Handspring Treo 600

Surfing the Net is a surprisingly comfortable experience. Using the five-way navigation button together with the long, sturdy stylus, you can navigate across sites quickly, although you may find the GPRS connection a little slower than you're accustomed to.

When the Treo 600 was first announced, its specification was rather sketchy, but full details have now been released. It runs on a 144MHz Texas Instruments processor allied to 32MB of RAM, 24MB of which is available for use. This means you'll need to use the supplied 32MB SD card in the MMC-compatible slot at the top, as 24MB fills up quickly. The Treo 600 also runs Palm OS 5.2 and so has a familiar and easy-to use interface under its phone fascia.

A VGA camera is included too, but the pictures it produces are pretty poor quality and unsuitable for any kind of business use. We were also disappointed by the lack of a cradle in the box, as the supplied cables make quite a mess on your desk. A soft case is supplied to prevent scratching, though.

The Treo 600 may not be perfect, but Orange and Handspring have made the first truly exceptional amalgamation of personal organiser and mobile communicator. Its size and weight will doubtless put some people off, but it's the only device to be both reasonably compact and combine all the features you need from a phone and a PDA.

Author: Mark Walsh