Is that a Laptop in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?
Written: Aug 16 '04 (Updated May 16 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Convergence. Having a laptop in your pocket is always useful.
Great as an MP3 player.
Cons: Expensive. A few design flaws. Headset jack is not standard. Fragile. Battery cannot be replaced.
The Bottom Line: If you can afford it, and if you REALLY see yourself using it for all it's functionality, you should pick it up. The convergence factor cannot be beat.
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| transcend1's Full Review: Handspring Treo 600 Handheld |
Yeah, I know there are about 40 reviews on this unit on Epinions, so you must be wondering why I decided to add yet another review on this smartphone when you have probably read the top 3 reviews and decided this is going to be your next toy. Well, that's exactly why I am writing this review - so that when you DO get your next toy - the Treo 600 - you know exactly what accessories and thingamajigs to get with it. Remember, the Treo 600 is a great piece of electronics but what you can do with it out-of-the-box doesn't even come close to its potential.
Out of the Box:
Pulling the unit out of it’s plain-jane box is pretty awe inspiring in itself. The box contains the unit itself, a headset, AC charger, USB HotSync cable, slipcase, user guide, set-up software CD-ROM (for both Windows and Mac) and NO cradle. A little surprising because I have seen lesser PDA’s come with a cradle. However, if it is a cost saving mechanism to exclude a cradle and supply a substandard headset, I am all for it, considering that in Canada, the prices go as high as CDN$850!
Usage out of the box is pretty straight forward. It might be a little confusing at first due to the fact that it has TWO power buttons but a simple scan of the manual reveals that one power button is for turning on the wireless mode (activating your phone) while the other is to turn the unit on proper. This means that you can have the functionality of the PDA without having the phone on, enabling longer battery life if needed. I just slipped my SIM card from my old phone right in there and made a call as soon as the network was detected. Pretty easy to use right out of the box. Now it was time for some real experimentation.
Design:
In contrast to the earlier Treo models, the 600 comes closer to resembling a typical cell phone, making it a lot less bulky. It’s slim and light form factor make it really comfortable to hold in your hand and against your head. However, it’s important to remember (how can you forget) that this is more than just a phone and because of that, it has a touchscreen. This means that holding the phone up against your ear would inadvertently lead you to hanging up the phone if you don’t deactivate the touchscreen on answering a call. On top of that, there’s every possibility you will have to wipe the screen clear of facial oils, smudges and dust prints on long phone usages. Do you really want to expose your expensive phone to such ignominies? I recommend a Boxwave ClearTouch Screen Protector which protects your phone’s screen from the wear of day-to-day use.
Right under the screen are four customizable buttons and the very useful five way rocker switch which adds a lot to the usability of the unit. The beautiful thing about this rocker is that a lot of software packages take use of the five way navigator switch such as the PTunes MP3 player and the Blazer web browser. On the left of the unit, is a two way switch that, by default, controls the ringer volume and while on a call, the headset volume. A great little application that allows you to tweak the usage of the side buttons is listed below where I list some useful applications. It's called Treo Butler. On the top of the unit, is the SD card slot and the SIM card slot for GSM phones. The SD card is spring loaded, so without a decent case that covers this slot, the SD card has a tendency to pop out. Be careful. Another design flaw is the fact that the headset/headphone jack is located at the bottom of the unit. It just makes its usability very awkward. Not just that, but the headset jack is not standard. You would need to get a headset adapter from PalmOne to connect a standard headphone or a Seidio 2-in-1 headset that allows you to listen to your music off the treo as well as answer calls. Also on top of the unit is the Silent Mode switch which is very handy and the ever present PDA standard – a stylus slot.
On the back of the unit on the top corner is the camera lens, the reset button close on the bottom half, and the loud speaker on the upper half. And then there’s the wonderful QWERTY keyboard making graffiti obsolete on this unit. So Graffiti haters, rejoice! Finally, the screen dimension is 2.5 inches (diagonal).
One quick note about the battery - it is not replaceable (at least officially). But don't worry about this too much because when it does eventually die, and it will someday, the forums listed below have DIY's on how you can purchase and replace the stock battery.
