Your Snowball Won't Melt Either (1/3)
Verizon Palm Treo 700w Pocket PC Phone
INTRODUCTION
Weather report from
Hell: Your snowballs are safe.
For years, most of the people I know that are really into converged, PDA Phones have said over and over again, "I love Palm's hardware. If they ever release a device with Windows Mobile on it, I'd buy one in a second," knowing full well that it would be a cold day in Hell when that happened. Guess what? Not only did Palm release a Windows Mobile based device, but it released a Treo, their best, genre-defining device, with a Microsoft, phone-based OS. I still have friends who haven't stopped gaping at the press release... or the device; and get this, the device has been in the works for about two years. Two years! That was one well kept secret, and really helps me believe the rumor that the existence of the device wasn't leaked a few months back. It was planted...but that's not fact. That's conjecture.
Honestly, I'm a bit surprised too. I NEVER thought in my wildest dreams that Palm would actually DO it... release a device with any other OS on it but their own, I mean. Now that they have, I know EVERYONE wants me to stop with the yadda-yadda-yadda and make with the review. Ok already... let's get to it!
WHAT'S HOT
The Palm Treo 600 and 650 have defined
the PDA Phone niche. Many of the non-Palm
based, converged PDA's that I've seen have tried to
do something to combat either Palm's Treo or RIM's
Blackberry. The HTC Blue Angel, reviewed on
pocketnow.com as the
i-mate PDA2k, and the
iPAQ hx6515 are just a couple of examples.
Both of these devices try to seriously compete with
the Treo in the converged device/ PDA Phone niche.
The
i-mate K-JAM while not exactly the same form
factor as the Treos or the 6500 series iPAQ, is
probably one of the best implementations of a
BlackBerry competitor that I've seen so far.
The Treo 700w's presence represents a serious
challenge in the enterprise. Many WM5 based
phone devices with Exchange Server 2003 SP2 and MSFP
will be able to make use of push e-mail. That
coupled with the Treo name and form factor are
certain to make a HUGE dent in existing market
share.
Interestingly enough, all of the devices I've mentioned were manufactured by HTC; and HTC manufactured both the Treo 600 and 650.
Remember the Treo 600?
...and the Treo 650.
From the above, aside from some minor differences, which are difficult to detect, the 600 and 650 are effectively identical devices. Yes, there are some button additions and reassignments that differ from the Treo 600; and there are other internal hardware and OS changes and additions, but other than that, many users see these devices as nearly identical.
(all images link to higher resolution)
The Treo 650 (left) and Treo 700w (right) side by side.
As you can see from the above picture, the 650 has a squarer body than the 700w. The keyboard layout is nearly identical; but the keys are shaped differently and appear to be slightly smaller. While the number of function buttons is the same, the Home and Address Book buttons are replaced on the 700w as WM5 Action/Soft buttons. The Calendar button is replaced as the Start Menu button and the Mail button is replaced as the OK button on the 700w, respectively.
|
Device (no cover) |
Size (inches) |
Weight (grams | ounces) |
| Palm Treo 700w | 4.40" x 2.30" x 0.90" | 180 | 6.40 |
|
4.44" x 2.32" x 0.91" |
178 | 6.28 |
|
|
Palm Treo 600 |
4.41" x 2.36" x 0.87" |
168 | 5.92 |
Motorola Q |
4.56" x
2.48" x 0.45" |
115 | 4.05 |
4.60" x 2.79" x 0.82" |
165 | 5.82 |
|
| 4.25" x 2.28" x 0.93" |
160 | 5.64 |
|
4.92" x 2.81" x 0.71" |
210 | 7.40 |
|
4.18" x 2.31" x 0.68" |
150 | 5.30 |
|
4.70" x 2.90" x 0.70" |
175 | 6.20 |
|
4.60" x 3.21" x 0.58" |
138 | 4.80 |
|
| 5.17" x 3.03" x 0.59" |
187 | 6.60 |
|
| 4.50" x 2.80" x 0.64" |
158 | 5.57 |
The chart above gives you an idea of how big the device is. The 700w is just a schoche bigger than the K-JAM, minus the antenna, which is really quite impressive. It seems that the Treo's have gotten heavier with each generation. Hopefully they won't continue this trend. The device is svelte, compact, and easy to carry, just like its PalmOS based cousins. The device has a competitive footprint.
