Palm's Treo 850 is really the Treo Pro?
By Paul Miller 
posted Aug 14th 2008 9:26PM
posted Aug 14th 2008 9:26PM
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
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Looks like a nice start to something decent, palm. Still there is a lot of wasted real estate on that thar front panel.
By the way, engadget, i find it a little nagging to have to click "Returning" every time i comment. I have a smart browser, use its potential please.
Agreed. There should be a cookie for Returning as default.
Or at least, default to Returning, as I would imagine the number of new commenters is dwarfed by the number of existing ones. Back to topic, this is the first Treo from Palm that looks mildly sexy. Good for you, old man Palm!
Whoa, a Palm Treo running Windows Mobile? That's a shocker!
Woah? Asshole replying to an asshole replying to an asshole... confusing!
Possible for Dual-boot on Palm machines?
It would be wonderful.
PS: rubbish comment box.
A non-asshole replying to an asshole replying to an asshole's comment! More confusing!
Looks like a refaced Centro
Yeah, a stretch centro. Why is there so much space for the hardbuttons? Wouldn't it be more useful to have either a larger keyboard, or a larger screen, or both?
I bet it needs to be this fat to accomodate for the battery which in turn accomodates the wifi. You see, for some reason Palm gets second rate wifi chips that nobody else uses and those use four times the regular amount of power. That's why we don't have wifi Treos yet...
The WiFi button is a good idea though. Typical Palm usability.
- post-iPhone 680 owner
Looks.... not bad.
But too much dead space on the front.
Too thick for the package.
I continue to hate the square screen forever, and ever.
I agree, I like the newer look but they are wasting to much space on the front with the nav controls.
I own a 700wx and don't like the square screen all that much.
The only thing I wish palm would do is to enhance the OS similar to how HTC does, it would make it a lot more appealing.
Any word on the specs?
In my opinion, Palm enhances the OS in a much better way than HTC does. Instead of layering new crap on top for a fancy looking touchscreen interface (which, on a device with a keyboard, does it matter that much? Not to me, that's for sure) they strip out all of the unnecessary crap to make it a much faster device for the processor speed.
Also, rumored specs as of the end of May, if this is the same device as the 850:
http://tamsppc.tamoggemon.com/2008/05/24/treo-850-has-wifi-full-specs-leaked/
# 14 mm in thickness, width 60 mm and length 113 mm
# GSM, EDGE and UMTS HSDPA 3.6
# assisted-GPS receiver
# Wi-FI b/g
# 320*320 screen, touch panel
# micro-SD slot under the battery
# 2 MP camera
# 1500 mAh battery
# a micro-USB connector for both power and sync
# bluetooth 2.0 EDR + A2DP, 256 MB NAND-Flash (> 175 MB for user), 32 MB SDRAM
# Windows Mobile Pro 6.1
@ Joe H
whoa whoa whoa, that RAM number can't be right, unless it's a Verizon phone, which it isn't due to it's GSM radio.
http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&id=1317
pdadb.net seems to list a released date of sept., the RAM at 128mb, and the thickness at 14mm ... nice
The specs got pulled even at the forums (the read link). That's lame. And of course, the leaked page is dead now. Come on Palm, we're trying to care here.
Too bad this isn't CDMA. Its rumored to have a battery 1.5x the Centro/800w one, looks nicer, and has all the same features (though no word on GPS yet). If this was CDMA and had GPS, I'd replace my Q9c for it no questions asked. The 800w though, while I'm sure its very nice, just isn't enough of a jump ahead for the price and look. (And the step back of the battery would kill me).
Haven't you learned by now? Sprint/Verizon get to be the guinea pigs for Palm's dumping ground....then the real product comes to ATT.
Well, I'm only recently a WM user in the first place with my q9c, being a long-time Palm / Garnet user. I know that with the WM devices that seems to be the case, but it was never like that with the Palm devices.
I'm still slightly holding out hope for Nova anyway, as stupid as that might be, because I'm still not the biggest WM fan from a usability standpoint. Sure its powerful, but eh. Especially since they seem to be concentrating way too much on a touchscreen-only competitor to Cupertino (see, avoided mentioning it) as opposed to something that works intuitively with a keyboard.
Regardless, I think this close to Android, Nova (possibly, barring any other delays) and I believe WM7 next year as well, it'd probably be better to wait anyway.
Please, please, please don't mention the one phone that starts with the letter 'i'...
iTav?
