My Treo 600 has Left the Building - Technology Evangelist

As soon as the Treo 700p came out - actually, even before it came out - I knew it would be my next phone after the 600 model I've used the couple years. While Treo's 650 model had a few key upgrades, including Bluetooth, it didn't add up to a must-have upgrade for me unlike my previously obvious upgrade from the Handspring Treo 300 to the 600.

What made the 700p upgrade appealing? Primarily EVDO Internet access. I've found that I use the web and email as much, is not more, than the phone as a phone, so faster data access was impossible to resist.

Could I have upgraded earlier to the Treo 700w or PPC-6700 for the EVDO access? Of course. But I wasn't a fan of the ergonomics of the 6700, and the 700w - while built on the same hardware layout as the Palm devices - simply wasn't as easy to navigate.

Has my 700p upgrade been worth it? Absolutely.

The EVDO access is extraordinarily fast compared to the speed of the previous Treo models. Mobile optimized sites like Bloglines Mobile pop onto the screen, and previously painfully slow sites like blogs with looong homepages and lots of stuff in the left margin are suddenly accessible again. The 700p also has a more mature version of the Blazer web browser, making some JavaScript dependent pages usable once again.

The 700p's camera is far superior to the 600's, and that together with the improved screen resolution makes showing pictures to friends enjoyable rather than a conversation like, "It's hard to tell, but the Yeti is to the left of the tree." And lower light indoor photos of Yetis are now feasible, given the opportunity.

Bluetooth capability is by no means new to cell phones today, but it's new to me. I primarily use it to transfer images and video from my phone to my laptop so I can upload or email them. It's also more convenient for sharing my vcard with people across a table than beaming.

BTW, Ben's Treo 700p / Mac / Google Calendar sync works great.

One other thing: I have heard reports about problems with the 700p, including random resets. In fact, I've watched this happen when SMS messages are received on a friend's 700p. I haven't experienced and technical problems like this, and for those who have run into problems like this, an upcoming firmware upgrade is supposed to solve the problem. Rumor has it that the firmware upgrade is a pain, so it may be worth holding off on your 700p until the firmware issue is resolved. It could still be significantly better, as Ben explains here.

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