Smart phones do three things: PDA functions, phone and e-mail. Blackberry probably does e-mail best of all, but the Treo is great for people who want a PDA with good phone capabilities. There are better phones, but they don't do the PDA job as well. And the Treos run Palm software, so there are vast numbers of add-on programs you can buy.

I've had a Treo 600 for a year and recently upgraded to a 650. The PDA/phone integration on the Treo is superb -- you synch all your contacts with Outlook, find them easily on the PDA and then you can dial them with the push of a button. All the wirelss carries except Nextel have it available (April '05).

The main difference between the Treo 600 and 650 is the 650's high resolution screen. On the 600 it was hard to read maps clearly except zoomed in. The 650 cures that. The keyboard is also improved vs. the 600, although you still have to use your thumbs and trim your nails. But the keyboard is a lot more accurate and versatile than Graffiti. (Graffiti doesn't come with the Treo but you can buy Jot as an add-on.) And the 650 has Bluetooth capabilty so you can use a Bluetooth wireless headset. Palm changed to fixed memory in the 650 so you don't lose your data even if the battery runs out.

The web browsing capability is OK in a pinch, like when you want to find a flight or the weather or get a Mapquest map or a phone #. Memory is adequate but not overly generous. Buy an SD card to store large files (maps, in my case) and MP3 files. Also buy an add-on security program like Teallock - Palm's built-in security application is weak and clumsy to use.

All in all, the Treo has everything you could want if your priorites are PDA - phone - e-mail (in that order). It lacks WiFi capability for web browsing and e-mail at hot spots, but maybe that will be available in the next version, or maybe the carriers will have deployed high speed digital cellular technology by then.



Link: Buy the Treo 650 phone