The iPhone is better than this so why bother mentioning it?
Well, I think the keyboard could be a bit larger and more curvy. But not bad for a Palm device. But can we get the screen a bit bigger?
Welcome back to the game, Palm!
yes u r
That's surprisingly good looking! I haven't seen an attractive palm phone since... er, since forever.
Looking shiny... I can't be the only one who read that as "Palm's Treo 850 is really the Touch Pro?" can I?
Also Engadget, make the comment system remember me when I check "remember me"...
I want to be as cool as you!
just stupid. the keyboard is the dumbest decision ever. it looks cool but it's like smashing an orange beneath your fingers every time you push a key.
"smashing an orange"
That's A LOT of smashed oranges with 35 keys on 2 million Centros. :)
(BTW. The key layout looks broader than a Centro.)
This doesn't seem to be the gummy Centro/500 material. Just clear plastic/acrylic/whatever.
The first first happened many years ago, your kinda late now. Instead say x millionth first
Maybe someone can help me out with something... why the hell do Palms all have that HUGE wasted space between the screen and the keyboard? Like really, do I need such a huge Start button? This is a serious question though... aren't other people bothered by this?
So business people can pay less attention to the keys.
Yes, stretch the stupid square screen down into that wasted space.
I'd have really preferred the Palm OS, as I find it so much more stable and easier to use.
I wish they would just make a thinner device, not skinnier...if that makes sense. I don't like the Centro keyboard size, and this looks just to be it. I haven't seen the 800w in person, but from the looks of it, looks more the size of the 700p. I hope when Nova comes out, it has the 700p sized keyboard, but the thinness of a Touch or Curve.
Wow, hate to be such a n00b, but, how do you change your password and your icon on here? I've been reading for months, but just started posting, and can't figure this out for the life of me.
Click you own name. Login with the last temp password they gave you. You can set a permanent password and change your icon from in there.
Too bad my Blackjack is crapping out now and work is getting me a new phone. This looks like a good replacement. Hope I don't get a Blackjack II.
Wow, they are finally making them look cool again....good step forward IMO.
A power button on a Palm device? Shenanigans!
Looks good but why do they still use the square screen?
The new comment system is... Well, I prefer the old one as clunky as it was...
You certainly wouldn't prefer the short 320 x 240 QVGA screen, would you? If you're talking about making the screen taller, I can find just one WM smartphone that has both a front-facing QWERTY keyboard and a tall screen: the i-mate Ultimate 8502. The scrunched-up function buttons look terrible and that screen is still stuck at QVGA resolution!
Further, the Samsung SGH-i780 and the Asus M536, whenever they come out, will also sport square screens.
wait just a tick... why the hell do you need softkeys if you have a touchscreen?
This looks like a modded gaming desktop encasing
but still nice looking.... FINALLY!
Needs smaller screen & keys. More shiny fingerprint plastic on the front, please. And who needs a flash anyway, digital cameras have such great low light capability.
It looks very pretty, but Palm phones are just way too thick compared to their competitors. Until they get that under control I would never consider actually buying one of their phones.
The Treo Pro is just 1.2mm thicker than the iPhone. Is that thin enough for you?
That's .53" or 13.5mm, btw.
Seriously, what has anyone ever used an IR port for useful purposes? What am I missing that makes these pop up on devices?
The IR is used by me (and loads of other Real Estate Agents) to wirelessly unlock lockboxes at listings, and send entry info to the listing agent's computers.
Treo Pro doesn't have an IR port. The first Palm smartphone to drop it.
Very Nice. I like it. When it will be availaible to buy?
God, I hope it's not another hoax. Even if this phone turns out to be a bit of a turkey, the existence of something mildly NEW from Palm Inc would at least demonstrate that someone in the company is still alive ... and on a related note: WHEN will they upgrade their Palm OS, for goodness' sake? Oh, what ... you're telling me the OS is bug-free? I think a maintenance release is waaaay overdue. Anyone else agree?
Palm really needs to get it together...and not come out with another phone until it's GREAT. Stop wasting time on incremental improvements.
Make it run on Palm OS II and I'm sold !!
whoah, a new palm device i might actually be tempted to buy??? incredible. not sure about having to take out my battery to get to the microSD...and the other comments about wasted space on the front are true. but put the new Palm OS on it and i might just be sold.
this is dope. why on earth did Sprint get the 800w instead of this? this is the most literal "you should have waited" i can think of... its been only a few weeks since the 800w right?