Treo Smartphones

[David Toner]

Just curious if anyone is using any of the Palm Treo smartphones while chasing. If so do any of you all have any suggestions for programs that might be useful.

This is my first season using my Treo 650 and I must say I've been impressed. And that's only using the wireless internet.

 

[Jeff Snyder]

Just curious if anyone is using any of the Palm Treo smartphones while chasing. If so do any of you all have any suggestions for programs that might be useful.

This is my first season using my Treo 650 and I must say I've been impressed. And that's only using the wireless internet.
[/b]

I have a WAP webpage with SPC outlooks, mesoanalysis graphics, storm reports, MCD text, WW text, etc, that works nicely on my smartphone (Moto MPx220) --> http://wap.tornadocentral.com/spc.wml

No specific experience w/ the Treo though...

 

[Alex Fisher]

I have a Cingular 8125 (HTC Wizard) Smartphone with Windows Mobile 5. I'm still desperately trying to find a decent radar viewer for it that will show storm info, meso rings, hail, TVS, etc. but so far I've had no luck. I would give anything to get a working Windows Mobile 5 version of GR Level 3 or something similar. Unfortunately, my programming skills arent up to par. Oh well, maybe something will come out soon.

 

[Josh Morgerman]

I just got a T-Mobile MDA, which has full HTML (i.e., not WAP) Internet browsing.

I have had it a few weeks, and so far I'm very pleased with its design and functions. I can get on the Web via GPRS from anywhere (or via WiFi from hot spots), go onto radar sites, blog from it, open PDFs, read/edit Word documents, etc. Of course, it's a mobile phone and camera, too. And given all this, it's surprisingly small and portable-- like, I have no problem holding it up to my ear for a long conversation.

I expect it will add a lot to my hurricane-chasing activities this year, both in terms of better information/communication access and just-plain convenience.

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I considered the Treo products-- they come highly recommended and are nicely designed-- but in the end, I wanted a Windows operating system. I'm just much more comfortable with that platform. But it sounds like you're very happy with your Treo.

 

[Edward Ballou]

Hey Josh, I have a Treo 650 and I use my bluetooth dialup networking to surf on my computer. There are a lot of problems with connecting and staying paired with the device. Also, it seems to drop your data call to recieve a phone call - which is kind of retarded IMHO.

I finally worked out a process to reconnect it but it still takes two or three minutes to do and is incredibly unsafe to do while you're driving. I always have to pull over.

 

[Billy Mason]

My experience using the Treo650 and DUN has been great. It did take some time to get it set up and working properly, but after that... beats having to find WiFi spots.

 

[John Erwin]

Just curious if anyone is using any of the Palm Treo smartphones while chasing. If so do any of you all have any suggestions for programs that might be useful.[/b]

David,

Congrats on the phone, I love mine! I would highly recommend getting "PdaNet" for the Treo 650, it makes connections a breeze using the supplied USB cable or bluetooth. You can read about it here: Treonauts: PdaNet for Treo 650

I haven't experienced the problems reported by someone else here regarding dropped calls; callers get a busy signal with me.. but this may depend on the carrier or possibly settings.

I use a wilson exterior antenna with mine, highly recommended for any cell phone.

I have a WAP webpage with SPC outlooks, mesoanalysis graphics, storm reports, MCD text, WW text, etc, that works nicely on my smartphone (Moto MPx220) --> http://wap.tornadocentral.com/spc.wml

No specific experience w/ the Treo though...
[/b]

Just tried it Jeff, looks great!

 

[Josh Morgerman]

I have a WAP webpage with SPC outlooks, mesoanalysis graphics, storm reports, MCD text, WW text, etc, that works nicely on my smartphone (Moto MPx220) --> http://wap.tornadocentral.com/spc.wml
[/b]

Hey Jeff, I missed this entry until I saw John comment on it (above). I checked out your WAP site, too. It's very cool. I dig the clean, utilitarian design and efficient content organization. The site is usable and efficient, and the graphics load fast on a standard GPRS connection-- very important for WAP sites. Nice!

 

[Steve Miller]

I too carry the Treo 650 and have found pages like Jeff's to be the absolute best tool for use while chasing.
Applications and accessories that are palm based tend to be a little slow and difficult to use in a chase setting so web-based info is 100% of what I use mine for while on the road.

Nice page Jeff...

 

[Jeff Snyder]

I forgot that I started working on this page more than a year ago, but I worked on it some more this afternoon... Here's a page with links to current conditions (surface obs, visible satellite, profilers, radar, and soundings) --> http://wap.tornadocentral.com/current.wml ... Right now, the radar and soundings don't work, but the rest of it should. I've had to make individual pages for each image, otherwise some providers and phones tend to automatically resize and/or convert to black-white images that are accessed directly (i.e. if I had just linked to blah.gif). Embedding the image in a wml/WAP page lets me make sure it stays full-size and in color, though that also means a lot more work.

 

[Wayne Sclesky]

I too have been looking at the Treo 650. Does anyone have any first hand experience with providers and the best overall network coverage? I have sprint, but as soon as I get off the interstate I am out of luck. I have been looking at Cingular...any of you with the treo use cingular? I want to get something fairly soon. Thank you for your input.

 

[Hank Baker]

I use the treo 650, Love PDA net I use it as a modem for my laptop on the road, have cingular wireles. While hooked to the internet if someone calls you , you have to use the ignore the caller option, that will keep you from having any problems.

 

[Patrick Ware]

I use the TREO650 along with PDA Net PDA NET WEBSITE to connect to my Dell XPS computer and download internet packets. It works very well and with the plan I have, I have unlimited data. I use the USB because it has a higher connection speed than BT.

The TREO 650 is a great device.

 

[Bart_Comstock]

I have had the worst luck with my 650. The first one I got was a lemon, the second one I got needed the sim card holder replaced and had great signal streagth, but dropped call every 30 seconds and shut its self off with the slightest tap, even putting it in your pocket would cause the sim card to come loose and power down the phone. The 3rd one I got would drop calls and has a serious antenna issue and will not get a signal unless I have it pluged into my hi-gain antenna on my chase vehicle making it virtualy useless outside of my car. Everyone I know has had great luck with theirs, but I am fed up. As soon as I am avalible to get an upgrade, I am ditchig the treo and getting a differnt smart phone. Has anyone esle had the same problems I have?

 

[Edward Ballou]

I have had the worst luck with my 650. The first one I got was a lemon, the second one I got needed the sim card holder replaced and had great signal streagth, but dropped call every 30 seconds and shut its self off with the slightest tap, even putting it in your pocket would cause the sim card to come loose and power down the phone. The 3rd one I got would drop calls and has a serious antenna issue and will not get a signal unless I have it pluged into my hi-gain antenna on my chase vehicle making it virtualy useless outside of my car. Everyone I know has had great luck with theirs, but I am fed up. As soon as I am avalible to get an upgrade, I am ditchig the treo and getting a differnt smart phone. Has anyone esle had the same problems I have?
[/b]

I've never had these sim card issues. I do lose connection when I'm out chasing sometimes. Have you ran the upgrades available through palmOne? This solved a lot of issues for me.