September 29, 2004

Sprint's Treo 600 - A real phone with real email

For about 30 days I had access to all my email from Treo's 600 smartphone. It's a wonderful feeling.

Not only did I have access to my email, but I had a cell phone to carry around and could access web pages - a bit slow but mobile access none-the-less.

There's many devices on the market that bring a convergence of data and cell phones, but few do it as good as the Treo 600.

Research In Motion's (RIM) Black Berry is a very popular device used by many professionals for checking their email - but it's rarely used for talking on the phone, from my observations.

Danger Inc's SideKick is a neat tool with rave reviews sold my T-Mobile. Like the RIM BlackBerry, because of its design it's more of a data device than a telephone.

The Nokia 6800 and Nokia 9290 combines a phone with data features - but they can be clumsy tools to use compared to the Treo 600.

The Treo 600 is an ideal tool for those who need a phone but don't want to carry around a separate device for their email and yet another one for their PDA. The Treo 600 nicely blends them all.

It's not a perfect device, however. The sound quality, on both sides of the conversation, was not that great. The signal strength faded at times, as it would with any wireless carrier. But at times I wondered if Verizon would have had better service than Sprint.

It's hard to have a small device and a perfect keyboard. Although you won't be able to type 100 words per minute on the PDA, you can peck at a decent pace.

What really makes a device such as the Treo 600 sing is the software it uses. I downloaded SnapperMail's email client and was impressed with its breadth of features. For example email links, telephone numbers and web sites are hot linked to your phone. You click on a telephone number and the phone dials from you. Click on an email link and you can start emailing.

If I had to pick one device to carry around with me for data and telecommunication access it would be the Treo 600.

I'm typing this article on the Palm Tungsten E using Palm's wireless portable keyboard. But when I'm in the mallÖalas, I can't get email or check out web sites.

Often I find that I miss the Treo 600. Last night, there was a major delay in New York City's Penn Station. I pulled out my "mobile office" and did some typing. Then I did some reading. But one thing I could not do was check my email.

Companies that need one device for their mobile sales team can rely on the Treo 600 with the benefit of the flexibility Palm operating system. Check it out from Sprint PCS

0 comments