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Trippin with my Treo 700w


Tue Aug 8, 2006 - 1:59 PM EDT - By Tim Hillebrand

Battery Life

By the way, after an hour or so of having my Treo 700w connected to a car charger, I noticed a message I had never seen on a Pocket PC screen before. It told me that the battery was too hot, and it suspended charging. I disconnected the car charger and ran another five hours on the Seidio extended life battery without a problem. I wonder how long I could go on that battery running GPS, but I have not tested its limits. On second thought, maybe it would have been a good idea to use the vent mount after all.

Seidio 2400mAh battery, $39.95, [Buy]

Car Charger, $19.95, [Buy]

Our hotel in Boise provided wireless Internet, but it drove me crazy continually requiring me to login. No problem. Boise is entirely lit up with Wi-Max, and I just happened to have my Moscow, Idaho, Wi-Max box with me. I plugged it in and connected a Wi-Flyer access point to it, instantly creating my own wireless network so that both my wife and I could work online. I could even be online in bed with my 700w Socket Wi-Fi card.

Wi-Max is available in selected cities.

WiFlyer access point, $149.95, [Info]

Socket Wi-Fi Card, $89.95, [Buy]

Boise is also an EV-DO service area, but it seemed to be disappointingly feeble and intermittent. Occasionally I would get a broadband connection, but not consistently, and it did not compare to the speed and stability of Wi-Fi. At my meetings, I used Wi-Fi when I wanted to get connected.

When I go to a meeting, I always do a quick survey of devices that people pack. I pitied the laptop luggers who were all jockeying for position near a few power outlets. Most everyone had a cell phone of one flavor or another. There was one Blackberry, and two Treo 700ws. The other 700w owner and I bonded instantly, and I discovered another use for the 700w while on the road: It will make you friends. If you can imagine, my new friend had never heard of TreoCentral. Well, she has now and has become a staunch convert.

When I pulled out my Stowaway Bluetooth keyboard, I instantly became the envy of everyone in the room, particularly those encumbered with laptops. I'm happy to report that there was plenty of battery life in the extended battery to keep me going all day from 8AM to 4PM with plenty left over for phone calls and cruising the Web. I had been concerned about this and packed an extra battery just in case, but never needed it. I also have a Stowaway Bluetooth Mouse, but a cat must have eaten it because I couldn't find it for this trip. While I haven't tested it yet on a 700w, it works with many other Pocket PCs, so I have no reason to doubt that it would work with a Treo 700w as well. If you haven't tried a mouse with your handheld, it's a nice surprise how convenient it makes screen navigation, especially in conjunction with a Bluetooth keyboard.

Stowaway Bluetooth Keyboard, $129.95, [Buy]

Before coming home, we decided to visit the Peregrine Fund's Birds of Prey world headquarters. I used GPS to get there and would probably have never found it without GPS. We also visited some friends who had moved to a new house with a circuitous path of approach, and again GPS and my little 700w saved the day.

One the way home, we decided to take an alternative byway through Oregon and Washington along the Hell's Canyon Wilderness Scenic Route. I'm happy to report that Co-Pilot did its job of routing us and kept us on course. Even when we made a few wrong turns, it quickly got us back on track. We received one traffic alert due to road construction.

THE WONDERS OF HIGH TECH ROAD TRIPS.

Here are some of the other ways I used my 700w on this trip:

I used it to find restaurants of certain types. For instance, one night we had a hankering for some Basque food and the 700w accommodated us with a quick query to Google with a text message. (SMS the word "help" to 46645 or GOOGL to see what it can do for you).
We also located a bookstore, a hotspot, a gas station, and a Wal-Mart using the 700w.
We looked up some movies, but did not have time for them.
I also used the 700w to look up TV listings for a couple of our favorite programs.
I read my local newspaper online, looked up words in the dictionary, and found needed information online.
I even started reading a new novel that I downloaded from directly into the device.
I used my subscription to Express 1 to check on my portfolio and make a couple of adjustments online.

Express 1 Year Subscription for Pocket PC, $69.96 [Buy]

I made a couple of action item voice notations on the road using the voice recording feature.

To pack my peripherals, I use a Podzilla accessory bag that comes in four colors and has 20 pockets to stow stuff. For easy access and to save space inside the Podzilla, I attached a Krusell black leather case firmly on the backside. The Krusell case has two SD card pocketsone for my GPS card and one for my Wi-Fi card. I must say, though, that the Krusell case is difficult to close when loaded with the two extra SD cards.

Podzilla case, $69.95, [Buy]

Krusell case, $34.95, [Buy]

Conclusion

I am pleased to report that the 700w got us to our destination and back safely and efficiently (GPS). We were able to communicate along the way (phone/Wi-Fi) and record some thoughts and (impressionistic) visual highlights (camera). I used it as a word processor, a research librarian, and recorded financial transactions on it. I constantly called on its PIM functionality, and used it to entertain me with eBooks, music, and games. It even proved useful for making friends and for making a little money on the stock market. What more could you ask of a faithful pocket companion?

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