The Blackjack II – Newest to the TreoBenny Handheld Family
Today I got off the fence and bought a refurb BJ II. I’ll give an explanation of my handheld system:
My wireless carrier is AT&T. In addition to the voice line, I also have a USB air card. Because I’m currently between notebook computers, I use that data-only SIM card in a handheld, currently the Treo 680. The Treo has long been the flagship of my handheld fleet, beginning with the 650. One day, while I still had a notebook, it hit me that I was paying for an unlimited data line for the air card number, but I really 
only used it for an average of an hour or so per day. So I decided I’d carry two handhelds to maximize the money I’m spending. I bought a Blackberry Pearl from a co-worker and used it for the voice line, using the Treo as a data-only device for the times when I wasn’t using the air card in my notebook, (which was most times.)
I bought a more powerful desktop PC and sold the entry-level notebook; again, trying to maximize the money I have invested in my hardware. Notebook prices are stabilizing, but the features included in this price range are growing rapidly. The $400 notebook I bought in Aug. of 2007 is far behind what that same money will buy today. I sold it for $200, with plans to spend another $400 on a notebook. That’s $600 for the use/ownership of two notebooks, with a significant upgrade in the middle…I’m totally fine with that. So, now that I don’t have a notebook at all, the role of the data-only handheld has become more permanent. The Treo is a capable device, and if it was 100%, I wouldn’t even be looking for another handheld. However, my 680 has 
seen better days.
I think there is a software conflict buried deep in the contacts. The 680 uses the Palm OS, the last of the Treo line that isn’t Windows. (The Centro is ‘newer’ than the 680 and has the Palm OS, but all Treo’s after the 680, i.e. 750, 755, 800, and now Treo Pro, have the Windows Mobile OS.) The Palm OS was able to sync with Outlook for contacts and calendaring, via a 3rd party conduit. With the 680 came native Outlook support, with an Outlook conduit offered by Palm themselves, seemingly with no drawbacks. Outlook uses color-coded ‘categories’ to sort contacts and appointments. The Palm OS also uses color-coded categories, but when Palm started offering their own Outlook conduit, they stopped supporting the sync of category colors. Now, on the handheld, the colors have no role at all. They aren’t visible and you can’t edit/select them. However, if you used the Palm Desktop, instead of Outlook, you could then see the colors. As a former 650 owner, that information is in my contact files, as I used the Palm Desktop for quite some time before I started using Outlook at all. I noticed some bugginess after a few months of having the 680. Through some hard resets, (that’s a factory reset) I more or less isolated it to the contact data. The device functioned well while still empty, but got wacky again when I brought in the contacts from Outlook. Because the Treo is a touchscreen device, software conflicts can decrease physical functionality of the screen itself. I noticed that the edges of the screen weren’t as responsive as they used to be. To add insult to injury, I was out getting rib tips after a big rain and got splashed by a passing police car. I didn’t realize for maybe 15 minutes, but the pocket holding my Treo got water in it and the device got soaked pretty bad. It had been sitting in an inch or so of water the whole time. I lost more screen functionality, and the voice recorder stopped working, meaning I also lost the ability to make ringtones and record audio in videos. I’m able to still use the Treo, but it’s a mere shell of its former self…
I’m having problems with the trackball on the Pearl as well, but I’m not PearlBenny, I’m TreoBenny, so I won’t go into details. 
Basically, that brings me up to today. I’ve been peeking at the BJ II for a couple weeks now, and there’s only one thing I wish it could do. Since it doesn’t have a touch screen, I can’t use my buddy Alan’s (@cheaseco) mseesmic app. Not thus far anyway…but otherwise the BJ II is a stout device and should fit well as the new data device. I’ll slide the hobbled Treo over to voice duty, which is very light since I really only talk on the phone to one person. I may continue to listen to .mp3′s via the Treo, but we’ll see how the BJ II’s media player capabilities hold up.
