Handspring Treo 270 Review

Specification
Mode: GSM 900 / 1900
Weight: 153 gms
Dimensions (L*W*D):107 x 71 x 21mm
Battery type : Li-Ion
Talktime: 180 mins
Standby time: 150 hrs
Games: Yes
Internet capability: Yes
SMS capability: Yes
Display type: 4096 colors, LCD
Phone book capacity: Palm OS Based
Ringtones : Palm OS Based
Vibration Alert : Yes
Extras : None
Connectivity : GPRS, USB, IR, E-Mail client

Full Review
The Treo 270 is a step further from the 180. The main difference being obviously the color screen that has been provided in place of the monochrome display. However though the remaining differences may not seem so obvious, it would not be wise to dismiss the 270 as another 180 with color. This is because there is much more then meets the eye. Handspring has listened to the user complaints of the 180, this is obvious and has made certain much required changes. The battery life about which there was a lot of hue and cry has finally been boosted. Three hours of talk time are now possible along with 150 hours of standby. The phone works on GSM 900 / 1900 networks in America and for Asia/ Europe this is GSM 900 / 1800. The size of the screen has also remained the same and there does not seem to be any adverse effect on the battery either. However, the weight has increased to 153 gms. The 12-bit color LCD is capable of displaying 4096 colors. Though this does not put it into the league of the extremely hi-fi color displays; it is certainly much better then what the 180 had to offer. Another change that the Handspring folk have done and a very required one at that is that the keypad has finally been given backlights. This was another drawback that had been heavily criticized in the previous version.

The Treo 270 PDA is based on the Palm Operating System. Navigation is possible through the 2 way keys provided for the purpose. Standard functions such as Calculator, Calendar are also based on the Palm OS. Once again the games for this phone are downloadable and more can be added, however unlike the normal cell phones which support Java based or Mophun based games; this PDA will only accept Palm based games. Lots of sites /services are available for software's & games for Palms. Treo Mail, which allows you to send and receive your business or personal email from your Treo, has been officially released. You can add it to the Treo 270 or the Treo 180. This software also supports POP3 protocol, compatible with Microsoft Outlook / Exchange.

The 270 is based on the Motorola Dragonball VZ processor which runs at 33 Mhz speed , with 16 Mb of RAM onboard. The OS is Palm 3.5.2 H. The phone has an Infra red port as well as a USB for data communications with other compatible devices. This also allows PC Synchronization .PC Sync is based on the Palm OS Hot Sync software. Wireless Internet is supported and based on the Blazer browser which is compatible with HTML, WML, HDML, cHTML, xHTML.

Again the phone is certainly much better then the previous version but yet has shortcomings. If you just need a phone then much better options are available. Even if a PDA is what you have in mind then consider a Pocket PC compatible one. These are giving very good competition to the Palm OS and are easier to Sync with various soft wares. Not to mention Java support and the works.

Get the latest Treo software here !!