In our latest test we sent two handheld mobile devices - one made by Palm and the other by Sony Ericsson - to a lawyer in north Yorkshire. The result was not what we expected, writes Rupert White




In the Gazette's guinea pig series, lawyers' views of which technology they like often differ from the preference of our in-house tester.



This time we sent two handheld mobile devices to Deborah Boylan, a partner at north Yorkshire firm Raworths, where she is head of employment law and also responsible for human resources.



The Palm Treo 750 and the Sony Ericsson M600i are quite different beasts - the Treo runs Windows Mobile while the M600i uses a Symbian operating system. The Treo has a larger, wider keyboard and feels like a tubby Blackberry, whereas the M600i has a clever way of getting a Qwerty keyboard on to its facia: it has a five-by-four keyboard layout which looks like a phone. Each key 'rocks' to allow each half to be a letter key, making the full-width, ten-key rows.



We picked Ms Boylan because she had not used a mobile PDA before and because she said she was fairly hopeless with technology.



'Anyone who knows me would laugh at the idea of me being a guinea pig for any techie-type device,' she told the Gazette. 'Initially, I was most impressed by the appearance and feel of the Palm Treo. It looked and felt like a quality piece of gadgetry, whereas the Sony Ericsson had a distinctive retro, old-school plastic calculator feel.'



Using the stylus rather than the keyboard for on-screen navigation proved the way forward for Ms Boylan. This is is notable as both devices try hard to cram in enough 'hard' keys. Perhaps this is not as important as Palm and Sony Ericsson think.

But it was in logical operation, or navigating the operating system and programs, that the biggest differences turned up. At first, Ms Boylan preferred the Treo because of the familiarity of Windows, but the love was not to last.



'I naturally preferred the Treo. The keys are small but usable. The stylus and on-screen keyboard worked well, but the on-screen keyboard option didn't appear often enough, particularly when using the Internet,' she said.



'The viewing screen was a good size but was simply not practical to view attachments to e-mails or use a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. The sound quality was very good, having downloaded a few tunes.'



However, the Treo fared ill on alarms and reminders - a pretty important feature for the busy lawyer. 'The alarm reminder was not loud enough when used on its own, and the reminders domino behind each other. So if I was not quick enough to snooze or reset, I only became aware of an alarm once I started to dismiss or action the later reminders - not very useful.'



Instead, Ms Boylan grew to like the M600i. 'I didn't like the plastic feel but it was much lighter than the Treo,' she said. 'I didn't like the rocker keys either, but the stylus and on-screen keyboard were more effective than the Treo's.



'Although the icons on the desktop function were not as familiar, they were much more logical once I got used to using them. This makes me think the only reason I preferred the Windows software was that it was simply more familiar, not as logical or as good as the Sony Ericsson.



'I was able to organise my work, appointments and priorities better. Navigation was excellent. The reminder system was much more effective and the functions were by far the best. The calendar was also easier to use, view and update.'



In terms of e-mail and Web, the game was more even. Ms Boylan did not get a full shot at remote work email access, but what she saw impressed her.



'The Palm Treo was very easy as it operates on [a pared down] Microsoft Office,' she said. 'If I had remote access to my work, it would be the same as a mobile PC. Receiving emails was the same. The only downside was the impractical screen size for viewing attachments.'



The Sony Ericsson's bigger screen seemed to edge out the Treo when online, however, and this makes sense - screen estate is often king in small devices.



So in the end, the M600i won Ms Boylan's heart, but it is mobility that has once again won the day. Once the devices had to return to the Gazette, they were sorely missed.



'I am certain the remote access would be a huge advantage, and am setting about convincing our managing partner that these are a necessary tool to do our jobs,' Ms Boylan said. 'I will be buying a device and it's likely to be the Sony Ericsson.'



When the Gazette tested the devices, we did not like the M600i at all, mainly because of its unfamiliar and idiosyncratic operating system and seemingly slow response times. The rocker keys seemed to require the accuracy of Artemis, whereas the Treo was very friendly. But that is what the guinea pigs are for - readers ultimately make the choices, not us.



Raworths

North Yorkshire-based full-service firm, specialising in mediation. It has 13 partners and nine solicitors.



Palm Treo 750v, Sony Ericsson M600i

3G mobile PDAs (personal digital assistants).

Palm Treo 750 on Vodafone: from about £90 plus around £45 a month with email.

Sony Ericsson M600i (T-Mobile

tested) on Vodafone: free plus about £40 a month.