Designed for the business user, Samsung’s SPH-i500 slim wireless device combines a flip-top phone with a Palm OS organizer for maximum productivity while on the road. The dual-band/tri-mode i500 offers wireless fast web access from any location for looking up stock quotes, flight schedules, and weather forecasts or using email and text messaging. The 160-x-240-pixel, 65,000-color touch screen enhances the web capabilities. The phone also offers speedy information retrieval with its web clipping service. This wireless phone’s 16 MB of memory provides plenty of room for downloaded information.
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| The included desktop holder offers easy battery charging and synchronizing with your desktop or laptop. |
Powered by Palm OS 4.1, the PDA lets you run standard applications such as an Address Book, Date Book, and Expense Report. The i500 has Graffiti writing software and a special writing area for entering letters as well as several other text input methods. This organizer even hooks up to a compact, portable keyboard for almost PC-like data entry convenience. The i500 synchs up information with other IR devices or PCs and also comes with a cradle for PCs that don’t have an IR port.
Top phone features on the i500 include voice memo, voice-activated and four-digit calling, polyphonic ring tones, and vibrate mode.This smartphone is rated for up to 2.8 hours of talk time and 210 hours of standby time on a slim battery; 4.2 hours of talk time and 250 hours of standby time on a regular battery; and 5.4 hours of talk time and 350 hours of standby time when using an extended battery.
SEE A DETAILED VIEW OF THE i500'S FEATURES
The i500's features summarized:
- Get two productivity tools in one compact wireless phone, and no compromise in functionality for convenience and style.
- See the Web at high speed and in living color on the i500's vibrant touch-screen display.
- Get quick access to flight schedules, directions, e-mail, stock quotes, weather, scores, entertainment listings and more.
- Get plenty of room for storage with 16MB memory.
- Palm OS 4.1 gives you the functionality you need to be more organized and productive.
- Get quicker access to Palm OS applications using hotkeys.
- Get Web information faster with Web-clipping capabilities.
- Extend your phone's capabilities using powerful third-party Palm OS applications.
- Multi-task with ease by using phone and Palm applications simultaneously.
- Make easier and faster calls with voice-activated and four-digit dialing.
- Take calls discreetly by switching to vibrate mode.
- Collect your thoughts using the voice memo feature.
- Use polyphonic and standard ring tones to create distinctive ringers.
1 PDA but no Communications
Slow Inet Acess. Can read emails, but no way to respond. Simply a contact DBase. Inet is slow. Buy a Treo. Sprint sucks w/ this technology. Tried so many times to make this work. If you have nothing to do, give another try......As always you might get moisture damage...
2 Great phone, great "form factor", but ya gotta dial Sprint
I wrote a review early on my site, and thought I'd share here. You can visit us at: http://www.badassreviews.com
"
When I put this site together, I thought that part of the goal for any aspiring bad ass was to find those must have things in life: love, liberty, and cool stuff. In the spirit of this pursuit, I present to you a pretty remarkable piece of technology that I have come to love (and detest) for variety of reasons.
The single best quality of this phone is that it marries a phone with the full blow Palm OS 4.1 Palm's latest and greatest OS is up to 5 and soon around the corner probably 6. But Palm 4 still continues to be the dominant OS of the PDA market (I could be wrong on this, but I don't think Windows CE is quite there yet, and Blackberry is well.. that's another story). Essentially, this PDA allows you download and install from a collection of thousands of software titles. Check out Palm Gear). If you ever wonder if there is something you wish you could use to track, organize, reference, play with, learn from, at a bus stop on cold winter day, you can be assured someone's already thought of it and made it available at Palm Gear.
"My Treo 600 also does that, what's the big deal?"
What Treo users, and essentially all other PDA/Phone users can't do, is look good using their PDA's. "Form factor" is the term given to a device's design, and how much space it takes to be a functional piece of equipment. The Samsung i500 has the single best form factor of all other PhonePDA's. Most of the PhonePDA's on the market look like heavy soap bars, some of them like the Treo's have a tiny keyboards mashed in, with badly beveled buttons that require some getting use to.
Samsung's i500 does away with all this and leaves a simple writing area that you use a Palm style (also snuggly available on the phone) to write into the system. This is not for heavy email users! If you need to send emails/messages back to the office on daily basis, you'll probably need some more functional than aesthetically pleasing.
But this Phone/PDA rocks, looks good, and is an easy conversation piece at the bar. Never mind the fact that it has a stylus that doubles as a pen.
Inside Scoop:
This phone is offered by Sprint for and astounding rate of $500 new. You'll be able to find it on ebay for around $200-$300 depending on how used it is, what accessories come with it, and if it fell off a truck in Jersey or not. My recommendation is to pick one of them up from ebay. This phone is constructed very well, and I have dropped and it has survived couple times already without any protection.
