When Palm introduced the Treo 600 in 2003, it brought exciting improvements to a popular line of phones that combined the function of a PDA with a phone, known as smartphones. Prior to the introduction of the Treo 600, the smartphones had a look more of a PDA than a phone. The Treo 600 changed all that with a sleek new design. More of a candy bar shape than the clamshell of its predecessors, it became an instant hit. Its popularity carried it through until the October, '04 release of the next generation, Palm 650.

The Treo 600 has all the features of the original Palm handheld organizers: Calendar, Contacts, Notepad and Tasks. Each of these basic functions can be opened directly from a hot button on the front or customized to open different programs if you choose. The device features a QWERTY keyboard that is somewhat small compared to other Palm products, giving people with large thumbs a challenge. What's not there is Palm's innovative Graffiti handwriting recognition program. If you've gotten used to writing on the screen of other Palm handhelds, you might miss that. After-market programs are available to add Graffiti.

Appointments can be personalized and color-coded if you track appointments for family and business. The Tasks function lets you create a to-do list, prioritize and check-off what you've accomplished. To give you options, information can be typed in on your computer then synchronized to the Palm using the HotSync function. HotSyncs are performed using a cable (no more cradle in this model, just a cable connection) or the IR connection. A regular HotSync means always having a back-up in case of data loss, which did happen to me one time. I had to reset my Palm which temporarily lost all my data. A quick HotSync and all were restored.

The phone is available in GSM or CDMA making a wide range of carriers able to support the Treo 600: GSM for T-mobile, AT&T (Cingular) and CDMA for Sprint/Verizon. It's not Bluetooth enabled but does all the basics, call-waiting, caller ID, a toggle for easy switching between ring and vibrate, and speakerphone. The phone can be used with a wired headset that plugs into the jack. The antenna for the phone is a chunky knob sticking up from the top of the device.

The Treo 600 is the first PDA to come equipped with a VGA camera, a 0.3 mega-pixel with automatic light balance. The resolution is 640x480. It's not great by today's standards, but better than nothing.

A 144 MHz processor runs the Palm OS

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