Review of the Palm Treo 700w*
For Palm users, the Treo was one of the greatest devices to ever come along. The problem is that Windows Mobile users wanted the same hardware as Palm users without having to use the Palm Operating System. Now, Palm has unveiled one of their greatest magic tricks yet by putting the Windows Mobile Operating System on the new Treo 700w.
So What's the Big Deal About Another Treo?
Unless you live in a cave, you're probably aware of the extreme popularity of the Palm Treo 600 and the Treo 650. In fact, we really believe Palm gave the whole lagging converged device industry a boost when the Treo 600 was introduced. So if the Palm Treo 650 is such a great device, why the need for a Windows Mobile based Treo? Well, the answer to that is that, while the Palm Operating System is great, it's not for everyone. As we've mentioned before the Palm versus Pocket PC debate can get pretty heated. So in a move that most people never thought would happen, Palm decided to go build a device that would attract Windows Mobile loyalists.
Palm's newest Smartphone is the Treo 700w and it runs the Windows Mobile 5.0.2 Operating System. Our review unit was for the Verizon network.
When it comes to the hardware, except for a few different buttons, the Palm Treo 650 and Treo 700w look pretty similar. What really stands out is the difference in the Operating Systems. Since the Palm Operating System is so sleek and not real processor intensive, it's really a great choice of Operating System for a phone.
Let's Talk About the Treo 700w Features
Keyboard
While the keyboard is pretty much the same type of backlit QWERTY keyboard that's on the Palm Treo 650, the buttons are a little more square on the Treo 700w making it a little easier to use. The keyboard has always been one of the biggest strengths on the Treo line of Smartphones, and makes text entry quick and easy.
Display
Probably the hardest thing to get used to is the Palm Treo 700w’s 240x240 screen. That pales against the Treo 650's 320x320 screen and the typical Windows Mobile PDAs screens which are usually 240x320. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but one of the biggest reasons I started using Windows Mobile over Palm several years was to gain more screen real estate. Still, the smaller screen isn't enough to stop carrying a convenient device like the Treo 700w. Overall though, the Palm Treo 700w screen is bright and crisp and worked well in all lighting conditions.
Camera
The Treo 700w comes with 1.3 megapixels (1280x1024) camera with 2x zoom and video capture. This is quite a step up from the Treo 650's 0.3 megapixels camera. Overall, pictures taken with the Palm Treo 700w looked pretty good and it was hard to tell the pictures came from a PDA.
Wireless
While the Treo 700w doesn't have 802.11 b/g wireless built in, you can easily insert just about any SD wireless card and be up and running. Since the Palm Treo 600 doesn't have the ability to use a WiFi card and the Treo 650 can only use the Palm WiFi card, the ability to use almost any SD WiFi card on the Palm Treo 700w is a great selling point in my book. The Treo 700w does come with built-in Bluetooth. That means the Palm Treo 700w is Bluetooth headset compatible and you can even interact with Bluetooth enabled printers, car kits, and computers.
Reception and Web
As a phone, the Treo 700w does a great job just like the Palm Treo’s entire line does. Call quality was excellent and for those who've never used a Treo, call quality and reception is as good, if not better than, any typical cellphone. The Palm Treo 700w review unit we used works on the Verizon Wireless' Evolution Data Optimized network which can give you average data download speeds of 400-700 kilobits per second. So, while surfing the internet on a PDA's small screen isn't always optimal, the speed is unbelievable compared to the GPRS (about 25 kilobytes per second) on my current Smartphone.
Battery Life
The Treo 700w has a removable, lithium ion battery that Palm says will give you up to 4.7 hours talk time and up to 15 days standby. The Treo battery lasted at least 3 hours with heavy usage which was quite satisfactory for a Windows mobile device. Overall, I could usually go 2 days between charges. One of the great features of the Palm Treo 700 (same on the 650) is the presence of a removable battery. So if you keep an extra battery handy, especially when on the road, you shouldn't have to worry about the Palm Treo 700w running out of juice on you. Just like the Treo 650, the Treo 700 also uses NVFS memory (non-volatile file system). In simple terms, if your battery completely dies, with NVFS, you won't lose all of your data as you would with older PDAs.
Today Screen
One thing you'll notice on the Treo 700w versus previous Windows Mobile editions is the ability to dial directly from the today screen by clicking on a contact's picture. Two other great features are the ability to do a contact search or even an internet search from the Today Screen. While these types of searches were available in the past, it took a third party tool to accomplish it.
Software
Just like standard Windows mobile PDAs, the Treo 700w comes with a decent software package that includes Outlook, Pocket Word, Excel, and Power Point.
Conclusion
Overall, I really like the Palm Treo 700w. Probably my biggest disappointment comes from the 240x240 screen on the Treo 700 as opposed to the 320x320 resolution on the Treo 650 or the 320x240 screen on the typical Windows Mobile PDA. Still, that doesn't stop me from saying the Palm Treo 700 is a great device. You'll find that overall the reviews for the Treo 700 have been lukewarm because many reviewers are trying to compare the device to the Treo 650. The fact is that the Palm and Windows Mobile Operating Systems are different and appeal to different types of users. No matter how great a device the Treo 650 is, hard core Windows Mobile users are not going to want to switch to a Palm OS based device.
I'll say it now: if you're a Treo 600 or 650 user and you like the Palm OS, there's no reason to switch. But if you are a Windows Mobile loyalist or you run a business that prefers to have a Microsoft based converged device, than the Palm Treo 700w is an option you'll want to look at.
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*Article from about.com