Last week, in Desperate Housewives, Gabrielle knocked down a nun, Bree was pulled over for drunk driving, and...
Whoops, wrong show. Last week, here in Mobile Computing, I was telling you what it's like to use a Palm Treo 650 instead of a laptop. Specifically, I covered e-mail handling. Now, in the conclusion of our two-part cliffhanger, I'll reveal what it's like to type, create and edit Office files, and browse the Web on a Treo 650.
Typing on a Treo
Tapping out a sentence or two on the Treo 650's built-in keyboard is fairly easy, if your fingers aren't too big. If you need to do more extensive typing--compose a document, for instance--you'll want an external, full-sized keyboard.
I tested Think Outside's Stowaway Universal Bluetooth Keyboard, though several models are compatible with the Treo 650. The Stowaway is nicely compact when folded, and it's lightweight. The keys are much more comfortable for typing than the Treo's built-in keyboard. But there are two downsides: Like other Bluetooth and infrared-connected keyboards, the Stowaway requires its own batteries. Also, this keyboard doesn't have dedicated numeric keys, as some other PDA keyboards do. The $150 price is a bit steep as well, though I've seen it on the PC World Product Finder for as low as $85.
Working With Office Files
The Treo 650 ships with DataViz's Documents To Go preinstalled, software that lets you create and edit Office-compatible files. In my tests, Documents To Go 8.0 handled Office documents superbly. For instance, when I received an e-mail in VersaMail containing a Word file, I clicked on the attachment icon at the bottom of the message and the file opened quickly in Documents To Go. After making some edits to the file, I saved and e-mailed it back to the sender.
When you open an Office file in Documents To Go, the file is converted into a Documents To Go format. Depending on the file, the process can take several seconds. By comparison, an Office file opens almost instantaneously in the corresponding Microsoft Pocket Office app on a Windows Mobile device. Otherwise, I've experienced no downsides to using Documents To Go on a Palm device.
Documents To Go isn't your only option for putting Office files on your Treo or another Palm OS device. Quickoffice Premier 7.6 ($40) also lets you view and edit Office files on Palm OS devices. I've tested Quickoffice only briefly, and I've found it to be a good alternative. But with Documents To Go already loaded on your Treo, I doubt you'd need it. (PDA Pundit Denny Arar's reviewed Documents To Go 8.0. in December 2005.)
Web Browsing
Blazer, which is preinstalled on the Treo 650, does an adequate job of grabbing and displaying Web pages. (Not surprisingly, viewing Web content on a handheld with a small screen is far from ideal, but it'll do in a pinch.) Also, I like Blazer's integration with the Treo's Phone application. For instance, rather than call directory assistance to get the phone number for a nearby restaurant, I did a Google search on the restaurant's name using the Treo. The search results included the restaurant's address, and its phone number was hyperlinked. I clicked the link, and the Treo dialed the number. Since directory assistance calls cost about $1.50 a pop, this feature is worth the price of admission alone.
By the way, Cingular Wireless' EDGE data network offers the fastest Web browsing experience on a Treo 650, says Denny Arar. The Sprint and Verizon versions of the Treo 650 support those carriers' 1xRTT data networks, which are a bit slower than EDGE. Read more about the Treo 650, as compared to the new Treo 700w, in Denny's January column.
A Long Story Made Short
So would I feel comfortable leaving my notebook at home and relying on a Treo 650? Before I answer that question, here's my standard notebook-alternative caveat: If there's a chance you'll be spending a hour or more working on Office documents during your trip, you'll want to take your laptop.
That said, if any device I've yet tested were to tempt me to leave my notebook at home, it would be the Treo 650. With effortless access to e-mail, an easy-to-use built-in keyboard and several options for an external keyboard, solid compatibility with Microsoft Office for document viewing and editing, and a decent Web browsing experience, I could go for days without my notebook. Plus, I can also snap photos, shoot camcorder movies, listen to MP3 files, and record memos (with optional software), too.
How cool is the Treo 650? After being displaced by Hurricane Katrina, my friend Carter Hooper decided to pursue his dream. He rode his bicycle from Mississippi to California, traveling 3408 miles over 68 days. Along the way, Carter used his Treo 650 to snap and e-mail some fascinating pictures--my favorite being the shot of a restaurant sign in Welden, Arizona advertising "hot beer, lousy food, and bad service." That's something you just couldn't pull off easily with a notebook.
In fact, Carter's e-mails inspired me. Though I'm not planning to ride a bicycle cross-country, I did drive down the street to buy a Treo 650.
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