Palm Treo 700w

The Treo 700w, the first Palm smart phone to run Windows Mobile, is less a sequel to the wildly popular Treo 650 than a side project to appeal to IT managers and users who want to tap into Verizon’s blazing EV-DO network. This device should satisfy its target audience, but not the masses.

Weighing 6.4 ounces, the 700w looks almost identical to the Treo 650. Palm has tapered both sides of the 700w to give it a more sleek appearance and added two action buttons above the five-way navigation button. The other two additions are a Windows button (similar to Windows XP’s Start button) and an OK button that minimizes programs.

The Treo 700w matches or trumps most of the 650’s specs. Both devices feature a 312-MHz Intel XScale processor, but the 700w bumps up the amount of user available memory from 23MB to 60MB. The newer Treo sports a 1.3-megapixel camera, which in our tests took slightly sharper pictures than the 650’s VGA camera. Those pictures would look better on the 650, however, because it boasts a brighter and higher-resolution (320 x 320 pixels) display.

Like all other Windows Mobile 5.0 devices, this one includes mobile versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. but Palm includes a PDF viewer, as well. Windows Mobile’s other big advantage over the Palm OS is its seamless integration with Outlook and Exchange 2003 SP2. Small business customers and consumers can use Verizon’s Wireless Sync solution instead, or opt to sync their e-mail manually within Outlook Mobile.

Synchronizing our contacts, calendar, and e-mail was a breeze over USB ActiveSync, but you’ll need to be running Windows XP to sync over Bluetooth. XP or 2000 is also required to transfer music and video files over Windows Media Player 10.

So what does this Windows Mobile 5.0 phone do better than the competition? It all starts on the Today screen, where Palm has devised several clever ways to help users save time. For instance, you can immediately start typing a name and then dial out. We also like the photo speed dial feature. Last but not least is a Google search bar at the bottom of the screen.

When you’re too busy to take calls, you can ignore them without bruising egos by sending a quick text message. Palm supplies a list of canned phrases you can customize. When checking voicemail, there are nifty VCR-like controls for rewinding, fast forwarding, pausing, and deleting messages.

Compared to the Treo 650, the 700w pulls down Web pages much faster. For example, the 700w took only 45 seconds to download The New York Times homepage, while the 650 took more than two minutes. Having EV-DO on board also makes the 700w a better e-mail machine, as it pulls down more messages and attachments in less time. A Wi-Fi SD card costs $99.

Just because the 700w downloads data quickly doesn’t mean it’s fast overall. In fact, we noticed several hiccups during our testing. On one occasion it took well over ten seconds for the Today screen to appear when we exited the Pictures & Video app. At other times, we were greeted by low memory warnings. To actually close a program, you have to enter the Memory section of the Settings menu by pressing and holding the OK button for a few seconds.

If you insist on having a Microsoft device in your pocket, the 700w is a good choice, but some may prefer the UTStarcom PPC-6700/XV-6700, which benefits from a faster 416-MHz processor. Everyone else should wait for Palm to release a Palm OS version of the Treo with EV-DO.