Review: Treo 700w

Read our comprehensive review of the Palm Treo 700w.

Treo 700w Review
Conclusion

By: Christopher Meinck

The new Palm Treo 700w is similar in size and weight to its predecessor, the Treo 650, but the similarities end there. The Palm Treo 700w runs Windows Mobile 5 which is a major departure from previous Palm OS based Treos. After a week of heavy use with the Treo 700w, I found there are a lot of things to like in Windows Mobile 5. I grew particularly fond of Windows Today and its ability to create a true mobile â??desktopâ?. The Treo 700w provides me with all the information I need to stay in touch including voice mail, unread emails, access to photo speed dial, appointments and a nifty Google search.

At times, I found the menus of Treo 700w became a bit cumbersome. There were some things (such as activating Speakerphone), which required too much navigation through menu options. The Treo is a mobile device and navigating menus in the car or on the go needs to be easier.

Despite the lower resolution (240×240) of the Windows Mobile Treo 700w, the GUI (graphic user interface) is colorful and very attractive. When it comes to viewing video content or pictures, the Treo 700w is capable, but not up to par when compared to the Treo 650. When it came to taking the photos, the 1.3 megapixel camera of the Treo 700w produced a superior photo to the Treo 650.

The Treo 700w is EV-DO(Verizon’s hi-speed data network) compatible and offers very fast Internet access. Downloading email and browsing the web was by far the best I have seen on a Treo. It also allows you to multi-task while downloading email.

Despite a few missteps, Palm, Microsoft and Verizon have a delivered a winner in the Treo 700w. With the Microsoft OS and Office applications, this latest Treo is a no-brainer for corporate users looking for an alternative to the Blackberry. Existing Treo 650 owners will probably want to take a pass, as the Treo 650 holds its own against the Treo 700w in many respects, and will not support your existing Palm OS third party software. Iâ??d encourage new smartphone owners to try both and see which feels most comfortable. If you have questions, then visit the Everything Treo forums â?? a perfect place to solicit feedback from existing owners and ask questions.

The Palm Treo 700w retails for $299 (with 2-year contract) and is currently only available with Verizon Wireless service. It is available through Verizon Wireless retailers and through the Everything Treo Store.

Treo 700w Review continued:
Additional Applications

By: Christopher Meinck

There are additional applications that are standard with the Treo 700w.

Notes

Notes is a memo pad that allows you to either type messages or draw directly on the Treo 700w screen. Those looking for this feature on the Treo 650 were forced to use a third party application such as Mobile Write. If you select View Recording Toolbar from the Menu application, you can add a voice memo to the note. This is a very nice touch and great for companies who are using the Treo to communicate. From within Notes, you can beam to another device or send via email. The attached file has an extension of .pwi and was not recognized by my Mac. I tried opening it up in both Photoshop and Microsoft Word, but neither wanted any part of the file.

Calculator

Like most PDA’s, the Treo 700w comes equipped with a Calculator. You can use either the screen or the keyboard to enter numbers into the calculator. The functions appear to be inline with those on the Treo 650’s Calc application. The Treo 650’s Calc program is a much nicer looking program. The Windows Mobile 5 version looks like it was designed either on July 4th or the day before the release of the Treo. While it won’t win any design awards, it adds, it subtracts, divides and more. More robust solutions are surely to be available via third party apps.

Games

Included with the 700w are both Solitaire and Bubble Breaker. Nothing earth shattering, but they are free and a nice addition.

File Explorer

This allows you to easily see what’s on your Treo 700w both on internal memory and on the storage card. Like Windows XP, you have a My Documents folder, which holds all of your documents, music and pictures. From File Explorer, you can delete files, email documents and more. A nice file management tool, which allows you to sort by Date, Size, Type or Name.

