I previously mentioned some problems I was having with the Palm Treo 700w and that these were not isolated issues. After several calls and more research I have a few updates.

A lot of referrals came in from a thread about the SMS text messaging issue for the Palm Treo 700w on the Verizon network. Text messages are sent to tell Pocket Outlook to synchronize with the server but unless you have the TXT Messaging feature on your plan you get charged $0.10 per text message incoming or outgoing. You can either setup your device to only sync on a schedule or ask Verizon about the PDA 2000 SMS ALLOWANCE.

Regarding the stereo headset only playing the right channel, it turns out that the left channel is dead on the Palm Treo 700w. I was afraid of that. Palm does sell a stereo headphone adapter that not only adapts the 2.5mm jack to a standard 3.5mm jack for stereo headphones, but also splits the right channel so that it’s heard in both ears. With stereophonic sound dating back to 1937 and pretty much taken for granted in devices these days, I’m a little disappointed about this. I wasn’t planning on using this for in-flight entertainment since we have the Creative Zen Portable Media Center so I’m not too displeased about this.

Regarding updates for the other problems including the 25-file limit for DRM-protected music, Palm asked me to keep an eye on the Palm Treo 700w (Verizon) Support site. Hopefully these updates won’t require a complete ROM refresh but they weren’t sure.