Palm Treo 680

I thought I wouldn't go back to Palm. But I did.

I liked the software but, the hardware always had issues (not very sturdy, short battery life). Not to mention Palm having changed their name to PalmOne. That was just lame.

My last Palm was the Zire 72. Overall it was good. The screen was big and readable. But it didn't have a keyboard, so I had to scratch-type using the Graffiti handwriting recognition feature. But worse there was no battery backup, so when the battery runs out, everything goes. It only took two times for that to happen for me to give up on the Zire altogether.

The Treo 650 was tempting. 2nd generation, perfecting on the Treo 600. Phone as well as PDA. But I know people who have problems with voice quality and crashes. Most smart phones have issues or design flaws, but they're getting better as a whole. The Treo 700 came out, but only on Verizon. I'm on Cingular, and I want GSM so I can use the device overseas.

Then came the Treo 680.

It's smaller than other Treos but still bigger than most phones. It seems like they've worked out most of the rough edges from the 600 and 650. Palm is targeting this phone at non-techies, so it must be reliable and easy to use. I want that, plus all the potential of PalmOS and the cool but simple Palm PDA apps (Calendar, Contacts, Memo, Todo).

Other smart phones I considered:

• Nokia E70 & E62 - I like Nokia alot. I think they spend alot of attention to usability. But I'd heard the Symbian OS used in their higher end models was sluggish. I tried it out and it is. Apps take too long to load and respond to actions. Not for me. Plus these devices don't have a touchscreen and rely solely on a four-way mini joystick.
  
• Windows Mobile - Pro: Same OS as your PC. Con: Same OS as your PC.
  
• Blackberry - Strong email client, but not much else. I like that there are many apps for PalmOS.
  

Treo 680 pros:

• Good screen. Decent size, bright and readable.
  
• Keyboard. A little small, but hey it's a mobile device.
  
• It doesn't lose everything when the battery runs out. Yay!!
  
• Great PalmOS and included apps. The GUI could use a little pizazz, but it works. And it's fast (compared to Symbian).
• The email and browser work pretty well. It ain't a desktop, but for me it eliminates the need for a mini-notebook. I was pleasantly surprised when I was able to download and play a podcast from TWiT. It was even able to listen to live streaming audio from a local radio station, KFI 640. (Yes, I'm a Laporte fan.)

Like all Palm devices, you can either use the included Palm Desktop software or sync with Outlook. I find the Palm software a little lacking (and hard to access unless you're always at the PC it's installed on), and Outlook is a resource hog. Fortunately there are other choices- you can sync with Yahoo, for instance. That gives you online access anywhere, via the Web or Treo. Yahoo uses a program called Intellisync which uses the Palm software to sync, but lets you edit your contacts, calendar, etc. in your My Yahoo account.

I also configured my Nokia Bluetooth headset to work with it. Piece of cake. And dial-up networking with my Dell Inspiron 9400. That was not as easy, but once you get it set up you can get connected quickly.

Treo 680 Cons:

• The battery runs out fast. Real fast! Like 2 days with minimal use. Pretty lame, but I can live with it.
• The camera is awful. But it's better than the one I had in my Nokia 6820. :)
• No WiFi. But do you really need it? What could you possibly want to do on that tiny screen that would require such bandwidth?
• The case seems fragile. I hope I don't ever drop it because it feels like it would shatter into a million pieces.
  

Issues:
Not all phones are perfect. I did have a few problems where call volume was too low. But the next call was okay. Also it seemed to lose bluetooth settings once, but has worked fine ever since.

Size comparison: My old Nokia 6820 and Treo 680.