PJim's question is: "I live in Germany and would like to get a PDA/phone combination like the Treo 270 to use as I travel throughout Europe. Do you know what German or British mobil companies sell the Treo and/or a wireless/phone subscription compatible to the Treo 270? Should I even bother to get such an item or just stick with my German D2 phone and a Visor Deluxe?"

The Handspring Treo 270 is a dual-band (900/1800MHz) GSM phone that can work on most of the European systems. You can also have it upgraded to GPRS, though it is unclear how this would affect the existing capabilities. Deutsch Telekom's T-Mobile service offers GPRS service in Germany and surrounding telecoms with whom they have partnerships with. Any phone that supports GSM 900/1900MHz and GPRS should operate in Europe in general. This includes the Treo 270, but not the 300, which is a CDMA2000 phone. Unfortunately, the upcomng Kyocera 7135 and Samsung Bluechip Palm OS phones are also CDMA2000, though the companies may offer GSM/GPRS versions later.

Regardless of which phone you get, though, you still have to contend with charges. T-Mobile's rate plan is mighty complicated. The TellyActive service alone is €24,95 per month with a €9,95 per month charge for calls within the first minute. Further usage is rated in minutes based on what time of the day you make your call. Charges are rounded to the next 10 second block. WorldClass calls, which allow you roaming access in 20 countries, is €0,45 per minute if you get the service before August 30th and €0,89 per minute after that.

I'm not sure of this information as I don't speak German and Google's translation left quite a bit to be desired. If anyone knows more, please use TalkBack and let us know.

Jim, I hope this helps.