The Dark Side:
Sprint. By far and away, Sprint continues to be a promoter of pioneering technologies, at the same time, crippling them of the basics. The single largest issue with this phone is that SMS messing service that Sprint has neglected in providing. In order to actually use the SMS system on this device, you need to purchase and install i500SMS v0.31. According to some users groups, you can call Sprint, complain and have them purchase the software for you (check out PDAPhoneHome)
Still, anyone SMS messaging you, better enter their name or initials to the message, because unless they are on the Sprint network, you will not be able to know what phone sent you that message. This is just one of those things where the rest of the world seems to have a good grip on, and we in the U.S., the greatest country in the world, are still struggling to figure out how to deliver it. Technology does move like molasses sometimes.
We still thing is the a pretty cool phone, despite it's short comings.
"
Thanks!
B.A.R.
http://www.badassreviews.com
3 firmware issue
This is a great phone, and other reviewers have covered most of the topics, so I'll just mention one thing. The phones are still being sold with the old firmware. There is a major bug in the firmware, which will hang the sprint vision connection, requiring a manual disconnect from the data service or often a power recycle. This make the otherwise fabulous wirelss email sync (which pushes the email to your phone like blackberry) useless.
Most sprint stores don't know how to do a firmware upgrade on this phone, or they don't have the cable. So don't count on being able to upgrade, most people can't.
pdaphonehome.com has all the details.
this review is as of 12/04.
4 Great phone/Palm combo -- almost everything I wanted!
I sorely needed a new phone to replace my trusty StarTac and my aging Palm V, but delayed doing so for a couple of years because I just didn't see anything out there that I thought would combine their functions effectively. I wanted a clamshell phone that wouldn't accidentally dial people from inside my bag. And the Treo phones and other stick-style smartphones just seemed too big. Although I'm fine with a thumb-board (I carry a RIM for work), I prefer Graffiti, so I wanted a phone that allowed me to input using Graffiti. I tried out my husband's Treo 300 and frankly missed the Graffiti functions. I also thought it was too clunky. I've found that the i500 is almost everything I wanted out of a Palm/phone combo.
The pros: Sleek clamshell design -- compact and stylish, even with the hefty extended-use battery. It's solidly built -- no flimsy flips like the Treo 300. The screen is surprisingly big for such a small phone. The color and resolution is quite good -- the photos I keep on my phone look good. I like the Graffiti writing space -- it's small, but easy to get used to. The Palm functions are well integrated. It's easy to call people from your address book, and it's easy to save phone numbers (like from incoming calls) into new or existing entries. With the extended battery, I can go for a few days without having to charge up -- even the slim battery gets decent performance. The cradle offers one-button syncing, and can charge a spare battery at the same time as the phone -- a nice touch. Using hacks easily found online, you can put just about any photo on your screen as your wallpaper. You can also set unique rings for different people (no photo ID, though).
The cons: No speakerphone! This is a really strange feature to leave out, since it makes it hard to use the Palm at the same time as the phone. You can always use a headset, but that's just another step you shouldn't have to take. I also think it would be nice to have a caller ID screen on the outside of the phone so you don't have to flip open the phone to see who's calling. And I miss the dual-function keys on the StarTac -- functions you can easily access just by pushing "FNC" and then one of the numeric keys. I used to be able to switch the phone to vibrate by hitting two keys -- now I need to ratchet down the ringer, which can take up to 10 button presses, depending on how loud you have your ringer volume cranked. I also used to be able to mute my phone easily using the FNC button -- I have no clue how to do it on the i500, but it's certainly not a one-button thing. The screen is sometimes hard to read outside in the sun. Minor quibble -- there's apparently no way to add to the polyphonic ringtones supplied with the phone. There are plenty of options, to be sure, but it would have been nice to be able to add to them to truly personalize the phone.
On the high price -- I bought the phone used, which brought the price down significantly for me. Would I have paid the full retail price? Maybe, especially since I probably would have paid more to buy a new Palm and a new phone. At the deeply discounted price, however, I definitely got my money's worth.
5 Missing a key element
Best phone I've owned in terms of general funcationality.
The biggest shortcoming, though, is the lack of speakerphone. This is significant since the phone is also my PDA.
At first I did not think it was a big deal, but I keep running into the following scenario: Someone calls and asked "Are you available at [fill in the blank]". or "Do you have [fill in the blank]'s phone number?".
It is impossible to talk and use the PDA at the same time. I have tried workaround such as earjacks, but for me (who would only use the earjacks if I needed to use the PDA and talk) they take too long to plug in.
I heard that Verizon has a phone almost identical to this, but with speakerphone; I am seriously considering moving over.
6 A year later and still loving it
I waited somewhat unpatiently for this phone to appear on the US markets last year, and was one of the first to buy this phone. I used to carry around a Palm, cell phone and pager, and wanted to consolidate. Unfortunately I still have the pager, but the i500 is awesome. The battery power is great, screen visibility (yes, under direct sun), you get two batteries, the ring tones (why do you need to download more?), memory holds all my company's contacts plus my own. I don't want or need a camera, and was glad this didn't have one - why pay for something I don't want. I don't think the price was unreasonable. You pay a couple $$ for a Palm anyway. The size is perfect.
