Originally Posted by CPRich
I see it being competitive for someone who wants MS software vs. Palm, but I don't see any huge breakthroughs.
You may not, but I certainly do.
When you are that small 20% is pretty minor. Plus, the lack of that ugly antenna makes up for a lot, and it is thinner.
2 SD slots - I don't come close to filling my 1GB card so I don't know what I'd do with 2
You probably are a palm user, Palms SUCK at multimedia, but I for one enjoy taking a Divx movie with me, or 1Gb of MP3 files. I know a Treo can do this, eventully, and with some additional software, but it is not a nice experience.
1.3MP camera - seriously, do you take a lot of pictures with your camera? I've used mine maybe 5 times - you can get 4MP cameras the size of this device.
True, but a lot of people use their camera, and with a decent MMS client (have yet to find one for the Treo) you can send some pretty decent photos.
Bluetooth, USB docking station, etc - nothing new here
Except that the Bluetooth on PocketPC's is not crippled like in the Treo and that the USB docking station is foldable and portable, unlike that large POS the Treo has (as an optional extra I might add).
Integrated GPS - that could be cool, depending on what it does. It it a full-function GPS solution, with mapping, etc. a la Garmin? Or the "cell phone GPS" that doesn't really do much?
Initial reviews say that it is a real GPS receiver. Cellphone GPS (LBS) is only really available on iDen anyway.
I see it as a Windows-platform equal of the 650. With a reported release date of "sometime in the second half of the year" it's about the leapfrogging that I would expect 7+ months after the 650 release.
Except of course that the PocketPC platform is around 3 years ahead of the Palm platform, and has been for several years now.
Given the lack of significant 600 to 650 improvments, I would hope the next Treo is well under way and will jump back over the HP in terms of capabilities (WiFi, GPS, etc.) in maybe late '05 or early '06. Unless the falling trajectory of 300-600-650 development continues, which would be bad news for them.
Given the current state of affairs at PalmOne I wouldn't be so sure about that. Just last night PalmOne screwed its customers by raising the price of the unlocked Treo650 by $100 infuriating customers and getting some serious bad PR. As for the trajectory of the 300-600-650; there is very very little improvement between these devices, the Treo650 is certainly not what it should have been and it shows PalmOnes lack of innovation quite clearly. They were innovative when the 180/300 was introduced, but lately they have failed to impress.