When it arrives in early 2005, the Treo will be sporting some new tricks, including Bluetooth.For smart phone fanatics, there's been no juicier gossip this year than the rumours surrounding a possible successor to the popular Treo 600. Now, after months of silence, PalmOne has formally announced the Treo 650. Though the two devices appear largely alike at first glance, a closer look reveals myriad differences. Besides correcting some of the faults we found in the earlier model, the Treo 650 also includes Bluetooth, a faster processor, and a much-improved screen.
Upside: On the design side, the vivid 65,536-colour TFT display is light-years ahead of the 600's low-resolution screen and is much easier on the eyes. The QWERTY keyboard has a brighter backlighting, with bigger buttons, and the dedicated Talk and End keys are much-needed additions. Furthermore, there's a handy "quiet" switch that gives you a simple way to silence all of the handheld's functions without having to fumble around in menus.
But that's not all -- many of the PalmOne Treo 650's biggest improvements are under the hood. You get the sorely needed Bluetooth, an integrated VGA camera with video capability, a built-in MP3 player, a speakerphone, an infrared port, support for POP3 and IMAP 4 e-mail (with syncing), and an expansion slot for MMC/SD memory cards. Moreover, the Intel 312MHz processor offers faster speeds than the Treo 600's 144MHz processor, and the removable battery and flash memory mean there are fewer chances you'll lose your data. Globetrotters also will be pleased, as the GSM version will be a quad-band world phone (GSM 850/900/1800/1900).
Downside: For a device that promises everything but the kitchen sink, the Treo 650 comes up decidedly short in available storage. With just 23MB in the device, you'll no doubt have to use expansion cards for any decent file saving. Also, we were disappointed that PalmOne didn't boost the camera to megapixel quality -- a feature that is becoming increasingly common on higher-end handsets. Though the company claims its camera is better than the rivals', a higher-quality model would have been a nice touch for such an action-packed device.
Outlook: Given the widespread success of the Treo 600, we have little doubt the PalmOne Treo 650 will win major accolades. Internet hype aside, decidedly loyal Treo fans have been waiting for an improved device for some time, and they're sure to snap it up, though the 600 will continue to be sold. That said, the Treo 650 won't be without competitors. Smart phones such as the O2 Xda IIs and Sony Ericsson's P910i could give the 650 a run for its money. Once we get a device in hand, we'll make our formal assessment.
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I couldn't be more happy with my Treo 650. i just bought it two nights ago. i had seriously known i had no desire for three seperate devices, pda, cell phone, and a digital phone. i just didnt have a use for a pda or digital camera at all times. now its combined with my cell phone and i carry it all with me everywhere. my friend thought i was insane for buying a $450 'toy' but upon review and me showing them what this handheld could do, they view it as a serious tool and now an object of desire. the memory is pretty limited, however i purchased an SD card long time ago for my mp3 player, which is now replaced by the phone because its equipped with realplayer and mp3 capabilities anyways. i have yet to tap into the BlueTooth wireless radio devices but have recently utilized the IR port beaming from pda to pda. Reading about the BlueTooth security on the Special Interests Group's website left me thoroughly impressed and relieved that my communications will be safe from hacking or "bluesnarfing". The hotsync program PalmDesktop (included) is the simplest contacts, calendar, media, and documents synchronizer i've ever seen or used. The messaging program is so simple compared to other sprint PCS vision phones where you had to log onto the net and then access an inbox. the qwerty keypad is compact yet sturdy and durible so you dont mash multiple letters while typing. (aka, fat-fingering). Im thoroughly impressed with the screen, graphix, and video play back quality. overall this is probably one of the best and hopefully longest lasting devices i've ever purchased.