Features:
Often people ask me, “Wow! That’s a pretty amazing toy! What does it do!?” This may sound clichéd but a better question is, “What CAN’T it do?” I am not sure if I can cover all the functions of this little animal in a review like this, considering that a lot of third-party applications, tweakers and hacks are available that enhance the functionality of the treo 600 several times over the stock unit that is shipped by PalmOne.
Starting off with the phone, I can’t say I have any issues with it at all. There are multiple ways to dial numbers – from the on-screen dial pad to speed-dialing to dialing off the keyboard. Typical cell phone features like call logging, speaker-phone mode, conference calling and call-hold are also available.
At this point, since we are talking about the phone, another package I would recommend is Agendus Pro by Iambic. It adds a lot of functionality to the stock contact list, calendar, to-do list and integrates them all in a beautiful streamlined manner. If there is one package that I use everyday, it’s got to be this one.
A minor gripe about the phone (which is basically a design flaw is that the loudspeaker and the mic are on the back of the unit. It’s just a little awkward but with the small form factor, real estate is valuable and so it really could not have been easy for the designers.
As for the PDA features of the treo 600, it is powered by a 144 MHz ARM processor. A little disappointing 32 MB of memory is taken up by 8 MB of ROM. I found it fairly difficult to read the screen outdoors and always found myself ducking into shade to read the screen. It’s a fairly low resolution screen too, and compared to my friend’s HP handheld, the screen on the treo is pretty pathetic. The treo runs on Palm OS 5.1.2.
What makes this unit a “laptop-in-your-pocket” is its ability to surf the web, send emails, edit MS Office Suite documents, play games, act as a modem, play MP3’s, watch movies, stream audio and basically pretty much do everything a laptop can do. OK so you can’t render 3D graphics on it, but let’s be realistic. As promised, I will list a few third party applications that enhance the functionality of the unit at this point because we are talking about the PDA functions of the treo 600. I already mentioned one, in Agendus Pro and I will start off with it.
1)Agendus Pro by Iambic Software- www.iambic.com/agenduspro/palmos/
2)Snapper Mail- www.snappermail.com/palm/email/
An extremely user friendly email client that just transforms your email experience on PDA’s.
3)Verichat- www.pdaapps.com/verichat/default.html
Instant Messaging on your phone.
4)Chatter- www.imchatter.com/products.shtml
Yet another Instant Messenger.
5)Pocket Tunes- www.pocket-tunes.com
Convert your Treo 600 into an MP3 Player. For a long time, PalmOne gave this out free if you registered you treo on their website. I own a dedicated MP3 player and I really can’t tell the difference in the quality of sound between that and the treo. A MUST HAVE.
6)Lightwav- www.toysoft.ca
Enables using MP3’s as ring tones. Make your own MP3 ring tones at home and upload it to the SD memory card using HotSync and just add it as a ringbone. It also enables customizing ring tones for contacts, SMS, alarms etc. Another MUST-HAVE. Uses Pocket Tunes to play MP3's though. For a good review on Lightwav, please visit http://portal.treobits.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=129
7)mLights- www.palmgear.com
Gives you control over the keyboard lights so that you can conserve battery when needed.
8)Documents-to-Go- www.dataviz.com
Edit MS Office suite documents on the go! From Word documents to Slide shows to MS Excel files. You really can’t do without this if you are a heavy MS Office user.
9)MMplayer- www.mmplayer.com
Play your .avi movies on your palm! Simply encode using Virtual Dub using the techniques highlighted in the MMplayer website and upload it to your SD card and play a movie. I simply LOVE this application
10)Palm Webcam- www.clievideo.com
Use the camera on the back of the treo 600 as a fully functional webcam.
11) mSafe - www.motionapps.com/products.jsp?msafe
Lock your treo if it ever gets locked or stolen by sending it an SMS message. One of the best ways to protect your data.