So there are a few things that are bothersome, but not big enough to make me return it or give it less than 5 stars. The ear-phone plug cover gets in the way - I've debated whether to just cut if off. You can't turn off the power-off and -on sounds. There is no quick turn-off-sounds button, you have to reduce the sound level all the way to vibrate then quiet.
Just my .02, even after a year.
7 Slim and trim and better than Treo 600
Traded my Treo 600 for this phone due to lack of reliability of the Treo. We have replaced four Treos in less than a year due to the failure of the speaker. Want to have more than PCS service for travel so this is great --- voicedial and more speedials than the Treo 600 also make it great, besides the small form factor of this phone. Like that I have 7 hours of talk time with two batteries that this comes with. Great construction, not flimsy and great 65,000 color resolution vs the Treo's poor display. 16mb of memory is more than one needs and it holds my 2500+ contactss, etc. with no more than 2MB memory. SMS is limited to receiving but I found a free piece of software that allows me to SMS. SnapperMail and Vindigo with this make it a true traveller.
Graffiti vs. Keyboard is fine as I have been a Palm user for many years. Also have an unlocked GSM TMobile prepaid service for a SonyEricsson 610 which lacks user friendly interface and has a cruddy joystick.
Both the Treo and Samsung are about the same price. The only issue is that it is harder to get aftermarket add-ons for the i500 vs the Treo, but they are available. Had to hunt for an extra charger, sync cord and data software but Sprint Vision makes the phone rock for looking up things on the go.
If you are concerned with size, reliability and tri-band, go to Samsung vs. Treo. The speakerphone in Treo is tinny and the camera is useless, so go for Samsung.
8 The Truth is:
Take what ya want from these reviews...but don't make the mistake of assuming half of them are worth a dime, makes me wonder if some of ya'll even own the phone...whatever.
That said, You can't go wrong with this phone. You can't go wrong with a Treo 600 either, I own both. I don't really think you can compare the two, they are totally different concepts and given apples to apples, one will always dominate the area you set out to compare. IE: I'm still waiting on that *5 star* phone that DOES smoke 'em all, it's not out there...yet. (the i550 due out in Jan 05 might get there)
Anyhow, i500 Pros: 98 voice dial tags, Flip design (I like the way the flip opens, keeps it off my cheek so the screen doesn't get all greasy), Size (same size as my wife's Star Tac), Voice memo/converstion record, Screen clearly visable in direct sunlight! (try that with your Treo 600), Unlimited battery power, Quality of build, Tri-band w/analog roam, 3G internet speed, Loud Loud Loud ringer and earpiece (earpiece is loud enough to use as speakerphone and I can hear the ringer while I'm riding my motorcycle!)
Cons: It has 'em like everything else, read about 'em in other reviews.
If ya need a phone with a PDA get a i500, if ya want a PDA with a built-in phone, get a Treo 600, if ya want a perfect combo, wait about 6 months...They are getting real close now.
9 Size Matters
There are a lot of so called smartphones out on the market and without doubt this is in the top two. The pro to this particular model s really size. Size matters. I have used both this and the Treo 600 (which is typically mentioned when you talk about this phone) The beauty of the Samsung is the flip and graffiti funtions. The Treo has neither. But the Treo does have a nice navigation button and a qwerty thumbboard(a little small for my tastes), a camera, and expansion slot. Which can be used to hold additional data and applications. While these might sound like a lot I dont have much use for many of them. Especially the camera. Its terrible. I beleve that both devices serve their puposes very well. But if you are looking for a PDA/smartphone with the compact size and functionality of a normal cellphone you might want the Samsung. P.S. I believe that Samsung will be releasing a new version of this phone later this year that will be even better. Might be worth the wait.
10 A sorry Mac user
I don't know why mac users would bother buying this phone. It was an expensive mistake on my part. Why would it matter if, after jumping through hoops, you can get the thing to sync up to palm desktop, when all your data is on custom mac software that needs isync for synchronization. Save yourselves the pain and go with an Ericsson. Furthermore - I am personally done with the wires.
11 The cell phone of all cell phones
This cell phone is an awesome piece of technology. It's a cell phone, a palm, and has internet access. What more can you ask when your on the go. To me Sprint has excellent service and the connection is pretty clear. It's pricey, but its worth it!
12 Superb little device and Mac OS X compatible.
After extensive research of the Kyocera 7135, Handspring Treo 600 and the Samsung i500 I decided on the Samsung. Three days so far and no complaints
I wanted phone with a pda and a small compact ergonomic design with a flip phone format. I did not want to carry a small paperback around, which is what the Treo 600 seems like.
It really is amazing how small this gizmo is, smaller than many other phones but does much more than all but a few devices. Buy it if size and which phone network compatibility matters.
