Dash vs. treo 700w One-handed operation

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xman

Member
Mar 7, 2005
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0
TX
www.eXtremePPC.com
I am strongly considering ditching my Treo 700w for a Dash. The reason: due to the severe memory limitations on the Treo 700w, I am forced to use the Treo 700w more like a smartphone than a pocket pc phone.

For example, Voice Command and Transcriber are unusable since neither can be used while another app is running without the device crashing. For me, these are defining features that are unusable on the 700w. Also, the 240x240 screen is too small to make pocket excel useful, or to read e-books. Windows media player is decent with a 2G storage card so music playback is acceptible, but the small screen hampers usability for viewing pics or videos.

As a result, the one thing that has consistently impressed me about the Treo 700w, and which keeps me from smashing it in frustration, is the ease of placing calls, doing PIM lookups, and performing google searches on the go using one hand. How does the Dash compare? Given the lack of a touch screen, I am concerned that one-handed operation is severely impaired - especially compared to the Treo 700w. Thoughts?
 

JwY

Senior Member
Apr 3, 2005
297
1
the dash/s620 has to be just as good if not better, otherwise there's no way to navigate on smartphone os
 

xman

Member
Mar 7, 2005
12
0
TX
www.eXtremePPC.com
Thanks JwY. I realize that navigation on smartphone OS has to be via buttons since there is no touch screen. What I was wondering was whether the Dash would require more keystrokes/actions to do something that is done with less effort with the Treo 700w --given the UI extensions that Palm has developed for the 700w.

For example, while driving I can dial someone by just using my thumb to enter a few letters of the name, using the dpad to scroll to and select/highlight the right name then pressing the dpad center button to dial. This works way better that the T9/xT9 on a PPCPE device as the 700w will find the name I'm looking for after only 3-4 letters.

Another example: while driving I can do a one-handed google search by scrolling down to the google search panel, then using my thumb to enter the search phrase, then use the d-pad to scroll through results. If the results include phone numbers, I can use the dpad directional keys to navigate to the number I want then press the dpad center button to dial.

Checking voicemail is also virtually effortless on the Treo 700w due to the voice mail applet.

Net-net, the Palm UI enhancements on the 700w are a step above what is natively included in WM5 from my experience -- and therefore hard to step back from. That's why I would love to hear from someone who has used both the 700w and the Dash.
 

JwY

Senior Member
Apr 3, 2005
297
1
i think you also posted this on hofo? i gave you a more detailed explanation there, so i hope it helps. if not let me know, then i'll retype it here (i'm more active on hofo).
 

chakra

Senior Member
Apr 9, 2005
2,034
630
I Have The 750v And The Dash, Im Using The 750 Now But The Dash Is Great, Better Screen And Easy To Use . However The 750 Is Easyer In The Phone Functions. Just Get Rid Of Your 700 And Get A 750