Zune, few devices this holiday season have had as many rumors, conjecture, spy shots, leaked stats and hyperbole than the Palm Treo 680. What started out as a hand held known only as “Hollywood,” the 680 is today Cingular’s newest smartphone and Palm’s (and, some say, the industry’s) first attempt at making a full-featured smartphone that appeals to the masses.

Over the holiday, CrunchGear got some exclusive hands-on lovin’ from the Treo 680 and was able to see how it stacks up against the venerable 650. Herein, we go for a side-by-side comparison, as the two Treos are similar, but different enough that there should be some considerations.

The major differences are in the hardware, but even those are minor. There’s the obvious: the antenna is now internalized, the SD card slot moved from the top to the side, and the design rounded and made a little more modern. The main stylistic changes, however, are almost nonexistent, the “slimmer” form factor advertised being a loss of 3mm total.

The internals, however, are roughly the same. The processor is the same PXA270 running at 312MHz, the display is the same 320×320 touchscreen, the camera is the same VGA without flash, and the radio is the same EDGE, no UMTS/HSDPA upgrade here. Palm did manage to double the internal memory from 32MB to 64MB, which is something. And Palm was able to shave .8-ounces.

The addition of Pocket Tunes is a welcome one. The program plays back MP3s from the SD card via the integrated speaker or through the headset (stereo headphones are available, but aren’t included). The software also allows you to listen to streaming Internet radio via the GPRS/EDGE connection. Streams up to 128Kbps (theoretically) shouldn’t be a problem, and with Cingular’s unlimited data plans, you can get all you can eat.

The upgraded email interface is nice, but, much like the new phone interface, is mostly cosmetic. Sadly, both programs use the same interface to browse contacts, so scrolling through your booty calls still takes forever, no scroll bar is included.

Short of a few other minor changes, the 680 is basically a re-skinned 650, sans antenna. One odd notion is how Cingular is selling the Treo. The 650 is apparently still available, at the same starting price as the 680. After rebates, however, the upgraded 680 costs $50 less than the two-year old 650. This is most likely due to the higher per-unit cost of the 650 to Cingular, who makes up its own subsidies. The price of the 680 will also drop as time goes on; the 650 was $399 at its launch and is now almost half that, a trend we can expect to continue.