.KEYWORD samsung
.FLYINGHEAD PRODUCT REVIEW
.TITLE The Samsung SPH-I300: a great combination device
.FEATURE
.SUMMARY Having tired of carrying around both a PDA and a cell phone, Richard Echeandia has opted for the convenience of the Samsung SPH-I300 smartphone that combines the functionality of both devices into one compact and colorful package. In this review, Richard shares the pros and cons of this convergent device.
.AUTHOR Richard Echeandia
I don’t know about you, but in addition to everything else that I need to get my job done, I have to carry around both a PDA and a cell phone. I feel particularly frustrated with technology when I look up a number on my Palm handheld and then have to re-type that number into my phone. I haven’t been really motivated to spend money on any of the combination phone/PDA devices that have been available up to now. When I saw that Samsung had finally developed a device that brought together a phone and color Palm OS handheld in a single, compact device, I knew that I wanted to give one a try. It’s pictured in Figure A.
.FIG A Its small enough, its light enough, and gosh darn, people like it.
.H1 Technical details
The Samsung SPH-I300 (at http://samsungelectronics.com/mobile_phone/ads_awards/trade_shows/cebit_2001_pdaphone.html) is a six-ounce Dual-Band/Dual-Mode phone, and it operates at 1.9 GHz (Gigahertz) in PCS CDMA. When connected to an analog network, the phone operates at 800 MHz AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone Service) Mode. It’s an 8MB, color Palm OS device that comes with a 160 x 240 pixel, 256 color display, a serial HotSync cradle, and the usual Palm OS software.
.H1 My tale of convergence
I really used the heck out of my old Palm OS device. I also use Lotus Notes pretty heavily and synchronized my Notes mail, address book, calendar, and to-do items with my Palm OS device every day. For more information on how I do that, check out my review of Pylon Pro way back in the January 1998 issue of PalmPower at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199801/pylon001.html. I decided to take the next step and stopped by one of my local CompUSA stores where I was able to pick up the last SPH-I300 they had in stock.
I got the smartphone home, installed the Palm Desktop software, and called Sprint to activate the service. Once I had performed a HotSync operation, I noticed something about the phone right away. The Address Book function on the phone has been modified to support dialing right from the Address Book. This eliminates the need for me to maintain the same address information in my phone. This is probably one of the single greatest reasons to have a convergent device like this. After having used the smartphone for approximately two months now, I’m in a fairly good position to tell you what I think works and what I feel doesn’t work on a device like this. Without much further ado, let’s get to the good, the bad, and the ugly.
.H1 The good
The left-hand side of the phone contains an up-and-down rocker switch that allows you to scroll through the names in the Address Book application. When combined with a button that sits directly above the rocker switch, you can easily perform one-handed dialing. That’s the theory. The reality is if you have a sizable list of phone numbers like mine, it takes far too long to scroll through the list to get to the phone number that you’re looking for. The good news is that the phone button on the left-hand side allows you to perform voice dialing (if your wireless service is equipped for that). Very handy. The left side of the phone also is where you plug in your headphone jack to use the phone hands free.
In addition to the usual Palm OS applications, the SPH-I300 supports several other options that make good sense given that it’s also a phone. I’ve already mentioned the voice dialing. There’s also a voice memo function that allows you to record up to ten one minute messages. This is handy for jotting down a quick thought or two as you’re driving down the highway. There’s also a speed dialer and an application to take you directly to your voicemail and text messages. Add in a wireless Web browser, and you’ve got an idea of the complete package.
One of the features that I’ve grown to count on the most is the integrated speakerphone. Once you’ve placed a call, tap a small speaker icon on the phones display and the phone becomes loud enough for two or more people to listen in on a call.
One of the other things that I like about the phone is that it comes from the factory with a second battery. Given that it has only got about three and a half hours of talk time on a single battery, this may not be so much an option as a necessity for those who use their phone frequently during the day. Another nice touch is that the phone includes a leather case that can double as a wallet. With space for three or four credit cards and a small area for folded bills, you don’t need to look for a case as you do with many other Palm OS devices.
.H1 The bad and the ugly
The phone part of the Samsung SPH-I300 is a very well designed phone, but it’s not entirely without flaws. The unit can only be synchronized with a PC through a serial connection. Come on guys, this is the year 2002. What are you doing making a Palm OS device that can only work over slow serial connections?
I’ve also had an opportunity over the last several months to work with the phone on analog (non-PCS) wireless carriers, and the battery life seems to be only a quarter of what it is on digital systems. Of course, this isn’t an aspect of this phone’s performance, rather it’s an ugly reality of digital phones versus analog phones.
If you use your phone while driving or in noisy situations, it’s polite to mute the mobile phone so that others aren’t subjected to your noise level. Muting the SPH-I300 requires you to select a small option from a pull down menu. This is very difficult to use if you’re driving or if you’re working with your hands. I would have liked to see part of the screen area devoted to a quick tap that would invoke and release the mute function.
The SPH-I300 also comes from the factory preset to turn off the screen after thirty seconds of phone use. I thought this was inconvenient at first, but I found, on one of the configuration screens, a setting that allows you to turn this off.
My final beef with the phone comes from the Address Book application. When phone numbers in your Address Book contain extension number information (as in 123-456-7890 X2124), tapping one of the phone icons causes the phone to dial the number and the extension number at the same time. I can imagine some unpleasant surprises and overseas phone calls resulting from this behavior. I would have liked to have seen an option that set the phone to stop dialing after seven digits within a phone number.
.H1 The bottom line
Now that I have a device that combines both a mobile phone and a Palm OS handheld, I think it would be very hard to go back to separate devices again. There’s just far too much convenience and too much synergy between the two for them to stay divorced much longer. I’m looking forward to future devices that can bring these two functions together to see what further improvements can be made. My advice: get one of these.
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
For more information on the Samsung SPH-I300, visit http://samsungelectronics.com/mobile_phone/ads_awards/trade_shows/cebit_2001_pdaphone.html.
For the article, "Synchronizing to Notes with Pylon Conduit," by Richard Echeandia in the January 1998 issue of PalmPower, visit http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199801/pylon001.html.
For more information on Palm handhelds, visit http://www.palm.com.
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.END_SIDEBAR
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