Pros: Appearance is nice. 3rd party software/accessories excellent.
Cons: Browser performance insufferable. Operating system stodgy. Keyboard difficult to use. Included software archaic.
The bottom line: Do not buy this device. It is obsolete.
When was the last time you considered a Palm/Treo? As cell phones converge, the personal information manager (as a stand-alone device) is dying as well. The concept of a personal information manager, indeed the whole bases for the Palm operating system is obsolete. But I had fond memories of my Palm and Visor devices, and I had high hopes for a beautiful WHITE Palm Treo 680. I didn't imagine that innovation was dead at the former companies that were Palm.
This phone is a sub-standard cell phone saddled with an obsolete operating system and design concept. The reception was mediocre, the functionality was limited, and above all the browser (Blazer) has the worst performance of any handheld browser I have tested.
I have compared a Palm Treo 680, a "Cingular" 8525 (Windows-based) Smartphone, a Samsung Blackjack and a Nokia E62 Smartphone. The browser performance (on old 2G EDGE network) was more than TEN TIMES FASTER with the Nokia E62.
The Palm operating system (a critical component to this phone) is little changed since its inception decades ago. Simple? Yes. Many add-on applications? Yes. Stodgy? Yes. Limited? Yes (think Windows 3.1).
I gave the Treo 680 a fair shake, while traveling and at home, but the browser performance alone was a deal-breaker. The performance of Blazer was reminiscent of my dial-up days. Performance was slightly improved when "WAP" content (handheld oriented or limited content) was selected, but then almost all of the functionality was lost. I WOULD RATHER REVIVE A WINDOWS 3.1 PC AND SURF THE INTERNET ON A 14.4 DIAL-UP MODEM THAN USE BLAZER. AS a traveler, when I can't access information on the major airlines' sites, my tool becomes dead-weight. It came down to having to call the airlines and speak to their operators via voice. No thank you. If I wanted to wait to get information after being on hold for 20 minutes, I would go to the ticket counter and stand in line.
When I tried to demonstrate my fancy phone to my family, they got tired of waiting and went on to something else.
Bottom Line: Browser performance was abysmal.
As a phone, performance was average. My signal strength was equal to a 3 year old Motorola V51. It is easy enough to talk on, but if you accidentally touch the screen with your ear, especially if the dial pad was chosen, you would dial or hang up during your conversation. Unacceptable.
The stereo headset which was included in the Music Pack (given free for my online order) was average.
The keyboard is very difficult to type on for a grown man. I am a pianist, and type every day on a laptop - that is to say, I am very dexterous. This keyboard was like pecking on ping pong balls. Often times my finger would slip off of the highly crowned surface of the key and hit other keys. Unacceptable. From a company that invented Graffiti to put letters into a handheld, this keyboard was a poor effort.
The screen was bright, but to view images and documents, the handling of those documents with included applications was painful. Imagine reading a book through a piece of paper with a one inch square hole in it. You can only see a portion of the line or text or picture at a time. Default handling of web pages, text documents and images was just not worth the time and frustration.
The one innovation is a voice control application (a $35 add-on) that allowed amazing control of the device. This application, and this alone, is at the level of development for which Palm was once known.
I regret to say that unless I read about earth-shattering innovation at Palm (and its break away companies), I will not again consider a Palm product.