Treo 700w Review continued: Conclusion

Treo 700w Review Continued:
Office Applications

By: Christopher Meinck

This is a productivity device and as you’d expect, Microsoft has included their Office Productivity Suite. Included with Windows Mobile 5 is:

• Word Mobile
• Excel Mobile
• PowerPoint Mobile

I sent a Word document to the Treo 700w via email and did a “Save As” to the Personal folder. When I launched Word Mobile, it automatically brought up a list of documents on my device. Despite setting my font size very low, Word Mobile displayed a larger font, which is probably more suitable for editing or reading Word docs. You can create new documents as well. Familiar editing features as the desktop are found in the Mobile version. This is a more that suitable for road warriors needing to create, edit or view Word documents. Excel documents also allow you to view and edit spreadsheets. While the Treo 700w does support landscape, there aren’t any real benefits since the screen is 240×240. Editing large Excel documents could prove to be a cumbersome process on the smaller screen. Zoom views allow you to see more of the spreadsheet, but it becomes unreadable under 75 percent zoom. With PowerPoint, you can open and view slideshows. Also supported are animations, URL’s and transitions. Powerpoint presentations looked surprisingly good on the Treo 700w. The ability to edit slides would have been helpful for business traveler’s looking to finish up a presentation on a flight without having to drag out their laptops. While there isn’t an option in Excel Mobile to view in Landscape Mode, that option does appear in PowerPoint Mobile. Again, there is no significant value to switching to portrait view since the Treo 700w’s screen is 240×240. It looks the same for either portrait or landscape.

Treo 700w Review continued: Additional Applications

Treo 700w Review continued:
Music and Videos

By: Christopher Meinck

The default multimedia application on the 700w is Windows Media Player. From within Windows Media, I tested a few MP3â??s, which play no different than on the Treo 650. Windows Media ships with one skin, but you can customize the player skin. Coming from a Mac, I’ve never been a fan of Windows Media Player on the desktop and there was nothing particularly special about this version. For music, the interface includes buttons that simulate a player. There is a web icon, which launches Internet Explorer and loads Windows Media Mobile. From here you could watch streaming video or listen to streaming radio. Both audio and video content streamed without issue back to Windows Media Player. I was disturbed by the way Windows Mobile skins the video player. Its interface masks the size of the actual video by taking the top, sides and bottom of the screen. What you’re left with is a minimal size video the size of stretched postage stamp. In one instance, I was pleased not to see buffering issues. I couldn’t see myself watching programs on the Treo 700w in this format. I’m waiting for MobiTV to support the Treo 700w. The Treo 700w clearly has speed advantages, but it’s hampered by the small screen that’s made worse by delivering a small video. Additionally, this video wasn’t even sharp and doesn’t compare to video coming out of the Treo 650. It’s unfortunate the Treo 650 suffers from buffering issues when accessing streaming video.

Treo 700w Review continued: Office Applications

Treo 700w Review continued:
Pictures and Video

By: Christopher Meinck

The Treo 700w comes with a 1.3 megapixel camera, which is an upgrade over the 650. Like messaging, the camera application is nestled in with your pictures. So, to access the camera, you first have to access Pictures and Video from the Start Menu and then select Camera. While in the Camera application, you have a few options you can set:

• Brightness: Ranges from +3 to -3.
• Resolution: 1280×1024, 640×480, 320×240, 240×180, 160×120
• Zoom: 1X, 2X

Using up/down on the 5-way navigator, you can change the zoom on both devices from 1x to 2x. I like the options for lower resolutions. As you build your contacts database, you might use the lower resolution photos for the Photo Speed Dial favorites. I’ve always been of the opinion that cell phone/smartphone cameras are useful for that moment when you don’t have your digital camera. It’s not a replacement, but rather a device that allows you to capture moments you wouldn’t necessarily be able to. Point being, while the increased megapixel capability of the 700w is nice, it’s not going to replace your digital camera. Accessibility of the application should have been made easier. The 700w clearly beats out the Treo 650 when it comes to photo quality. Here are photos of Floyd taken with both the Treo 650 (on the left) and the Treo 700w on the right. To see the actual photo at full size, click on the corresponding photo.




