Review of new Treo 700w

[wellerjohn]

From the WWW........



PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY
By WALTER S. MOSSBERG

A New Palm Treo Uses
Microsoft's Software,
But It Doesn't Beat 650
January 5, 2006; Page A13

Palm's Treo smart phones have been the best high-end cellphones on the market, with the finest combination of voice, email and Web-browsing capabilities in a hand-held device.

But many corporate information-technology departments have refused to buy the phone. Why? Because the Treo is powered by the Palm operating system and not by software from Microsoft, the only company whose software is supported by many IT departments.

So Palm this week introduced a Treo model that uses the latest version of Microsoft's Windows Mobile software (formerly known as Pocket PC). On the outside, the new Treo 700w looks very much like the current Palm-based model, the Treo 650, which will remain on sale and will continue to be developed on a parallel track. On the inside, though, the new Treo's key software functions -- phone, email, Web, multimedia -- are all different.
[Palm]

I have been testing the Treo 700w, which will be sold by Verizon Wireless, to see how it stacks up against the Treo 650, the phone I carry every day.

My verdict: Despite some nice new features, the Windows Mobile software is still inferior to the Palm software for one-handed use on the go. Its crucial email and phone functions are also weaker. And there's a serious bug in its email software that affects individuals, though not corporate users. So the Treo 700w is neither as easy to use nor as powerful as the Treo 650. In addition, the screen on the 700w offers significantly lower resolution than the screen on the 650, and the new model costs twice as much -- $400 versus $200.

For individual users, the main advantage of the new Treo 700w is that it is the first Treo to work on Verizon's high-speed EV-DO network. That network delivers data speeds that rival those of home DSL lines. But the speed advantage will be short-lived, because I expect to see a Palm-based Treo in coming months that can also use the EV-DO network.

At first glance, the phones look nearly identical, though the new 700w is a bit more rounded. The key dimensions are all the same, but the color scheme is a bit different and the 700w has a slightly better keyboard. The individual keys are squarer, with a bit more room between them.

The built-in camera on the new model is much better than the primitive one on the 650. It can shoot at a resolution of 1.3 megapixels, up from just a third of a megapixel for the older camera. In my tests, the 700w's pictures were much better. But the resolution of the screen on the 700w, a vastly more important component, has changed for the worse. Although it is about the same physical size as the 650 screen, it has a resolution of only 240 by 240, 44% lower than the 320-by-320 resolution on the Treo 650 screen.

There are some offsetting pluses. In my tests, downloading Web pages on the Treo 700w was wicked fast for a hand-held, typically hovering between 500 and 800 kilobits per second, roughly 10 times as fast as on the Treo 650. Also, the new model has more than twice as much usable memory, and slightly better claimed battery life.

Palm has also added some nice features to the Windows Mobile software. The Today page, which summarizes information like appointments and unread email, has been vastly beefed up. It now includes a box for looking up phone numbers and one for doing a Google search.

In addition, you can quickly initiate a phone call from the Today screen in a number of ways: You can start typing a number or a name from your contacts list, and that contact will pop up. You can use a previously assigned speed-dial letter or number. Or you can set up a scrolling bar containing photos of your frequent contacts and then tap on the relevant picture.

Palm has added other goodies. You can choose to respond to an incoming call with a text message, which is great if you're in a meeting. And when listening to voice mail, you can use VCR-like icons to navigate among messages.

But lots of tasks on the Treo 700w require extra steps. On the 650, one click of a button takes you to email. On the 700w, two button presses are necessary. On the 650, the leading email programs allow you to delete a message by pressing one key. On the 700w, you have to press a key, view a menu and then press a second key.

And the email program lacks many of the advanced features of VersaMail or SnapperMail on the Palm-based Treo. For instance, there's no simple way to delete -- or to mark as read -- large groups of messages.

When you're on a phone call on a Palm-based Treo, you can turn on the speaker phone or mute the microphone by tapping large icons with your thumb. On the Windows-based Treo, you have to open a menu and then select these functions.

And then there's that email bug. If you're using a so-called POP email account, like the ones offered to consumers by EarthLink and many others, the Treo 700w will disconnect from the network after it checks for new email. This means that when the 700w next checks for email -- or when you next try to get on the Net -- you'll have to wait for it to dial into the network again, which is annoying. Microsoft is working on a fix, but it will take months to deploy the patch to users.

The Treo 700w will appeal to some Windows Mobile fans, and to some corporate IT staffs. But for everyone else, I advise sticking with the Palm-based Treos.

[Stillrockin]

Interesting review Wellerjohn. Thanks for posting!

[Stillrockin]

ZDNet rates the 700W a 7.6 . . . Still like the 650 better . . . .

http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/Palm_Tr...ml?tag=nl.e540

[eltonron]

Thanks for posting your review of the Treo 700w.

Have you ever heard any rational explanation as to why Palm made the decision to take such an enormous step backwards on the Treo700w in terms of brightness, sharpness, and size of the display? I finally had the chance to compare the Treo650 and 700w side-by-side at Verizon and couldn't believe what a HUGE drop in display quality there was from the 650 to the 700w.

So does this mean that we have to chose between EVDO broadband access or a viewable display? More importantly, do you know if Palm is planning on making the same bonehead move on the upcoming 700p, trading a sharp and bright larger display for EVDO access?

I can't for the life of me figure out why in the world they would choose to go BACKWARDS so drastically in the quality of the display for the newer units. I also can't figure out why there is such a delay in releasing a Palm OS Treo that is also EVDO capable.

Any enlightenment you or anyone else would care to give on this subject would be greatly appreciated (or if you can at least refer me to discussions on the forum regarding this topic, that would be great).

Thanks!

eltonron

[StevenTyson]

Don't know for sure, but a good guess would be MICROSOFT!!

In all fairness to Palm they probably made a strategic business decision that has faced many a manufacturer. Can't fend off Microsoft forever. As is usually the case with anything Microsoft touches, the next version is usually better. Then again, there was millinium!

[bubbatex]

Microsoft - Yes, indeed. I read somewhere (I think on Engadget - I dunno, I read WAY too many sites and forums!) that MSFT made that decision for Palm. They did not want to "re-do" the resolution support of WM5 just for the Treo.

[jem7]

Not sure that MS has anything to do with screen resolution on 700w. WM5 will support up to QVGA. I think that Palm used that screen resolution for battery life concerns. Also, I've been using WM devices for several years and I would like to say that although the 700w is not a perfect device, it blows every previous WM device out of the water as far as functionality, design, craftsmanship and especially one-handed operation. I guess treo 650 fans are diehards but in a corporate environment with Microsoft Exchange, it just doesn't get any better than the 700w.

And one more opinion on the 240x240 resolution..... SO WHAT? I can view videos, stream LIVE television, look at pics, etc., and they look fine. I mean this is a phone, right? When I hold my 700w next to my Samsung I730, sure the 730's screen looks SLIGHTLY better but that's not enough to make me strap it back on my belt. I just can't understand all the debate over resolution when the difference can hardly be discerned.

Now come on, Palm, and give me a treo with a faster processor. That to me is the biggest downside of the 700w - the sluggish performance that can only be cured with a soft reset.