.KEYWORD treo270
.FLYINGHEAD PRODUCT REVIEW
.TITLE Treo 270 has great screen, disappointing connectivity
.FEATURE
.SUMMARY Chris Guella follows up his review of the Treo 180 with a look at the Treo 270. He also offers some additional thoughts on the slow adoption of Short Message Service in the United States.
.AUTHOR Chris Guella
In August I wrote about the Treo 180 and compared it with the RIM Blackberry 957 (at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue200208/treo180001.html). Since then, I have also used the Treo 270, which is essentially the same as the 180 with a few enhancements. In this article I would like to follow up on SMS (Short Message Service) and then expand on my Treo 180 review by including information on the updated Treo 270.
.H1 Follow up from August
In my past article, I talked about how in the United States mobile users didn’t appear to be taking advantage of Short Message Service on their mobile phones and handheld devices. Since then, the New York Times also confirmed that notion in their September 2, 2002 article titled, "US Cellphone Users Don’t Seem to Get Message About Messaging." The chart in Figure A, from The New York Times, shows the increasing rate of US adoption.
.FIGPAIR A Messaging has been steadily increasing in the U.S.
I also received feedback on SMS from a reader in the UK who states:
.QUOTE [My kids] rarely, if ever, use their phones for voice calls; it’s nearly all SMS, and they may do up to 50 messages or more a day. Nokia phones are the cool phones to have, and with the predictive text they can key a message really quick.
I actually agree that predictive text is very useful and easy to use. So why have Americans been so slow to adopt it? I believe that adoption will accelerate, but not because it’s easy to use. Rather, users will be taught/coached into understanding how it works as I have done with a few people since then. This viral effort will eventually catch us up to our friends in the UK and Asia. Also, Web sites that allow users to SMS for free, such as http://www.ezmsg.com, should help improve the US popularity.
Another reader asked where they could acquire the MSN Messenger chat program for the Treo 180 and Treo 270. MSN Messenger Force for the Palm OS is available from Ruksun Software Technologies for $15 at http://www.ruksun.com or http://www.handango.com.
.H1 The Treo 270 review
Handspring does not have an upgrade program for the Treo 270. If you were one of the loyal Handspring customers who rushed to get a Treo 180 when they were launched and then were impressed by the new features of the Treo 270 and Treo 300, as of now, there is no way for you to upgrade. I guess that is just the fate of the early adopter. To compound that fact, Cingular and Treo were supposed to be GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) capable by now, and a software update was to be applied to the Treo 180 and Treo 270 to improve the data services. None of this has happened, although it has in Canada and will be launched in the U.S. "soon" according to Handspring.
I’m unable to upgrade my Treo 180 to a Treo 270 and am dissatisfied with the expectations that were set eight months ago concerning GPRS. As a result, I, and others, must live with the archaic data connectivity of the internal modem dialing in at 9600 baud.
With that said, I like the new Treo 270 screen and keyboard. The updated unit has an easy to read screen and a lighted keyboard. Both are welcome improvements over the Treo 180, making it worth the extra $100. The screen is not as sharp as other color Palm OS models like the Sony Clie, but compared to the Treo 180’s monochrome screen, the Treo 270 screen is a measurable improvement, as you can see in Figure B.
.FIGPAIR B The Treo 270’s color screen is a big improvement.
During the review I had the opportunity to use my Treo 270 to save $100 at the local pool supply store. Here’s how. The clerk tried to overcharge me for a pump that I knew cost less than what I was being quoted. So I used my Treo 270 to dial in and then show the clerk the Web site with a lower price using the built-in Blazer software. He made the appropriate adjustment while at the register, saving me a trip home to print out the Web page. The clerk couldn’t access the Internet on his computer, but he was very impressed with the Treo 270.
Otherwise, the Treo 270 and the Treo 180 function about the same. Both devices are limited by the internal modem and 9600 baud connection speed, the single threaded Palm OS, the relatively short battery life, and an unclear speaker-phone. The real improvement seems to be in Sprint’s Treo 300, which I talk more about elsewhere in this issue of PalmPower in the article, "Wireless service issues and handheld communication."
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
For more information on the Treo communicators, visit http://www.handspring.com/products/communicators/index.jhtml.
For the article, "A Blackberry loyalist’s three months with the Treo 180," by Chris Guella in the August issue of PalmPower, visit http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue200208/treo180001.html.
For more information on free SMS, visit http://www.ezmsg.com.
For more information on Ruksun Software Technologies, visit http://www.ruksun.com.
For more information on Handango, visit http://www.handango.com.
For more information on Palm handhelds, visit http://www.palm.com.
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.END_SIDEBAR
.BIO
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