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As usual, BIG THANKS to Sammy of Palm Addicts for recently mentioning Palm Discovery on their front page.

Today’s Palm Explorer Profile comes from John Kirkwood, aka Fluffykins (interesting name) at mytreo.net. As you will have gathered, although it is in the typical Q&A format of the Palm Explorer Profile, it is anything but typical.

I hope that you will find his profile entertaining and maybe spark something in yourself to come up with your own Palm Explorer Profile (and get an extra 4 entries in the current Palm Discovery Proporta Alu-Leather case & Advanced Screen Protector giveaway contest) (ends July 15th). Even if you don’t want to enter or win in this giveaway (please state so in the submission), you can still be eligible for future giveaways (and get an extra 4 entries just like this one) simply by letting me know that you have previously submitted a Palm Explorer Profile. How much easier can it get? One Profile will get you 5 entries in future giveaways. You only need to let me know you have submitted one before (obviously provide your name or username or even a link to the profile) and you’re in! Since not everyone will be entered, your chances of winning any of the giveaways is much greater than any other site (since mine is still such a small site and will likely remain so for a long time). I always look forward to receiving these profiles and I’m sure that other Palm Discovery readers do too! Won’t you add in yours?

My name: That’s John. John Kirkwood

Brighthand? I’m not a member, but what I can offer you is “Fluffykins” at mytreo.net

Your devices: Oh dear. I started with a Palm m500, which was fine until the super capacitor, which holds the memory up whilst one changes batteries, decided to fail. I was dead lucky and found a suitable replacement on a scrap VCR mainboard. (Resourceful or WHAT?)

That did fine, until I realised that carrying around two boxes - a Palm and a Phone - was a bit of a bind.

I found a good priced secondhand Treo 180g, which was pretty good. I really liked the flip front, as that meant it could sit in my pocket with no fear of getting the LCD trashed on car keys or wotnot. (But just wait)

Another thing I liked was that the Treo software did, quite simply, work. The 180 lasted a fair while, but eventually it bagan to get a bit tatty and quite honestly, I didn’t like the graph (graffiti) input for everything more than number pad entry.

The crunch came when the wire to the speaker in the flip front broke.

I managed to fix that, but I figured the phone was on borrowed time.

I saw a cheap Treo 270 - Much the same, but with a keyboard and colour screen - and bought that.

Brilliant. I could actually type text messages with no bloody predictive text and without pressing a key fifteen million times to get to the character I wanted.

Again, the software, quite simply, worked. This was in stark contrast to the kids phones - Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola. ll these we struggeled with - and eventually gave up on.

Not the Treo.

We had a wonderful relationship, only brought to an end when the flip front snapped off.

I scanned the adverts on ebay, looking for a replacement and saw a Treo 600, together with a GPS antenna and a full set of Mapopolis navigation software, all for £70. Wha hey!

The thing paid for itself in the first few months, helping navigate me around on holiday Guernsey in the Channel Islands (Look it up). The Significant Other can’t navigate for toffee, so the Treo AND software package was a Godsend.

Still the software worked.

All went well until mid June ‘07.

Because the 600 hasn’t got the flip front, I carry it in my shirt pocket.

Unless the shirt I’m wearing hasn’t got a pocket.

In that case, I reluctantly shove it in my trouser pocket.

I’d been really careful all day, because it was one of those physical weekends, putting my phone down on nearby tables, in the wife’s bag, in the car, etc. You
get the picture.

Then, that evening, we got home. I put the phone in my pocket and, I swear, did no more than stand chatting for a couple of minutes.

I pulled the phone out of my trouser pocket, to put it on charge and saw a huge, irregular, jagged yellow blob on the screen.

Yes, the screen was trashed.

Oh Tempores, oh mores, oh bloody hell.

Well, I backed the phone up straight away. Guess what? The software worked.

I promised myself I’d get another 600. Nothing more. I didn’t need it.

Yea, the 680 didn’t have the ridiculous external antenna (If I ever find the marketing guru who decided an external aerial was a marketing necessity, I’ll nail his bloody head to the floor), but I didn’t really need that and anyway, it was still stupidly expensive for me.

Then I saw a 650.

Fully unlocked.

Bright, crisp display.

Bluetooth.

Keyboard.

Apps. Lots of apps.

I bought it.

It has a belt holster too.

I should have kept my cool.

But I’m a Treo nut. I can’t help it.

Guess what? The software STILL works.

I just tried to get the software for my son’s latest Sony Ericsson phone to recognise the phone properly.

