Accessories Not In The Box.. A Guide For New Treonauts

As is increasingly often the case I get to meet newly minted Treonauts pretty much everywhere I go.  Recently yet another friend got his first Treo 650 and after playing around with it for a couple of weeks he naturally called me up asking me to help him understand and choose the accessories that were not in the box.

Let me start by running through what is in the box:

• Obviously the Treo 650 smartphone…
• One 1800mAh rechargeable battery
• One AC wall charger
• One USB HotSync cable (does not charge)
• One mono 2.5mm jack corded headset
• One stylus

Basic Upgrade
The ‘in the box’ kit is not a bad one but certainly not a great one either so let me start by first upgrading this kit to something that I would consider more appropriate for a mobile professional.

1. Upgrade to a spare 2400mAh battery which will provide you with 33% more power than the standard one and will come extremely handy when you’re traveling.
2. Upgrade to a lighter slim wall charger.  The one included in the box weighs 100g while the slim wall charger is only 50g.
3. Upgrade to either a plain or retractable USB Sync & Charge cable.  I much prefer the retractable version as it is much smaller and easier to carry as well as weighing only 25g compared to the 52g for the cable in the box.
4. Upgrade to either one or all the options below:
   • a better corded headset such as the popular Jabra C150
   • get a 3.5mm stereo adapter so that you can plug your existing music headset
   • a hybrid stereo + microphone headphone such as the bestselling Seidio 2–in-1 Ear Isolator (again my favourite is the retractable model) which can be used both for listening to music and making calls
   • a wireless Bluetooth headset will help set you free from cables and provide you with handsfree mobility.  My top choices sorted by price are: Palm Compact Wireless Headset, Motorola H700, Plantronics Discovery 640, Jabra JX10 (which I currently use).
5. Get a set of three spare stylus as chances are that like many you are bound to need one sooner rather than later.

Standard Kit
Having taken care of the ‘basic’ upgrade let me now move on to dealing with all the things that are not in the box and which most if not all Treonauts add to their kit:

1. High at the top of the list is a case to carry and protect their precious and beloved Treo.  Tastes vary widely as to which case is best (read my Top Treo Cases post).  My personal favourite is the Seidio Shield Holster which holds your Treo firmly and securely in place while allowing for quick removal thanks to its top latch.
2. To further protect their investment most Treonauts will immediately fit a screen protector to avoid irreparably scratching it as well as a cleaning cloth to keep it free from dust and dirt.
3. One of the greatest benefits of the Treo is the ability to easily add memory expansion via SD cards – currently up to 2GB in size and hopefully soon 4GB.  I personally carry close to 20GB in storage via some 12 SD cards but then again I am arguably somewhat of a power user…
4. A Palm cradle kit will provide the perfect ‘station’ to charge and HotSync your Treo while at work at the office or with a spare one next to your bed at home so that it’s fully charged when you wake up in the morning.
5. Evidently many mobile professional Treonauts will spend a lot of time in their car and so both a car charger and vehicle mount will prove essential.

Advanced Kit
Now that the ‘standard’ kit has been taken care of above I can move to the accessories that the more ‘advanced’ Treonaut will need:

1. The single accessory that I have come to value and enjoy using the most with my Treo is undoubtedly a GPS navigation solution and I cannot more highly recommend that you seriously get one if you haven’t already done so – you will categorically not regret this investment.  For the Treo 650 I am personally attached to the TomTom Navigator 5 GPS Bundle but the Palm GPS Navigator is extremely good and much cheaper.  For the Treo 700w I recommend the CoPilot Live Pocket PC GPS Bundle.  Also, if you already own a GPS unit you can simply purchase the GPS software separately.
2. As a mobile professional you might want to ‘leave your laptop behind’ and in this case the addition of a portable keyboard for your Treo will prove essential.  I personally like the Palm Wireless Keyboard (not for Treo 700w) but most Treonauts appear to prefer the more expensive ThinkOutside Stowaway Bluetooth Keyboard instead.
3. Getting into the ‘professional’ kit there is the addition of WiFi which unfortunately neither the Treo 650 nor Treo 700w have built-in…
4. A small but important addition for the frequent traveling Treonaut who has opted to purchase a spare battery would be the small and lightweight (only 50g) Seidio Portable Battery Charger which can be used with your PC’s USB port or with either the USB Car or Wall Adapter.
5. Finally, in the car or at the office professional Treonauts can use a portable Bluetooth speakerphone to hold a phone conference or simply to have a completely handsfree setup.

There are a few more miscellaneous accessories that will appeal to particular individual needs but overall new Treonauts will be better equipped to experience the full potential of their Treo when they have their full standard kit.  Once they’ve grown comfortable using their Treo they’ll be able to further extend their enjoyment by graduating to the advanced kit.

Treonauts are always more advanced…