Electric Pocket's Ringo Review

I wish my Treo 700P came with the ability to use MP3's as Ringtones right out of the box, but it doesn't. So if you're like me, you're probably curious about ways to do just that. There are several options out there, and one of the most popular ones is Ringo, from Electric Pocket. If you're not familiar with Electric Pocket, they also make Bug Me Notepad, the Post it-type program, which I have installed on all my Palm devices for years and is just great.

Overall, Ringo works. You can use MP3's on your SD Card as ringtones. However, I must emphasize the word "MP3's"; not ogg, not AAC. Only MP3's. The reason for that is that Ringo uses only its own built-in MP3 player, so you don't have to own Aeroplayer or Pocket Tunes to make it work. On one side that's a plus, because each one of those also costs $15-$35 based on the version, but MP3-only will be a serious limitation for some people.

So how does it work? Well, the UI is very good; you can set up individual ringtones for friends, for phone calls AND SMS. Pretty cool. You can also select a picture to go with that, something that I have not seen in other similar apps. Another special feature is the ability to create your own Midi tone (I think it's midi...). Basically you can mix different built-in sounds, like guitar, piano, etc. and change the different beats. Personally, having no musical talent whatsoever, I prefer to use somebody else's work... Electric Pocket also offers you 50 free ringtones online when you buy this app. You can even browse and download those from your device: nifty!

Other plus-minus things:

PLUS: You can set up ringtones by group, rather than individuals. Those groups are basically the contacts categories.
MINUS: I didn't find a way select the position the MP3 was going to start at; it has to start at the beginning of the song. The problem with that is that some of my songs have intros that I would like to skip
PALM OS MINUS: When somebody calls you and the song starts, the sound "hesitates" or "repeats" for half a second to a second. It's not a Ringo-only problem; I have noticed this on other similar apps, leading me to believe it's an OS flaw, rather than Ringo's fault. But bear that in mind if you're a perfectionist.
MINUS: Price. I think $30 is too much for software like this. $20 or under would be more appropriate IMHO. But once again Ringo is not the only one at that price range so it's not specific to Electric Pocket, but there are some cheaper, more basic apps out there.

CONCLUSION: Electric Pocket always makes good programs, and this one does not fail. If you have a lot of MP3's and want a lot of customization in terms of ringtones, this is a good option. This program does what it says and is reliable. I think that if Electric Pocket added support for other media files like ogg or AAC, and/or allow you to select a specific track position for your tone, then it would justify more its $30 price tag.

Check it out at the Ringo tour website