It doesn’t.

I want a 750.

Please?

Pretty please?

Your favourite Palm apps: OOOOooh, that’s got to be Mapopolis for the Palm, closely followed by SolFree, solitaire sampler. I’ve wasted countless hours playing that. It’s addictive.

And now it looks like the missus wants a Treo of her own, just so she’s got that for herself.

What you like/dislike about the Palm or your PDA device: The biggest beef is no flip front model.

The second biggest beef is the camera still sucks compared to most modern phones. Mind you, you can have as many megapixels as you like but of the lens is crap (and most phone camera lenses are) you’re still stuffed for decent pictures.

How the Palm or PDA device has changed your life (or how it helps you) in any way: I can actually send meaningful texts. I can have an address book that is a full address book.

It remmed home in the most forcible way possible that satnav is a GOOD IDEA. (Wished I’d got THAT a loooooong time ago)

What do you mainly use your PDA for: Fliping heck. EVERYTHING. Addresses, phone numbers, memos, Internet, Games, Navigation - oh, and occasionally phoning.

Etc. Anything else you wish to share: Did I say I want a 750?

“Treo Palm phones. What all mobile phones want to be when they grow up”

Thanks very much for sharing this with us, John. WOW! I am speechless. What an excellent Palm Explorer Profile! I expected the usual one or two word reply to the generic basic questions and what did I get? A very fascinating, humorous and entertaining story of one man’s history of Palm devices. I did have to correct some spelling and add a few words here and there but the main format is what was presented. As you can see, even normally boring Q&A profiles can easily be transformed into a very entertaining story. It’s quite obvious that John loves his Palm and also enjoys sharing his passion of the device as evidenced by his ahem, expression, of his Palm history. If I could base the Proporta Alu-Leather giveaway winner by the entry, this would be it! But since it is a random drawing, John or anyone has an equal chance of winning the Alu-Leather and Advanced Screen protector.

This profile offered me a good trip back memory lane. I remembered about the 180g but it didn’t appeal to me personally because I wanted the QWERTY keypad and ended up getting a Zire 71 instead because of the camera. At one time I was seriously considering the 180 or even the colorful 270. But I wanted something with a camera and QWERTY pad but the Zire 71 was almost everything I wanted except for the QWERTY pad. The 650 is almost the perfect device (had it offered more RAM). I agree on the sub par camera but I use it for quick snap shots since I don’t take a camera with me and it works. Quality isn’t the best, but it’s still much better than a lot of camera phones. Also, it’s very nice to hear that you’re converting family members into Palm users.

And, John? About the 600 and 650 not having a flip style? You can always get a hard case (which I have) that protects the screen and keypad. I got mine within minutes of getting my 650 and never worried about screen damage. And, John, regarding the 750? Get in line, because I want a 750 too. A few things that’s somewhat holding me back right now is the mini-SD card, the omission of the reset hole and 240×240 resolution. Depending on what comes out between now and Christmas time, I may end up getting the 750 when I take another trip to Hong Kong. Hopefully by then, there may be something that will knock my socks off. Or I may get an HTC (they are very nice but I don’t like their funny audio jacks) but I am leaning towards a Win Mobile device, well, that is, unless Palm comes up with something that I can’t resist.

Obviously, I am persuading people to submit a Palm Explorer Profile (as you can see, they are very entertaining and I personally love reading them) so that they get an extra 4 entries in the drawing. But you can still get an entry in simply by commenting in the Alu-Leather contest posting here if you don’t want to submit one (but now, why wouldn’t you?) but still want to enter. Even simply providing a few word answers to the generic questions will get you those extra 4 entries and there’s no requirement on what you must answer. Ask your own questions or make the profile unique and your own. The point of this profile is to just share your experience of the Palm or PDA device (it’s not limited to the Palm ones) with others and help making the PDA community that much more special.

And I just keep saying that this is such a GREAT community and my objective here at Palm Discovery is to share my love and enthusiasm and give back to the community. That’s why I am happy that this is a small hobbyist site and will remain that way but still offering some interesting ideas, information and reviews with a more personal touch. As always, I THANK all Palm Discovery readers and supporters for your continued support, without which, I would not be able to continue writing and doing what I do here. THANKS!

Thanks for visiting and supporting Palm Discovery. If you are not reading this article from Palmdiscovery.com or Palmdiscovery.net, the website you are reading it from is copying and posting my content without consent. Please visit Palm Discovery for the original source of the material.

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