palmOne jacks up price of unlocked GSM Treo 650
By Peter Rojas 
posted February 4th 2005 1:40PM
posted February 4th 2005 1:40PM
Ouch, palmOne just bumped up the price of the unlocked GSM version of the Treo 650 they started carrying a few days
ago. They had been selling it for $599, but now they claim there was a pricing error and have jacked it up to $699,
which sorta kills it for us. Not that we were planning on getting the unlocked version anyway, but you know what we
mean.
[Via MobileMag]
Damn...I'm glad I ordered one the first day. Shouldda ordered 10! $699 isn't really what P1 thinks the phone is *worth*, I don't think -- it's just what Cingular is allowing them to sell it at.
PalmOne is totally wrong on this deal. Some of users that got it for 599 i'm sure are really happy, but for the rest of us that didnt get one its a big slap in the face.
Big topics on http://blog.treonauts.com
Now when will they have a workable hack to unlock the 650? Because it's never a matter of 'if.'
I bet this is a supply or parallel marketing issue, and that the price will fall as soon as the device becomes more ubiquitous.
Who's in charge of checking the prices before the release, Expansys?
"Pricing Error?" Which marketing puppet came up with this doozie? When was the last time you heard a major company say that about their flagship product 2 days after it's released? The only conclusion I can draw from this is that they've become so arrogant that they just don't care what people think. Even if Cingular did pressure them into upping their price, there's no excuse for manipulating your customers that way. This is just flat out incompetant management.
Yes, some will say they're a business but you don't build an brand, a reputation or customer goodwill by increasing the price by 15% 2 days after you release a product with no warning whatsoever.
Probably cheaper to sign up with cingular, call to have it unlocked then cancle before your locked in. Still have to hack DUN.
I just phoned them and they said the $599 was a three day promotion. HAH! I told them I would not buy one now, and will not be buying one in the future. I suggest you do the same.
1-800-881-7256
What a buzz kill yo!
"now they claim there was a pricing error and have jacked it up to $699, which sorta kills it for us."
me too.
And I WAS going to buy it unlocked, just like I did with my 600 (Which they gave us 300/270 owners a nice discount on).
What the heck is going on over there?
I saw this on a site:
I have a report from a customer that this key sequence:
*#*#1234#
Will unlock an ATT/Cingular Treo 650. Can anybody confirm?
Posted by: David L. West | February 4, 2005 02:40 PM
Is it even worth $599?
I mean 22MB of a memory thats not much to pay for and they have the nerve to raise the price.
It's standard practice for Cingular to sell any of their phones for $150 more than the 2-year new activation discounted price. This isn't so much "PalmOne thinks it's worth $700" as much as Cingular has to keep their pricing guidelines intact throughout their product line. I'm sure most of you will end up screwing Cingular to get it cheaper in the end anyway . . .
Reply to martin cohen:
Holy ****, yep, works like a charm. Never seen an unlocking sequence that easy, but I entered it into the phone app on my Treo 650 (had it for 2 days, thank you AT&T) and got a wonderful "SIM lock removed from phone" message.
So kiss my a**, Cingular. EVERYONE: start posting this info everywhere you know: Unlocking code for the GSM Treo 650 is: *#*#1234# and then the center D-pad button.
Not to sound too ignorant, but what is the benefit to having the Treo 650 unlocked? What gets unlocked? And why would you want to do it?
I'm sort of new to the Treo line of products.
Thanks.
This strikes me as one of the more strategically ridiculous pricing moves by a vendor in recent memory.
The loss of goodwill is staggering. I see many potential clients abandoning the platform because of this.
Carmi
http://writteninc.blogspot.com
Blackberries are looking more tempting all the time! I'm sure Cingular didn't have to try hard to twist P1's arms. I can buy an unlocked BB 7100t for $300 on eBay.
The real question is: does that code un-cripple Bluetooth DUN? That's presumably the reason to buy it from PalmOne instead of Cingular.
No the code dosnt un-cripple bluetooth DUN but you can use pdanet to enable it or wait for a hack they already have one for the sprint treo 650. Unlocking lets you use any GSM provider not just cingular. Thats all it does.
