Treo Pro is the centerpoint of hardware convergence

[From Andy Lopez] I'm a big believer in freedom of media choice and accessability. I like having the ability to access all the media, information and services that are available on the web any time I want, and I like having it with me all the time wherever I happen to be. And I almost, but not quite, have all of that capability with the Samsung A-920 web browsing multi media phone I got from Sprint 2 years ago.

I like the idea of having one device that can do everyting I want and need. And I also believe that living small is living green, but sometimes it feels like hardware manufacturers are conspiring against us and are forcing us to be multi modal media and device consumers. I also like, and will most often choose to purchase, multi purpose tools because I also hate redundant hardware and capability. It's always bothered me that the monitors that people hook up to a cable or satellite box have a TV tuner built into them that's never used, seems like a waste of resources and labor, and also adds unnecessary costs.

Another thing I like is using my car stereo and it's greater sound quality for listening to my Mp3's, streaming audio, Sprint TV and radio, and even making and taking phone calls hands free while I'm driving. Yet with all that capability I've always wondered why there's no such thing as a low to medium cost car stereo head unit that has a built in TV tuner, or at least a TV audio tuner. It seems like it would be no big deal to build that in to existing car tuners. But as it is now, if I want to tune into a TV program while I'm in the car, I have to have a seperate device just for that. So for the last several years I've been using a Sony Walkman model SRF-M37V that has AM, FM, TV and Weather band to access the TV audio that's not available on the other devices. For Mp3, TV and some limited streaming audio I use my cell phone plugged into my car stereo auxillary jack via a home made patch cord. It works well enough but again my choices are limited to the services offered by Sprint because the A-920 can't access or play any of the streaming audio and internet radio and TV on the web.

The answer to that problem would be to buy some kind of laptop pc that can access all the free or low cost subscription based audio and video on the web, but which one would be best? Lugging around even a small 14 or 15 inch screen laptop could be cumbersome, a netbook would be better but the prices of the latest netbooks don't seem very cost effective. It amazes me how willingly people are lining up to spend as much or more for a netbook only to get so much less than a traditional laptop. The tradeoff in size, weight and capability hardly seems worth the prices. For the same $400 to $1000 you'd pay for an 8 or 9 inch screen, 2 pound 40gb netbook you can get a low cost dual core 6 pound laptop with a 250gb hard drive, dual layer optical drive and 2 gigs of ram. For my money I'd stick with the laptop.

So what I need is a device that can do it all and that fills the size, weight, capability and pricepoint gap. If you follow the industry trends of increasing the capability of cell and smart phones, combined with the trend of decreasing the size of mobile computers, you end up at a convergence point and a device that offers the best of both worlds.

That device is the Palm Treo. With the built in Windows Mobile OS, media player, pocket tunes and other downloadable programs I would have access to all the streaming audio, video and TV content on the web either for free or for low cost, and it's also a phone, PIM, organizer and more. With the in depth analysis and reviews of the Treo and other products you cover in PalmAddicts I have come to the logical conclusion that this is the device I've been looking for.

It's gonna end up costing me the full $350 because I can't use the Sprint rebate offer without changing my plan, and I don't want to mess with that. I managed to sign up for a Sprint SERO plan and besides the usual features I have unlimited web browsing and use my phone as my desktop modem for only $30 a month. The $60 plus each month I save by not paying for a land line and for DSL will quickly make up for the unused $100 rebate from Sprint.

Thanks for all the work you put into PalmAddict, you've convinced me this is the way to go, so excuse me while I run to the phone store...