12) Treo Butler - Read the review here to decide if you need this application. http://www.treocentral.com/content/Stories/334-1.htm
Basically, it enables you to tweak such things as the usage of the side buttons, gives you control over the LED etc.
13) ZLauncher - www.zztechs.com. Great application for launching applications on your treo 600. Customize skins, themes and icons. It completely and utterly revamps the look of your treo, like giving it a Win XP look, for instance. You will be surprised how much it costs - $12!
I think these applications will give you a good start on the treo. It’s impossible to list every single application but that’s not my purpose here. My purpose is to give you a start on the best apps for the unit that will instantly add an immense load of functionality.
Another feature of the phone is the Blazer web browser which reformats webpages to a single column so no scrolling from left to right is required. You can also send MMS messages by taking pictures using the camera and instantly sending them to your friends.
Ok now to the built-in camera. The camera is nothing to write home about. It's almost as if one would not miss it if it wasn't there and me, along with many other treo users, would have preferred that there was no camera at all, if it meant that the price would have been lowered. Let's get one thing straight - this is clearly a business executives' phone. Most business executives do not take photographs and MMS them to their buddies. On top of that, most bureaucrats and executives are not allowed to have photographic equipment in their offices due to privacy concerns. Why Handspring decided to put a phone on this camera, is beyond me. The functionality of the camera is very limited. It takes very poor shots under weak lighting conditions and several users complain about having several tiny blue dots that constitite image noise on pictures they have taken. Don't ever think your treo 600 camera is going to replace your dedicated $700 digital camera. It will barely replace a $20 disposable camera!
Accessories and Hardware:
There's a definite need for a case for this baby to protect your investment and I strongly recommend the aluminum case by Innopocket. www.innopocket.com. Take a peak at ebay for cases as well before you rush out and buy your cases from online stores. I recommend this case because I did drop the treo 600 while in this case and the case took 100% of the brunt and saved me from a heart attack. How can I not endorse such a product. However, if you are looking for other cases, here is a link that will give you a good insight into ALL the cases available for the treo 600.
ALL CASES LIST
http://portal.treobits.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=103
Might as well take a look at all the screen protectors available as well. I recommend the Boxwave Cleartouch at www.boxwave.com/products/cleartouch/ but feel free to make your own choice from the list below.
ALL SCREEN PROTECTORS LIST: http://portal.treobits.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=141
Support Online:
I love the fact that there is so much online support for the treo 600. Here are some websites where you can go for all the help and reviews you need on this phone.
www.treocentral.com
www.treobits.com
www.mytreo.net
www.howardforums.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=180
Some Extra Costs:
As I mentioned above, there are some 'must-haves' if you get a treo 600. These add to the final cost of the unit and should be taken into consideration - for instance, a case, a screen protector etc. I have compiled a small list of accessories which would probably push the final cost of the treao 600 a little bit higher. Other than a case, a decent screen protector and the above mentioned software applications, consider the following:
a. Cradle - Some office executives absolutely MUST have a cradle for some reason. Personally, I don't use one because it's just an extra cost. Believe it or not, there is a cradle available for the treo 600 that goes for US $200!
b. SD memory card - These go for fairly good rates, especially if you buy them online. Just be careful not to buy any from Radioshack as I got ripped off big time. They sold me an SD 128 MB card for close to CDN $130 when the same can be obtained at a substantially lower price. Is this a 'must-have'? I would say so. It adds the ability to watch movies, play MP3's and store various files on your treo. Remember, the native memory is only 32 MB! REALLY low! You cannot transfer mp3's directly to your phone's memory as well.
c. SD Memory Card Reader/Writer - Transfer speeds using the HotSync Cable aren't the greatest with the treo 600. Since SD Cards go from 128 MB to 2GB, I don't suspect you want to sit around and wait for half an hour to transfer a bunch of movies or MP3's to your phone. Invest in a good SD Memory Card Reader/Writer and cut your transfer times by more than half.
d. Headset - The accompanying headset is not the greatest piece of work. If you use the headset a lot, consider purchasing a Seidio 2-in-1 Headset, which allows you to listen to your sounds (music, movies, games) as well talk into your phone if you want to make a call. It's not really an essential but the next on this list is.
