Samsung I300 A Palm IIIc on Steroids
Written: Aug 30 '01 (Updated Aug 31 '01)
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Pros: More Palm than Phone, Color screen, ergonomically designed. Very Cool
Cons: Some phone functions are awkward – list scrolling in particular. Low battery life.
The Bottom Line: So – if you are a heavy Palm user who can afford $500+ in order to ditch your cellphone – go for it.
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| jcare's Full Review: Samsung SPH-I300 |
So close!! Four months ago I reviewed the Kyocera QCP6035 Smartphone and said at the time it needed one more release and a color screen. Samsung so nearly got it right. But, to quote General Schwartzkopf “Good enough is sometimes good enough”.
To put the bottom line at the top – this phone is good enough for a combo Palm and Phone. Unlike the Kyocera (http://jcare.epinions.com/content_18750869124) which was really a phone with Palm functions, the Samsung I300 is in reality a Palm with phone functionality. If you use your Palm more than your phone – say 60/40 or greater, consider this as your newest gadget. I personally referred to it as my Palm and not my Phone.
At First Glance
One of the advantages of my profession is that every now and again I get to try some neat new piece of technology for free. So I got to test the Samsung I300 for a several weeks to check out its capabilities. The #1 advantage of this device is that you can ditch either your current phone or Palm, saving some unsightly bulges in your pockets or pocketbook. The #2 advantage is being able to call/email your contacts directly from one device.
Just like the Smartphone almost everywhere I used the Palm at least one person approached me and asked me what it was. Score another point just for the super-cool factor. Samsung will be launching a multi-million dollar ad campaign for this Palm over the summer. Sprint will be offering it at somewhere north of $500 – so it will certainly be an expensive toy.
The Look
Picture a Palm IIIc with a knobby antenna on the top of it, a speaker above the screen and slightly curvy sides. Its lighter than the Kyocera and feels right when nestled in my Palm – the ergonomics are good so far. At the bottom of the device are the standard four Palm buttons and up/down rocker switch. Strangely enough, pressing one of these buttons didn’t power-up the unit like a regular Palm. Again departing from Palm convention, the on/off is on the right hand side. On the left hand side is a phone control button and up/down arrows for scrolling.
The idea behind these is to allow scrolling through the address book using just a single hand. I had great trouble with this both getting the scrolling started and stopping in the right place. Your fine motor skills need to triumph over your coarse skills to use this piece of widgetry. Two-handed it’s a breeze, but aren’t most things in life ??
What else ?
A nice touch is a small screen actually on the top of the Palm that’s shows the phone stuff like signal quality and battery level. Clipped to my belt, this little screen always seemed to be at the wrong angle and I could never read it without grabbing the Palm and tilting it. Ah well.
The rest is standard Palm stuff, a sync cradle/charger, stylus – of course, an IR port for beaming and a jack for a headset so you can be one of those obnoxious people in airports who always seem to be holding a conversation with an imaginary friend.
How is it as a Palm ?
It’s a Palm – slightly bigger to account for the speaker and the knobby antenna. But it does everything you would expect a Palm to do – and in color. To me, color is the ultimate luxury in a Palm device – it makes distinguishing data on the screen so much easier. Many people complain about the washed-out nature of the screen and its definition, but remember what you are paying for – its not a PC, it’s a Palmphone.
You also have web access and can get at a good deal of Internet functionality. I really didn’t spend much time using this aspect of the Palm.
How is it as a Phone ?
The phone is only as good as the network – but compared to my regular cellphone it provided equal service and clarity whenever I cross-checked between the two. Volume was good and I detected no tinniness or bass overtones. You dial manually by tapping a virtual keypad on the Palm screen. You dial automatically by either selecting a number from the address book (which is why scrolling is so important) although bouncing through several pages is a pain. You can also voice-activate up to 99 regular numbers. Many reviewers have complained about the voice recognition capabilities of cellphones. I experienced no problems – maybe because of my distinctive Brit accent.
Final Thoughts
Battery life was distinctly average – I am a heavy PDA user during the day, and the color screen really does drain the batteries.
So – if you are a heavy Palm user who can afford $500+ in order to ditch your cellphone – go for it.
(Note you can also read a non-epinions review of this Palm in the Aug 30th edition of the WSJ by Walter Mossberg. )
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 500+
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jcare
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Location: Southeast Pennsylvania
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Bullets can hurt people. Both in guns and PowerPoint.
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