Mac compatibility was a must and despite what Samsung's website says, this device Hotsyncs with Mac OS 10.2.8 fine. iSync 1.4 does not recognise the handheld as the iSync device list indicates, but the Palm 4.2 Desktop works fine. It is a little tricky to get this from the web as the Palm site wants a serial number from a palm device. Therefore, get the Palm Desktop using version tracker.com
Now for the reasons I chose this over the other two
- The i500 Tri band vs single band for the Handspring - Kyocera also is triband. This means the the Handspring only works on Sprint digital networks and you cannot roam at all off network. A big negative for a traveller unless you want two phones.
- Graffiti and keyboard entry without lots of tiny keys. Graffiti is easy, and if you want, a screen keyboard is available that allows you to enter data that way.
- Samsung appears to lose by having Palm OS 4.2 vs the Handspring's OS 5, but all the Palm software I found or would want operates on at least OS 3, so this is not a problem
- Small and compact, much smaller than the competitors, easy to carry
- Voice activation works well without paying Sprint for the option ie it is standard
- The i500 does not have a camera, a card slot or Bluetooth, none of which I need. Although the Handspring does, as does the Kyocera, I have no need for a camera, and Bluetooth is just a wireless way to communicate with your desktop.
- The big advantage - smaller, compact and a better phone than the Handspring. It is about the size of my old StarTac phone and has excellent sound quality.
- Easy to use; the manual is not needed very much, most functions can be figured out by just exploring and tapping.
Too early to say much about reliability so far.
13 40 days so far, very impressed!
I have had the I-500 for over a month now. I had been using the Handspring 270 via T-mobile service and after 4 warranty replacements with that piece of junk I was ready for change.
So far the I500 is doing everything right. I had to give up the qwerty keyboard, but palm grafiti seems easier than ever and the smaller size of the 500 outweighed the benefit of the keyboard. The phone to Palm OS interface is MUCH smoother than the treos. The phone has not yet been confused as to what the priority should be on the screen, nor are there the annoying layers upon layers of windows to close like on the Treo.
I use the pda primarily for contacts, calendar, and memos. I have made a habit of synching with outlook and entering as much as I can through outlook to save on the grafiti.
I find it a great tool for accessing data on the go, and serving the phone purpose. My only complaint so far is that it's ergonomics could be more well refined. It seems a bit awkard to hold to your ear vs conventional phones, but after being caught holding a treo to the ear mutiple times last year it's not that big of deal. I have since gotten used to it and don't notice it too much.
Lastly, I will say it is nice to see that Spring is not afraid to hire the mentally challenged and provide them with a function within their organization, but for God's sake let somebody else handle new subscribers.
14 All the features you need and no more
This is the perfect device for the person who wants integrated phone and Palm functionality, but who doesn't want to carry around a holster or a huge phone. I carry my i500 in my pocket and don't have to worry about the screen being damaged. It also looks like a normal phone, for those of us who don't want to be seen holding a huge brick to our ear.
For those who want mp3 player or bluetooth--fine, go with another phone. But I suspect in the real world, this phone will provide 99% functionality to 99% of the people, all in a small device.
15 Good Phone, Bad Sales Person, Bad Signal
Ordered and got the phone in a week from Amazon. I went to Fedex to pick up cause I couldn't wait any longer.
I Charged it and turned it on, but didn't get any signal. Next day, at the sprint store, I talked to the sales person about the bad signal. She told me it is because not activated yet. If it doesn't, she promised to exchange it with a better one. She told me that if they can't make it working, they will not charge at all except $35 activation fee. I let her do it and I didn't get a any signal at home.
When I came back to the shop, the store manager was out on leave and no technician or person to exchange or money back. I was told to contact the other service center and call 1-800#. They asked me for $140 to cancel even thou the phone was not working at my area. Service people were nice, but they pretended they are listening to you. They just don't care nothing but the money.
I will buy the same phone because it was the best phone I ever used, but I am not going back for Sprint ever.
Be very careful with the sales people in the store.
16 Wanted to like it but can't ignore 3 replacements in 8 wks
I wanted to love this phone - when it works it's the best - but but have had nothing but problems. And Sprint has replaced it 3 times in approx 8 weeks. Two of the 4 I've had total have had severe problems with the touchpad and calibration was continually malfunctioning and other replacement due to audio -for some reason audio stopped working all of a sudden and I had to use headset continually to be able to hear properly. I've finally decided to give up today when calibration and started to malfunction on the latest replacement I was given. I believe there is a serious flaw in the design and will not waste any more time with this model. Sprint has also recognized the problems and continual visits for Tech Support and has offered to give me a comperable phone to avoid future problems. I love the idea of a pda and phone in one but have no confidence in this model at all based on the last few weeks. My advice - avoid at all costs and keep looking - there are too many flaws in this one and not worth the high price and downtime spent trying to resolve the continually issues I experienced.
