Handspring Treo 600 

Well the Christmas stocking didn't include one for me, nor did any helpful contributing company, but I DID manage to borrow one for a week.

First impressions weren't dashed - bettery life is excellent compared to its peers on the market, and more importantly YOU DON'T NEED A SOAP ON A ROPE EARPIECE/MIC!!!!!!!  There are a built-in mic and speaker.  I have used Palm OS devices since they first appeared and so, without the need to do any (risky) data conversions, have been able to sync every device I have owned (or borrowed) without problems.

At last.. a hybrid PDA/phone with a decent keyboard! The Handspring Treo 600 is designed for people, like me, who hate handwriting recognition systems and yearn for a compact unit with a QWERTY keyboard.  Even so, once I had mastered the newer version of Graffiti, I accepted stylus input for the longer items.

Although the Handspring Treo 600 looks unusual, it's based on the popular Palm OS 5 operating system and packs a built in digital camera, java support, WAP over GPRS and access to the wide range of Palm OS applications and games.

The Handspring Treo 600's standby time is up to 300 hours, with a 4 hour talktime which is better than many devices of this type. Memory expansion is through a built-in SD slot. There's good support for email on the move too, and the decent keyboard makes sending messages a breeze. Oh yes, it has a built-in digital camera too so it's pretty well loaded.

And you get it all in one device that's so small it fits right in your pocket. With Treo 600, not only do you have everything you need—it's all incredibly easy to use. That's because everything is totally integrated, so you can check your calendar while talking on the phone, dial calls directly from your contacts list, or take a picture and email it to a friend—without having to jump through hoops.

Pricing isn't bad either - £200 inc VAT with an Orange contract and around £430 inc VAT SIM-free.  Now all I need is to find a benefactor to supply a SIM-free version so that I can use it on my Vodafone account.  Until then , I will continue with my Sony Ericsson T68i and Palm Zire (clunky YES, but functional!)

PLEASE Easter Bunny - bring me a Treo 600 - I promise to be good for another year (at least).

Colin Allison - Mr telecom/mobile warrior