From left to right, the Samsung i700, Dell Axim x50v, i-mate PDA2k, i-mate K-JAM, and Palm Treo 700w.
Compared to all the devices I have, the Treo is among the smallest, with only the K-JAM being smaller. When you look at these, you can no doubt tell that the i700 is just HUGE!
The 360° View
Left Side View: Samsung i700, Dell Axim x50v, i-mate PDA2k, i-mate K-JAM, and Palm Treo 700w.
Bottom View: Samsung i700, Dell Axim x50v, i-mate PDA2k, i-mate K-JAM, and Palm Treo 700w.
Right Side View: Samsung i700, Dell Axim x50v, i-mate PDA2k, i-mate K-JAM, and Palm Treo 700w.
Top View: Samsung i700, Dell Axim x50v, i-mate PDA2k, i-mate K-JAM, and Palm Treo 700w.
The 700w is the second from the top. Note the buttons on the left side of the unit. The top two buttons are the volume rocker. The lone button below that is supposed to be the Media button (a push, hold and release starts WMP 10; but that functionality is user changeable via the Buttons Control Panel applet. I have it configured to activate MS Voice Command, which comes preinstalled with the device, by the way.
I've been carrying it around with me since receiving it early on 4 Jan 06, and I really must say, I like the way the device feels. While I prefer the (mostly) metal casing of my PDA2k, and metal front of my K-JAM, the Treo 700w is solid. It's unfortunate that the device isn't encased in a metal skin, though. A light-weight aluminum skin would really have driven home a solid, well made feel...though it doesn't feel cheap with the plastic casing it has.
Employing the creek test made famous by The Gadgeteer, the only thing that creeks is the battery cover, which isn't surprising, since it really needs to be an easy on/easy off kind of thing. Unfortunately, I really think the design engineers at Palm who put the soft reset hole UNDERNEATH the battery cover of a Windows Mobile device were out to lunch the day THAT decision was made. There's no realistic reason why the soft reset hole should be put under the battery cover. I don't care WHAT kind of usability paradigm they're trying to espouse, putting the soft reset hold under the cover was simply a stupid mistake. I've had to soft reset the device a number of times due to OTA Sync issues (more on that later), and pulling the stylus out and removing the cover in order to bounce the device is a real pain, and not doable with 2 hands. You have to put something down (like the cover) to do the soft reset.
The Soft Reset hole under the 700w's Battery Cover is in the recessed area on the left side of the battery.
Don't even ask me how to do a hard reset. I have no idea how to do it with this device. The quick reference guide mentions a hard reset on page 16, but only as a note, or an aside, if you will. They tell you that if you must do a hard reset, to back everything up. Well, DUH! I knew that. What I don't know is how to DO the hard reset. I can guess, but I don't want to screw things up and create a problem for myself, as I'd like to use the device for the ENTIRE review period. When you don't know, it's best to ask or to look it up, and honestly, both the included documentation AND the Palm website/ knowledge base don't have this information yet. In fact, the knowledge server on Palm's support site kept barking at me, saying that it wasn't running and I should check back later. Not a good thing; as there are errors in the 700w's documentation.
The correct diagram from the online manual.
Whoops! If that's the stylus, I'm gonna want my money back... The diagram from the printed manual.
I thought this was funny. Someone wasn't paying attention when the manual went to print. The references for the image are backwards in the printed manual. At least the PDF that you can download is corrected. I hope that the erroneous documentation didn't go to everyone. If this error is in the documentation, there's no telling what other errors it has.