True, the Treo 650 sure isn't worth $699, but for consumers looking for a new MVNO as well as new products, check out www.wirefly.com (The Treo 650 is selling for $349 for Cingular and $319 for Sprint). Personally, I like the internal 32MB memory and the SDIO expansion options. Plus, Sprint has the dual option of the GSM/GPRS (Quad-band) world phone or CDMA EDGE technology. But then again, why pay for a WAP deck on such an expensive phone when you could get a RIM Blackberry 7100 with HTML browser compatability for roughly the same cost?
This is a big ripoff. Anyone who thinks the Treo 650 is worth $700 is in need of some real help.
The Treo is way overpriced and may very well be the last hoorah for Palm.
As for Cingular and other carriers demanding a 2 yr contract: another ripoff. Basically that locks you not only into the carrier, but into a phone for 2 years, unless you want to pay the artificially higher, "non-subsidized" price for a phone. Well, that brand new phone today, that seems so cutting edge, will soon seem like a dinosaur, and you'll be stuck with it for the rest of the 2 year contract. Anyone still want to be using a Treo 650 1 or 2 years from now?
Can anyone confirm that after using the unlock code mentioned above they were actually able to use the SIM from another telco in their 650? Everybody has been getting the "sim unlocked" message after entering the code, but one person who tried a t-mobile sim in their newly "unlocked" cingular treo was unsuccessful.
If you really want to put the hurt to those bastards, drop your $$$ on a PPC enabled device, or one of the new Nokia communicators .... that just seems so wrong, that PalmOne shouldn't be allowed to exist anymore.
The treo 650 can browse HTML
What is the "center d-pad button"? Is it: a) the button in the center of Treo's "5-way navigation control", b) the keyboard key marked with the letter "d" and number "4", or c) some other key? If c, please describe the key.
A manager at Cingular's Telesales Dept told me on 2/5/05 that Cincular's policy is to distribute unlock codes at no charge to Treo 650 accounts in good standing 6 months after purchase of the 650. The manager mentioned it is important to key in the code correctly, because the phone can only accept five attempts to be unlocked.
Also see Solution ID 16778 on palmOne's Support Knowledge Library titled "Removing the subsidy lock from your Treo smartphone".
OK
Anyone know why you cant just buy a singular/sprint phone at $350 and then terminate the contract the day after and just cough up the $150 termination fee. ($350 + $150 = $500).
Then if the *#*#1234# unlock sequence works, you've got the equivalent of an $500 handset you can use on any network.
Worked like a charm for me., *#*#1234#, then hit the Call button. you get a message that says SIM Unlocked. Very nice. Not that I care because I have Cingular, but you never know in the future...
Amazon still has the unlocked 650 for $599 (look at the side bar under the sprint model)
Does PDAnet work with Mac OS X?
Is bluetooth fully functional in he Treo 650? Why would you need to use PDAnet to sync through bluetooth or hack it to "un-cripple" bluetooth DUN?
It works!!
the *#*#1234# code only unlocks the sim not the phone subsidy code. Your phones are still locked to the carrier you purchased it from/for.
The SIMM unlock does NOT work (*#*#1234#, then hit the Call button). This is only to unlock the SIMM card in the case that you entered your pin in error 3 times in a row. You might see the message, but when you put in a non ATT/Cingular SIMM card, it tells you that the SIMM card cannot be used with this phone.
I am in agreement with Adam Green's post above. I have a 650 that is AT&T locked that I tried to get activated on Cingular (I guess that merger isn't complete, huh?). I was on the phone with everyone in the world, it seems, trying to get this resolved. I have the AT&T SIM that it came with, and a Cingular SIM that I got from the store yesterday. So, this doesn't even work between AT&T and Cingular SIM's. Anyone have any other options to try?
I have a Treo 650 locked to Cingular.
entering the code: "Unlocking code for the GSM Treo 650 is: *#*#1234# and then the center D-pad button"
Gives a nice Sim is unlocked- Yea maybe the sim is unlocked but when I install an AT&T sim I get the same old F.U. message. Yeah it is too simple for an unlock code!
