Palm Treo 600

Anyone who is considering a converged PDA + Cell Phone solution should give the Treo 600 a long hard look. Not only is the Treo 600 an excellent PDA, it has features that make it a much better phone solution than the typical $99.00 flip phone that is offered "free" by most service providers.

The Treo 600 by Palm, uses the Palm OS V5.x. One of the best things about using any Palm OS device is the wealth of software options/solutions that are available.

My Treo is loaded with a number of applications that make the most of its converged feature set and Internet connectivity. I use Agendus for contact management and Agendus Mail for email/SMS messaging. Using these on the Treo allows me to send/receive email to/from any of my contacts with a couple of touches. I can even get a weather report for my client/vendor location, giving my conversations with them a more personal touch. Using VeriChat, I can chat with my contacts and family using MSN, Yahoo or AIM! With Pocket Tunes I can stream live music from the web and with AvantGo I always have the latest news and information at my fingertips.

One of the nicest features of the Treo 600 is the ability to turn off the sound (ring tones, etc.) by simply sliding a switch on the top of the unit. This avoids fumbling with button combinations as you are going into a meeting or just before the movie starts! Up/down volume buttons on the side of the Treo make it easy to adjust the volume on the run.

The thumb keyboard is not going to win you any typing contests, but is perfectly adequate for entering contact info/phone numbers on the fly or entering search strings to lookup previously stored information. Most people will want enter new information using either the Palm Desktop software or Outlook and then synchronize it to their Treo.

The Treo 600 comes with an SD Memory card slot, typical of recent Palm models. Equipped with a 256M or larger SD card, the Treo can store a complete backup, hundreds of music files and offload programs from main memory to improve performance.

The decision to buy a Treo 600 or one of the newer 650 or even 700 series models shouldn’t be too difficult. The only significant differences between the 600 and 650 are the 650’s support for Bluetooth and the ability to capture video instead of only still pictures from the built in camera. The 600 also lacks a removable battery, which could be an issue for travelers who spend a lot of time on the phone and don’t have a wall or car charger handy.

Cost is currently (4th Qtr, 2005) the major advantage the Treo 600 has over other converged devices. Some providers, like T-Mobile, are offering their remaining stock of Treo 600s for as little as $150 with a one year contract. Compare this to $250 for a 650 with a two year contract from Cingular or Verizon and the value of the 600 becomes apparent. The 700 series promises to provide even faster performance and the potential of WiFi support, but for many, the premium cost ($595) of these features, in the near future, may not be enough to justify them. Add $100 worth of 3rd party applications, like Agendus, VeriChat, PocketTunes, Mapopolis to the Treo 600 and you have a solution that will handle virtually all your communication needs!

As a Business and Technology Pro with over 15 years of experience, I give the Treo 600 Five (5) Stars! It is the most cost effective and value packed converged device available today!