While in Pictures and Video, you can:

• Send photo via SMS or Email
• Set photo as background for Windows Today
• Play a Slideshow

Overall, the quality was very good coming out of phone. You can save a default location for photos, which I changed to my storage card. Oddly enough, there is no option to actually manage your existing photos. For instance, there were photos taken initially that I wanted to Send to Card. To take Video on the Treo 7oow, you first have to enter Camera, hit Menu and switch to Video Mode. To either take a photo or record video, you have to hit the middle button on the 5-way navigator. The Treo 650’s application offers a “mac-like” interface that allows you to play, pause, stop and easily switch between camera and video applications. The Windows version needs to incorporate features from the Treo 650 Camera application. The current application is too menu driven and accessing the camera/video application is time consuming.

Treo 700w Review continued: Multimedia

Treo 700w Review continued:
Messaging

By: Christopher Meinck

When I first received my Treo 700w, Messaging was the first cause for confusion. For Treo 650 owners, Messaging is an SMS/MMS client. In Windows Mobile 5, Messaging is all encompassing. It contains:

• Email
• SMS
• MMS

I’d prefer to have Email separated from my SMS/MMS, because this requires me to access Messaging and then Switch Accounts. Quick access to an SMS application would have been better. The Treo 700w comes with Outlook Email pre-installed. Setting a POP3 account was a relatively easy 5-step process, although I’m still left scratching my head as to what Step two accomplishes. Once you fill in your email address in Step one, Outlook makes an attempt at auto configuration. Even when it reaches completion, either the wrong information or no information was included on the ensuing screens. Outlook supports POP3 and IMAP4 accounts. Finally, I was able to get Mac support from my 700w. Setting up, accessing and managing my dot Mac account was a breeze. The 700w allows you to globally set the type size on your Treo. With a setting just above Smallest, reading messages was near perfect on a handheld device. On the Treo 650, the default font size is Palm size 9, but the 700 was able to display a smaller and easy to read font. Also, you can set the 700w to retrieve emails in the background and go back to using your Treo. For instance, the first time I accessed my dot mac account, it had to download 250 messages with attachments. At the same time, I was able to access my contacts, calendar and any other application (other than calling out) while it was downloading. Making a call will interrupt the downloading of messages. If you are accessing email, a phone call will not interrupt the process. I tried calling the Treo 700w while downloading messages. By the third ring, the Treo had finished email activities, disconnected and then started ringing. While I haven’t used Outlook in quite some time, the mobile version has a familiar feel to my days using both Outlook Express and Entourage. You are able to sort messages using a drop down menu in the right hand column. Sorting can be done by Received, From and Subject. Scrolling through a list of documents was very speedy using the 5-way navigator.

Outlook and Handling of Attachments

Given my plight of not having a workable syncing solution, I decided to export vCards from Apple’s Address Book application and send them to the Treo 700w. It handled them with ease. Contact fields transferred and entering the Contact display the now familiar Call Home, Call Work, Send a Text Message and Send an Email dialog. I’m not sure if it’s a limitation on the part of the vCard or the Treo 700w, but the photo did not transfer into my contacts with the vCard. Saving attachments was odd. First off, no mention of saving attachments in the Quick Reference Guide. You have to press the screen where the attachment appears and you’ll receive a contextual menu to “Save As”. From there you have a form dialog allowing you to rename your file and to save to the Treo 700w’s internal memory or to a storage card. I would have liked the ability to press the center of the 5-way navigation. As I review the 700w, I was pleased at the minimal amount of times I had to press the actual screen. I use screen protectors to protect the screen but less fingerprints is always a good thing.

