Palm Treo 800w Review

Interface:

Running Windows Mobile 6.1, there isn’t a lot new with the interface. Though carriers have released new ROMs for current devices, and unlocked GSM devices have shipped with it, the 800w is the first carrier-available device to ship with WM 6.1 in the US. Changes from WM 6 are largely under the hood and the most notable upgrade is threaded text messaging, but Palm has had its own treading solution on their devices for years.


The 800w does not have a customized interface, like we have seen on HTC devices such as the Touch and Diamond. It runs a fairly standard WM homescreen, and of course it can be customized entirely by the user. The soft keys are Messaging on the left (which takes you to text messages) and Menu on the right. Menu brings up a context menu from which you can go to your contacts, the dialpad, preferences and a few more items.


Phonebook and Organizer:

As a WM Professional device the 800w is as full featured as it gets. It of course syncs with Outlook, so managing contacts and calendar is simple. There is nothing new with the 800w; it runs the standard Windows Mobile Calendar and Contacts application. Other PIM applications are also exactly the same as before, such as Notes, Tasks, Calculator and Clock.


The dialpad and phone interface has been redone, and looks much better. There is little to no lag when using the onscreen dialer, a problem that has plagued many WM devices. The in-call screen is very minimal; it shows the number and name (if in your contact list) or state, the timer and has Mute and Speakerphone options. All other options are available from a context menu. Unfortunately the caller ID picture is still miniscule.


Out of the box the device doesn’t support voice dialing over Bluetooth, but Palm has already released an update to fix this issue on their support page.