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TREO 650 Review
12.07.04 (1:43 pm)   [edit]





Nice review summary of the Treo 650 from Greg Lawhorn - thanks Greg!

Thoughts on the Treo 650.

The Great

  • • Size is everything. The 650 fits my hand (large hands) very, very well. It feels better than any cell phone I’ve every had. It also feels better than most of the Palms I’ve owned (with the possible exception of the M1xx family, which although plastic, had a great fit to the hand).

  • • Feel is great, too. Weigh seems about that of a 3rd generation 10g iPod.

  • • Screen brightness is gorgeous inside, and quite legible out on this cloudy day. I’m not sure what a bright and sunny day will bring, but I suspect that it will be fine.

  • • Quality of construction is very high. No loose pieces. The battery compartment door fits snugly, but comes loose easily when the button is pushed, then locks down well when replaced.

    The Good


  • • Complaints about sound quality aside, it sounds pretty good; just as good as the cordless phone I use in my home, and no worse than some cell phones I’ve owned. It is not as good as a wired phone, but I’ve never used a cell phone that was.

  • • The screen size is smaller than the other Palms I’ve used, but has the same resolution (320x320) as a number of the current stable of Palms. As a result, text and graphics are very sharp and vividly colored.

  • • The camera is much better than I expected, at least 100% improvement over the Zire 71 that I own. I wouldn’t hesitate to use this for certain types of shots to send friends or family.


    The So-So


  • • The keyboard is a tad smaller than the Tungsten C I just sold, with the keys closer together. Typing will be a little slower than the T|C to start, with some loss of accuracy.

  • • I miss having four programmable buttons (calendar, address, etc.). OK, this is slightly misleading – the other two buttons have been assigned to the phone (green for send, red for hang up, and also for turning the unit on and off). They ARE programmable, but I’m not sure how the phone would function, then.


    The Ugly


  • • Some programs, designed for the 600, have caused random restarts. The key here is to load at least these programs slowly, and try them a few times before loading anything else.

  • • I really miss the command stroke button from the Tungsten C to enter commands quickly. Yes, the 650 has a menu button, which is nice, but I’m not seeing an easy way to copy and paste using the keyboard. I’m still learning, though, and I hate manuals, so it might very well be there and I haven’t discovered it yet.

  • • Last complaint – really! On the Tungsten C, pressing a key and holding it for a little longer would give you a capital letter. On the Treo it begins to repeat the letter. I used the capitalization feature constantly, only using caps lock when I needed to enter all caps text.

    The Summary

    I love this unit already. I made a call using the included headset (a Jabra 250 headset is due tomorrow) and was able to check my schedule and make an entry while talking – very cool. I highly recommend the 650.
    - Greg Lawhorn

    •