Handspring Treo 270 smartphone

Handspring Treo 270 is dual band mobile phone combined with a PDA. This handset comes in a larger than usual clamshell body, with a smart steel grey finished case, and the manufacturer calls this model a “communicator”. The flip up section houses the phone’s speaker, but it also contains a large clear panel that protects the screen, and this window enables you to view the display when the flip is closed. A rocker switch, on the side of the phone, provides the means to navigate several of the phone’s functions with one hand while the flip is closed - you do this by rolling the rocker up or down and pressing the control inwards.

Handspring Treo 270The Treo 270 is clearly aimed at those who require a phone with email facilities and other sophisticated organiser features, so the business user and those who need to carry around lots of information are the types of person likely to want a model like this. Among the features included in this phone are GPRS and WAP technology, Blazer™ browser, a Palm OS™ organiser, speakerphone for hands-free conversations, QWERTY keyboard, active flip, and an e-mail client.

The display is a large LCD touchscreen with a resolution of 160 x 160 pixels, and this display can also reproduce up to 4,096 different colours. With the window in the flip you are able to see the screen to check who is calling, and you can then decide whether you want to answer the call or send it to your voicemail. The touchscreen operations are performed using the special stylus tool provided, which fits into a slot in the top of the phone when not in use. The touchscreen display can be used to input commands by tapping the screen to select the phone functions, such as to open applications, select menu commands or choose the options from the dialog boxes. For example, text can be selected by dragging the stylus across the screen. The QWERTY keyboard is also available to input text and may be backlit for use in poor light, but a virtual QWERTY keyboard can also be displayed on the screen and text selected using the stylus, and in this case the backlit screen allows you to work in the dark.

As you might expect from a handset aimed at the serious user, there are no games installed in the Treo 270. However, with its Palm Operating System, this model is capable of running the many games and applications currently available for this platform, and there are now thousands of applications that you can choose from. A large 16 MB of user RAM is available for downloads and for storing your data, but there is no memory card slot for expansion. However, with the ability to easily download data to a PC, it is likely that the user would want to regularly transfer important information, rather than leaving it all on the phone.

The Treo 270 has integrated GPRS technology, which gives you fast access to all the network services, and this has the added advantage of providing an “always on” connection, which also means you pay for the amount of data you actually use rather than the time you are connected to the network. This phone supports WAP, but it is the Blazer™ browser that is likely to be of interest here, which allows you to access the mobile Internet wherever you are and browse the Web. The Blazer browser gives you fast access to Web pages, and the chance to view Web sites with the sort of graphics and page layouts that are more like you might see on a PC. The Blazer browser also incorporates 128-bit SSL encryption technology, which gives you peace of mind when visiting Web sites, that your data security is being protected.

When you need to use e-mail, the Treo 270 comes supplied with the One-Touch Mail™ e-mail application, and this also supports the POP3 protocol. In addition, you can download the Treo™ Mail application, or alternatively use an e-mail client provided by the ISP. The Mail application includes support for Lotus cc:Mail, Microsoft Outlook / Outlook Express / Exchange and QUALCOMM Eudora.

On the messaging side, apart from the e-mail capability mentioned above, the phone is a little light on other messaging options. The only messaging facility offered is basic SMS to other SMS capable phones, which is fine but it doesn’t allow you to send pictures and sounds. There is another option: to use instant messaging such as Yahoo! Messenger or AOL Instant Messenger, but for that you will need to download a third-party instant messaging application.

The Treo 270 can connect wirelessly to compatible devices using its infrared port, or alternatively you can also use a data cable. The HotSync™ USB cable (supplied) allows you to connect to your PC or Mac, transfer data, and still charge the batteries at the same time. For devices that do not support USB, a separate serial data cable can be purchased as an optional accessory. Using the connection option that suits your particular circumstances, you can then synchronise your personal data, including schedule and phonebook contents, etc, with the corresponding files on your PC. This phone supports Microsoft Outlook, but it can be used with another PIM (Personal Information Manager), such as Lotus Notes™, if you download the appropriate third-party software.

As one of the main features of the Treo 270 is its PDA capability, you would expect to get a good selection of phone organiser functions to play with. The phone does have better than usual applications, with a calculator (basic and scientific versions), world clock, Date Book Plus (scheduler), Phonebook, To Do List (for jotting down reminders with priorities), a Memo Pad (to record notes), and more. The Memo Pad notes can be dropped into a program such as Microsoft Word™ when you perform a synchronisation. There is also a good financial package, called Expense, which comes on the supplied CDROM for downloading onto the phone when you want to use it. Expense allows you to keep track of your expenses, and to transfer the information into a spreadsheet such as Microsoft Excel™ on you home PC.

Handspring Treo 270 Communicator specification

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Last updated 10th September 2009, 08:33 BST