Avoiding the Plague

So my Treo 650 Palm OS phone finally broke. I installed an update for the VersaMail client (3.1 to 3.5) and now BlueTooth doesn’t work. Restoring the original software didn’t fix it. It’s like the new software killed the same old hardware. I find that excrable. Still, the phone was operable, but I depend on BT so much that I had to find a fix. Since the 650 is end-of-life I looked around for a successor.
The 680 or the 755 were the obvious choices, but they’re not available on Verizon and 3G, nor are they “approved” for my corporate plan. So, I relented and got the Treo 750 running Windows Mobile 5.0.
I haven’t had the phone for a week, and already I’m running into more problems than I’d ever had with the Palm OS version. I have to say that since the hardware is virtually identical that most of the problems are due to the software, and indeed, specific things like having to dismiss a modal dialog in order to answer the phone are just painfully stupid design decisions. Actually, to be fair, it wasn’t a design decision to throw a modal dialog up there; more it was a design decision NOT to optimize for phone. Phone functionality should ALWAYS trump anything else. I’ve missed phone calls because of having to dismiss the dialog, and by then it’s already gone to v-mail.
It’s also got the ability to run many applications, but after you get two or three apps running — and by apps I mean “phone”, “email”, and “SMS” — the phone gets really sluggish. The old Palm OS version could run all of that and more. Is WM5.0 a pre-emptive multitasking OS? Why? Top this off with having to reboot the phone daily, including hard resets and a complete wipe and load already, and I’m just plain pissed. I hate this phone/OS combo.
I guess I’m headed to the Apple store today to see if they have an iPhone.