Gizmo

PalmOne Treo 600

To test the PalmOne Treo 600, went to my pal who goes by the name of "Pants" in forklift salesperson circles because he is so fancy.

Pants has a tough job. Besides being a professional lacrosse player in Phoenix, he also works during the week selling industrial equipment in Toronto.

The Treo 600 from Rogers Wireless in Canada and AT&T Wireless in the US is a phone/PDA hybrid, what companies are now calling a smart phone. This combination could easily save Pants considerable time in his job and also keep him in touch with his friends and family while he is away playing lacrosse.

At first blush, the Treo 600 looks and feels more like a phone than a PDA. That is a good thing — it's about the size of a Hershey chocolate bar, ideal for this kind of device. Earlier models from various manufacturers were too big, more like Christmas chocolate boxes; you know, the one's with the legend so you can find the strawberry filled one.

The Treo 600 is a mobile phone with SMS and email that doubles as a Palm handheld computer. It's a PalmPilot melded with a cellphone.

You can pick up email from your POP3 account but still pick up the same email again on your desktop. Because the emails are sent using your usual email account, they look and feel like you are sending them from your desk in the office. It is like having your office with you even when you are away.

One of the coolest features of this phone is the integrated camera. The lens is located at the back of the phone and takes better pictures than you would expect from a phone. The pictures are only VGA quality, which means they're not suitable for printing, but the camera is tied directly into the email function so you can send text with a picture. Two things are nice about this: The photos come from your usual email account, unlike many other camera phones that say they are from a phone number at a wireless carrier, and the thumb keyboard makes composing email much easier than using the standard alphanumeric keypad on most cell phones.

Unfortunately, there are a few things that Pants doesn't like about the Treo 600. The keyboard is a good compromise to having no keyboard at all, but it requires smaller thumbs not found on professional lacrosse players.

The battery life is also poor. The lithium ion cell inside is ideal for opportunity charging while the Treo 600 is sitting on your desk. With all the video games and photo clicking, however, the battery does not last as along as a conventional cellphone or more robust PDA. If the Treo 600 is going to be a PDA, a camera and a phone in one, it needs three times the battery power.

Another problem Pants had was with the virtual keypad that appears on the screen for dialing. Although the Treo 600 has speed dial, dialing using the screen with your thumb or finger and also steering a car is tricky. Sometimes it is hard to know if the phone has acknowledged that you have pushed a button and, thanks to the occasional delay, you can find that you've dialed too many numbers. Finally, the Treo 600 doesn't have voice dial. It should.

Ultimately, the Treo 600 is a really cool device that is both attractive and functional.

As for Pants, he is much more productive at work with the Treo 600. But his coach says watching Pants take pictures of himself and send them to his girlfriend all weekend is hurting his game.

Price: $599 with a service contract, $499 (U.S.) with a service plan.
More info: palmOne.com
Buy it: Rogers Wireless and Future Shop outlets in Canada. ATT Wireless and Sprint PCS outlets in the U.S.

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Copyright © Cyberwalker Media Inc. 2004