Straight off the UPS truck this afternoon: my new Garmin 265WT GPS, complete with Bluetooth phone dialing. Information on the Internet about the 2x5 series's interaction with Palm OS Treos like my Sprint Treo 755p or the Centro is lacking, perhaps because we PalmOS users are the pathetic stragglers of the smartphone world.
Be that as it may, I still wanted to get as much connected use out of these guys as I could. So, here's what I've found that this combination can and can't do, categorized by appearance on the Garmin.
- Voice Dial is a no-go. Known limitation of PalmOS with all Bluetooth devices. The only way this would work is if the voice recognition were on-board the GPS, which it isn't.
- Call History works, no problems. Of course, this is probably the least important feature to have on-screen.
- Call Home has nothing to do with any entry on the Palm. This number is set independently.
- Phone Book pulls from the Favorites buttons within the Phone application. This pull happens about a minute after you turn the GPS on and it pairs with your phone. This is, unfortunately, not the same set of numbers as your Palm OS Contacts (the database that gets synchronized with Address Book.app, Outlook, or Palm Desktop per your platform preference). The only workaround is to load most of the numbers you're likely to call from the Garmin onto page 4 or 5 of the Favorites (where you won't see them in ordinary operation); you don't need to set a speed dial key. The primary problem is that the Favorites number won't change if you change the corresponding number in the Contacts database.
- Even when dialing from the Garmin, keep your phone at hand. The Garmin should display a red phone handset icon at top-right while you're on a call; tapping this icon doesn't hang up, though, but instead takes you to a call status screen. One more tap is required on that screen to hang up. Easier to grab your phone and hit the End button.
