New Treo 650 Is Better Than Ever, But Rivals Offer Some
PalmOne's Treo smart phone has been the best combination of phone, PDA and e-mail device on the market. It had a few key flaws, though, so the company has now released a new, improved model, the Treo 650, to be sold by Sprint starting next month.
But the rest of the industry is catching on to the idea of making a phone that, like the Treo , actually has a full keyboard for banging out e-mails. So the competition will be tougher for the new Treo than it was for its predecessor.
Over the last week, I've been testing the new Treo 650, and comparing it with two other PDA phones that have now morphed into models with keyboards. One is the Microsoft-based Pocket PC phone. The other is the Sony Ericsson P910 smart phone, based on the Symbian operating system. I concentrated on the new keyboards in these two competitors because that's their main new feature. I have already reviewed another major Treo competitor, the new BlackBerry 7100t, sold by T-Mobile.
My verdict: The Treo is better than ever, but the two newest keyboard phones, like the new BlackBerry, will give some new options to mobile e-mail users who prefer different designs and different software.
PalmOne's Treo 650
The Treo 650, which Sprint will sell for $499 with a one-year service contract, looks much like its predecessor. But it boasts four big improvements. First, the screen now has four times the resolution of the 600's display. It is gorgeous and sharp. Second, the battery is now removable, so you can tote a spare to keep talking longer.
Third, the keyboard has been improved, with wider, flatter keys, a big help for people with larger fingers and longer fingernails. Fourth, the 650 has Bluetooth wireless networking, so you can use it with wireless headsets and cars that use Bluetooth for hands-free calling.
In my tests, the Treo 650 performed all its tasks well. It synchronized with my PC, made and received calls, and handled e-mail perfectly. Using the new Bluetooth feature, I was able to hook up a Logitech Bluetooth headset without any problems.
But there are some drawbacks. The internal memory available to the user is still paltry, at 23 megabytes, which is actually a little less than the 600 offered. There's no Wi-Fi wireless networking, and the built-in camera, while improved, is still low resolution at a time when other cellphone cameras are offering higher resolution.
Plus, in my tests, the preproduction Treo 650 I had crashed several times, and so did the Palm synchronization software, which has always been solid as a rock. PalmOne will have to solve these problems by launch.
Also, the 650 will have to hold up better in extended use than the 600 did. For some users, the old model was terribly unreliable, and had to be replaced, sometimes more than once. The company promises the new one will be tougher.
The Pocket PC PDAs with built-in phones have always had two big drawbacks compared with the Treo : They were too bulky, and they usually lacked keyboards. The new Audiovox PPC 6600, which Sprint will start selling soon at $629, doesn't solve the size problem. But it now has a handy keyboard, which slides out from beneath the unit.
The keyboard has membrane keys, which are often lousy for typing, but in this case, they work quite well. It has a solid feel, and, like the keyboards on the Treo and BlackBerry, it's smart. It automatically inserts apostrophes in common words like "I'm" and "they're," and it knows enough to capitalize the first letter after a period.
The Audiovox has much more available memory than the Treo , and it also has Bluetooth. Sprint and some other wireless carriers will also sell a model with a low-resolution camera, though the one I tested didn't have one.
But this new Pocket PC falls down in the area of one-handed navigation. With the Treo 's five-way navigation control, you can do dozens of common tasks, such as starting a new e-mail or sending one, without using the stylus. But the similar-looking five-way control on the Audiovox is much more limited, so you're forced to use the stylus way too often.
The Sony Ericsson P900 was the best and sleekest Treo competitor to come out of Europe, but it lacked a keyboard. The new 910 version has a keyboard, which is hidden on the back side of its flip-down phone keypad. Alas, this keyboard is awful. It feels flimsy and wobbly, it's cramped, and it lacks navigation or tab keys. Worse, it's dumb, failing to automatically insert apostrophes or to capitalize letters after periods. And like the Pocket PC, it forces you to use the stylus much too often.
The Sony Ericsson is also expensive. It will cost around $700 when it goes on sale later this year, and consumers will have to activate it with their own phone-service plans, because the only U.S. carrier expected to sell it, AT&T (now absorbed by Cingular), will sell it only to businesses.
In my view, neither of these keyboard phones is as good as the Treo 650 or the BlackBerry 7100t. But at least consumers now have a wider choice in phones with keyboards, and their options are likely to improve.
