Handspring Treo is one incredibly compact communicator that combines everything you need to stay connected, organized and in touch no matter where you are. The Treo communicator is... more
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A review by kfken on Handspring Treo 180g July 22nd, 2004
Author's product rating:
Look & Feel
Durability & Robustness
Battery standby time
Value for money
Range of features
Advantages:
everything in one package
Disadvantages:
slightly bulky
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
I have owned a Treo 180g for about 2 years now and feel that it suits me down to the ground. Lets run through the features. Dual band GSM phone Size is 11cm x 6.9cm x 1.8cm Weight 153g Battery provides up to 2.5 hrs talktime and up to 60 hrs standby time.. Display is monochrome and backlit on demand. Memory is 16mb with a 33mhz processor Lets deal with the phone side of things first, Dual band only so I presume it wont work in the States. You get the normal travel charger unit and a personal hands free kit to stick in your ear which has a small switch on it so that you can answer it without operating the phone itself. The flip cover is transparrent so you dont have to open it to activate the phone. There are 3 external buttons that do the following, a slide switch to turn the ringer off, this is realy usefull when you see other people fumbling through menus to find the silent option on thier phone. A rocker/push switch that allows you to select and call numbers without using the touch screen and a dual purpose switch that turns on the backlight if you want it and can take the phone off line if privacy is required. All sounds a bit complicated but takes about 10 mins to get used to. Selection of numbers is by hot key or favourites or name look up and a very usefull feature is the personal speakerphone that means you can let other people hear the call There are no buttons to dial out, you select the phone option and the buttons appear on the screen, youcan use your finger or the stylus that fits in the back of the phone. It has 3 way dialing as a feature, but I have never tried it out. Mine is currently on 02 top up cards and works fine with usually a good reception.
E Mail Get your E Mails delivered to your phone , just press a button and a headers list is displayed, you can download the same as if on your main computer.
Text messages. Does all the usual tricks with text messages
Web Browser, This is a great feature as you can access any www site that you like . Can be a bit off puting as the pages dont look the same as on your PC and the display is in monochrome.
Organiser This operates on the Palm system and is only limited by your imagination. You have your normal calendar , address booik, to do list, calculater and more tricks than a barrel load of monkeys. You can also customise your treo by downloading other palm programmes that are widely available on the net.
Desktop sync At the end of the day I plug my treo in to my laptop or PC via a usb port and they talk to each other, this means that my wife can key reminders in to the calender for me and also see what I have booked in advance,great idea for someone who has a busy life and a secretary.
Graffiti This bit is realy funky, there is no keypad but you can use the stylus on screen to enter data and text, or you could use graffiti to write directly on to the screen and the treo will recognise it and act on the data.Sound good but you have to learn to write the figures and letters in a way that the treo dictates.I gave up and just use the stylus which is still quicker than pressing proper buttons..
The phone comes with a cd to set up your pc , E Mails and web browser. Imanaged it so it must be simple.
Not so good points: You have to hold the phone close to you as the mike doos not allways pick up too well.The size of the phone can be a bit daunting until you get used to it. Limited ring tones, but more are available from specialized web sites. Monochrome display only. No voice activated features. No Camera. Hard to get a car holder ( had to order mine from USA)
Good point. My treo broke 2 months after the warranty ran out, I contacted them and was sent a box to return the phone in. I waited for an estimate of repair costs and what I got instead was a fully refurbished unit for free. reat customer service.
Sorry if this review is not detailed enough for some of the techno geeks out there, but I just use the thing to make calls and organise my life. It suits me and I recomend it highly.
Software: To Do List, Memo Pad, Expense, HotSync Manager, Palm Desktop Software, Phonebook, Web Browser, Advanced Calculator, Organizer, Date Book+, CityTime world clock, Messages, Instant Lookup
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Listed on Ciao since : 07/01/2004
Manufacturer's product description
Handspring Treo is one incredibly compact communicator that combines everything you need to stay connected, organized and in touch no matter where you are. The Treo communicator is the one device that does it all. So you'll have your phone, Palm OS organizer, e-mail, SMS text messaging and wireless Web all in one incredibly compact device. The Treo communicator is one of the smallest Palm OS handhelds available. But don't let the size deceive you. This stylish communicator has been jam-packed with features without compromising functionality or ease of use. The Treo communicator does everything your mobile phone does. And more. That's because this dual-band world phone has all the features you expect in a phone, like speed dial, three-way calling, and call history. Plus, it has extra features like full integration with the built-in PhoneBook so you can dial direct from your contact list, a personal speakerphone and free headset for handsfree operation, and so much more. It's easy with this feature-rich Palm OS organizer. With large memory and a fast processor, the rechargeable Treo communicator has it all - Date Book Plus, PhoneBook (an improved Address Book), To Do List, Memo Pad, and more. Plus, you can install thousands of other cool Palm OS applications. Already have another Palm OS device? No worries. You can transfer your existing data to your new Treo communicator with ease. Send and receive e-mail and short messages - and do it all wirelessly. Now it's easy to read and send e-mail from virtually anywhere. And, if your message is short, you can send an SMS text message to other mobile phone users in your network or even to an e-mail address. Now you can access the Web from just about everywhere. Every Treo communicator comes with Blazer - the award-winning wireless Web browser - so you can access virtually any Web site, not just those sites optimized for mobile access. Get directions, confirm your flight, check the weather - and see it all on the Treo communicator's organizer-sized screen. The Treo 180g features Graffiti handwriting recognition software for simple point and tap data entry.
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