Great device if you're willing to pay for it
Written: Oct 10 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great form factor, combines phone-PDA-Internet tool and mp3 player abilities
Cons: Very expensive. 160x160 resolution
The Bottom Line: If you are willing to spend the money, buy this phone. It's a good phone, good PDA, good Internet tool and good mp3 player all in one.
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| wombat2's Full Review: Handspring Treo 600 Handheld |
I am going to assume that anyone reading this review has a general idea of what the Treo 600 is, and most likely currently owns a different model of Smart Phone, or has done some amount of research or played around with Smart Phones in a store, at least. So I'm not going to talk too much about what the phone does, but more, how it does it.
Also, let me say upfront, I have owned various PDAs (iPAQ, Tungsten C, Tungsten T, as well as a Treo 300) and I like them all. I switched to the Treo line because I increasingly realized that I valued the small size, and having one device instead of two or three, more than I valued the horsepower some of those other devices have. I like being able to drop the Treo in my pants pocket and forget that it's there until I need it. When I had the iPAQ, I'd carry the unit (including an expansion sleeve), which barely fit into one coat pocket, and a snap-on thumbboard in the other coat pocket, with my cell phone in my pants pocket. If you want the maximum power in a PDA, that's still the way to go. The Treo 600 is not all things to everyone.
Those caveats out of the way ...
Form factor -
It's a candybar design not much bigger than the freebie Motorola or Nokia you get when you start a contract. This has some obvious disadvantages, in that the screen is not protected unless you add a case. I personally am a fan of flip phones for that reason, but that's personal taste. In this case, it's already a fairly thick phone, and a flip would increase the thickness (unless the flip was very thin and flimsy, which causes other problems). One thing I didn't like about the Treo 300 was that it felt "bottom-heavy" while held between your head and shoulder during calls, since the flip is so much lighter than the rest of the phone. I always felt that it might slip out and fall to the floor.
The unit ships with a slipcase, which is adequate as a starter, but most will want to upgrade (if you're willing to spend $600 on a phone, you are probably also willing to spend $30 on a nice case). There is a nice belt clip/case available on the Handspring Web site for $30.
The unit fits well in one hand, even fairly small hands. It feels quite heavy, due to the components crammed inside the case. The weight actually feels pleasant, although I worry what would happen if I dropped the phone in the parking lot.
Build quality -
It is VERY well-made, looks and feels expensive (and for $599 list price, it better!). The buttons are pleasingly stiff and tight. When you squeeze the case, it doesn't creak or bend at all. The screen is bright and lacks obvious flaws. Note that all Treo 600 screens appear to be too far to the left; that is due to how the lighting works and is not a flaw, or at least, not a flaw in your particular phone (it's arguably a design flaw).
User functions -
The new five-way navigation is outstanding. Most days, I do not take the stylus out of the silo at all. What little on-screen tapping I need to do, I do with the back of a fingernail. You can do just about everything one-handed. (I tend to type with both thumbs, but that's just because I want max typing speed. You COULD do it with one thumb.)
Volume controls are logically placed. The headset plug is, annoyingly, on the bottom of the phone (probably dictated by the phone's jam-packed internal layout), which is a bit of a nuisance because it will most likely preclude headset/headphone use while the phone is in a cradle or certain cases/holsters. The headset jack is 2.5mm and does not provide stereo audio out of the box, although a $5 adapter allows you to plug in standard 3.5mm stereo headphones, which then work, as they should, in full stereo.
The SD card slot is mounted on the top of the unit next to the antenna. Oddly, cards mount backward from what you would intuitively expect (if you lay the phone face-up on your desk, you would turn the card face-down to insert it), which may also be due to just how crowded this phone's interior space is. Maybe they really needed the SD card's notch to be on a particular side ... I digress.
The keyboard - ah, the keyboard - one of the biggest reasons that this phone exists. It's one of the few Smart Phones with a full QWERTY keyboard. The way that you use a Smart Phone with a keyboard is, in my opinion, fundamentally different than the way you use a Smart Phone without a keyboard. Without - you are mostly using it to read. With - you can use it to read and write. That means that you can use SMS or AOL Instant Messenger without much pain, send e-mail as well as check it, compose Word documents rather than just reviewing them and making small fixes, create calendar and contact entries instead of just viewing what you put into your PC. With a little practice, most people with nimble fingers and good typing skills can easily do 30 wpm, and I've heard of some people reaching 40 wpm or even higher. Let's be realistic, you won't want to retype Moby Dick. But for a three- or four-paragraph e-mail or letter, or SMS or IM conversation, this is more than adequate. The keys are very close together, which takes some getting used to, but they are domed for good tactile feel, and feel very tight and sturdy.
Features - (I have the Sprint version; GSM phones may vary in some details) -
The built-in camera is, well, crappy. Let me say that right now. Do not buy this phone for the camera. It's a toy, useless in low light, and almost useless in moderate light. You will find yourself having people stand 6 inches from a lamp so that the camera can see their face.
However, the camera's operation and integration with wireless service is outstanding. You can snap a photo and e-mail it to a friend, all in under 30 seconds, from anywhere you have a digital signal. It's also a lot of fun for taking photo ID pictures to pair with your quick call list. The picture then appears when the person calls. Like I said, it's a toy, and should be treated as such. DO NOT BUY THIS PHONE THINKING YOU'LL GET A DIGITAL CAMERA YOU CAN USE FOR ANYTHING IMPORTANT!
With the headset adapter and an SD card, the phone makes a pretty good mp3 player. When someone calls, the music pauses until you either click to ignore the call, or complete it. Then music resumes.
Otherwise, the phone is what you'd expect from a Palm OS 5.2 device. It's about as fast as an original Tungsten T. 32 megs of memory is plenty (just remember to get an SD card to store mp3s or other especially large files, such as video clips).
The biggest disappointment is the 160x160 resolution. Most newer PalmOS devices feature at least 320x320. The screen on the Treo is nice - very bright and colorful - but noticeably grainy. Handspring said that going to 320x320 would have reduced battery life by 35%. If that's true, I think they made the right call, but this is definitely a sacrifice compared with screens on Tungstens and Pocket PCs.
But is it a good phone? -
In a word, yes. It's a little different to type numbers on either a qwerty keyboard, or on the screen. But aside from that, this is a very nice, high-end phone.
Cell reception seems better than my previous two phones. Both the speaker and the microphone work well, i.e. it sounds good when people talk to me and when I talk to them.
The built-in speakerphone is extremely good for a built-in speakerphone, better than the Treo 300's.
The phone ships with a headset, which works very nicely. A piece goes in one ear, with a microphone dangling near your mouth. It looks nice and works well for hands-free use. No microphone-on-a-stick near your mouth, no telemarketer look.
The Treo handles hold, forwarding and three-way calling with aplomb. You can dial from your quick keys (you get dozens of them) or directly from your contacts list by tapping the number. You can even dial most numbers on Web pages by tapping on them.
Battery life -
It's pretty good, probably 50% better than in the Treo 300. Sprint claims 4 hours of talk time, and that's probably about right. Heavy Internet use can also run the battery down. If you use the Internet a lot, you might want to get one or two spare chargers, for your car and perhaps for your office, although this really isn't a weakness of the phone.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 599
Recommended for: Business Executives - Powerful and Professional
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Epinions.com ID:
wombat2
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Reviews written: 9
Trusted by: 1 member
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