Until Palm unleashes the JesusTreo (rumored to descend in 2009), this reworked, dolled-up device is as good as it gets for the once-mighty smartphone company.
We recently had the displeasure of testing the upcoming 800w. Yuck. This disappointing misfire is essentially a chintzy blue brick with minimal added functionality (aside from WiFi). Then the Pro showed up with its shiny, rounded, tuxedo-black exterior and a handful of practical OS "shortcuts." Aside from the industrial iPhone-like design lines, those shortcuts are enough to make even the most die-hard Machead grin and bear Windows Mobile (almost). At the top of our shortcut list were the dedicated WiFi button on the right side and customizable button on the left (ours was set for camera). Circumventing the main menu and tiresome nav made the phone a joy to use. The touchscreen, on the other hand, was far from blissful. Laggy and unresponsive, we found ourselves double and sometimes triple tapping - even with the stylus.
Palm is definitely flexing its once-mighty muscle and trying to say it can build a stylish multimedia device with a touchscreen. Despite the fact that this very screen isn't exactly as smooth as ones found on similar devices, it's still a step in the right direction. But for $550, a touch interface should have more precision than this. We can only hope Palm continues to fine-tune the screen and ditch that archaic stylus permanently. Jesus Treo, can you hear us? It's the Gadget Lab calling.