Handspring Treo 300: Palm OS and phone functionality in one, compact package.

The Treo family of smartphones will appeal to techies and executives alike. This evaluation focuses on the Treo 300, one the most advanced and feature-rich smartphones on the market.

The 300 series runs on the Sprint PCS CDMA network, includes the Sprint PCS Vision services for advanced business apps, and runs Handspring's modified Palm OS. The Treo seamlessly blends phone and PDA functionality--that alone makes it a good device to evaluate for your jump to 3G.

Design choices

I am a two device guy: a PDA in the briefcase and a phone on the hip. If I could find a device that elegantly combines both sets of functionality, I could increase my productivity and reduce my data clutter; but, nothing on the market looked as though it had evolved to the point of usefulness. The Treo convinced me that now is the time to start living in a one-device world. Its compact design includes a headset jack, a flip-open protective covet; the standard Handspring four buttons for accessing applications, a backlit keyboard, a scroll wheel for speed dialing and volume adjustment, and a silence switch (also for wireless on/off). One drawback is a lack of expansion slots for a memory stick or add-on hardware. RAM is fixed at 16MB.

The color screen is a big step up from the greyscale many of us are used to. The high resolution icons and text make the device easy to navigate. Data input is also easier--no more squinting to see what you're writing.

There are other design choices that make a lot of sense. One such choice is to give users two ways to input data: via backlit keypad or the touch screen; use whichever best fits your task. The buttons on the keypad are slightly raised and give good tactile feedback when thumb typing. Registered Handspring users also have access to a free download from tic (makers of Jot/ Graffiti 2) called RecoEcho. RecoEcho lets users of the original Graffiti use the full screen for data input and see what they're writing as they write it.

Anyone familiar with Palm OS will find Handspring left a majority of the functions untouched. If you're upgrading from another Handspring, you only need to run a simple HotSync to get all your data onto the Treo 300.

The four buttons on the front of the device give you direct access to your applications and the phone menu. One minor quirk is that you have to hit Shift+Home to get back to the application launcher because the phone menu is the default main page.

With one touch, you can he using Blazer, Handspring's Web browser. It's fast and displays most pages with the same orientation and dimensions as the original. Blazer uses a proxy to download the pages and preprocess them before they hit the Treo, saving network and CPU time.

The Treo 300 also gives you a real TCP/IP Internet connection so you can run applications like AOL's Instant Messenger client for PalmOS, Qualcomm Eudora for PalmOS, ptelnet, and Top Gun SSH (for you sysadmins out there), along with many others.

Phone options

The Treo gives you all the phone features you'd expect: Multiple tone and vibrate ring options, missed call listing, call timer, a 50 number/name speed dial, mute and hold functions, and something you might not expect: a speakerphone you can turn on and off by tapping an icon on the screen. I currently use Nextel services and Motorola phones, so I rely heavily on a speakerphone. I was surprised to find this feature in the Treo. The speaker strength is a bit weak, but the microphone is strong enough to set the phone down and speak from a few/bet away and still be able to communicate effectively.

Because the Sprint CDMA service has relatively good coverage in most areas, I experienced strong call signals without any dropped calls. However, there's no analog roaming, so you'll want to check coverage areas before purchasing this device.

You can turn the wireless phone functionality off and just use the PDA features with a single button click--useful for saving battery life or for use on an airplane. The Treo took about 45 minutes to charge out of-the-box and lasted more than three days of standby and light call usage. Another plus is that the charging cable doubles as a syncing cable.

UpShot

Although the price tag is somewhat high, the Treo 300 functionality and features come at the right time for business users looking to make the leap to 3G. The flexibility of the Palm OS, the addition of business application, the Handspring ingenuity, and the Sprint net work quality all make the Treo a wise investment.

ADVISOR[R] EVAL[TM]

BUSINESS BENEFITS

The Handspring Treo 300 packs a slew of phone and PDA features into one device.

(+) Multiple ways to input data

(+) Phone and PDA functionality blends seamlessly

(+) Speakerphone

(-) No expansion slots

Handspring

US$450 with Sprint PCS service

Handspring Treo 300 for the Sprint PCS network

http://www.handspring.com,

http://www.sprintpcs.com

DIMENSIONS: 4.4" height; 2.8" width; .8" depth

WEIGHT: 5.7

DISPLAY: 12-bit, 4,000-color

BACKLIT SCREEN: Yes

BATTERY LIFE: 2.5 hours talk time; 150 hours standby

BATTERY TYPE: Li-Ion

OS: Palm OS 3.5.2

PROCESSOR: Dragonball VS

RAM: 16MB

EXPANSION SLOTS: No

PORTS: Headphone jack

INPUT DEVICE: Stylus, touch screen, backlit thumb keypad

VOICE RECORDER: No

INTERNET: E-mail, Web

TEXT MESSAGING: SMS (receive-only)

APPLICATIONS: Phone book, notepad, date book, calculator, to-do, Blazer Web browser

SYNC: Yes

INFRARED: Yes

DATA SPEED: 50-60kbps

RADIO SYSTEM: CDMA 2000 1900MHz 

CALL TIMER: Yes

CALLER ID: Yes

LAST NUMBER RECALL: Yes

MISSED CALL LISTING: Yes

RING OPTIONS: Ring, silent, vibrate

VOICE DIALING: No

VOICEMAIL: Yes

SPEAKERPHONE: Yes

Robert Ayer is director of network operations for RedWire Broadband, a wired and wireless broadband provider in southern California. Robert uses his experience as a MAN architect, UNIX systems administrator, and Cisco internetworking engineer to ensure the reliability of RedWire's integrated wireless and landline network, http://www.redwire.net, [e-mail].