Combo PDA+phone is cool
Written: Jul 23 '02 (Updated Jul 23 '02)
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Pros: VERY high on the "cool!" scale; combo PDA actually works; constructed well.
Cons: EXPENSIVE; only works with Sprint's PCS service; takes some getting used to.
The Bottom Line: If you want a combo PDA+phone, this is it. If you aren't seeking that combination, buy a cheaper and smaller phone.
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| theinnergeek's Full Review: Samsung SPH-I300 |
Background
My writer/director wife had become a two-fisted double-barreled gunslinger. She'd often find herself with her PalmPilot III open in one hand and her Nokia 8260 cell phone in her other hand, thumbs tapping at the respective keypads furiously. "Why do I bother entering names & phone numbers in my Palm," she'd be complaining, "only to have to re-enter them manually when I want to call them on my phone?" Her question is, of course, the impetus for what is sure to become a burgeoning wave of "convergence" wireless phones. Samsung and Kyocera were two of the first out the gate, offering cell phones that ran the standard PalmPilot operating system [and used the same basic Palm user interface]. So I decided to buy her one of these products to replace her two-fisted madness.
PDA, shmeDA
What, not particularly interested in a combination PDA + wireless phone? Then I suggest you save five hundred bucks and a learning curve and buy a regular cell phone, something tiny and nifty from Motorola or Nokia. The expense of this Samsung phone is worth it if you want your PalmPilot literally embedded inside your phone. Or if you want one of the coolest-looking wireless phones currently available -- then go ahead :-)
Samsung's vs. Kyocera's
There is no contest: Samsung's PalmPhone (my nomenclature) is waaaay better than Kyocera's. The Kyocera is cheaper by hundreds but is physically bulkier, aesthetically uglier, and lacks that "way cool, dude!" envy factor.
By contrast, the $499 Samsung is slick-looking, feels good in your hand (though it's a big wider than most contemporary cell phones), and has a 256-color screen that's almost the dimensions of a regular PalmPilot. How cool is that? People will see you use the Samsung and want one. That won't happen with the Kyocera.
(I am aware of a Motorola wireless phone that has Palm-synching capabilities but not the true, actual PalmPilot UI/screen. So Palm data but not the Palm UI to access/manipulate it? Why bother.)
Does convergence work?
Admittedly, I was a bit skeptical, but after a few weeks of use, I have to say that the I300 mostly lives up to its promise of convergence. My wife actually has given up her old PalmPilot [and, obviously, her old Nokia cell phone] and now uses the Samsung solely.
The I300 runs the standard Palm OS and the UI will be familiar to anyone who knows how to operate a PalmPilot. The phone comes with a CD-ROM containing the HotSync software and a golfing game you can play on the phone when bored. The desktop cradle is not only a charger for the phone, but it holds an extra battery (included!) and acts as the hotsync cradle, too. Very slick. (Note: The sync cable is serial not USB. That's a small negative.)
The surprisingly bright color screen operates just like a PalmPilot's screen: you use the plastic stylus to click and select and write. Works just like a PalmPilot, even the same Grafitti handwriting recognition interface. (The stylus stores securely in a slot on the left back side of the phone. The phone's antenna protrudes from the right edge of the unit.)
When you toggle from the Palm display to the Phone display, the screen turns into a virtual phone keypad with phone-specific icons along the bottom row. Operating the phone, then, takes a bit of learning and practice -- and you really should use the stylus, not your finger -- but you get the hang of it pretty soon. I actually think it feels kinda Star Trek, dialing your wireless phone like a PalmPilot. What, press my fingers onto plastic keys? How 20th century! :-)
Where convergence *truly* kicks in is when you look up a Contact within the Palm, you want to call that person, and you select "Call" with the stylus. The phone simply dials that person and you hold it up to your head and talk on your phone. Simple, easy, logical, perfect. No more two-fisted Palm-in-one-hand, cell phone-in-the-other!
And, yes, as a straightforward regular PalmPilot, the I300 works fine. Same UI, same input system, even has an infrared beaming functionality just like regular PalmPilots. However it eats up the battery fast because of the color screen and phone componentry, but, hey, keep it charged/synched.
Other nifty features
Worth mentioning:
+ Full wireless Palm functionality. Pay Sprint PCS the extra $5/month and you get full wireless Internet access. Thus, the I300 can operate just like the wireless-enabled Palm VII. I'm going to download AOL's wireless PDA app so that my wife can check her e-mail while standing in line at the bank. *That's* nifty.
+ This also means that you can, using the installed Sprint PCS Web browser, surf the Web live from this phone in a much nicer display than on most cell phones. You'll get a 14 kbps-speed connection at best but that's the breaks. Remember, full color display.
+ Speakerphone! Why don't more wireless phones come with built-in speakerphones? How many times have you been on a call and needed it to be a speakerphone? Tons! Also, because the I300 is a PalmPilot, too, there will be calls when you need to take notes or enter a Contact or Appointment *while talking* and you simply toggle to speakerphone to do that. The quality of the I300's speakerphone is very good.
+ Extra battery included! Again, why don't all wireless phones come this way?
+ A small second LCD display on the top edge of phone. This display shows phone-specific status such as signal strength, voicemail indicator, callerID, etc. so that you needn't be looking at the full front screen. It's also placed so that key status can be seen while the phone is slipped into a vertical position within a belt case or something like that.
+ Holds about ten minutes of audio recording (your voice). You can use this like one of those executive handheld recording memo things.
+ Using the audio-record function, you can input voice-activated dialing. Like most voice-activated dialing systems, it works 75% of the time. You have to speak it exactly like you did it when you recorded it and it must be quiet around you.
+ Analog roaming when you move out of the PCS coverage area.
Downsides
These negatives are worth mentioning:
- Compared to, say, a Nokia 8260, the I300 is physically big. It's not huge, but it's not the sort of "wow, that's TINY!" phone that are available nowadays. I think it's about as small, however, as you'd want to make a PalmPilot phone -- or else you couldn't view and manipulate the screen easily. Note to Samsung: When designing the new version of this product, retain the screen dimension but make the case way thinner, like a Palm V.
- As noted above, the sync cable is serial only. You'll need to buy a USB adaptor.
- Old PalmPilots never had memory slots but today's Handsprings and Visors and new Palms all have memory expansion slots. The I300 PalmPhone doesn't. 8MB of memory. That's all ya got.
- Sprint PCS only. If you like this service, congrats. If you don't, you're outta luck. (Personally, we've had better service/coverage from ATT Wireless on other phones. But the PCS ain't bad, and I know some folks like it.)
- Cost. I got a bunch of rebates when I bought the phone and activated the service at the same time, but still, spending five hundred bucks on a wireless phone is a lot today. If you figure it's actually the cost of a phone and the cost of a PalmPilot together, it hurts less....
So ... buy it?
Overall, my review is positive and I'd endorse the product. In addition to all the tangible benefits described above, I have to note that this phone is freakin' cool. The large color display, the ability to use your PDA and your phone simultaneously in one hand, the speakerphone, and the nice form factor all add up to a communication and organizer device that just makes people go "that's way cool, dude". There's a huge "I want one" factor. Still, my main recommendation is that this is the phone to get if you really need that PDA+phone combo. Otherwise, save some money and get a smaller, simpler phone.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 499
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Epinions.com ID:
theinnergeek
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Location: South Pasadena, CA USA
Reviews written: 40
Trusted by: 6 members
About Me:
I am the CEO of an Internet startup, thus, I have no life.
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