple things like custom ringtones for contacts goes away. Also, there are many more fields for data on the iPhone than on the Treo.
4. Web browsing: I use my phone quite a bit for work and having the Web available isn't just a luxury, it's a necessity. The browser on the Palm was slow and completely dysfunctional. In fact, I just stopped using it, rather than beat my head against the wall. The Web on the iPhone is, well, it's the Web. I can login to most sites, though it doesn't support Flash yet.
5. Screen: Do I really have to say it? Just look at picture of the two phones. The iPhone's screen is huge compared the Treo and the resolution is awesome.
6. iPod: No more carrying my phone and my iPod when I travel. I know I only have 16GB on the phone, but really I just need some tunes and a movie or two to get me through the flight. One device is much better than two, right?
7. Bluetooth: I think it's a travesty that Treo claims to have Bluetooth support. It was a horrible implementation and often would not sync in my car or worse, wouldn't "un-sync" when I left the car. So once again, I just disabled it. On the iPhone, I didn't even have to set anything up. I just turned it on and it syncs every time. Works like a dream.

Oh, and I have two words for you: App Store.

If there is anything you need/want that doesn't come with iPhone, it's more than likely that you will be able to find it in the App Store. Mixed in among all the time-wasters like Bubble Wrap and Scribble, there are some real gems -- like TypePad . And I haven't even scratched the surface on this yet.

I will say that the battery life on the iPhone is short. Mine lasts about a day. For me, I was used to charging my Treo every night, so this is no better, no worse for me. But if you charge your phone once a week, then this may be a pain for you. Also, the keyboard does take some getting used to, but if you can manage the Treo you will get the hang of the iPhone touch screen pretty quickly.

My journey to the dark side is indeed complete.

I am now a huge fan of the iPhone and take the opportunity to show it off when I can.

As for my Treo, if you happen to be in York, PA and see one smashed in the middle of either Interstate 83 or Route 30, it's probably mine. Please feel free to run over it again ;-)

Tony Pantano is chief executive officer of imwave, an Internet marketing company based in York, PA.

1. Apple
2. iPod
3. iPhone
4. Palm Treo
5. Apple App Store
6. TypePad
7. Exchange

post originally appeared on The Central Penn Businesss Journal Blog "the Gadget cube"

Comments

[NSG]

I couldn't agree more!! I'm not an Apple fan either, but this phone is about the most transformational device I have owned in a while (since the TiVO)

One important point is - it's not that the iPhone has any single unique feature, it's that all the features other phones claim to have are actually usable and functional on this phone.