17 Too many problems
I recently moved back to the east coast and into sprint coverage. Having carried a PDA and phone for many years, I promised myself that when the time came for a new phone, I'd get a PDA/phone. After reading the reviews, I decided on the i500. I really liked the size and design (more like a phone than a PDA) but was disappointed and ended up returning it after a week. I had used a PALM before but most recently have been using an IPAQ with Pocket PC. It was hard to go back. It took me awhile to sync the i500 with my computer. The Palm software is an older version and I found the syncing not nearly as intuitive as working with my IPAQ. Also, the phone itself wasn't very powerful and I had to go outside to get and hold a signal. (The replacment phone works inside very well). I could've put up with the above problems but the final flaw was an inability to sync at work. My work computers have the newer version of PALM already installed and would not allow me to remove it. This caused the newer version to compete with the older version that came with the phone. I was able to load the older Palm OS with the help of a system administrator but was only able to successfully sync once. Also the computer (both at home and work) had difficulties recognizing the USB cable. I had to install and uninstall the driver several times. After spending hours trying to get this thing to work, I went back to my IPAQ and exchanged the i500 for a non-PDA phone.
18 Best of breed - for now
Here's what I needed and spent a year waiting/searching for. A PHONE (not a paperback book stuck to my head) that also allowed me to 1) Ditch my separate PDA, 2) access the web, 3) have reliable text messaging and e-mail.
The SPH-I500 does all of these well. I am already comfortable with Graffiti, so the text input is managable for short messages. If I really want to write an essay, I'll attach a keyboard or find a PC. Stylus input works best for "sure, I'll be there in five minutes" or "here's the address" messages. Much better than SMS keypad typing, not quite as easy as thumbtyping on a Treo or Blackberry. A workable compromise.
The phone is good, although it lacks some of the spiffy things you might want in a high end phone (such as speakerphone). However, after listening to a call at work where the remote side was on a Treo 600 speakerphone, I'm not certain I've missed much.
Blazer web browser is decent for images, Eudora web good for text only. Yahoo and Avant Go bundle decent content, many traditional websites are clunky.
SMS limitations mentioned above by others can be addressed by getting i500 SMS from www.pdaapps.com (also see their mark-n-dial utility for dialing phone numbers from webpages, and Verichat (solid AIM/MSN/Yahoo chat client).
Sprint recommends Eudora for e-mail. I found it to crash reliably on "reply" messages and have switched to Snapper, although it's more expensive.
Voice dialing works well - On my previous Motorola phone it was unusable, on the i500 it works 90+% of the time. I have no complaints about battery life, especially with the standard battery.
Things I'd take issue with:
1) Sprint Customer Service and Technical Support via phone. (2 on a 1-5 scale, and I'm being nice). In the Sprint store, they were great. Over the phone, I wanted to commit mayhem, and I'm a pretty patient person. My favorite (?) Sprint tech support quote, "they don't actually train us on these things, so you probably know as much as I do..."
2) MacOSX support. Mac support for this device is apparently an open secret. Samsung will help some with this, but I haven't yet had time to track all the bits and pieces down. It works just fine on my XP box at home, but I'd love to connect to my iBook, and not feel like I'm living on the edge! (hint, hint if anyone's watching). I've installed the version of Palm Desktop recommended by Samsung for MacOS, but it's not working - at least not yet. In searching the web, I see varying reports of success/reliability. Sad to say, try at your own risk, and be prepared for it to be a project.
3) I'm seeing an uncomfortable number of apps produce "fatal exceptions" including Eudora, Avant Go, and some ASL tutoring apps that were rock solid on my IIIx. I'm not used to saying "Sorry, my phone just crashed."
4) Don't know how you'd make it different, but teeny phones have teeny buttons. I keep hitting the wrong ones on the side of the phone. I have very small hands for a guy, so if you're big fingered, you might want to try it out first.
5) Likewise, a bit more of a margin on the screen. If trying to not use the stylus because I'm in a hurry (which for me is most of the time), it's hard to hit icons in the corner of the screen when using a finger or non-stylus pen, pencil, chopstick, whatever's-at-hand.
6) While the PalmOS integration with the phone is about the best I've seen, there are still some glitches, "huh" moments and things that don't work quite as they should - especially when switching between apps or some of the dialing features. I'd love to know why it doesn't ship with Palm OS5.
7) The cradle/charger needs to have the travel charger plugged in to function. This is both expensive (if you need more than one setup, it'll be an additional $80.00/per) and stupid design.
8) When powering off/on, haven't found a way to make the phone quiet. This results in a lot of head-turning at the beginning/ending of meetings. May be a way to fix this, but I haven't found it.
I'd love to have:
1) Expansion slot
2) Bluetooth!!
3) More memory
4) Palm OS5
I'll let other people complain about:
1) limited ringtones
2) camera (what *exactly* are you needing this for??)
3) weak vibrate mode
Overall, I'm really happy with the phone, especially now that I've gotten Sprint to provision it correctly (long, annoying story) and installed the applications and utilities that allow it to function the way an (ahem!) $600 retail phone should. Overall, in the past few weeks I've probably spent another $100-120 to get the applications I needed to really make this thing sing. But, having done that, it's been great. I'm sure that in the future, there will be devices that take this further, but - for me - this is device I've been looking and waiting for.
