Treo 700w Review continued:
Messaging
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:
- 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.
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