Hello ... your Palm is ringing
Written: Nov 03 '01 (Updated Nov 06 '01)
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Pros: Converges phone and PDA - no more carrying two devices, speakerphone, excellent sound quality.
Cons: Screen could use a bit of help, Palm/Phone integration not 100% yet
The Bottom Line: After years of waiting, I am finally able to get down to one single device on my belt. Thank you, Samsung!
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| dtoombs's Full Review: Samsung SPH-I300 |
Hi, you can call me Batman.
At least, that's what my friends have taken to calling me from time to time.
Why do they do this? Is it because I'm a wealthy multi-billionaire with a secret crime-fighting alter-ego? Hardly. Is it because I'm usually carrying around so many things on my belt that it looks like the Bat Utility Belt? Yes.
I've grown accustomed to it. Being self-employed, and a computer specialist, I've always been burdened with carrying around pagers, cell phones, PDAs, tools, etc. So, when I learned that Samsung was coming out with an integrated PDA/cellphone combination, I was ecstatic about the possibilities.
Background
Ok, first off let me set the scene - I'm a big fan of Palm. I got one the first month they came out back in '96 and I haven't ever left it. Quite simply, I depend on this unit for my business. So, none of the other PDA phones were of any interest to me.
Also, I had seen some of the earlier "Palm/Phone" combinations. They were ugly, heavy, and impractical (in my opinion). The earlies of those devices - the Q phone - wasn't much more than two devices glued together that shared a common LCD screen.
Having used a Samsung phone for the past two years (SCH-6100) and been very happy with it, I was curious to see how Samsung would do with this new unit.
Integration
First, let's talk about the integration between these two units - something that most people are probably wondering about. I'd say it is "very good" at this point. We're not at "excellent" yet for these types of convergence devices, but we're getting there.
The standard Palm address book is replaced in this unit with an SPH-I300 aware address book. It looks and feels the same as the regular address book, except that you can tap on numbers or icons to dial right from your address book. Very cool. If a call comes in, it uses the address book to try and look up whose calling, and then display the name for you.
This integration alone is one of the most important reasons to consider a convergence unit like the I300. An entire market of software has cropped up for synchronizing contact numbers between your computer/PDA and your phone. You need to buy their software. And then a special cable. Yuck. One address book, one contact list. That's how I want it to be!!
Also, one other nice feature of the integration is the system clock. The clock for the Palm is set based on the time signal that the phone receives. This can be handy if you travel a lot, and set up meetings in different time zones. Flying from DC to LA, and you've got appointments at 10, 12:30 and 3pm? No problem. Put them into the Palm datebook at their correct times. Once you reach LA, the phone will change the Palm's clock to the local timezone - and you'll hear the alarm reminders at the correct time.
Phone-related Stuff
On the phone side, the sound quality from this unit is excellent. Far better than my SCH-6100, and I'm still on the same carrier network, driving the same routes I always did. The fit and finish of this phone is also up to Samsung's standards of quality. The size of the phone is not awkward, it fits rather nicely in your hand.
If you're familiar with any of the more recent Samsung phones (6100, 8500, etc.) they've basically taken their entire interface and rewritten it to work in the Palm environment. Voice mail, voice dial, etc. etc. all function basically the same as either of those other phones, but with a Palm-style interface on a large screen. Having that large screen is definitely awesome - finally, I can read an entire text page without having to scroll up and down!
Having the speakerphone and voice dial capabilities on this phone is also a huge plus. The phone has a headset jack that is conveniently placed, and the Samsung earbud has a button on it that allows you to activate the voice dialing system without touching the phone. Again, this is the same as with the 6100, and 8500 - but they are very nice touches!
Palm-related Stuff
This unit has an 8mb color Palm built into it as well. When I got the unit, I put it in the included sync station and synchronized it with my desktop. All of my applications and contacts instantly came across - no fuss, no muss! The hotsync cradle is serial (USB is faster) but this is not a major drawback in my book.
The color screen on this unit is fair. It's not the best I've seen, but it's definitely better to look at than monochrome. I was coming from a Handspring Visor Prism before getting this phone, so I admit I was a bit spoiled by having the best color display available in the market. Hopefully the color Handspring Treo (out sometime next year) will finally merge a phone with a high-quality color screen.