19 Awesome!!
I just bought this phone and man am I happy so far!! This phone rocks!! After a little bit of difficulty syncing (I tried using my old user name) but samsung tech support was AWESOME and AVAILABLE!!! They were great!! Synced up great. I had been dying for something like this that had the PDA and cell phone combined...along with analog and digital coverage.
I do agree with some of the postings about the phone not "opening" up enough....I don't understand that. But anything is a step up from my AT&T v60i...man...what a piece of junk..dropped calls....really hard to use...not intuitive at all...I had gone from a startac..(which I LOVED) to the v60i...what a mistake!!
Anyways---I LOVE my i500.....the only time I had to read the manual was in installing the software and doing my first sync with my Palm Desktop.----I have read in these postings that this is also OS X compatible.....Since I'm a huge Mac user...that is manna from heaven for me!! Although I havent tried to sync this with my G5 yet....so, we'll see.
This phone is intuitve...easy to see and understand...not a huge learning curve...great features....no stupid cameras or mp3 players...nothing you don't need...never be late for another appointment again...never forget your schedule again...never fumble for another phone number or address again....
I'm a returning Sprint customer, my wife and I were customers about 3 years ago and the coverage was really spotty, especially when we would go out to the barn to see our horses....they've apparently improved thier network substantially..so we'll see...
OKAY...A FOLLOW UP FOR ALL OF YOU MAC USERS OUT THERE....YES THIS PHONE SYNCS BEAUTIFULLY WITH PALM 4.1 DESKTOP SOFTWARE!!!!! YEEEEE---HHAAWWWW!!!!
Two hints: Turn the phone OFF!!! and trash the "photos" conduit.....(what do you need it for anyway..really).
This baby now syncs PERFECTLY with OS 9 & OS X!!!! I have a PEECEE at my office and bought another hot sync cradle from samsung to have for my Mac(s) at home so my wife can keep track of my schedule....MAJOR kudos to Samsung for coming out with a remarkable phone, I havent (yet) experienced any of the problems that I've read about here.
So there you have it. Macintosh & PC compatibility & Palm OS.....in a SMOKIN' phone!!!!!
20 Not nearly perfect....
....but really pretty good. This is my first venture into the phone-Palm marriage, as the Treos were just too big for my taste. I cannot say things went perfectly, but I am working the kinks out and I think I'll keep the i500, at least til I get my [$$$] worth out of it.
The Good:
* compact enough to wear on my belt w/o discomfort.
* fully functional Palm with easy data migration for prior Palm owners.
* good integration of Palm-phone features, so that scrolling your contacts list & placing a call to one of them is a 1 tap job.
* Package includes synch cradle & 2 batteries & leather case.
* Battery life surprisingly good.
The Bad:
* Mediocre phone reception; way less signal lock than my Samsung VGA1000 managed.
* Uncomfortable phone angle; not quite open enough.
* Icons not large enough for me to read w/o reading glasses.
* Backlighting too dim & not adjustable.
* Stylus too small to be comfortable.
* Limited (16 megs) & non-expandable memory (mine is full already)
* Pretty frequent lock-ups requiring total system reset (back up your data!)
I'm sure there will be more to say, but after 2 weeks, that's where I stand on it.
21 TEXT MESSAGE WHERE ARE U
This phone has good palm/outlook compatibility, but its e-mail and text messaging system SUCKS. I recently called Sprint to see whether I can send or receive either e-mails or text messaging. They said I could surf the web to find other third-party software to download and blahh blahh blahh. I am not a techie and would probably mess it up if I fumbled through the web in search of something that might be compatible with my phone. For $600, I expected much more than this. Sprint stinks - stick with AT&T or Verizon if you want a smart phone. Sprint is deceptive.
22 Three things that annoy me...
I love this phone, it's nearly perfect for what I was looking for and I agree with the top rated reviews, but there are a few things you should know before you drop the big money on it.
First, it really doesn't have text messaging, at least not the sort you might be used to if you came from another cell phone company like Cingular or Verizon. The only text messaging this phone supports is web based, i.e., you need to log on through your WAP browser and compose a message, which is so slow and tedious you may as well grab the pen and paper and send your message through the US Post Office. Not to mention, to send a WAP message you need to have a $15/month vision plan, or pay $.01/kb while you try to find the right web site. Sprint recently came out with "SMS" text messaging, which is what other companies refer to as simply "text messaging", but Sprint doesn't support the i500 with this despite numerous complaints from i500 owners (the phone only needs a software upgrade but Sprint won't support it). There are a couple of PDA apps out there that can provide SMS compatability for the i500, but they're flawed and cost $$.
Second, if you're into downloading ringtones, forget about it. You can't do it with the i500. You're stuck with the cheesy polyphonic tones it comes with. Not even the PDA app hackers have come up with a way around it.
Third, and least importantly, if your ringer is on the phone plays a polyphonic tone when you power on or off, and there's no way to disable it. This is pretty annoying if you want to turn your phone on or off discretely while in a meeting, a movie, or at a concert.
