Upon wiping off the dust layer that had been caked on its touch screen, I held its plastic body in my hand and stared in awe. I wondered what to expect after spending so many years away from it. Years ago, I had received this as a refurb unit from Cingular and was not happier. I could recall opting for the camera-less design in thinking it would be useful for my work environment at the time...but I was mostly left with camera envy instead. Quite a few blog posts had been written with its hardware keys, and I was excited to be back! The old generation bulk from the tried-and-true design of the Treo platform still felt familiar in the palm of my hand, and it was almost as if I had never left. This was one of the first phones along with the Nokia E62 that shaped my current affinity for hardware keyboards on mobile devices. My interest in smartphones was in full force, and this was where it all began.
Amidst high spirits, there was still apprehension of going without certain luxuries I became accustomed to on recent models. GPS, Wi-Fi, and camera were such ubiquitous staples in my frequent adoption of new handsets, so I eventually learned to just expect them all the time. Going through my Maps/RunKeeper debacle with the Samsung Captivate did awaken me to how I took such features for granted, but it was different to not have them at all. If there was any silver lining, it was being able to hunt for third party freeware apps for Windows Mobile 6 Professional again. Unfortunately, the dark cloud involved the possibility of certain apps being discontinued over time.
Overall, using a classic unit like the Treo 750 did have potential in being a rewarding experience from a nostalgia perspective. In a generation where one automatically expected capacitive feedback on a touch slab form factor, it did not apologize for its chunky dimensions or squared resistive touch screen. At one point, this seemed to be very popular in the corporate world from my work memories of insurance execs toting clunky belt clips. Whether it was Palm or RIM, there was no doubt of their huge role in how business people corresponded with each other. I figured that having access to a hardware qwerty after bidding farewell to the Nokia E7 would be good for me to gradually ease back in to all-touch on the Atrix. The funny thing is that I had previously come back to the Treo, but that seemed more out of leisure instead of necessity.
ONE DAY LATER
The replacement to my ailing Atrix had arrived via mail, and it was time to once again retire the Treo 750 to its resting place on my desk. I doubt that I would have lasted more than a week on it, but it still was not bad in serving as a basic backup smartphone. Considering its age and chunky design, it did perform quite well in keeping me connected via voice calls, SMS, and social networks. Surprisingly, I took to the small touch screen and stylus with no trouble at all and made the best of what I had with Windows Mobile 6 Professional. First thing I knew to do was enable the ClearType feature to smooth out the UI font and make it more appealing to the eyes. Setting up bookmarks in Internet Explorer for Twitter, Facebook, and Accuweather was done right after I changed the ringtone from that AWFUL AT&T Willy Wonka-Kiddie-Cartoon default. What really put a smile on my face was the setup of Microsoft Exchange to initiate syncing of my Google PIM data. In less than a couple minutes, ALL contacts, calendar entries and recent emails were on the Treo 750 and I was ready to go! Being reunited with the tried-and-true Word Mobile app paired with a compact qwerty seemed surreal...especially with a reliable spell checker!
Unfortunately, the setbacks of an old phone began to sink in after that: clunky UI, lack of notification LED, low earpiece volume, paltry support for video playback, lags performance with stereo bluetooth enabled, sluggish support for media on a 16GB microSD card via miniSD adapter. I absolutely did my best to tolerate every single con on the Treo, but the issue with music playback via bluetooth was too much to bare. I had to set aside the Sony DR-BT50 and continue listening to music aloud, and this brought me to the next issue with the Windows Media app. As to be expected, the Palm could not handle the expanded 16GB capacity of the microSD card I installed with a miniSD adapter. Playing over 2000 tracks of music in shuffle mode was impossible with Windows Media constantly freezing, so I had to play them one at a time. Playing videos was out of the question since their resolution was too much for the Treo to handle. Internet Explorer did prove to be handy in displaying mobile websites despite not having flash, and even its UI was more appealing and intuitive than Symbian. The YouTube mobile app was adequate in its execution, but the smallish screen did not inspire any desire to view videos. Earpiece volume for voice calls was not great, and I found the speakerphone to be ten times better.
After considering the age of the Treo 750, I was honestly impressed with how content I could be when giving it a fair chance. Not only did I get the sensation of a time warp, but I also maintained my connection with the hardware keyboard after the Nokia E7. Churning out two blog posts in a short amount of time on the Treo was proof positive of how much I still loved a great tactile typing experience. Using the qwerty bar form factor also reminded me of how convenient it was for one-handed usage. It almost seemed a shame to not have the opportunity to use Google Maps or search out a working version of Twikini, but I was ready to return to Android and its advanced amenities. At the end of the day, my old Treo 750 had stepped up to the plate as a capable backup. At the last moment when I was prepared to complete this post and switch my SIAM to the new Atrix, a thought had occurred to me: the Nokia E7 serving as just an offline word processor seemed silly. Despite its arsenal of specs in comparison to the classic Palm, the S3 slider's QuickOffice app did not have a functional spell checker. I was also shocked to find that I liked the typing feel a little bit more on the Treo. Instead of saving up money to buy the Nokia, I wondered if I was better off simply holding to my old, yet functional Palm for mobile blogging. It turned out that I would need more time to weigh the pros and cons to make a decision on that. Either way, I was extremely pleased to be back with Android on the Atrix and wanted to get back to my laptop dock and Nokia BH-905i ASAP!!
Trent Smith, blogger
Sent from my Treo 750
http://about.me/trentsense/bio
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