Handspring Treo 600

Handspring
TREO 600!

Review by Adam Cochran

Ok, We have rambled about it for weeks, if not months. Finally the Handspring Treo 600 is available and we have had a significant amount of time to play with it!

We send out a big THANK YOU to Dave Mellin at SprintPCS for sending us a review unit as soon as he got one in.

We received our review 600 at exactly 1:04 p.m. on Tueday, October 14. And things haven't been the same since. I immediately called Rick and told him it was in . I quickly opened the box and was stunned at how compact it was. I turned it around looked it over, pushed the buttons and then let out squeal when I found that Sprint's Vision service was up and running on it.

I would call Rick every 15 minutes leaving messages on his voice mail, "Rick! I just got it and it is sooo small! Come see it as soon as you can!" A few minutes later another call, "Rick, the screen is great! And the keyboard is small, but I think it is easier to use than the one on the Treo 300 (the device Rick uses).

The phone comes equipped with about everything. It is a Palm powered device and a cell phone, but that alone doesn't explain why it is so magnificent. It also contains a digital camera and with incorporated software you can send and receive email from your regular email server. You can also browse the real Internet. These features are cool but there are other phones on the market that do these things. It also allows you to expand the memory with SD memory cards (the kind used in many digital cameras) and you can use it as an MP3 player. All of these things make it a great toy, but the real reason we love it is because it is not only a toy, it is an amazing tool!

"Sure, it's a tool," say our wives as we explain why we love it. My intentions here are to review the Treo 600 by giving specific examples of how I used it during the week I reviewed it.

First, I set my regular Palm/cell phone aside. I carried it with me for incoming calls, but other than that I barely touched it.

I installed all of the programs I use on a daily basis such as Agendus scheduling and contact manager, Mapopolis map software, HoursPro time tracking and reporting software, Eudora email software, and a few other goodies.

I also synched it with all of the data I keep on my regular Palm. The transition went nearly flawless. There were a few older programs that caused the device to reset. I deleted the programs and it worked fine.

THE KEYBOARD

One of the first things that new Palm users have to get used to is the handwriting or graffiti method of entering text, the Treo 600 does away with that by implementing a very cool QWERTY keyboard. This keyboard is very small, but Handspring has done an amazing job at designing the keyboard. I kept track of every time I hit a wrong key. In the week I used it, I only hit the wrong key five times. Compare that to the five times per sentence I have to redo a graffiti stroke with my regular palm. My fingers are not unlike Vienna Sausages. If a guy with fat stubby fingers like me can use the 600 keyboard, almost anyone can.

THE 5-WAY PAD

Last year while at COMDEX, Rick and I had a number of discussions about whether or not Palm would survive the war between it and Microsoft's PocketPC (PPC) platform. Dell had just come out with a line of PPC devices and it seemed like the whole world was going in that direction.
This year it seems like the opposite is true. While Dell and HP are still exclusively PPC powered, the latest palms are mean and can hold their ground against the Goliath. In the past year Palm and Sony have introduced a number of serious competitors to PPC devices. Faster processors, more memory, multimedia support and nicer screens are just some of the ways that Palm has stepped up to the plate.

My favorite new feature to the latest Palm devices is the 5-way pad. This feature is a rocker switch that sits where the scroll buttons used to be on older and lower model Palm devices.
The 5-way acts as a selector switch in many new applications and as a scroll switch in older applications. Using the 5-way you can cycle through the various applications in the program launcher (Palmeese for desktop). In the calendar, selecting right or left moves you back and fourth among days and up and down cycles through the times. Hit the center button to select a time and enter information. Between the 5-way and the keyboard, there is very little need for a stylus (Palmeese for pen-like device use to enter graffiti).

THE DIGITAL CAMERA

The digital camera on the Treo 600 is very poor, but good enough to be taken seriously as an image capturing device for certain occasions. The image quality is only 640x480 pixels and takes awful pictures in low light, but if it is all you have it will work.
The best part about the 600 having the camera is that it supports Sprint's Picture Mail. This means you can take and send pictures with messages to anyone with a Sprint Vision phone that supports the Picture Mail service, and most of them do now.
There are some great Treo 600 galleries on the web that show the potential for this camera, but I have posted a few pictures HERE that I found to be more typical of the device.
Wireless-doc's Gallery and this thread at TreoCentral show some of the more outstanding possibilities for the camera in the Treo 600. As a rule, if you expect great things from the camera, you will most likely be disappointed. But, if you expect the camera to be useless, you will probably be impressed. As I mentioned above, it will be nice to have but you probably won't use it on a daily basis.

EXPANSION

This is one feature that sets the 600 apart from every other Palm based converged device on the market. Verizon offers the Kyocera 7135, but the Treo 600 offers a 144mhz processor while the 7135 has a 66mhz processor. This means that you can easily multitask, such as listen to MP3s while you surf the web, do email, read ebooks, or do anything else (besides talk on the phone) with the Treo 600. It is fast and the expansion card adds functionality that makes the device stand out above everything else in its class. I purchased a 256 MB expansion card and used it in the 600, it ran seamlessly with the palm. The photos I took with the camera went directly to the card, I was able to install programs directly onto the card and run them from there.
Perhaps the greatest reason that expansion is wonderful is that it provides peace of mind. With a very cheap application ($12) you can backup your entire device onto the card. In the rare instance that the Palm crashes and you lose everything, you can do a backup in the field. This is ideal for people who travel and may not want to bring a laptop to backup new data on.

CONCLUSION

I have heard a few complaints about the Treo 600. It doesn't have or support bluetooth, It has a low resolution screen, the camera is bad, the keyboard is too small, etc. Although these statements might be points of argument, the Treo 600 really is the best thing out there for those seeking a converged device.
I believe that it is what Palm needs to solidify its stronghold on the market. Palm has always been on top, but it has been quickly losing ground to PPC. The Treo 600 will likely give people new reason to stick with the Palm platform. There have been six major Palm devices released in the past two months, but companies are being flooded with a demand for Treo 600 accessories and software.
I will stop just short of saying that this is the device that will change the way people use their cell phones. But It will be the device that will convince smartphone naysayers that the concept of a converged device is not only possible, but extremely practical.

Incase it isn't obvious, I give the Treo 600 five stars and two thumbs up. Visit your local Sprint store or go to www.SprintPCS.com. You can find more information from Sprint about the Treo 600 by visiting this link.