phone of the future!!!

I recently gave up an XV6600 for a new device. After looking at several devices I narrowed my search between two pda phones from Verizon (my carrier), The XV6700 and the Treo 700w.

I chose the 700W and have no regrets. What follows is a full review of my experience with this phone for a period of three months.

UPDATE!!! I need to add that one of the best features of this phone is a small switch at the top of the phone. With a flick of this switch you activate silent mode. No more having to dig through a slur of menus to get to the silent mode, just flip the switch and you go into silent/vibrate (if you select the phone to vibrate on silent) mode.

With any PDA phone there are two main categories, the PDA and the Phone. Lets start with the PDA first.

This is one of the first phones to run the new Windows mobile 5.0. WM5 is designed to adapt to smaller square screens (not the usual large rectangular screen a PDA has). For some this smaller screen may be a little of a setback as older software is not fully compatible with such a small screen. In some instances you will actually have to buy all new versions (if the desired software even comes out with a square screen version) of the program you want to run. I have found though that a great many programs (popular) still run perfectly on the PDA BUT this can cause a small problem. That said the square screen is still large enough to do all the functions of a PDA without any notice in difference. The new today screen info has much more usefulness than previous versions of WM. For instance the calendar lists events for the entire week where the older version only listed events for that day. Now you can quickly glace at your daily schedules days in advance. For a businessman such as myself this is a great comfort in a PDA. Like all upper level PDA's the treo has a touch screen but the new softbutton menus and software of WM5 makes it where you do not need to use a stylus or a touch screen function most of the time. This means that you can do most functions of your PDA with just one hand using softkeys and the integrated keyboard below. Speaking of which the keyboard is well lit for darker areas so seeing the keys are not a problem AND the buttons are very large (unlike other PDAs with integrated keyboards which have small keys that hinder my large fingers and hands from typing fast, ex on my previous phone, the XV6600 I actually had to use the stylus pen to hit the keys they were so small and always). As stated earlier the treo is designed for one handed use and it is designed well. Most functions can be done one handed. The device is small enough to comfortably fit into one hand. It has been said that the screen resolution is subpar however I disagree and claim that it may not be the sharpest resolution but it is readable in bright outdoor sunlight.

WM5 is very stable. In three months of use I have only had to reset the device (soft reset) three times. Two of those times I believe was a corupt program I installed and not the pda OS itself. The software comes with a complete MS mobile office suite, (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook) the Treo has bluetooth capability and GPS 911 location capability. It also has EVDO and sufs the web amazingly great! The new version of internet explorer is absolutly amazing for websurfing.

Now for the phone. The first and most important thing I want to say is that this device has the strongest signal strength I have ever had in a phone! That alone is enough to sell me on this device. The phone is perfectly integrated into the phone. You can dial numbers on either the keyboard OR the soft keys of the dial software. Sound quality is perfect and the speakerphone (built in) is loud, very loud. Best of all is that you can dial numbers from the today screen, no need to pull up the dialpad software. the Today screen has two ways to dial numbers. You can just type in the number to dial or, if the name is in your contacts, you can type in the name. There is also an auto-complete feature for dialing so if you want to call "george" you can type g - e - o and by then it will suggest george's number from your contact list. It also auto-completes numbers! This makes dialing fast and easy (ONE HANDED USE). Did I mention that you can have photo speed dial? Also, you can have any song or sound for the ring-tone. Fully customizable!

Additionally the phone comes with a camera 1.3MP the most I have seen in a camera for a phone/PDA. Pictures are sharp (WARNING...there is no flash on the camera). This is my only real setback on this device.

I am a clutz and have dropped this phone numerous times. There are scratches and even a dent in the antenna bud. I have had the battery fall out on two occasions. The phone has hit dirt, concerte and asphalt and it still functions perfectly. Very durable.

When you dial voicemail there are buttons on the dial pad that allow you to read, delete, and play the next message or replay the last message. No more having to hit keys for options or having to listen to the menu options on the voicemail. It is all done by simple buttons, another ease of use option.

The battery life is amazing and the phone charges fast! I placed a total of two hours in calls one night and barely saw a decrease in battery power.

Oh yes.... The device allows an SD card so expansion is allowable. WM media player 10 is plays-for-sure compatible so if you have a rhapsody or napster to go service (unlimited song downloads to compatible mp3 players) then this device would make a perfect MP3 player. I had rhapsody and downloaded many songs to the SD card for play. This phone is a MUST HAVE!

I highly reccoment this phone. The phone is high quality is of the highest I have seen in a verizon phone. The PDA is easy to use (one handed usability). The stylus fits in the back but is hardly needed. they keypad is large and easy to use (ONE HANDED) and the camera is high quality.