Treo 600 First Impressions (and photos): it ROCKS!

Note: Thanks to a mention on Slashdot, I’ve mirrored this over here.

My Treo 600 showed up today. Yummy!

I’ve been really looking forward to this phone. I placed my order the moment I heard they were available and now received it less than a week later. The discount for existing Treo users is a really nice touch. The Treo 300 was the best PDA I’ve used and a decent phone, but the Treo 600 is improved in every regard I can think of.

Ok, on to the first look . Changes from the Treo 300:

• SMALLER!
• No flip cover. This is a huge win in my opinion. The screen isn’t protected as well, but the keyboard and screen are accessible and most of the time they need to be. With the flip open, the Treo 300 is a real beast.
• Everything is more responsive. The new OS and faster processor result in a big performance boost.
• Much brighter screen, I haven’t tried it out in direct sunlight yet but it is a huge improvement over the Treo 300.
• The 5-way navigation pad is really fantastic. One handed operation works exceptionally well.
• It has a little camera. I’d much prefer to have built-in Bluetooth than a .3 megapixel camera. I guess I’ll probably use it occasionally but if I’d had the option to get one without this, I’d have done so.
• The network connectivity is much faster. SnapperMail absolutely screams. I’d read that the Palm OS 5 internet libraries were much faster and they are.
• A ‘Save this Page’ feature in Blazer (the web browser) will save a copy of a web page on the Treo. This is something I’m really thrilled about; it means that if you have a page of bookmarks or the like, you don’t have to request that page and wait for it to load before selecting the link. Also, I’ll be using this for fast access to the ‘New Task’ screen in tasks (using the mobile version of course).
• Outgoing SMS messaging – I still can’t believe that wasn’t in the Treo 300.
• SDIO slot allows you to add memory or a bluetooth card (when they are available).
• The numeric keypad is moved from the right half of the keyboard to the left – this makes sense for right handed users since the device is narrower. The distance from the right edge of the device is actually similar to the Treo 300.
• The Alarms and Ringers sounds are much nicer, but the ‘Delete’ button shouldn’t be in the same spot on the screen as the ‘Edit’ button in the list. I deleted one of the ringtones by mistake by double tapping.
• The UI widgets and overall interface feels much more polished.
• When it is charging or when you’re talking on it, the Treo 600 stays much cooler than the Treo 300 did. The Treo 300 would get pretty hot.

Here are a couple of things upgrading users should be aware of:

• The cables that came with the Treo 300 are compatible with the Treo 600, the cradle for the Treo 300 is not.
• The Treo 600 headset jack is different than the Treo 300 headset jack, your Treo 300 headset will not work with the 600.
• The ‘Keyguard’ function seems to break if you are in an application that does not support the 5-way nagigation button. I just ran into a nasty problem where an Alarm popped up over an application that doesn’t support the 5-way nav and I was stuck there. I couldn’t unlock the keyguard and I couldn’t dismiss the alarm to let it change applications. Had to do a reset – bummer.
• The keyboard is smaller and it a little tougher to use. I’m getting used to it but right now I make more typos than I did with the Treo 300.

So my overall first impressions are extremely positive. The size is good, it is much faster and the software has been improved. Highly recommended (so far… ). Here are a bunch of photos…

• The box – much anticipation!
• More boxes.
• The Treo 600 box.
• There it is.
• All the goodies.
• It feels much smaller than the Treo 300.
• Ugh, a 3 hour wait for it to charge (it turns on when you plug it in though).
• Everything unpacked.
• The screen is much brighter than the Treo 300.
• Hmm, actual size is more similar than it feels.
• The width is the big thing.
• Again, about the same but the rounded edges on the 600 make a difference.
• Yeah, no comparison here.

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