By Paul R. Kiesel, Esq.

The conference room doors open. In walk two lawyers and one unassuming engineer. As a technophile, I felt I was entering the inner sanctum. I was facing the Oracle, the holy grail. I was at the heart of it all.

That it was one of my cases that drew me to the conference room of Palm Corporation (soon to be renamed PalmSource) is of little moment. The beauty of this event cannot be lost on technicalities. The ostensible purpose for my descending upon the Palm Corporation that beautiful Tuesday in October was to conduct discovery, but my hidden agenda was to meet the wizards who created the first Palm Pilot and have improved on the extraordinary elegance of this gadget over the last eight years. It is amazing to realize it was only 1995 that Palm introduced its first Palm pilot.

Yet, here we are today, eight years later, in a world filled with lightweight, color, multi-functioning devices that were mere fantasies less than a decade ago.

The timing of my visit to Palm was, coincidentally, about when I received my brand-new Handspring TREO 600. My TREO 600 arrived the previous Friday, and I spent the weekend reading the operations manual and learning the many new functions of Handspring's latest offering. Walking into the conference room, I anticipated the Palm engineers would dazzle me with their next generation Palm devices, but I never imagined my TREO would grab the attention of those assembled. But grab it, it did. Though Palm purchased Handspring less than two weeks before my visit, none of the Palm employees had ever seen, touched or used a TREO 600.

As we made our introductions, we each displayed our latest technological wonder. The Palm employees held out their personal choice from the Palm offerings, but none drew the lustful stares of my TREO 600. Like a diamond shining amongst the lumps of coal, this device, seemingly, has at all.

When those in the conference room finished assessing the Handspring, they were gratified they were purchasing the company. Anyone who has been searching for a multipurpose organizer, telephone and email device should look no further. As most of you who read my technology reviews know, I am forever in search of the perfect multi-task device. At least for fall/winter 2003-04, Handspring wins the award. I have heard wonderful things about the new color Blackberry, but, by way of full disclosure, I have not yet tested Research In Motions’ latest model.

Several months ago, I was tipped off that Handspring would be updating their TREO 300 (their Sprint-designated unit) with a unit one-third smaller, with screen resolution three times brighter and battery power that lasted more than an hour when used as a telephone. Oftentimes pre-release billing is more hype than reality but, in the case of the TREO 600, the reality lives up to this elegant little unit’s hype.

Let me mention some of this Handspring offering’s great features. To begin, you do not have to flip up a clunky panel to answer the telephone or access the keyboard. Though the TREO 300's flip feature was useful when using the PDA as a phone, it made accessing the unit’s useful functions more difficult and the overall unit larger.

Secondly, while the TREO 300 had a serviceable screen, it was not bright, and the battery power was adequate at best. Typically, the TREO 300 needed to be recharged by the end of an active day of use. When traveling, though I limited my use of the unit, it often ran out of battery power. The design of the TREO 300, unfortunately, did not allow for an external battery, so you had to charge the internal battery or risk losing all the stored data. Several times while using the unit, the battery power got so low I lost all the stored data, a devastating loss.

The TREO 600 has no such problems. Even with extensive use on a recent trip to San Jose, it only used about 60% of the available capacity. Though not presently available, Handspring intends to release an external battery soon. While this will increase the overall size and weight of the unit, it will be a great failsafe when away from a recharging source.

Let me tell you about the technical specifications of the new 600. The TREO works with most services. While the TREO 600 currently is only available on the Sprint network using CDMA technology (even I don’t quite understand what that is), within the next several weeks, the TREO 600 will be available for AT&T wireless, Cingular wireless, T-Mobile, and others are planned as well. This means you will be able to bring these telephones around the world without changing your phone number.

The Sprint/CDMA version promises 4 hours of “talk” time and 240 hours (10 days) of standby time. The AT&T GSM/GPRS promises 6 hours of talk time and 240 hours of standby time. The processor is a 144MHz ARM processor. The 600 uses the Palm OS 5.2.1H software, a significant improvement of processing speed over the prior 4.0 version. The TREO has a built-in camera with respectable VGA 640X480 resolution, 0.3 mega pixels, and an automatic light-balancing digital camera. The unit weighs slightly more than the TREO 300 – 5.9 ounces for AT&T’s model and 6.2 ounces for Sprint’s version. Though the weight is slightly greater, the look and feel are significantly better than the predecessor model.

For me, feel is significant component of a PDA/phone device. The designers of the 600 had this in mind when they created this elegant, well-balanced, smooth-cased unit. It is the most perfect blend of function, style and feel available in today’s market. While I’m certain we can anticipate further refinement, at least for now, this is THE product.

This unit uses the same connection for hot-synching and charging as the TREO 300; this avoids the need to purchase additional peripherals, with the exception of the cradle. A redesign of the cradle was needed because of the 600's new shape. Additionally, the TREO 600 will be able to accept an external battery, not yet available, which will provide an extra 3 hours of talk time and 180 hours of standby time.

Bottom line. If you’ve been waiting for a device that provides the all-in-one solution OR if you currently own a TREO 300, BUY THE 600. You won’t regret it. The unit retails for approximately $500.00, but can be as little as $399 if you are upgrading from prior TREO units.