One Handed Operation

The ability to access a PDA phone’s main functions with only one hand is important for many users, and in this regard the Treo 750 continues the Palm tradition of excellence.  The now-familiar Start and OK buttons are located on the face of the Treo.  Because of their orientation they’re easy to reach with either thumb.   These two buttons, along with the four-way navigation pad, allow you to do a great deal with the Windows Mobile operating system.  You can toggle the Start Menu, move up, down, left and right through menus, acknowledge commands, exit applications and more, all with a single thumb.

It’s worth noting here that since the hardware Start and OK buttons were included on the Treo 700w, they are now built into practically every Pocket PC Phone on the market today.  These two keys make using a Windows Mobile device far more user friendly than before.

 

The Screen

The Treo’s square screen is the subject of heated debate.  Some prefer a smaller display, while others yearn for more screen real estate. Either way, the primary thing to keep in mind is that the Treo 750’s 240x240 screen isn’t compatible with a number of Windows Mobile software titles that require a rectangular display.  This is less of a concern today than it was in early 2006, but when downloading third-party software for the Treo 750, be sure to confirm that it’s fully square-screen compatible.

Because the Treo 750 is a Pocket PC Phone and not a smartphone, it does include a touchscreen.  Commands can be input by way of a touch or a tap of the included stylus.  I didn’t have a Treo 700w during the review process, but if memory serves, the 750’s screen does look a bit better than the 700w’s.  Images appear clean and crisp, as does text.  As with other Windows Mobile PDA phones, the backlight brightness of the 750’s screen can be adjusted to best suit your viewing comfort.  There are a total of 11 brightness settings from none to full.

A final note on the 750’s screen; because of the way the screen is positioned on the face of the device, your ear is usually pressed against it.  Women who wear earrings may scratch the screen, and most users will likely be cleaning the screen often.  A screen protector is likely a good idea when using the Treo 750.

 

The Keyboard

The QWERTY keyboard remains largely unchanged from that of the Treo 700w.  The backlit keyboard is composed of 35 keys in the standard QWERTY layout.  Like most PDAs and smartphones with keyboards, each key of the 750 pulls double duty; alternate key functions are activated by a key on the lower-left side marked with a white dot.  There is no delete key, but this omission is the only one of import.

Ten of the keyboard's keys are white, while the others are black.  These white keys double as number keys for natural 0-9 phone number dialing.  

I was able to type an average of 39 words per minute using both thumbs; that number dropped to 25 when using only one thumb, which isn’t too bad a number considering the small size of the keyboard.  The keyboard measures 2.15” (W) x 1.0” (H). 

 

The Camera

The 750’s onboard digital camera is, perhaps, its most lackluster feature.  While the camera is capable of both still and video capture, the onboard settings and options are few. 

The camera is a standard 1.3MP and is accessible by way of a software application called “Camera.”  There is no dedicated hardware button that either brings up the camera application or acts as a shudder button, so you’ll have to launch the Camera software via menus and take pictures by pressing the action button in the center of the NavPad when in camera mode. 

In Still Mode, image resolution can be set between 160x120 and 1280x1024, though you will see a degradation of image quality the larger the resolution.  The ability to set the image resolution is basically your only user-definable setting; there is no setting, for example, for day or night shooting, macro or landscape, etc.  The camera also seems more difficult to focus than cameras on other handhelds and smartphones, and I had a fair bit of difficulty taking the shots I wanted. In video mode you are similarly limited in user settings, with only the option to adjust the resolution of the video.  Your options are 352x288 or 176x144.

I’m not sure that digital camera functionality is that important to the average prospective Treo user, but if this is important to you, the Treo 750 comes in near the bottom of the list.  The digital camera on my year-old Samsung A900 cell phone produces better images and video.

 

Sound

Unlike many handhelds released in the last few months, the Treo 750 still has a standard 2.5mm audio jack.  This jack can be used for either headphones or wired headsets and is located on the bottom of the unit.  I tested the Treo’s sound with a pair of BoxWave’s miniBuds, and was satisfied with the audio quality when listening to audiobooks and WMA audio files.

The main speaker is located on the rear of the unit to the right of the digital camera lens.  This speaker produces sound at a reasonable volume, but you will likely use this speaker for system sounds and speakerphone only; like most handhelds, the Treo 750’s onboard speaker is not suitable for enjoying music.