If you're familiar with laptop LCD panels, and the difference between "Active Matrix" and "Passive Matrix" screens, I would say that the SPH-I300 is definitely in the latter category. If the color depth of the screen is important to you, please take a look at one first before buying.
Wireless Internet
Ah, the best thing about this phone! Open an application that needs wireless connectivity, and instantly it connects to the Internet! Email, Web, AOL Instant Messenger, directions, stock quotes, weather, whatever you need - you can get it on this phone. But, it's slow. That's not a failure of the phone though ... typically cellular networks are very low bandwidth - high-speed wireless Internet just isn't here (yet).
Decision Points
In postings I've seen from people considering this phone, they generally focus around a few key issues - let me address those here based on my experiences:
1. Lack of physical dial-pad. So far, I don't have a problem with this. The virtual dial-pad is easy to use, even one-handed. I thought I would end up mis-dialing a lot, but that hasn't been the case. I actually kinda prefer the virtual pad over the physical pad, although I'll have to see how that works out while I'm trying to drive and dial at the same time.
(Author's note: Well, it would seem that I'm receiving criticism now from readers for admitting that I dial my phone sometimes while I drive. I must have irked the handful of people who never ever dial their phone while they're driving, always signal before changing lanes, never try to squeak through a yellow light, etc. Hey, I admit it, sometimes I dial the phone while driving. I'm being honest about it. But, in the spirit of promoting safety on the road I'm here to tell you that you should try to use voice dial whenver you can. This dialpad is a bit tricky since you can't "feel" your way through the numbers while keeping your eyes on the road.)
2. Fully-exposed screen. This hesitation usually comes from Kyocera 6035 owners. My response - hey, it's a $500 device. Take care of it, just as you would anything else you spent that kind of money for. The unit seems quite durable, but I will still always carry mine around in a case.
Sometimes, people are concerned about this from the "facial grease" point-of-view. Simply put, your face is almost resting right against the screen. There's no way around it with this device, you're going to have to keep the screen clean moreso than a regular Palm. You may want to consider purchasing screen protectors for your unit, if you decide to purchase one.
If you are a female, and you find that your makeup is always getting over your existing cellular phone, then you'll have a real hassle with keeping this screen clean.
3. Battery life. Hey, you're trying to run two devices off of one battery - you're going to have a bit less battery life because of it. The Sprint PCS site says that the standard battery is rated for about 100 hours of standby time (4 days). That might be a bit optimistic on their part - but if I can get two days out of a battery with light-to-average use, I'm ok with that. To make things better, Sprint includes a second standard battery in their packaging of the I300. The synchronizing station (which is also the charger) can charge both the phone and the extra battery at the same time.
4. Screen visibility. It's been a problem with color LCD screens for some time - visibility outdoors in direct sunlight. Laptops have this problem, so it's no wonder that PDAs would have the same problem. I've found that the screen is readable outdoors, but if you spend most of your day outdoors this might not be the right unit for you. Fortunately (or unfortunately, I guess?) I spend most of the business day indoors, so this is not an issue for me.
5. Reliability. 24 hours with this unit, and only one crash so far -- on Album To Go (which sync'ed over from my old Handspring). So, I removed that application and will find another to take its place (how cool is that, looking at family photos on your phone?) I do have lots of other applications installed, however - all my PQA's from when I owned a Palm VII, AOL Instant Messenter, Eudora Email, Life Balance, some games, Phone Mate, etc. etc. No problems so far.
6. Size, feel. I was shocked when I took this phone out of the box - it's a lot smaller than I expected. I was accustomed to my SCH-6100, which is a tiny phone. I knew I'd have to get accustomed to carrying something bigger, but this isn't too bad! Especially considering that I only have to carry one device now.
That's the review so far. Check back at this location, as I'll be updating this review over time as I learn more about this awesome phone!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 499
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Epinions.com ID:
dtoombs
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Location: Washington, DC
Reviews written: 14
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
Technology consultant and part-time author.
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