Quick Review: palmOne Treo 650

Among the additions are a higher resolution screen, a removable battery, Bluetooth support and a digital camera. Of these, the Bluetooth radio is the most significant. I tested this functionality by setting up a Bluetooth Hotsync connection with my PC and using a wireless headset. Setting up both of these options was quick and painless with the device's included tools.

Touch and Feel

A couple of nice touches give the Treo a mature, polished feel. The device has a ringer switch on top, the position of which determines whether the phone will ring or vibrate, allowing you to quickly switch the phone to vibrate mode as you are walking into a meeting or a movie theatre. I have owned phones that required three or four steps to do the same thing, so this was a most welcome addition. palmOne deserves credit for such a thoughtful design.

The Treo functions equally well as both a phone and a PDA. The device feels and weighs only slightly more than a standard cell phone, and the major functions of the unit can be accessed without a stylus and typically with only one hand. Dialing a number can be done either on the touchscreen or via the numeric keypad highlighted in the middle of the full QWERTY keyboard.Above the keyboard are dedicated send and end keys as well as hot keys for the calendar and mail apps. Rounding out the keyboard are Home and Menu keys and a five-way navigator button.

Overall, the keyboard feels a little too small and I experienced a number of "fat fingerings" incidents during testing. But this is a minor inconvenience given the overall size of the device.

If You Can't Beat Them, License Them

In October 2004, palmOne licensed Microsoft's Server ActiveSync technology, which allows devices to synchronize directly with a mailbox on an Exchange 2003 server. The Treo 650 is the first device from palmOne to include this capability. Via the included Versamail 3.0 application, mail and calendar entries can be kept in sync. I tested this by connecting to our Exchange 2003 server. Versamail connected across the data network and pulled down mail items and calendar entries in short order. The only down side is that while Exchange 2003 has the ability to notify the remote device when new items arrive and then initiate a sync, such functionality is not available on the Treo 650. Synchronization is initiated via a set schedule, updating mail every 15 minutes (or at the interval you specify) instead of when new mail arrives.

A Few Nits to PickUnfortunately, despite lots of silver lining, there are a few clouds. Besides the widely publicized memory issue, during my testing, I discovered an issue with phone calls and Hotsync. While the Hotsync process is running, the device does not appear to receive incoming calls. The caller hears four rings and is then sent to voicemail. When the sync is complete, the device returns to normal. Because of this issue, I would not recommend syncing via Bluetooth, as a wireless sync takes longer than one using the USB cable.

One other small item I discovered is that, no matter which application you have open, the side rocker bar can only be used to change the volume. Like the select button below it, this button really should be context sensitive. I instinctively found myself wanting to use it to scroll down a page in the Web browser. This would make an already nice device a touch friendlier.

Despite these few issues, the Treo 650 is still the definition of a converged device. In one small package, mobile users have everything they need to stay connected.

Michael Brandenburg is a systems administrator for a machine manufacturer in Neehah, Wis. Write to him at [email protected].