Palm Treo 180

Until recently, the biggest knock against smart phones and communicators is that they've been a little too bulky to carry around comfortably. Samsung's SPH-I300 took us to the edge of the comfort zone, and now Handspring has delivered a product that takes us just inside: the Treo 180 for GSM networks. It may not be perfect, but its relatively compact design and built-in BlackBerry-esque keyboard make it an enticing hybrid.Until recently, the biggest knock against smart phones and communicators is that they've been a little too bulky to carry around comfortably. Samsung's SPH-I300 took us to the edge of the comfort zone, and now Handspring has delivered a product that takes us just inside: the Treo 180 for GSM networks. It may not be perfect, but its relatively compact design and built-in BlackBerry-esque keyboard make it an enticing hybrid.

Familiar flip design
What impressed us about the steel-blue Treo 180 is that it's less than an inch thick (4.3 by 2.7 by 0.7 inches) and significantly lighter (5.2 ounces) than Kyocera's QCP-6035 Palm phone. The flip lid, with its built-in, see-through window, doubles as a protective cover for the device's monochrome screen, which is only slightly smaller than that of a standard Handspring Visor. This model, unlike Handspring's Visor PDAs, has a convenient scroll wheel on its left side for one-handed navigation of menus and lists. We also appreciated the switch that allows you to easily turn off the phone's ringer (you can choose between 10 ring tones as well as vibrate mode).

Flip open the protective cover and the display turns on and defaults to the speed-dial menu, which can store up to 50 names. As with all Palm OS-based smart phones, including Samsung's SPH-I300 and Kyocera's QCP-6035, you can dial a person in the phone book by simply tapping a contact's number. But the Treo 180's phone book puts a space between entries for a look that's not as clean as the standard phone book's. However, it's easy to locate a desired contact: simply type the letter of the person's first or last name and a short list of entries appears. You can also dial numbers manually by tapping them out on a virtual keypad.

To access the standard Palm OS start-up menu, click the Home icon on the keyboard, which is a bit smaller and less tactile than the BlackBerry's. But those who aren't Graffiti handwriting-recognition pros will certainly welcome its presence, as it makes inputting info and responding to e-mail/text messages much easier. One warning: This device does not offer an alternative input method, so Graffiti lovers should purchase the keyboard-free 180g.

No Springboard
As far as PDA features and specs go, you're looking at a pretty standard Visor. The Treo 180 runs on a 33MHz Motorola DragonBall processor and comes with 16MB of memory and Palm OS 3.52, which is not upgradable. There isn't a Springboard module slot--or any space for adding additional memory--though most users will find 16MB sufficient.

Presently, the wireless-data features aren't as flushed out or as user-friendly as they should be. You get Handspring's Blazer browser, which allows you to access the Internet, albeit rather sluggishly (between 9.6Kbps and 14.4Kbps on current GSM networks). However, until the carriers become ISPs, you'll have to use your own ISP (EarthLink, for example) to surf. Another caveat: You can't use the Web-clipping applications developed for Palm's wireless handhelds on the Treo. Hide Review