23 Good combo phone ... but
I originally owned the I330 and upgraded to this phone when I managed to break the crystal on my old phone. All in all, this is an excellent, albeit pricey, phone. I use it extensively (3000-4000 minutes per month) and the combined PDA and compact size are a huge plus.
My only complaint with the phone is the rubber cover for the external headset jack. After opening and closing the cover a few times, the cover will no longer stay closed. I even exchanged the phone for a replacement phone, and the new phone has the same issue. In fact, the Sprint Store tech guy's recommendation was "tear it off, it's not really needed anyway". That said, if you don't need to open the flap to plug in a headset ... then don't because the flap will likely never close properly again. For a $600 phone, this is a pretty bad design flaw.
24 Too Expensive
I think the phone has a lot of great freatures. It is by far the best combo phone on the market at this time. However, it is really overpriced. At $600 plus at least another $100 or so dollars for needed items like, ear piece, car charger and a better carrying case it is just not worth that type of money. It may be a great investment in a year or so once newer model drives the price down.
25 So far, a great phone
I've had my phone for about 3 months now. So far, I love it. I was sick of carrying my phone and my Palm Pilot around. So, when Amazon had a great deal on the Samsung, I purchased it right away. I looked at other phones like the Treo, but I was looking for a flip phone that was still small and had the PDA bulit in. I've had no problems with the phone. It works great and is easy to use if you are a previous Plam owner. The screen is bright and colors are good in my opinion. The graffiti area is a little small but I got used to it after a week or two. Actually, I installed JOT and I can graffiti right on the screen, this makes inputing data a little easier. I really love the voice dial feature, calls are a breeze. Open the phone, push the button, say the name and the phone does the rest. Great when I'm driving. The internet works good, I changed the dispaly to grayscale (4 shades of gray) and the speeds seem faster. Works great for checking the weather, stock quotes, sports scores. I can even check my e-mail at Yahoo. If you need a good alarm clock, you'll need to download software for that. I installed BIGCLOCK and that has worked great for me. Wakes me up every morning.
I would give it five stars, but I wish it had an external caller ID and an expansion slot for more memory. A speakerphone would be nice, but I can live without it. One other thing, I wish the volume buttons and voice dial button were raised a little more. Maybe a rubber button? They are plastic and flush with the phone, I find it difficult to push when I'm trying to make a call with one hand and sometimes push the button above or below it on accident. Other than that, I love it.
Word of caution. If you order the phone and want to activate your SPRINT service, you might want to take it to a SPRINT store. I've had some problems with customer service, especially long hold times (30 minutes or more?). It took 2 months to get my number ported after repeated calls to find out what was going on. Sprint did refund my first month of service to try and compensate for the delay?
26 Best PDA Phone Combo
I've been a hardcore Palm user for years, owning 3 palm devices before the Samsung. I've had it now for 3 months. Very nice device in every respect. I don't need a camera or an MP3 player in my phone. I'll pass on the Treo-style thumb board (I'm graffiti literate). The phone has been very stable, and have not had digitizer problems at all. Here are some things I wish it had it does not. An MMC slot (but I have yet to need it), but can see I might. Also, the graffiti area is plastic and not hard plastic. I'm a little worried it might not be as durable as the glass areas on my previous palms. While expensive, well worth it.
27 BEST PDA/PHONE ON THE PLANET!
I purchased my new Samsung I500 from Sprint in November 2003.
This is the perfect pda phone. The size factor for carrying it around is great and is the main reason I did not purchase a treo 600. The palm and phone functions are seamlessly intergrated and work flawlessly. I used to carry a palm tungsten, pager and a cell phone. This phone has allowed me to dump all these and go solo with the I500. At first I thought the smaller screem on the I500 would be harder to work with, however after using it for over 60 days it's great. The screen resolution is fantastic. Note: The screen size is exactly the same as the treo 600. The workmanship and design is flawless.
This is the phone that Palm should have come out with, the fact Samsung did it right the first time is incredible. Some wishes for the future, although not really needed for my purposes, would be bluetooth for a wireless headset, an expansion slot for more memory and a camara. Thanks Samsung for the best pda phone on the planet!!
28 Good Phone hope they make it better
I purchased my first Samsung I500 in Sept Right after I got it, I started having problems with the digitizer. The left side of the digitizer would go out, and Id have to set up the digitizer over and over again. I did find that the data in my phonebook was corrupt and fixed that. Still had same problem. After about 100 hard resets (including erasing all my data) and complaining to sprint, I got a replacment phone. Hope its better. The Phone really needs the features of the SGH i500. In the same form factor. (the SGH is bigger, bulkier) But for what it is, its the best on the market. It needs a browser that can handles Java and Java Aplets too.
29 You couldn't take this combo phone / PDA away from me now.
This phone / Palm based PDA combination is fabulous. I have tried several different models and found this one to be the best for me. I like the comfortable clam shell design. The integration between the Palm functions and the phone work very well. The Sprint service is terrific, I don't think I have had any drop offs...I always get a clear connections. I highly recommend this phone if you are looking for a Palm based combination phone / PDA.
