Examining the Treo 650 Smartphone

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Examining the Treo 650 Smartphone

Posted by michael on Friday August 27, 2004 @05:55AM from the sort-of-fits-in-your-pocket dept.

aws910 writes "Many sites are reporting on the upcoming PalmOne Treo 650. According to MobileMag, 'The 650 will have a 1.3MP digital camera, bluetooth, higher resolution screen, backlight keyboard and voice recording. The processor will be a speedy 312MHz with 32MB of RAM, and of course an SD memory slot for expandable storage. No timeframe or price is known.' Some of the forums at other sites are reporting around 2 months as the timeframe for release. A good summary of the new device can be found here. More gossip can be found on the forum here." Gizmodo and Endgadget have pictures as well.

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Competitive Analysis by daviddennis · 2004-08-27 05:59 · Score: 5, Informative

Okay, fans, how does this compare to the T-Mobile Sidekick or RIM Blackberry?

I've had a Sidekick for some time, and the snap-out keyboard is a next to ideal form factor for Internet and email use, since it lets you type things with surprising speed on a screen that's actually a usable size.

My impression is that both the Treo and Blackberry have much smaller keyboards and displays, so they'd be a lot harder to type on. Because of that, I think the Sidekick is nearly ideal, and the just-introduced Sidekick II (available in roughly the same timeframe as this Treo) matches or beats most of the features I'm reading about.

Are there any phones out that would let you connect your laptop through WiFi? THAT would be a cool feature since you wouldn't have to worry about tiresome wires or even drivers on the laptop side.

Thoughts?

D
1. Re:Competitive Analysis by zephiros · 2004-08-27 06:50 · Score: 5, Informative
  I can't speak for the Blackberry or Sidekick, but I own a Treo 600, and am fairly pleased with it. Once you add enough software, it's a pretty complete device. After ferreting out the right apps, I now can:
  
  Send/receive mail using POP3S/SMTP-TLS, via SnapperMail.
  
  SSH via Mocha Pocket Telnet.
  
  Play MP3s stored on my SD card, via pTunes.
  
  Use it as a wireless modem for my laptop, via PdaNet.
  
  Play various time-wasters from PopCap.
  
  PdaNet in particular is killer if you have a laptop handy, but no internet access. I get about 144k down via Sprint PCS, which isn't screaming, but it's adequate for browsing and downloading small files.
Please reference true source! by Anonymous Coward · 2004-08-27 06:01 · Score: 5, Informative

This information and the photos were originally published on TreoCentral.com by WeeBitObessed.

All these other site copied it, and none cited the source inline (MobileMag's source link does go to TC, but not the thread).

Although this is AC, please mod up, as people should know where things are sourced in fair manner instead of passing themselves off as the source.
Treo 600 vs. Treo 650 by sampson7 · 2004-08-27 06:24 · Score: 4, Informative

I've had my Treo 600 for about 8 months now... and I love it.

My two complaints: the low resolution screen is fine, but doesn't give that "wow" factor I want in a $500 toy. The second complaint is that the camera (which I use far more than I ever imagined I would), quite frankly, sucks.

Other really minor complaint - there's no real backlighting or Bluetooth.

During the same time period I've also had access to an Audiovox PPC4100 and a very similar phone from Erikson (I think it was - really, it's the same as the PPC4100, just slightly older). The Treo 600 blows both of them away at every level.

A number of people mentioned battery length - I think the battery length of the 600 is awesome. I often take three day weekends and use the phone extensively - both for games, appointment tracking and phone calling - I charge it up at work on Friday and it holds a charge until I get back to work on Tuesday just fine. Another day would be pushing it, but heavy use over a long 3 day weekend? That's fine for me. I can't imagine Palm1 would release a phone with a shorter battery length - even with the new features.

So, they are taking a phone I love, fixing my two 'major' issues (in quotes because I consider those problems really minor), and fixing my two 'minor' issues as well..... Where do I sign up? Will it truly be worth the $$$ to upgrade? Well, honestly, probably not. But then, how do you put a price on love?

PS - for the record, I have no financial or other stake in Palm1 - I just like the product.