Software Counts Big

The Treo 600's weakest feature was the underwhelming software included in the package.  There isn't even an MP3 player included.  With the Treo 650, you get significantly more.  RealPlayer for your MP3's, Documents to Go 7 for viewing and editing Microsoft Word and Excel documents, and VersaMail for e-mail.  I only wish the full version of Treo Voice Dialing from Voice Signal, a great training free application, were included.  Voice dialing is a standard feature in most smartphones.

More significant is the Palm OS itself, which gets the palmOne modifications from the Tungsten and Zire lines.  Version 5.4.5 in the Treo 650 is vastly superior to the Treo 600.  Contacts and calendar entries are more consistent with Microsoft Outlook, perhaps the most popular information manager.  Information like birthdays, multiple email addresses, and photographs now synch.  The calendar gets a 'Today' screen for a quick summary of tasks, appointments, and e-mails.

Business users with Microsoft Exchange 2003 servers supplying e-mail will appreciate the new synching capabilities.  You'll be able to synch your e-mail and calendar entries over the air too, ideal for the mobile dude.

Improvements Under the Hood

The Treo 650 gets Bluetooth, a rare feature in the CDMA phones from Sprint PCS and Verizon Wireless.  It's ideal for using Bluetooth headsets, sending files to other Bluetooth-enabled devices, or Hotsync without wires.  The Treo 650 comes with a simple wizard driven application to setup the profiles.

The biggest improvement in my opinion is the removable battery.  Swapping on the go is a must for road warriors.  The 650 comes with spectacular battery life claims, so most won't need to worry.  palmOne claims 6 hours of talk and 300 hours of standby for the GSM (Cingular, T-Mobile) version or 5 hours of talk and 14+ days of standby for the CDMA (Sprint PCS, Verizon Wireless) version.  Of course, that all varies depending on your usage pattern.  So, far I've gone a week on a single charge.