Samsung Palm phone

[siscool]

Anybody have any information and/or opinions on this hybrid?? Seems like a real boon for people who surf the 'Net big time, but how good a deal is this?

[swedishfish]

The samsung hybrid phone is very good. When sprint comes out with its 3rd generation network, you'll be able to surf at up 384k.

[imported_TMAN]

I just saw this phone at a local CompUSA in Denver. This had to be the sweetest phone I have seen to date. I only wish it did not have the Palm OS. Anyway it was $499 and felt really good in the hand. It was much smaller than the Kyocera.

I would have to give it a thumbs up even though I am a Pocket PC fanatic.

[siscool]

Sorry I took so long to acknowledge your responses...

I'm really interested in this hybrid and had heard it was a breakthrough. I really like the idea of a Palm that already comes with wireless capability. I was going to get the 505 back in August but my plans fell through...then I read about this in the Wall Street Journal. The writer wasn't too keen on it being really more a PDA than a phone, but it sounded like exactly what I wanted.

Only problem I see with this is the lack of storage capability...which I also want very much. Of course I don't expect to find the perfect gadget for all my needs....I demand it .

I might go ahead and pick up the 505 and add the modem later...my next target date is late November.

Please keep the comments coming...I'd sure like to know more about the Samsung's performance in the real world.

[DaleReeck]

The problem is, no one has this phone in stock anymore, not even online. After the initial release in early October, most of the phones were gone in the first couple of days. With Christmas coming up, I'm afraid they are busy building stock and won't release any more of them until after Thanskgiving for the holiday sales rush. I don't know that for sure, but it's a reasonable guess. I'm a PPC user, but I would love this phone to supplement it

[Glen Fountain]

Let me preface this opinion with the information that I have owned just about every WinCE and Palm device made - and that is no stretch of the truth. I started with a Palm Pilot, went the CE route, back to palm, then back to CE, then to Palm again where I have been with my M505 until this Samsung I300 came out.

With that said, I can honestly say that the I300 is the first really functional step made in PDA/Mobile phone convergence. I had a Kyocera Palm phone for 2 weeks - it was too big and clunky - and I didn't really care for it's look or flip dialing pad. I have also had a Jornada with an Omnisky and a Palm Vx with an Omnisky - but when you add the modem to those PDA's you end up with a lot more weight and size than feels comfortably portable. I would find myself leaving my PDA in the car then in the house then realizing how little I used my PDA by adding the modem to it.

The I300 is really great. It is small (I had a Sanyo Sprint phone (the world's thinnest phone) before this, and it is actually not as long as that phone was, although it is obviously thicker (2x) and wider (1.75x). This phone is not cumbersome - so I have freed up a hand/pocket by combining the phone and COLOR PDA in one unit. The unit looks square, but it is actually slightly curved and feels very nice in your hand. I don't know what processor is in it, but it seems as quick as my M505 - and the screen is MUCH brighter and sharper.

There is a button on the side of the phone that allows you to record voice reminders (like PocketPC), and another button that instantly brings up the phone dialing pad on the screen. I didn't know how I was going to like tapping the screen with my fingers to dial the 'keypad', but it is fine - you just can't do it by touch while you are zooming down the highway in traffic (no lectures, please).

I have the SiPix A6 infrared printer and it works great with the phone. I am also running Ultrasoft Money, Multimail, Acrobat Reader, Bug Me!, and a couple of other progs - no problems thus far. The phone comes with an additional battery and the hotsync cradle has an additional port to charge the extra battery simultaneously. So far I have gotten at least 48 hours out of a battery with slightly above-average palm use. I just swap batteries when I hotsync and really haven't come close to running it out of juice yet.

OK - I could go on and on, but let me just sum up some pros and cons I have found for this device:

Pros:
1. TRUE handsfree kit for the car. Only $199 and it has a cradle for charging, external mic and antenna. It is hard enough to find these for regular mobile phones nowadays - good move, Samsung.
2. Amazing light weight. The Kyocera was very heavy - this is lighter than some standard mobile phones.
3. Internet surfing actually works. This is the first internet-enabled phone I have had that the internet surfing isn't more time consuming than it is worth. I usually connect at 14.4Kbps and it is pretty snappy when I am checking local weather, movies, news, etc. I quit looking at my stock portfolio about 5 months ago, so I don't know how well it retrieves quotes, etc.
4. Great screen. Screen is very bright - inside and outside. No complaints there.
5. Has IR port, headphone port (no music - just phone), and an LCD on top of the phone so that if it is clipped to your belt you can look down on top of it to see who is calling, the current time, and signal strength.
6. You can imagine the attention this thing draws when you are using it or talking on it - which is good if you are married (jealous techno guys looking on), but doesn't really help us single guys (this phone actually puts 'geek' on your forehead when used when ladies are present).
7. You can voice dial this phone - the headset for it is just an earpiece with a small button further down the wire. When you press this button it activates voice dialing - 'Call Jim's Mobile' for instance. It is amazingly accurate and works great. You can save 20 voicedial names.
8. You can one-handed dial a number from your Palm address book - any number for anyone. I will not explain it here, just trust me - this was very important feature for Samsung's development team and they got it right.
9. Caller ID is integrated into your Palm address book - when the number comes up, it will check your address book first and display the contact's name and what phone they are calling from in the caller ID display on top of the phone and on the screen itself.
10. I don't know how many speed dials it has offhand - I have programmed like 30 or so thus far, though.
11. Speakerphone - you can talk on the phone via headset or speakerphone while using your palm doing something completely different.
12. You can independently power off the phone and still retain the palm functions - so you can use it on a plane.


