Treo 750 Review: Hardware and Form Factor

Form Factor

The Treo 750 features a striking resemblence to the recently released Palm Treo 680. The antenna is now internal, so gone is the chunky antenna stub that was so familiar of the Palm Treo family since the days of the Treo 600. Internalizing the antenna also gives the appearance of a smaller smartphone.

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The Treo 750 shares the same curved back as the Treo 680 which has cut down on the size of the phone. When compared to a Treo 700w/p, the difference is easily noticeable both from visual perspective and when holding the Treo 750. Rather than enter the battle for the "thinnest smartphone", Palm has delivered a small smartphone "just feels right". The sides of the Treo 750 also curve inward and I found this offered a way to get a good grip on the phone.

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Rubberized Finish

Rubberized coatings seem to be all the rage when it comes to smartphones. Gone are slippery surfaces, replaced with a rubberized coating that will hopefully result in less Treos hitting the pavement. The finish on the Treo 750 is a metallic navy blue (one must wonder if this was intential given the color of the BlackBerry). If you have the opportunity to see the Treo 750 at retail, I've found that when you scratch the surface lightly with your fingernail, you will be more apt to recognize the coating. It is also very noticeable when you compare with a previous generation Treos (Treo 700w/wx,Treo 700p,Treo 650).

The Treo 750 sports a metallic blue finish.

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The Treo 750 weighs in at 5.4 ounces versus 6.4 ounces for the 700p and 5.5 ounces for the Palm Treo 680 making it the lightest Treo to date.

miniSD Card

miniSD represents another first for the Treo 750. The Treo 750 uses miniSD which is a smaller format. For those considering upgrading, you will not be able to use your SD cards on the Treo 750. According to Palm, they officially support miniSD cards up to 2GB cards. The miniSD is accessible from the right hand side of the Treo and is protected by a door that easily snaps in and out. Although the cost of removable media has gone down, it is refereshing to know that your data card is protected against accidents. Based upon comparable memory expansion products available in the Everything Treo Store, you'll find a slight increase in cost for the new smaller miniSD card versus standard SD cards. The Dane-Elec 2GB Secure Digital Card retails for $39.95 compared to $44.95 for a Dane-Elec 2GB miniSD.

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Keyboard

The Palm Treo 750 features a QWERTY keyboard. I immediately sensed a very tactical feel while typing on the Treo 750. It is very responsive and the feedback generated by the keyboard was great. I have small hands, but had one trouble with one-handed operation. Those with big hands who prefer to type with both thumbs, might find the keyboard a bit cramped. Those are the trade-offs to have "true one-handed" operation versus a larger or wider keyboard. Personally, this is the best keyboard I've used on any mobile device.

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Those familiar with Windows Mobile Treos will recognize the L-R menu buttons, dedicated call/hang-up buttons, OK button and Windows Start button. The call/hang-up buttons are now wider. I found this to be a welcome change due to the frequency of their usage. In addition to the primary buttons, the left and right soft buttons also backlit. I also found an interesting feature of the Treo 750. The backlit actually times out if you do not touch the keyboard after a prescribed amount of time. I suppose this has a minimal, yet positive effect on the battery-life of the Treo 750. Select any key or touch the screen and the keyboard will once again become backlit.

Screen

The Treo 750 features a square screen with a resolution of 240x240. Whether navigating through the device or viewing the Today screen, there is little difference when intially compared to the 320x320 display of the Treo 700p. The drop-off for the Treo 750 occurs when view photos, video or even web browsing. Images that were vivid and sharp on the Palm Treo 700p looked drab on the new Treo 750. The limitations with regard to resolution on the Treo 750 lie with the Windows Mobile OS.

Camera

The Treo 750 features a 1.3 megapixel camera with a 2X zoom. You can also set an option for 'burst' which takes a rapid succession of pictures. Within camera, it also allows you to switch to video mode. Not sure the need, but you can also set a timer. I guess if you're the type for self-portraits, this would be useful. Photos taken with the Treo 750 were a pleasant surprise when compared to the 700p camera.

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Of the above photos, the first photo was taken with the Treo 750 and the other using the Palm Treo 700p which also sports a 1.3 megapixel camera. No adjustments were made to the images. As you'll see the Treo 750 produced a vibrant image and the Treo 700p images looks dull in comparison.

Bluetooth

According to representatives from Palm, the Treo 750 is "very close" to achieving certification for Bluetooth 2.0. Officially, it supports Bluetooth 1.2. The Treo 750 does support A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution File) and allows you to listen to music and calls using a Bluetooth stereo headset. This is the first Treo to offer A2DP support.

Processor and Memory

The Treo 750 uses a Samsung 300 MHz processor. The Treo 750 is very peppy and you get an immediate response when navigating the phone. It also features 128MB of memory of which 60MB is accessible by the user. On the Treo 750 I received, there was 62.53MB free before putting any data on the phone. A little over 49MB of memory was dedicated to "program memory", with 31.79MB available at the intial boot up.

The Familiar Reset Button

Left out on the Treo 680, there is a reset button on the Treo 750. Like your desktop PC or Mac, it is inevitable that you will come across a time when a reset is in order (think of it as rebooting your computer). Palm has moved the reset button to the miniSD slot. No more removing the battery cover to reset your Treo. Pop the cover on the miniSD slot and the tip of the stylus reboots the Treo 750. Having done my fair share of Treo resets, I welcome this move to the miniSD slot.

Other Notable Features

Like the Treo 680, the stylus has changed with the Treo 750. It's also lighter than previous styli. Ringer and vibrate switch remain on the top of the device and the Treo 750 uses the same interface for both sync cable and charger as previous Treo models. For those who still use IR, the Treo 750 comes equipped with an IR port.

It should also be noted that while the Treo 680 and Treo 750 share similarities in form factor, they do not share the same manufacturer. The Treo 680 is well built, but I felt the Treo 750 overall has a better build quality. This could be a result of materials more so than the manufacturer, but worth noting.

Continue Treo 750 Review: Phone Functions