e. Headset adapter - If you are not willing to spend the money for a 2-in-1 headset, consider spending $5 for a headset adapter that will allow you to connect a standard headset to your treo 600. At the very least you can listen to your music in stereo and yes, you can make calls as well using a standard headset. The only thing is, you'll have to talk into your phone's mic. Get it from www.palmone.com but if you do a little online shopping, you can get better prices.
f. Wireless Provider - Ah yes, what good is a smartphone without a cell phone provider? Now you might think this is a no-brainer but consider this - GPRS costs vary from country to country. If you intend to use the treo 600 to send massive amounts of email, surf the web and listen to streaming audio, you better have a darn good mobile internet plan from your provider! Just because your new toy CAN do it, doesn't mean you are doing it for free. The temptation is always high to surf the web while waiting for the bus or a friend! MUST - RESIST (especially since my mobile internet browsing plan is expensive).
g. External Battery - Consider this cost as well if you are a heavy phone user and are a frequent traveller.
h. External keyboard - Yet another cost to factor in if you plan on using your smartphone for entering lots of data. The built in keyboard is really comfortable to use but if you plan on sending long emails or editing MS Word documents on your treo, you would probably not regret getting one of the many external keyboards available.
Final few points to note:
a. Lack of Wi-Fi support - If this is an important aspect for you, you'll be disappointed. There have been tonnes of threads on many forums regarding wi-fi for the treo 600 but it doesn't look like it's going to happen.
b. Fragility - Part of the reason why I have an aluminium case. There are multiple horror stories of the treo dying after one fall or a bump. That's one of the disadvantage of all-in-one machines - a flaw on one part of the device can carry on to other parts and kill all functionality.
c. Buggy at times - It is prone to soft-resetting itself if things don't go it's way. Updating the firmware for me was a pain in the neck and I still haven't been able to do it successfully. And I am not computer illiterate nor am i technophobe. Third party applications sometimes tend to send the phone into resets as well.
No device in the world is perfect. The pros far outweigh the flaws though. Look at the features and decide if you would be using most of the features of this phone. If not, and you are looking for a toy, you can find a lot of stand alone PDA's or funky cell phones for a far lower price. It's not the greatest PDA. It's not the greatest phone. But it IS the greatest PDA/phone combo. Finally, before you decide to purchase this phone - remember the Treo ACE is coming out soon - it's the upgrade to the Treo 600. At the very least, the Treo 600 prices would drop when the ACE is released. So be a little patient.
Specifications:
Processor: 144 MHz ARM processor
Operating System: Palm OS 5.2
Display: 160 x 160 4096 color LCD (2.5 inches)
Memory: 32 MB RAM (8 MB for ROM)
Size: 4.4 inches x 2.4 inches x 0.9 inches
Weight: 5.9 ounces (GSM)
Expansion: 1 SD card slot with support for SDIO
Battery: 1800 mAH Lithium Ion battery. Battery cannot be replaced.
Camera: 300,000 pixel CMOS VGA camera
UPDATE Aug 19, 2004:
PalmOne just released a Wi-Fi SDIO card for a few of their units - the Palm Zire 72 and Tungsten T3. However, these will not work for the Treo 600. This is PalmOne's official explanation (from palminfocenter.com):
"Following market and development-cost analysis, palmOne wanted to develop a Wi-Fi card that will be applicable to its Zire 72 and Tungsten T3 handhelds. These solutions require very tight integration between hardware, firmware and custom software, as well as access to propriety technologies for the level of tight integration necessary to give the customer an excellent experience."
According to TreoCentral.com, this is the unofficial explanation:
"The unofficial explanation is that the Treo 600 is unable to provide enough power to the SD slot to create a useable 802.11b radio, making it physically impossible to create a WiFi card for the Treo 600."
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 460
Recommended for: Business Executives - Powerful and Professional
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Epinions.com ID:
transcend1
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Reviews written: 8
Trusted by: 1 member
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