First Look at Treo 755P

Ergonomics

For a device that is practically going to be a growth on your body, ergonomics is a key factor to consider. This is one of the areas that is very subjective, so my observations may or may not agree with your preferences.

Feel - The feel of the Treo 755P is excellent. You can tell that this is a 4th generation device. It is a pleasure to hold and use, and in particular the one handed operation works better than most PDAPhones I've used. It is light years ahead of most Pocket PC devices in terms of feel. Ironically, the PPC6600 is about four generations deep into its product line also, yet not much has changed in the "feel" department.

Buttons - Both devices have a similar number of keys, but the Treo 755P does a better job integrating them into the system for one handed operation in all applications. You can easily navigate web pages with Treo and only the 5 way switch. The PPC6600 has the same type of switch, but it is near impossible to use it for all bu scrolling and selecting.

Keyboard - I still think the Blackberries have some of the best finger keyboards in the business, but the Treo 755P is still pretty good. The keys have a good feel to them, with nice rounded tops to allow give assurance that you are hitting the right keys. The 755P keyboard is about 15% smaller than the PPC6600 slider keyboard, but the PPC6600 has a membrane covered keypad with only small dimples on each key. There is very good tactile feedback on the Treo, and very little on the PPC6600.

Phone Use

Phone use on the Treo 755P is a pleasure. It is a good sized phone to hold and use, although it does get quite warm in the hand after a long call. Dialing from either the keypad of on the touchscreen is a little tough because I have big fingers and both are pretty small. I like dialing on the on-screen PPC6600 better than both of the Treo options. I believe the Treo calling is more user friendly than the Pocket PC approach. When you hit the call key, you have your contacts on the same screen. One you make a call, you are taken away from the dialpad screen to one that has good sized buttons for mute and hold. From placing a call on hold, you can easily then add another person to a conference call. These functions on the Pocket PC are more hidden and difficult to do. With the Treo 755P, it is very intuitive.

Conclusion

The final deciding points for everyone will be a little different, but here are the pros and cons that I'm coming down to after my evalution.

Treo 755P Advantages

Amazing data speed
Very elegant styling and small size
Excellent call quality and ergonomics
Very crisp display
Very easy to use for most functions
One handed operation enabled throughout
Silence button on phone

PPC6600 Advantages

Multitasking of applications and calls
Larger display
Similar is usability to desktop Windows

The feature that took me away from Palm in the past was the lack of multitasking, and that will likely be the thing that kills it again. For some people this isn't a big deal, but it is something that I use from time to time. It is especially important if I can't speed up the sync time with Lotus Notes. I will be able to do more testing of applications when my miniSD card arrives.

It is rumored that this will be the last of the Palm devices that run the dated Garnet Palm OS platform that is pretty much the same as the old Palm Pilot. If that is true, then this may be one to hang onto. My guess is the move to a new OS will hurt one of the key benefits of the Treo 755P, its a very reliable device, especially compared to Pocket PCs. Rumors say that the new Palm OS will be on a Linux base. The Treo 755P doesn't bring a lot of new technology to the table, but rather it is a refinement and maturity in a platform that you'd expect from a device that's been through this many generations. If you are looking for a reliable PDAPhone that just works, and you can live without multitasking or a larger screen, then this would be an excellent choice.