6 weeks of using the Treo 680, here are some thoughts on the Treo 680 to date

Here are my Treo 680 thoughts six weeks in which I hope you find of use. If you cannot decide on whether to get a Treo 680 then my advice is to make your own decision, go to a store and try out the 680 devices yourself and decide for yourself. Yes battery life sucks but for me personally it has been getting better more on that below. This is not meant to be an expert review it's just a run of the mill review written by a consumer. Your thoughts are bound to differ from mine so please bear that in mind. Let me start with

Form Factor

I first used a Treo 750v when Microsoft / Vodafone sent me a review device. I intended to use initially for 10 days. Hated the form factor at first but grew to love it. At the end of the tenth day I admired the form factor so much I wanted to use it over my Treo 650. It's much lighter than the 650 and feels slimmer too. It offers a nice feel to it too and unlike the 750v which has a rubber like feel to the back of the device the rear-end casing is not made from a rubber like material but is similar to the Treo 650. The most significant feature obviously is the antenna less form factor which I appreciate. I used to get it out of my pocket using the antenna but now I just have to root for the device with the aid of the antenna.

When I first saw the 680 previewed by Palm I was excited because this was the form factor that I wanted but on a negative note Palm made us all wait for the 680, however for me, the wait was worth it but I do hope that they learn not to keep us anxious consumers waiting in the future :-)

Screen
I love the screen on the 680, it's so much better than that of the Treo 650. It seems to be so much more colorful and brighter. I'm not going to go into technical detailed specs I will leave that to our Treo experts Peter and Jonathan needless to say I believe the screen is better than the 650 and competes well with it's Windows Mobile and Symbian counterparts. I do wish the screen size was a little larger but understand fully that it would comprimise the size of the device but still one can only hope with the Treo 690.

Keyboard

I cannot say anything negative about the keyboard. I really love it. I type a lot when I am mobile and the each key is well spaced apart for my thumb, feels good when pressed and responds well, I think for me personally the keyboard is essential for my needs and requirements and has to be right. In this case the 680 keyboard is perfect. Can I think of anything negative to say about the keyboard........nope.

Stylus
I prefer the 680 stylus which is the same as the 750 stylus. It's much better than the 650 stylus which was wearing loose only because of wear and tear. It is housed securely at the rear of the device. Nothing more to say but it's a nice looking stylus and does what it needs to do.

Sound
Now this thing is loud and that's good. It may be me but the alarm is louder and sounds chirpier and more alert than any other PDA device I have owned and belive me I have now close to 80 PDA's and smartphones and this proves to be the loudest and that's not a bad thing :-)

Camera
I like camera's on my PDA's and smartphones. The 680 camera is adaquate, not brilliant but not poor at the same time. I use it to take snapshots when I am mobile as a hobby and the pictures are no worse than the 650 in my opinion. However I think the pictures taken from my Treo 750v were of better quality and I think I was spoilt with that device. But the 680 has a camera and that's great but if Palm produce the Treo 690 please give us a even better camera. Still no significant grumbles, happy with what I have been given.

Memory

I cannot for the life of me fill up memory, I have tins of it left and I am pleased. I also have a 1GB SD Memory Card that slots into the right hand side compartment see picture above which also houses a flip lid to protect it. Very pleased with the memory, in fact over the moon. I can fill my 680 up with tons of programs.

Battery Life
Now for the negative aspect. The battery life on the 680 is not good but I have noticed it's getting better and more on that in a second. At first my 680 would only last on a full charge half a day, remember I am a power user and I would un-charge my Treo at 9:00am when I left my crib for work making my first call when I arrived in the office at 9: 30am.After making calls, downloading emails, getting RSS news feeds I would need to charge the 680 by 3pm with almost a empty battery. However earlier this week something happened the battery life improved significantly, now I only need to charge the device every 36 hours. Goodness knows what I have done to make the battery improve. I have Bluetooth turned off, IR option off, and the screen is dimmed. The display is set to turn off after 30 seconds. The battery is adequate enough for me now and since the beginning of the week has been a dream. I'm looking forward to Seido's Treo 680 extended battery and I will report on that soon.

Conclusions
So there you have it, I have not discussed the internal programs they can be for another day but if I had to give the device a score I'd give it a 8.5 out of 10 which is very good but battery life and the camera could be improved. However this is the device for me, it's wonderful and I can live with the battery and the camera too. I am a person who hates change so will rarely change my PDA / Smartphone so the Treo 680 has to last and I am confident that it will be my device of choice for some time to come. It's a great piece of hardware, Palm get an extended battery for it sorted and I will give it 9.5 out of 10. In my opinion it's one of the best PDA/Smartphone devices that I have ever used.