Apple iPhone vs. Palm Treo 700p

[denton]

Not quite sure how you can have such a concise comparison review when one of the products isnt even available yet (this comparison spans some 7 pages).

Here's the conclusion and a link to the full article:

So, should you hold out and wait for the iPhone or go with something that has been on the market for a while now and has a solid 3rd party application offering? That question depends on several variables. How much money are you willing to spend on a wireless phone? Will you make use of the majority of iPhone features? Are you locked into a contract with another wireless provider?

If you decide to pass on the iPhone, you aren't necessarily making a terrible decision. As we showed here today, there are other very capable phones on the market right now at a fraction of the price. While the 700p only comes with 60 MB of usable memory, it does make use of an SD slot that can accept expansion cards to greatly increase memory capacity. Many companies now offer SD cards in 8 GB versions, effectively equaling the memory capacity of the iPhone. The Treo 700p we used for comparison purposes is packed with many more features than we discussed and the doors open even wider when you take into account the thousands of 3rd party applications that are available for download. Some of my favorite 3rd party apps include PDA Net (allows you to use your phone as a wireless, broadband modem for your computer/laptop), PDA Reach (allows you to interact with your phone from your computer screen - you can use the keyboard and mouse instead of the controls on the phone for things like text messaging and e-mailing), LightWav (a ringtone program that allows you to use mp3 files as ringtones and full screen photos for each caller) and Toccer (an instant messaging program).

There is no doubt that 3rd party applications will be released for the iPhone as well, but it will take some time for these apps to surface and mature. The bottom line; if I didn't already have a smartphone and wasn't locked into a contract with Sprint, I would more than likely have the iPhone on my short list of upcoming purchases. But for now, I am perfectly happy with the Treo 700p and don't feel as though I will be missing out on too terribly much when the iPhone is released to the public next month."

http://www.ocia.net/articles/iphone700p/page1.shtml

Im not convinced it's a perticularly fair comparison, afterall the key features of the iPhone only become clear once it's in your hand, multi-touch display, interface etc.

[Scrumple]

I agree with you on the iPhone experience, on paper it may not seem all that impressive. But the iPhone's main draw is it's ease of use and functionality.

[Kender]

I honestly don't see how these people can make 'comparisons' between products, when, as Denton said, one hasn't been released into the wild.

Right here, however is where Apple's secrecy both helps and harms them - we do NOT have solid data on the iPhone yet, and things were left vague enough that we could be facing a much more useful beast come release day.

So right now all these pundits doing comparisons are just writing for the fun of it, I guess.