Treo 700w Review continued: Pictures and Video

Treo 700w Review continued
Internet

By: Christopher Meinck

Going Online with the Treo 700w

The Treo 700w, with its Windows roots, comes with Internet Explorer as the default browser. When using the Treo 700w to connect to the Internet, it briefly dials #777 which is a sign it’s connecting to the broadband line. Dialup took on average about 6 seconds to connect. Once you connect, the advantages of EV-DO (Verizon’s hi-speed data network) becomes apparent. Pages load significantly faster than on the Treo 650. This is no fault of the Treo 650, but rather it’s lack of support for EV-DO. It’s expected that future Palm OS based Treo’s (Treo 700p?) will take advantage of hi-speed data networks. The mobile version of IE is similar to its desktop counterpart. You have an address bar, content and the familiar menu buttons at the bottom of all Windows Mobile applications. The left button allows you to go back where the right button is to access your favorites. The pre-loaded favorites are mobile-based sites, which are super fast to load. When accessing pages designed for desktop PC’s or Mac’s, the Windows Mobile version of IE stacks the navigation. I loaded Apple.com on both the Treo 700w and Treo 650. I preferred Blazer’s rendering of the page compared to IE. Internet Explorer was fast, but the result was a disappointment. My choice with IE was to have the navigation stacked or to have the desktop version which paled in comparison to the Blazer rendition. If I choose the desktop option, I’m only able to view a small portion of the actual site. In comparison, Blazer not only produced a smaller version of what I would normally see on my Mac, but a bigger percentage of the page was viewable on the Treo 650 limiting my need to scroll. The scroll bars at the bottom of the Treo 700w’s screen are impossible to touch without accidentally pressing the menu buttons. Using the 5-way navigator is easy enough for this task and recommended.

Also, as I write this review, I’m noticing something about the Verizon EV-DO connection that is annoying. When the Treo 700w is idle for 20 or so seconds, you have to reconnect to the broadband line.

Internet Explorer on Treo 700w – Glass Half Full or Half Empty

Using Internet Explorer on the Treo 700w is a mixed bag when compared with Blazer. In my opinion, Blazer does a much better job with rendering a mobile version of sites that were designed for desktop browsers. In terms of speed, IE benefits from Verizon’s hi-speed EV-DO network. With the speed increase, I expect that I will use the Internet more on the 700w than I have on the Treo 650. At the same time, I wish IE would render pages like Blazer. There is hope for Treo 700w users as a Windows Mobile version of Opera is in the pipeline. Although the Treo 650 boasts a higher resolution, I didn’t notice any big differences in quality of images that would raise any flags. When comparing images from the two browsers side by side, the images on the Treo 650 were smaller and clearer. A reader had mentioned that bumping up the brightness and enabling clear type would create a similar look to the 650 screen. The brightness was a factor, but I found the Clear Type feature to cause a blurred image rather than improving the image. It actually hurt my eyes and I reverted to the default off state. The Treo 650 would present a much better web experience if it were only faster.

Pocket MSN: Hotmail and MSN Messenger

Included with the Treo 700w is Pocket MSN. This is a mobile MSN central. From Pocket MSN, you have a number of options:

• MSN Messenger
• MSN Hotmail
• MSN Mobile Home

In the world of IM clients, I’ve always leaned towards MSN Messenger. While not due to the stellar support of Microsoft for the Mac platform, but rather because a large group of my fantasy baseball league uses it to initiate trade talks or simply talk trash. MSN Messenger on the Treo 700w is a bare bones version of the desktop application. It doesn’t support emoticons or buddy picture displays. While a serviceable IM client, I expected it to be on par with the desktop version. You cannot send or receive files. In order to sign out of MSN, you have to exit a chat session. It’s bundled. It’s free and it’s MSN Messenger, so I’ll use it.

Making Hotmail Easy

When you first access MSN Hotmail it creates a Hotmail account in Outlook. You can then access your Hotmail email through either PocketMSN or Outlook. If you access Hotmail through PocketMSN, you can then switch to other Outlook accounts. With the Treo 700w, Microsoft makes it easy to access your Hotmail account. It’s been awhile since I’ve used Hotmail, but this might give me reason to access it more often.

Treo 700w Review continued: Messaging