Palm’s Treo Pro Reviewed

A couple weeks ago, Palm began shipping their latest Windows Mobile Smartphone - the Treo Pro. I was fortunate enough to have a chance to play with this device prior to it’s release.  I’m not going to review the device here - plenty of sites have already done that. I will, however, share a couple quick thoughts I have about the device.

The first thing you’ll notice about the Treo Pro is it’s size. You don’t get much smaller for a touch screen Windows Mobile device with a full QWERTY keyboard.It fits very nicely into your pocket without any of the bulk that we see on many of the touch screen devices.

What trade-offs did Palm make to achieve the form factor? Well, they didn’t skip on the connectivity options. The Treo Pro sports quad band GSM with 3G data speeds as well as WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS. What more could you ask for! I know, you’re saying a fast processor with lots of memory. Done, and done. The Treo Pro has a 400MHz CPU with 256MB of memory and will work with MicroSD cards up to 32GB.

Ok, so if it’s not connectivity options or processor and memory limitations, then what did Palm trim? Well, the biggest thing you’ll notice right away (or should I say small) is the screen.  Palm has kept with their trademark square screen and due to the physical size of the device, this screen is small.

The other thing that I didn’t really care for, is the keyboard layout.  As someone who does a lot of email and instant messaging from my phone, there are certain characters that I expect to see and enter easily.  After a couple days of use I found it very frustrating every time I needed to use a comma or a question mark. Both of those letters require the press of the function key before you can use them.

Neither of these things are really a big deal. Would I buy one? You know, I think I would.  If I wasn’t enjoying my BlackJack II as much as I am.

In case you’re looking for a more in-depth review, may I suggest one of the following reviews: GearDiary, Palm Info Center, Engadget Mobile, and  Tracy & Matt’s Blog,

Comments