3. A Display Not To Squint At

• Treo 650 smartphone -...
• • PCTechSystems, Inc.
  • $127.00
• • RefurbDepot
  • $129.95

The Treo 650 solves some - but not all - of the glare issues associated with its predecessor.

One downside of the Treo 600 was its screen, which had both relatively low resolution and glare problems in direct sunlight. The Treo 650 comes equipped with a 320x320 TFT backlit display that represents a huge improvement over that of its predecessor. While far from perfect, you can at least see photos taken with the Treo 650's built-in camera, or check email when outdoors. The display's resolution also lends itself well to viewing Web pages with PalmOne's built in Web browser, which is superior to a WEP interface by leaps and bounds.

Picture Perfect?

You're a business user or a gadget geek, so you just have to have a camera built into your smart phone, right? While far from approaching the quality of stand-alone digital cameras, the Treo 650's photo-taking capabilities are not bad for a phone. Shots taken without a lot of light, even on a cloudy day or in the shade outside, are still dark, but are not so drab that picture taking in these conditions becomes completely worthless.

A 2X zoom capability is also a welcome feature that the Treo 650's predecessor did not have. Photos are in 16 bit color with a maximum VGA resolution of 640x480 (0.3 megapixels), with 320x240 pixel QVGA resolution also possible.

And don't forgot about the video capabilities. The Treo 650 records with a resolution of 320x240 QVGA or 176x144 QCIF resolutions (for CDMA smart phones) and 352x288 or 176x144 resolution (for GSM smart phones).