Object of my Current Lust: Handspring Treo 600
 

Behold this beauty:

<img src="http://www.handspring.com/products/communicators/images/sphone_600_overview_pp01_lg.jpg">

Aaaaah, finally somebody appears to have done the SmartPhone right.

PalmOS 5, a thumbpad instead of graffiti text entry. Camera. The works.

Yours for only $500. Droooool.

/me looks at new Tungstan E he just bought and frowns :(

If only i had the extra 300$ to buy that.

Man that looks soooo nice. The only thing I dont like about it is it would seem strange holding that up to my ear. Of course, that's nothing a headset couldn't fix...

You know what, I've actually held one of these and... Though the pictures don't really show it, this sucker's phone sized. It's really comfortable held up to the head.

The last batch of Handspring Treo smartphones had a weird screen-cover earpiece that just felt strange, but this model feels just right.

Ooh! Ooh! And you can sync with your computer wirelessly over the Internet! Imagine!

The Treo 600 is sweet. It has one big drawback - no Bluetooth. I have a Sony T68i with a Jabra Bluetooth headset and it's a godsend. No wires.

I've found the Bluetooth of my Tungsten T3 and T68i works nicely for doing SMS, dialing numbers, and connecting to the 'net.

I've read here and there that the Treo 600 isn't fully compatible with other Palm OS5 software and hardware. The upcoming Sandisk Wi-Fi SD card for one. I think there is something odd about the headphone jack for playing back MP3s.

Do some careful reading before you buy.

Palm will be releasing the Treo 610 soon. I'm not too sure of the details but I recall reading it at Brighthand.com

I just got a Tungsten|C and love it.

Are you following me today, cyn? ;)

So does anyone actually have one? I am getting ready to replace my cell and PDA soon... Was thinking about consolidating devices.

I have been lusting after this myself, but I'm having a hard time justifying the extra dough. A first person review would help me out too...

-smarm

I've been reading more about the T610. It will have a higher res display and Bluetooth for sure. Not sure what else.

I'd wait for it if you're shopping.

that looks crazy, anyone know what phoen companies will support it?

AT&T, T-Mobile, and Cingular already do, at the least.

Plus Sprint, though it's a different network and so slightly different hardware. The other three use interchangeable handsets.

okay.. question... .

so you are on the phone.. how do you look something up at the same time without a headset? or write down some notes into your palm?

I think that is the key issue with all of the "convergence" products out there. (Perhaps that and battery life.)

One less thing to carry vs. The ability to "multi-task." Seems like the choice you have to make right now.

I just got this phone on the Sprint network last Wednesday night. It is awesome! I am getting rid of my Motorola phone and my Palm M515 (which I never carried around). To respond to a few of the questions here, I usually use either the earpiece or the speakerphone which sounds very clear, or at least that is what I am told by the people that I call. Bluetooth would be great, but I found myself realizing that if I am always going to be looking and never buying, I would be missing out now for something that may come later. Making the decision to just get this phone is one of the best I have made.

It syncs with my Outlook calendar and contacts, the phone works perfectly, it takes SD cards (which I just picked up for $65 for 256 K at Costco) and it even plays MP3s. If you want to use headphones, you have to buy a $8 adapter (or $4 at Radio Shack, but much bigger) but I have been playing MP3s through the speaker and people are very jealous.

It has great battery time and good connections (at least in my area). The camera work well and all of the software it comes with is useful.

The only downfalls are the case (it comes with a nice sleeve that works, but doesn't really protect it all that well and can't be worn on the belt, plus it muffles the speaker to where you miss calls), the weak vibrator (with a muffled speaker and a weak vibrator, I am missing some calls), and the lack of a lot of accesories because it is so new.

To solve the volume issue in the car, I will be getting a hands-free cradle which will amplify the ringer, but all of the reviews that I have read say that it won't be available until April.

But, these small inconveniences are a small price to pay for a great piece of electronic wizardry, the ability to ditch my palm and an MP3 player, and the envy of my friends and colleagues (and the last one is really what it is all about...isn't it?).

If you want more info, check out treocentral