Palm's first Windows Mobile-based Treo to hit the UK arrives with something of a splash. It was September last year when the company announced a US version of its Treo, called the Treo 700w. Now we get the Treo 750v, exclusive on Vodafone where it'll cost you from free to £212, depending on the tariff you choose.
Long-serving Palm fans might feel they need to force themselves to forget about the Palm OS and grudgingly live with Windows Mobile, but in fact there are plenty of good things about this smart phone that mean it stands up well in its own right. Unfortunately, there are a couple of bloopers too.
Design
If you refer back to our review of the Treo 700w you'll see that particular smart phone has an antenna sticking out of its head. That design has been ditched in the Treo 750v and the antenna is buried within casing that -- and we have to point this out -- looks rather BlackBerry-ish with its blue and silver decor.
The blue parts of the casing are made of a rubbery material that feels nicely secure in the hand, and the combination of blue and silver all round make for the kind of professional look we're sure Palm was aiming at.
The keyboard is small but the well-spaced keys are easy to find with thumbs. There's an embedded block of numbers for direct dialling, and an Option key that lets you get at the +, ! and other symbols. More symbols, including the £, can be accessed via an Alt key.
Above the keyboard is a button bank. The two softkey buttons are huge, as is the navigation button. They don't scream style at you, but they are certainly easy to get at. Call and End buttons and a Windows Mobile start menu and OK button complete this suite. Between them, they make using the 750v one-handed very simple.
The screen takes some getting used to because it isn't what we normally expect from Windows Mobile devices. It's square: 240x240 pixels and 61mm (2.4 inches) diagonally across. If you aren't used to Windows Mobile you'll probably find everything okay, but if you are more accustomed to a taller 240x320-pixel display you might find the truncation here annoying at times.
Memory expansion is catered for by a very handy miniSD card slot on the right edge, and this is also where you'll find the infrared port.
One of our favourite features sits on the top edge of the casing. It's a slider button that flicks the ringer on and off. With this and the volume rocker on the left edge you can quickly control the noise the Treo 750v makes for the situation you are in. Add in the left edge button, which you can configure to launch any application you like, and you'll see that the Treo 750v hardware has been thoughtfully designed.
But not always. On the bottom edge are two terrors. First, the connector for the headset is a 2.5mm jack, so a converter is needed to use your own favourite headset. We loathe headset jacks on the bottom of phones, and Palm seems to rather like putting them on Treos. Second, the Palm connector for syncing and powering the battery is proprietary. We would much prefer a standardised mini-USB connector.
Features
Flip the Treo 750v on to its back and you'll see a lens and self-portrait mirror for the built-in 1.3-megapixel camera. With no flash, indoor shots are somewhat hit and miss, though the resolution means you'll probably just want shots for email and MMS purposes, not for keeping or printing.
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User reviews6
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Tom Vernon 6 August 2007
Good: It looks ok, and when it works it's pretty good
Bad: Everyone that has owned one in my business has had to have the handset replaced at least twice because of failures!
Comment: The Treo 750v should be a great phone. It looks good, considering it has a qwerty keyboard, and I like the colour. Initially it took a while to get used to the interface, stylus and keys, but I got there in the end.
However, telephones have one major function - the ability to make and receive calls. Of the original four Treo 750V's that my company purchased everyone of them has been replaced at least twice. The phones have failed due to various faults like not ringing out, failing to charge batteries, failing to hear a person calling you, and not being able to speak to someone whom you have called.
As I said a telephone should succeed to be a device for making and recieiving calls.
On not 1, but 8 occasions this phone failed to be a phone fit for purpose.
If you don't mind a phone which can make and recieve texts on, or browse the internet, or send and receive emails whilst being unable to actually call anybody then please get one.
Otherwise, stay well clear.
O Oya 3 January 2007
Good: I can do most things one handed. Palm's additions have made the software really sing!
Bad: I had to download an extra app to get button-activated voice recording. No scroll button.
Comment: Aside from the fact that I could not use this as a dicta machine out of the box, I think this is really the ultimate device for me. I can reach virtually everything at the touch of a button. Palm have really thought this through and there is now much better cohesion between software and hardware. Might I say this device would be perfect if there were a scroll wheel and more than one assignable hardware button. I don't really miss WI-FI too much because I can still use the 3G vodafone service if I really have to. I think GPS would have been a great addition.
Zero Uniden 8 November 2006
Good: All of it
Bad: I can't get it
Comment: It would help me out with all my work
See all 6 user reviews