Cons:
1. The screen doesn't have a protective cover. It makes me nervous. They need to come up with a clip-on screen or something. Make sure you buy insurance from your wireless carrier for this baby - I just know I am gonna drop it or put a nasty gash on the screen. I am hard on my phones and I am finding myself being <overly?> cautious with this one.
2. Ships with Palm OS 3.5. Not sure if you can upgrade or not. It does have IR synching built-in to the hotsynch, though - if you want to synch wirelessly with your laptop.
3. Only 8MB - and no expansion slots for other media.
4. Not all accessories are available yet (I HATE IT WHEN THEY DO THAT!)

That's what I've got for now - I'll post some more stuff later if anyone seems interested.

gf

[siscool]

Please do give us updates. I really like the idea of a combo pda/phone, and the Samsung is very attractive.

I've wanted to have wireless access to email and the Web because I am deaf...I can use the phone but text messages are much easier for anything more complicated than hello/hows the weather/bye.

I'm very concerned about the upgradability and the storage media problem. If Samsung should come up with a storage solution as attractive as the 505 I may just go for it (IF the upgrade answer is something I can live with!!!).

[MCompeau]

I've used the Samsung I300 for about 4 weeks now, and really do love alot about it--many of the reasons previously mentioned in this thread.

BUT,
Folks should know that the screen is NOT bright enough for routine outdoor use (unless you live in Alaska in the winter--dark all the time, or near the Straits of Magellan in THEIR winter--dark all the time). It washes out badly outdoors in even modestly bright sun.

Also: though they are working hard on it, there are some strange instabilities folks have had: I've had spontaneous soft resets (no data loss) when using the on-screen END button to end a speaker phone call on about 8 occasions. Annoying, though not terrible.

I expect that later devices will include bug fixes to correct these and similar ills.

ALSO;
I've have liked the buttons on the sides to have some tactile indications so you knew when you were touching "which" button. With the current smooth surfaces, you will find it very difficult to know IF you have your finger on a button, and WHICH button you're on, without looking.

There also seem to be some issue with the handsfree jack whereby SOME handsfree units work fine, and others don't. Test with a unit before committing.

[Glen Fountain]

Here is a link to a review I found in the Wall Street Journal:

http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20010830.html

A few more things about the phone:

1. Accessories are not available anywhere I have found except Samsung's site. Talking with a senior purchasing mgr for a large wireless company I was told that the next 'wave' of phones should hit stores by the 10th of December and that accessories will be accompanying the shipment - but only the earphone, standard battery, car charger, travel charger and sync cable. The handsfree kit for the car, the extended battery, the other carrying cases, and the desktop sync/charging cradle will only be available via Samsung's site.

2. I have not found ANY app that would run on my M505 that will not run on my I300. Please post any apps that you have found problems with.

3. The web features on this phone work better than any other web-eneabled phone I have used - period. It comes bundled with the Blazer browser - and my connection speeds are averaging around 14.4Kbps - plenty for what is mostly text.

4. The IR port seems about average in signal strength - not quite good enough to use as a universal remote (when you are at the bar on Saturday and they are showing bowling instead of college football) but it works well enough to unlock doors/trunk on Mercedes E-Series that have IR door locks.

5. One-handed dialing is tedious if you have a lot of contacts - unless you have the number in speed dial (99 number max). It is a trade-off, though, because if you want to call anyone at anytime, you can do it because you already have their number in your contacts. Although if they are number 305 of 500, it may take a while to call them

6. This phone is for Palm users. It is great for someone who uses their Palm - or always needs to carry it with them - but if you don't use your Palm much now, it may be cheaper for you to go with another phone.

[siscool]

I checked out their web demo...if that screen image is the real size of the phone, I'm impressed. I was a little leery of the boxy look too, but it wasn't bad at all.

I'm concerned though about the Palm OS upgradability. Anybody know about this??? Couldn't find any info on the site.