Owning a WiFi-capable Toshiba e740 for 9 months convinced me of the usefulness of a wireless PDA. In fact, it wetted my appetite for wireless to the point where I wanted it to be available all the time. This meant moving to some kind of PDA/phone combination device. After doing some research on available converged devices I was led to the Treo 300. I liked its keyboard, the fact that it worked with my current cellular carrier (SprintPCS), and the favorable reviews I read about how well the phone and PDA functions are integrated. I was able to pick up a new Treo 300 at a very good price through eBay.

So here's my breakdown in terms of pros/cons. Let's start with the pros:

1. Compact size. The Treo is really very small. It is essentially the same size as a Palm V, although it is about 1/2 an inch thicker. The extra thickness is due to a transparent protective lid that covers the screen and keyboard. The power button is easily accessed on the top of the Treo along side a blinking light that tells you whether you are connected to cellular service or not. There is also a sound switch on top that makes it easy to shut off the ringer and alarm sounds whenever desired, with a strong vibrate function available to replace these sounds. Underneath the protective lid are the standard Palm menu buttons. Lastly, there is a jog dial on the side to allow for easier navigation and good support for one-handed use.

2. Speakerphone. This is one of my favorite features of the Treo. You just open the lid (which turns on the Treo and/or answers a phone call) and you can just set the device down, press the space bar to turn on the speakerphone, and start talking. The sound quality is very good. Your caller usually won't even be able to tell you're using the speakerphone function. I spoke with my wife just this morning using the speakerphone and she was suprised to hear I was using this function; the call was that clear.

3. Ease of setup. The phone is very easy to setup on existing or new phone plans. It takes about 2 hours to charge the phone, install the software on your PC, and call Sprint to activate service. Activation with Sprint takes just a call to "*2" and about 5 minutes of time.

4. Support for the PCS Vision CDMA 2000 Data Network. Since the Treo is CDMA 2000 enabled, the phone can download email and access Web pages at a faster rate than a dialup modem. PCS Vision service is very reasonably priced at only $10/month for unlimited usage.

5. Keyboard. I found the keyboard to be very fast and accurate for just about any kind of data entry. It supports what I'll call "anti-N-key rollover". This means if you end up "fat-fingering" multiple adjacent keys, it only recognizes the first key hit. It's also illuminated when the phone application is started, or manually whenever desired. Overall, I found the keyboard to be excellent.

6. Phone/PDA Integration. Integration is very good. For example, when someone calls you and asks you for a phone number, you can simply look it up in the Address Book application while you continue talking. With my old Samsung cell phone, I'd have to hang up, look up the number, and call the person back. The Treo has 16 MB of memory, a color screen, USB HotSync capability, and all the typical Palm OS functionality merged with very good phone functionality.

7. Battery life. It's pretty solid considering the color screen, the need to support phone service, and support for the CDMA 2000 data network. In general, I found that the Treo required daily charging with routine use: 2 hours of talking and/or data network access, standby for the phone and data network throughout the day, and about 3 hours of continuous PDA use/day. I did use a Seido emergency charger during a 4+-hour train ride this weekend. It uses a 9V battery and recharges the Treo quite quickly. I'd recommend this device for anyone expecting to make very heavy use of the Treo 300.

8. Phone Functions. When you hit the phone menu button, you are first shown a "speed dial" page which allows you to quickly dial a set of up to 50 numbers. It's easy to access them one-handed using the up/down buttons or the jog dial. If you need to see the dial pad, you actually have to hit the phone menu button a second time. A third press of the phone button brings up the Address Book application. Finally, a fourth press will bring up a detailed call history screen.

In actual use, I never end up hitting the phone button more than once. This is because the Treo reacts very intelligently to keyboard entry. If you start entering numbers while the speed dial screen is displayed, the Treo automatically switches to the dial pad screen and accepts the numbers as digits to dial. If you start entering letters of a person's name, either first, last, or combinations of first initial and last name, the Treo moves into the Address Book application and displays appropriate entries. Pressing the jog dial or space bar will automatically dial any selected phone number in the Address Book application. All in all, the Treo reacts just the way I want it to within its phone application.

Cons

1. Screen lighting. Indoors, the color screen looks great. Its resolution is only 160X160 pixels with 12-bit color, but nevertheless it's very bright and readable. Take the Treo outdoors, however, and the screen is difficult or impossible to read. Luckily virtually all of my use of the Treo is indoors, or in the shade!

2. No memory expansion. I'm somewhat stretching for cons here, as the built-in 16 Meg of memory is actually completely adequate for all of my current uses of the Treo. Nevertheless, it would have been very nice if the Treo supported SD/MMC cards to allow for easy backup and the storage of larger quantities of data.

A Minor Issue And Resolution Of It

The unfortunate thing about any Palm device keyboard is that many Palm OS and application functions normally require the use of the stylus. It is REALLY ANNOYING when you use the keyboard to start a function but then need a stylus to complete the function. The provision of a menu key on the Treo alleviates this somewhat, but there are still many functions, like launching a program, that can't be accomplished through the keyboard of a Treo as it is delivered.

There is a solution to this problem, however, in the form of a couple of programs. The first is PowerJog, a program that allows you to launch programs, click on buttons, and select menu items all from the jog dial. This program probably handles 90% of the normal need for a stylus and is very easy and quick to use.

The second solution is LapTopHack, which allows you to perform through the keyboard ANY operation that would normally require your stylus. With it you can select buttons, pop-ups, selectors, check boxes, and push buttons. You can pull down menus and select items from them. If all else fails, you can cause the pPointer (a small square containing a cross-hair) to appear on your screen. It can then be maneuvered across the screen and used to click on any location in a simulation of a stylus tap. LapTopHack also provides a category editor and even a very nice date selection function.

The Bottom Line

I simply love this device. Surprisingly, it has replaced virtually of the functions previously provided by my much more expensive and sophisticated WiFi-equipped Toshiba e740 Pocket PC. I carry my Treo 300 with my at all times in a holster case on my belt. I only use the e740 for surfing the Web with my home WiFi network, and for multimedia applications like listening to Audible books or watching videos. The Treo does everything else for me. It's my phone, my PDA, my email system, and I use it to access the Web when away from home. The Treo 300 has exceeded all of my expectations for it!

5:16:42 PM    comment []