Treo 700p Review: Hardware

Ratings:

The Palm Treo 700p uses the exact same form factor and casing as the Palm Treo 700w. In fact, Verizon uses similar packaging for both models. The similarities are sure to cause confusion among potential first time Treo owners shopping for a new smartphone. While the physical dimensions are the same, the hard buttons of the Treo 700p have different graphics and are mapped to different buttons relative to the Palm OS. What's more interesting are the differences between the Palm Treo 650 and Palm Treo 700p. The Home button that brings up your applications (also known as the Application launcher) has graduated to a main button on the 700p. Palm has also moved the menu button into the QWERTY keyboard and provided dedicated Send/End Call buttons.

On the previous generation Treo 650, simply pressing the Phone button twice brought up recently dialed numbers and access to your call log. To access this same list on the 700p requires you simply press the Send button. The new button is not terribly intuitive when compared with the previous method. Moving the Applications Launcher into the main buttons was a great move, since it provides access to your applications which is central to using the Treo. The only downside that I see with the new layout is the new location of the Menu button (located next to ALT button). With the Palm OS, menus are hidden until you press the menu button. Accessing the menu button is a very common and the current location doesn't feel as comfortable using one-handed operation.

Screen

The Palm Treo 700p uses a 320x320 resolution screen. I found the screen to be more vivid and sharper when placed side by side with a Cingular Treo 650. My complaint with previous Palm OS offerings has been the use of the screen. The Palm Treo 700w features a 240x240 resolution screen, but you don't immediately notice the difference in resolution compared to the 320x320 resolution of both the 650 and 700p. From the Phone application to the Application launcher, the added pixels found in the Treo 700p aren't being effectively put to good use, whereas the Treo 700w makes great use of it's 240x240 resolution screen with the Today screen. With it's use of blue gradients, photo speed dials and attractive icons, at first glance the Treo 700w provides a more welcoming experience than the Treo 700p. Using the Treo 700p as a multimedia device is where the screen really shines. Viewing photos on the Palm Treo 700p revealed amazing details in photos.

Keyboard

The Treo 700p features a QWERTY keyboard and there are some minor changes over the Treo 650. The keys are now larger and more of a rectangular shape versus the oval shaped keys found on the Treo 650. The newer 700p keyboard has a more tactile feel and I felt more confirmation from the keyboard while typing. On the Treo 650, I felt the keys were just a touch closer and felt more cramped than on the 700p. The improvements weren't drastic, but I appreciated the changes. Both 700p and 700w are utilizing the same QWERTY keyboard and subsequently, I felt no difference when typing on either.

Processor and Memory

The newest Palm features a boost in user memory. The 700p features 128mb of memory and 60mb is user accessible - meaning it can be used for third party applications, ringtones, music, photos and documents. If you are not a heavy multimedia user, a secure digital memory card is not a necessary accessory. This increase is substantial considering the previous Treo 650 shipped with 32mb of memory, leaving only 23mb of user memory. This made an SD card almost a required Treo accessory. The processor has also been upgraded from a Intel PXA270 312MHz processor to the Intel XScale 312MHz processor. The 700p is zippy, but I didn't notice any drastic improvements over the 650. This processor is also the same processor used in the Treo 700w. In the case of the 700w, memory issues could be attributed to the operating system. This is certainly not the case with the 700p. This is a fast smartphone. At no time did I feel the system or applications become sluggish.

Continue Treo 700p Review: Phone Functions