The new Treo 600 Communicator phone is probably what many Palm followers have been waiting for. A next generation Palm based phone running Palm OS 5. There are currently two different version of the Treo 600; a Quad-band GSM model that supports 850/900/1800/1900 Mhz bands, and a CDMA version. At this moment, Cingular in the USA, Orange across most of EU, and the newly announced TreoStore are the only outlets or carriers for the GSM model.

The differences are mostly related to the finish and, of course, the network. The CDMA model is charcoal gray, while the GSM version is grayish silver. There is an upgrade program available on the Handspring website for previous Treo owners, which allows the Treo 600 to be purchased for $399. The promotion, however, only lasts until November 24th, 2003.

[Thumbnail Image: Handspring Treo 600]
The unit we reviewed here is the CDMA Treo 600 unit available from Sprint PCS. The Treo 600 comes with access to Sprints PCS Vision network, so it can be used check your email, surf the web, and take pictures to be sent to your friends. Sprint also provides some extra utilities and games bundled on the included software CD.

The package includes the following:

• User Guide
• Synchronization Software CD
• Introduction CD
• Wall charger
• USB sync/charging cable
• Handsfree headset
• Cloth carrying pouch

Oh, and before I forget, a shiny charcoal black Treo 600 communicator.

First, let's have a look at the "Look and Feel" of the unit. After all, no one likes to use a PDA/Phone that is weighed down complicated menus, or where either the phone or pda feature set is incomplete or poorly implemented.

As far as PDA-style phones go, the Treo 600 has really gone a long way towards bringing together features and functions within a compact unit. It's a little on the weighty side, coming in around the same weight as my XDA/MDA PocketPC Phone Edition. The difference, though, is that the Treo is narrower and just FEELS more solid in your hand. While it's narrower than its immediate ancestor, the Treo 300, it's just about as thick. Noticeably missing is the flip-top lid as well. I don't think anyone's going to miss that, as the flip lids on the original Treo handsets were rather flimsy, to say the least.

In addition to having a rather full built-in keyboard, there are four shortcut buttons and a circular direction-pad button pad. In the center of the direction-pad is another button (more on this wonderful button later). The keyboard on our evaluation unit was a little stiff, but reasonably responsive. The only issue I have with the keyboard is the size of the keys themselves. Those folks with large fingers might require some time to get used to it. I can see the trade-off, though, as the individual keys are well spaced. Unless your aim is off by a lot, you'll have little problem hitting the right key.

At the bottom right of the keyboard are two other buttons that bear special mention. They are the "Home" and "Menu" buttons. If you want to invoke the familiar Palm OS category based menu system, the "Home" button brings that up immediately. The "Menu" button does just what you would expect. No matter where you are, no matter what application is running, if you want to bring up its menu, just tap the "Menu" button.

The four shortcut buttons invoke one of the four following functions: Phone Mode, Calendar Mode, Email, Key guard. The Calendar and Email modes should be familiar to most folks who have used previous Treo or Palm-based phones. The "Key guard" is just a quick shortcut to locking the keypad of the phone. It doesn't turn the phone off immediately, but rather places it into a standby condition.