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I've owned many combination PDA and Phone devices. I owned one of the first black and white Handspring Treo 180 units and moved to the colour version when it was released. Since that time I've had the Audiovox SMT 5600 SmartPhone and then switched to Verizon and got the Samsung i730 but now I've come full circle and own the new Treo 700w since the first morning it was available.

There are plenty of reviews out there of the device so I'm not going to add another one. What I am going to do is post what I consider the "essentials" for anyone getting this device.

First, let's start with the essential forums you should have bookmarked for the best information and support on the Treo 700w:

• PDAPhoneHome forum for the Treo 700w
• TreoCentral forum for the 700w

Unfortunately, the Treo comes with very little in the box. I suggest purchasing the following items:

• 3ft Retractable USB Sync & Charge Cable from MacMedia
• AC/DC USB Charging Adapter for Home and Car
• eGrips - Protects and helps make sure you don't drop your PDA
• Seido 2200mAh Extended Battery becauses Windows CE eats batteries
• Don't foget a Secure Digital card for storage

Now what about software? First, the Treo is well designed and I've found I need less third party software but there are some essentials:

• HandySwitcher can be mapped to the task switching key (hold down the OK button for one second) and makes it easy to close applications to free up memory. Remember, this device only has 32mb and only half of that for applications
• PocketBreeze is the essential home screen plugin providing one handed access to calendar, notes, tasks and e-mail
• Now that you have high speed (EVDO) internet you should get either Resco Radio for streaming Shoutcast stations (no problem streaming 128k) or if you are an XM radio subscriber, simply browse to Mini XM to stream XM radio stations.

Lastly, I can't navigate my way out of a paper bag so a GPS and navigation software are essential. I bought the i.Trek M3 Bluetooth GPS receiver. This thing is great, it locks in under 60 seconds and goes 15 hours on a single charge. For navigation software I recommend one of the following:

• Mapopolis - Great basic functionality at a low price but doesn't have advanced features like 3D views etc.
• CoPilot Live - Advanced software with 3D mapping, voice synthesis, real-time Internet tracking, instant messaging from the web (see image below), finger touch menus etc. You can even run XM radio in the background and use the phone while it is running without running out of memory (a problem for other GPS software like OnCourseNavigator or TomTom)

Some screenshots of the software on my PDA: