(2002-05-29) c

Arggh, I'm considering buying a Treo phone/PDA again.

• Handspring has a promo through Jun17 to save $100 on a Treo180 (grayscale) if you already have a Palm. (Which would bring it down to $300 with service activation.) And you don't even have to send in the hardware, so I could give the Palm to my wife.

• Unforunately, the deal isn't available on the color 270, which also offers a backlit keyboard, plus slightly longer battery life.

• Purchasers are getting annoyed that they haven't upgraded to support GPRS yet. So for data (a) you need a separate ISP, (b) you have to dial in each time for a session (vs GPRS which is Always On) and (c) the speed sucks. (I wonder how much GPRS will suck down the battery life, which is already pretty bad.) (The Treo has no SD expansion slot, so no WiFi capability.)

• There's a CDMA Treo coming soon (currently only GSM for voice). But I have AT&T (TDMA) service now, so either one requires a switch in carriers (which means changing phone number, which means reprinting my personal biz card)... (but at least CDMA is more widely deployed in the US still). Hmm, Walter Mossberg says that AT&T is going to offer GSM soon.

• Green Packet is working on a service that rolls over between WiFi and cellular dialup. But PalmOS won't be supported because it's lame. But if GPRS gets going will that matter?

• and what's happening with the Danger Hiptop? I haven't heard anything in months, and their website hasn't had any updates either...