I traded in my trusty Treo 650 this week for the new Sprint Motorola Q. Ever since the Q came out I have lusted over its’ thin form factor and sleek lines. After spending a few days with it, I’m pretty pleased overall, though there are a couple of things I’d like to be able to change.
First off, it took a little time to get used to the lack of touch screen. In the end I think it’s a welcome change. I never used the Treo’s touch screen that much… except to answer calls and hang up. I like the Q’s Blackberry-like scroll wheel on the side. It seems to make a little better sense for me, and hey… no stylus to lose!
At first, a lighter phone felt kind of cheap in my hand, mostly when pressing the left and right soft keys. Only when I began using it for phone calls did I like the lighter phone. It felt like I didn’t even have it up to my ear.
My only real gripe is Windows Mobile 5’s e-mail functionality. ActiveSync works great with my work e-mail and calendar, but it doesn’t display HTML e-mail in that inbox or in my personal e-mail account. As far as personal e-mail goes, I originally set it up as an IMAP4 account, which worked like total crap. Deleting messages on the phone did not delete them from the server, which meant that the very next time the phone grabbed e-mail off that server, those deleted messages would come right back. Frustrating, as you can well imagine. I switched my personal account to POP3, which fixed the deletion problem, but I like the added security of IMAP because that way, if I really didn’t want to delete the message, at least I can pull it out of the trash can when I get on my e-mail client at home. Looks like there’s a great third party e-mail client called FlexMail 2007 that will take care of all my e-mail gripes, but a version that’s compatible with Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone Edition is not available yet.
I’ve enhanced the software offerings with the following trials, all of which I’m enjoying so far:
This pretty much replaces all the Palm apps I loved on my Treo with exception of a database program. However, I’m thinking that ListPro may be a suitable alternative for the types of databases I carried around (wines I liked, etc.).
And, I’ve thrown on the following mobile traffic applications:
- Google Maps Mobile
- Windows Live Search - This will actually be an awesome application once they expand the cities it covers, but for now… no use to me.
- Virtual Earth Mobile - Also pretty damn cool, but kind of crashy.
I’m looking forward to being able to test any of the traffic applications with a bluetooth GPS receiver to see how directions, etc. work. Speaking of… I also think that CoPilot Live looks pretty freakin’ sweet.
So there you have it. I’m pretty pleased, but still looking for slightly more. I wish there was a way to upgrade the phone to Windows Mobile 6. Maybe there will be… I guess that’s up to Sprint.
// UPDATE: After a month and a half, I gave the Q to my wife and switched back to my Treo 650 (good thing I didn’t eBay it). The reason? I was just far more used to the Palm OS than I thought I was. And, why not… I’ve used the Palm OS since I bought my first Palm Pilot 1000 over 10 years ago. And, apparently I use the Treo touch screen way more than I thought I did… I kept wanting to tap the screen of the Q with my thumb. Of course now I’m phantom thumbwheeling on the Treo. 
My second deal breaker was the battery. I couldn’t get through a full work day without it either dying or needing to be plugged in while sitting at my desk.
So, do I recommend the Q to Treo users? About as much as most people suggest switching from a 650 to a 700w or 700wx. It’s just not a pleasant switch. Instead, I’m waiting for the 755p to be released by Sprint some time in May.