It took weeks before it arrived, but I've finally received the original Palm Treo Pro Cradle (art. A610-448) to dock, recharge and synchronize the Treo Pro 850:
As with all the packaging of the Treo Pro, it arrives in a rectangular box that sits tilted on the desk. Despite the same "corner shaved off" of the packaging, it doesn't give you the same feel of quality as with the Treo Pro box itself.
Luckily, that is not important as the contents is what we're longing for:
As you can see from the image above, the cradle is made of matte black plastic, while the TP is shiny black as you know. This doesn't bother much however, since it draws the attention to the Treo Pro and not to the cradle. The shiny Palm logo on the cradle (see first photo) is hidden once you dock your TP in the cradle.
So how does the cradle fit? First, the cradle contains a weight so that it feels very solid, despite the plastic housing. From the moment you slide your TP into the cradle, you'll feel that it fits perfectly! It's a snug fit, your TP will not fall out even held upside down. Both the weight and the snug fit give you a sense of confidence that you won't find easily in 3rd party accessories.
To get an even better grip, you can optionally use the adhesive ring on the bottom. That's what the white tab in the photos is for, to remove the sticker protection:
Currently I did not use the sticker yet, since I like to move the cradle around on my desk. When I need to tap the screen or push the keyboard buttons, I hold the cradle base with my other hand. It's very convenient for me so far.
Conclusion: Unless you need a (third party) cradle with room for a spare battery, I can only wholeheartily recommend this Palm original accessory. This is so much better than manually plugging that MicroUSB cable in to charge and sync, and you can glimpse to your Treo Pro at the perfect angle. Highly recommended!
Note: the cradle comes without microUSB cable, but since your Treo Pro device comes with one in the box that shouldn't be a problem. Otherwise, get yourself a spare one while you order the cradle to save on transport.
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