SECOND TIME'S A CHARM
Well, one of the first mainstream reviews for Palm's 700p Smartphones is in, and David Pogue of the
New York Times...likes it...he actually likes it.
Much more than he liked the Palm 700w Smartphone, based on Microsoft's Windows Mobile software (50% of Smartphones now shipped have Microsoft's software currently).
This is notable primarily because the 700w was almost universally panned by mainstream reviewers, including the Wall Street Journal's Walter Mossberg, PC Magazine, not to mention Mr. Pogue as well from the NY Times.
The new 700p uses Palm's owned tried and true operating system, and it seems to make much of the positive difference, according to Mr. Pogue.
"Good things come to those who wait. The 700P is the Windows Treo without the Windows, and it's almost everything you'd wish it to be.
That is, it offers all the same hardware perks of the Windows Treo — the high-speed Internet, better keyboard, Talk and End keys, sharper camera, improved specs — while sticking to the more efficient Palm operating system."
The new gizmo is initially available on the Sprint and Verizon networks in the US, leveraging their respective, high-speed EV-DO wireless broadband networks. T-Mobile and Cingular (AT&T) versions of the Treo 700, based on GSM technology and thus usable overseas, will likely be available later this year.
Pricing is a bit on the high side, as David elaborates:
"The Sprint version costs $550 or $400, depending on whether you sign up for a one- or two-year contract. Unlimited high-speed EV-DO service starts at $15 a month, including a TV channel and a Sirius satellite radio channel (not including the price of a voice plan). Unfortunately, that doesn't include using the Treo to get your laptop online, which costs another $40 a month.
Verizon's version of the 700P costs $400, after rebate, when bought with a service package, like $110 a month for 1,350 minutes of talking and unlimited high-speed Internet. Here again, the dial-up networking for your laptop costs extra: $15 a month."
But it's apparently all worth it, for as Mr. Pogue puts it,
"...the new Treo itself is a joy — a communicator with immense power and potential whose software is a help instead of a hindrance. If you've held off on a smartphone until now, congratulations; you've played this game of high-tech leapfrog like a pro."
Guess I should have waited a couple of months before springing for Verizon's Windows based Smartphone. Anyone want an almost never used Windows Smartphone? Cheap?
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