新Treo 650全面超越旧版
PalmOne的Treo智能电话一直是市场上融合电话、PDA和电子邮件三种功能的一个最佳产品。但是Treo存在著几个重大缺陷，因此该公司日前推出了改进版－－Treo 650。
其他公司正迎头赶上，他们开始生产具有完整键盘、可以自如书写电子邮件的电话。因此新款Treo将面临比以往更严酷的竞争。
在过去一周的时间里，我对新Treo 650进行了测试，并将其与另外两款配备键盘的PDA电话进行比较。其中一款是使用微软系统的Pocket PC电话，另外一款是基于Symbian操作系统的索尼爱立信(Sony Ericsson) P910智能电话。这两款产品我主要关注其键盘，因为键盘是它们一个主要的新功能。我还对Treo的竞争对手、T-Mobile出售的新款BlackBerry 7100t进行了测试。
我的结论如下：新Treo全面超越以往，但是两个最新的键盘电话，比如新BlackBerry，将给喜欢其它设计及软件的移动电子邮件用户一些新选择。
预计Treo 650的售价将为499美元。这款机型外观与以前的版本非常相似，但是据称它有四项重大改进。首先，显示屏的分辨率是Treo 600的四倍，色彩艳丽清晰。其次，电池可拆卸，你可以携带一个备用电池以获得更长的通话时间。
第三，键盘有了改进，按键变得宽大和扁平，这对手指较大以及指甲较长的用户来说是个福音。第四，650可进行蓝牙无线链接，你可以配合无线耳机使用，也可以在装配蓝牙免提接听设备的汽车上使用。
在我的测试中，Treo 650各项功能都发挥出色。它能与我的电脑同步，顺畅的拨打和接听电话，对电子邮件的处理无可挑剔。通过新的蓝牙功能，我能够将它与Logitech Bluetooth顺利的进行链接。
但是Treo 650仍存在一些缺陷。它的内存仍然很小，只有23兆，甚至低于Treo 600。没有Wi-Fi无线网络链接，内置照相机虽有改进，但是分辨率仍然不能令人满意，逊色于其他手机的内置照相机。
此外，我测试的预制版Treo 650多次死机，就连一向稳如磐石的Palm同步软件也出现死机。PalmOne必须在推出此产品前解决这一问题。
而且，由于650新功能增多，它必须更加牢固。对一些用户来说，其旧版极不牢固，以致于不得不进行更换，有时甚至要更换数次。该公司承诺新版将会更加牢固。
Pocket PC内置电话的PDA与Treo相比一直有两个重大缺陷：个头太大以及没有键盘。新Audiovox PPC 6600仍然存在尺寸问题。但是它有一个便捷键盘，其键盘可以从机器的底部滑出。
该PDA的键盘使用了薄膜按键，这种按键通常很不便于打字，但是该PDA的键盘却非常好用。它摸上去手感厚重，并且具有如同Treo和BlackBerry键盘一样的智能。它能自动在一些常用语中加入撇号，并且能够在句号之后将第一个字母大写。
Audiovox的内存比Treo要大得多，并且还有蓝牙功能。
但是这款新Pocket PC的单手导航键是一处败笔。通过Treo的五向导航控制键，你可以无需使用指示笔而完成数十项普通操作，比如写一封新邮件或发送邮件。但是Audiovox上外观类似的五向控制按钮就逊色多了，以致于你不得不频繁的使用指示笔。
产自欧洲的索尼爱立信P900是最能与Treo相抗衡的一款产品，但是它没有键盘。新款910配备了键盘，其隐藏在下拉式电话键板的背面。不过，这个键盘实在是糟糕极了。其手感很轻并且按键松弛、按键挤在一起、没有导航或标号键。更糟糕的是，它没有智能功能，它不能自动插入撇号或将句号之后的第一个字母大写。此外，像Pocket PC一样，你将不得不频繁使用指示笔。
索尼爱立信910的价格也更昂贵。这款将于今年晚些时候上市的机器售价大约在700美元左右。
在我看来，这些附带键盘的电话都没有Treo 650或BlackBerry 7100t优秀。但是至少消费者现在购买有键盘的手机有了更多的选择，并且还有可能获得更好的产品。
