Handspring Treo 300 Review

Specifications
Mode: CDMA 1900
Weight: 162 gms
Dimensions (L*W*D):112 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 : Polyphonic
Vibration Alert : Yes
Extras : None
Connectivity : CDMA2000 1xRTT, USB, IR, E-Mail client



Full Review
The Treo 300 works on a CDMA 1900 network. It has a color display, similar to the one in the 270. It is a color LCD capable of displaying 4096 colors. Navigation through the menus is by means of the two navigation keys provided for this purpose. A touch screen and stylus help in the PDA part of the functions. The pone weighs 162 gms. The battery is Li-Ion and an internal one. The main disadvantage being that the battery cannot be replaced. Obviously the user is expected to throw away the phone once he is done with it or if the battery fails ;) The Phone is based on the Palm OS and has a 33 Mhz Dragonball Processor from Motorola. The phone also has 16 Mb of memory (RAM). This is really inadequate especially since today's PDAs have about 32 Mb RAM and users still find it not enough. Luckily the phone is CDMA based and so can have the CDMA 2000 1xRTT network access. Unlike the previous versions of the Treo which were GSM based and consequently had to depend on GPRS , which was either not supported by the phone nor by the networks as in most cases.

In spite of a lot of criticism that the original Treo (The 180) had come under for no voice-activated dialing, Handspring seems to have not learnt a lesson. Many users like and use this function regularly and its absence irritates them to no end. The phone has an Infrared port , as well as an USB port which help in communicating with compatible data devices. The USB port helps in synchronizing with the PC. PC Sync is possible using the HotSync Software. All standard functions such as Calculator, Calendar, Alarm are all present. These are based on the Palm based operating system. For a big change, the Treo 300 allows downloading of Polyphonic ringtones. Might as well since this is the latest craze in the market and might just be the point of distinction between selection and rejection between phones in the eyes of the user.

Wireless Internet is present and is supported by the Blazer browser. It supports HTML, WML, HDML, cHTML (i-mode) and xHTML (WAP 2.0) and also has support for 128 bit SSL encryption.

This review is a lot shorter then others of the PDA class. But this is mainly because Handspring has kept the same design, configuration. As a result most of the drawbacks and advantages have also been repeated. Anyone seriously considering buying a Handspring Treo definitely wants to have a look at the two predecessors of the TREO 300 before he / she can make the right choice.

Get the latest Treo software here !!