The Handspring Treo 700w Review

A significant difference between the Treo 650 to the Handspring Treo 700w is that the new Verizon Treo700w is the first Palm Treo to run Windows Mobile. This new feature signifies a major departure from the Palm OS that has been run on the original Handspring Treo 180 to the more recent Treo 650. However, the Treo 700w is in a lot of ways similar to the Treo 650. Though, unfortunately for Mac users, out of the box, the new Verizon Treo 700w does not support Macintosh systems. Mark/Space, the makers of the Missing Sync, are still in the process of working on a Mac solution to support Windows Mobile 5 and the Verizon Treo 700w. However, I would not get my hopes up too soon for a miraculous solution because the development of the software is still in its preliminary process.
What’s in the Box? The Verizon Handspring Treo 700w comes with the Palm Treo 700w smartphone, the USB Sync cable, a rechargeable battery, a wired headset, ac charger, a welcome CD, Windows Mobile Getting Started CD, and a quick reference guide. Any additional accessories can be purchased, but is not included in the box are Bluetooth headsets, additional batteries, portable car chargers, protective cases, data cables, additional memory for storage, any type of holders, displays, novelty hand straps/charms to create a more personal ascetic look for your Treo 700w and the all important screen protector. Hey nowadays who doesn’t believe that their phones are an extension of themselves right! So why not individualize them to fit personality characteristics at an accessory store near you.

The moment you turn on your Treo 700w, you’re greeted by the touch-enabled Windows Today menu screen, which truly has a genuine desktop feel to it. The screen on the Treo 700w is 240 x 240, which in retrospect is smaller than the Treo 650, which has a 320 x 240 screen. Also in retrospect, the main screen on the Treo 650 is called the accedialer that includes favorite buttons that can be used for speed dial or to launch your favorite applications. The Treo 700w Windows today screen has some unique features unlike its counterpart the Treo 650, like the automatic formatting option when searching for a contact to dial out. Speaking of dialing out, call quality, when making a call near my house the quality of the call proved that the Treo 700w provides loud, crisp and clear sound, whether you are calling someone, receiving a call or just using your multimedia. But don’t quote me on call quality aspect; it all depends on your carrier service and the area you reside in. If interested you can purchase the phone at a Verizon dealer near you. The breaking news from a Handspring user is that the phone is going for $599.99 without a plan at Verizon, but if you choose to sign a 2-year plan with them then you can purchase the phone for a more affordable $399.99. I guess that everyone now is choosing a market approach that mimic’s the RAZR entry approach, which sold at a very high price without a plan. Though because of its extreme popularity even with a plan it was at $399.99 for quite a bit of time. Like many other cellular phones the primary way to navigate through the phone is by using the Windows navigation button and the two menu buttons to the sides. Whether it is to acknowledge a change, Xing out an application, outlook messaging or menu preferences all can be accessed through the Windows screen. The menu screen will give you access to contacts, the dial pad, call log, edit speed dial, modify phone, and today’s preferences. One cool thing that I enjoyed when using the Handspring Treo 700w is its ability to illustrate contacts using photos. I always find it difficult to associate a name without a picture, especially if I have over 50 to 100 contacts listed on the phone and you can add more with the option of expandable memory. The contact function on the phone makes browsing through contacts a breeze. As with the Treo 650 the Treo 700w allows you to access e-mail automatically in intervals after initial set-up. You can set up multiple e-mail accounts with multiple alerts that alert you when you receive e-mails. You can access the web by dialing #777 for automatic broadband connection. The connection speed on average took about a 6 to 7 seconds, which to me is quite fast for a cellular phone. The Internet connection enables you to access a cool feature on the Handspring Treo 700w, the Google enable search box, which actually works folks and allows you to search the Web using Google search instead of the usual MSN. Hey the feature came in handy when I was looking for a Pizza Hut number ok! But overall the Treo 700w smartphone continued to impress me with its ability to offer a wide range of functions along with its Windows enabled touch screen the phone is also equipped with Bluetooth pairing capability, various calling features (call wait, conference calling, call and hold), voice command features, speakerphone capability, Pocket MSN allowing Hotmail & MSN Messenger right at your fingertips, and an upgraded 1.3 megapixel video camera with resolution up to 1280x1024 and a zoom feature up to 2x. Compared to the Treo 650the Treo 700w offers s greater degree of picture clarity and resolution mainly due to its increased megapixel capability. I mean what else can you on average ask for right? Well folks that’s not all you get in the package! Other features include multimedia functions using its Windows Media Player, like MP3 & video replay. Plus with the Handspring Treo 700w you have the ability customize your skin on Treo 700w Media player. The only issue I had with the multimedia music/video screen was the size and clarity of the video quality itself. In comparison to the Treo 650 the Treo 700w had faster speed capabilities, but its video stream is not up to par. The size dimensions of the video are small and hard to see. Though Treo 650 may be slower, the smartphone provides better video quality. Also, in addition to the Windows Media Player the Handspring Treo 700w supports Word, Excel, and PowerPoint mobile applications. Once launched, these applications could be edited and saved in the phone, then can be sent via e-mail to any computer location in the world. This function became very handy, especially when I need a portable channel to relay messages/personal work for professional and personal reasons. Other additional applications like note taking using a note pad type of application & voicing memos were both a plus. Though I wished that the manufacturers of the Handspring Treo 700w would give it an additional umph… some extra power, for it being a PDA smartphone. But overall I was quite satisfied with the usability, applications of the phone, and the effective use of digital real estate to make the phone more accessible to various uses quite efficiently, just like its predecessor the Handspring Treo 650.