Hey has anybody experienced this when their Treo 650 runs low on power ( Red color indicator) the bluetooth headset is not recognized by the handset and the handset starts to lockup.
After I recharged the handset, everything seems to work well.
I would like to know if the unlock code for the Treo 650 will also work on the Treo 600...I have a ATT Treo and would like to use a SIM card from T-Mobile...any info you can give me will be greatly appreciated
Someone out there has to have the correct code to unlock this Damn thing. I also have a 650 that is AT&T locked that I tried to get activated on Cingular. I'm not about to cancel my plan with AT&T for $99 mo. for unlimited usage and roaming just to sign on to a more expensive plan with Cingular. I don't need the 650 phone that bad. Cingular can pound sand for all I care.
I ordered my unlocked Treo 650 on February 8th by calling the Palm Store.. After calling twice, I found a representative who honored the $599 price. It took
only 11 days to get the Treo to me.. and that's where
the happy news ends....
I'm very dissatisfied with the Treo 650 - the software
quality is very poor, features are missing (you can not block your outgoing caller-ID on a per-call basis), and most of all: the Treo 650 locks up a lot, and I saw it reset itself at least 6 times yesterday..
I will return the Treo 650 and buy a real phone.. e.g. Sony P910
I called Palm about any offers for the 650 GSM unlocked, they said they would comp a $99 bluetooth headset if I purchased the 650 at $699. IMO, the price is totally out of line, considering the hints of bad quality and marketing funny business.
My wife has a Blackberry 7100t (tmo), it handles email fantasically (attachments), web browser is pretty good. However, text entry and being locked into the Micro$oft platform for syncing totally annoying.
I've been a Palm fanatic since the original "Palm Pilot" in '94 and have had 4 Palm devices since, including the totally crappy Tungsten W. This may be the end of the line for me with Palm devices; they have painted themselves into a corner with bad pricing, bad quality and endless product delays -- go look at other devices.
That unlock code( mentioned above ) is worthless . Moreover, Cingular's gotten catty on firmware : now if you enter the code in it says " phone is NOT unlocked" .. Anyone knows how to hack it up to UNLOCK for REAL ?
thanx.
This is bull. It does say that the phone is unlocked, but as soon as you put your t-mobile sim card it will say your phone cannot be used with this sim card. does anybody here really know how to do it or they are just bluffing.
Steve, you said you had the hack for the Sprint Treo 650. I need to unlock it so I can use it on the GSM network in Germany. Steve or anyone that has the unlock code for the Spint Treo 650 please post it or the hack that will do the same thing. Thanks
An unlocked Sprint Treo 650 won't work on an GSM network in Germany. Sprint is a CDMA carrier, networks are not compatible.
got treo 650 but need to unlocked for trip to manila. Rumor said that if you use above code will alter/freeze internet connection. Is it the legit code for cingular or all treo 650. I'm happy with it now but will not sacrifice if will affect the whole system. pls help
I just ordered my Treo 650 on Friday, hope this unlock code works. If anyone have new information, please let me know. Thanks
Well, I received my PalmOne Treo 650 on May 2nd. I found a phone shop in the mall that can unlock phones. Called with my IMEI number on Monday, picked up my code today, Thursday, May 5th. Yes I got my unlock code today. I also found out that each phone (Treo 650) all have differed codes and again they come from the IMEI number on your phone. Everything seems to be working just fine. Ooo the phone was lock to ATT, now I'm using my Cingular SIM card. Thanks
HI the unlock (SIM) codes for Treao 650 work fine. However Cingular also have "Subsidy lock" on 650 that does not allow you to use anotheer SIM card! I have moved US to UK and cannot use any SIM. Does anyone know how to hack the Subsidy lock on my Cingular phone?
Has anyone tried the Unlock 650 GSM server? I saw a demo here
http://www.fasttutorial.com/treo650
Does anyone know how I can unlock sony ericsson w600i purchased at cingular. Smack brand new and sony ericsson is not selling unlock phone until january at $400. Help please