30 First phone that offer PDA in nice form factor
I have owned many cell phones and pdas over the last 10 years, and have been searching for a phone that combines the two. After extensive research on the treo 600, kyocera, smartphones, and pocket pc pda phones, i chose the i500 and am quite impressed with the unit. This phone is great for someone who wants to have a decent pda integrated into the phone and not for someone trying to do spreadsheets and mp3s with the phone. To me, I realized that having too many things on the phone will eventually lead to running down the battery quickly and I did not want to sacrifice battery life. Most of my friends with the kyocera or treo do not use the mp3 player or much of the added functionality (after the inital 1 - 2 mo honeymoon period) so as to conserve battery life - so i felt this phone is the best. You have to go to the store to see how small this phone is in comparison to the kyocera 7135 and the treo. This looks, feels and operates like an ordinary cell phone with a heckuva nice pda built in to it, nice color screen to boot! The sprint service has been nice and the vision web browsing has been excellent in my mind - it is comparable to or faster than 56k dialup, which is excellent on a cell phone.
Some observations on the models I evaluated.
Did not like the bulkiness of the treo - also felt awkward talking into it.
I didn't care much for a 640x480 camera which i may only occasionally need anyway. Given a choice, I would go for less weight over the low res camera.
I Wanted a clamshell design to protect the screen - this also provides the best ergonomics for phone conversations.
The graffiti is a nice input mechanism in my view - I personally like it much more than typing on the mini keyboard.
Smartphones do not have good input mechanism - you can't enter a web address in efficiently if you have to tap the 2 button 3 tiumes to get a "c".
Samsung did a great job with the tradeoffs coming up with a very compact pda phone which when closed looks like an ordinary phone - not an easy feat. Quite Impressive, Samsung!
Things that would have made this the ultimate phone:
A high res 320x320 screen (even the larger treo 600 doesnt offer that so we'll have to live with this limitation for now).
64 mb of memory would have been nice - I'm not exactly sure why samsung skimped on the memory with memory being so cheap - may have been a size thing...
A faster processor may have helped with web browsing - not sure of this one - the transmission speed may be the limiting factor. For most applications, the i500 is plenty fast.
31 Missing some basic features, Samsung really dropped the ball
The form factor is nice. The screen is bright. But at the end of the day, this is still only a Palm OS on a regular phone, operating separately, and not integrated.
Despite what another reviewer has said, the Palm functions are not fully integrated with the phone. If I make an appointment with someone in my Address Book and attempt to put them into the Datebook function, the phone does not recognize this - it only cuts and pastes descriptive text (the person's name) from the Address Book into the Datebook appointment. I would expect a link from the appointment to the person's entry in the Address Book, wouldn't you?
Let's say the day of the appointment arrives and for some reason I want to call this person (i.e. I'm running late). The way this phone works, I can't simply go to the appointment and click on their name in order to bring up their info...I have to exit the appointment in the Datebook, go back into the Address Book, look them up all over again, and find their number and call them. This is ridiculous and inexcuseable for something this expensive, with a 4th generation OS.
Another ridiculous thing is that there is no plastic holster like there is even on the original flip phone, the Motorola StarTac. What is supplied is a leather case with a fold-over snap on lid that sticks way out, taking a decent-sized phone and making it bulky, difficult, and time-consuming to extract and take a call. We're talking basics here folks!
These are just two of the very glaring shortcomings showing how Samsung has simply taken the i500 to the 10 yard line and dropped the ball. Two more are the lack of an LED on the outside of the phone so you can see who is calling without opening the phone, and a speakerphone. Come on! A business cell phone that doesn't have a speakerphone to use for conference calls?!?!
It is because of the lack of these very basic (but necessary) features that I am considering returning this phone. Why should I pay $600 for a phone that doesn't have an external LED or speakerphone, I can't easily wear or take a call, and forces me to plod around back and forth due to a lack of thought and integration?
32 Perfect, but not what most people expect
This is a fantastic product. I've had mine for 4 months and I am loving it. This isn't a Phone with PDA ability, it's a PDA that is also a phone. The standard PCS/Samsung phone features are there for the most part, but this is first and foremost a Palm PDA. The smaller-then-normal graffiti area takes some getting used to, but once I did, I haven't had any problem. As to the WindowsXP software issues, I have installed on XPHome and Pro, with SP1 and OEM with no problems.
33 A Fantastic Phone
I have used a Palm since the original ones were released and Palm enabled phones since the Kyocera Smartphone was introduced. This is the first phone that I really feel get's the PDA/Cell Phone integration right and I would recommend it to anyone looking to get rid of that extra gadget. Kudos to Samsung and I am already looking forward to the next version of this phone.
34 FINALLY!
My old palm/phone combo finally wore out & I LOVE this new phone. As far as I am concerned, it is just perfect for my business - no excess "stuff" like camera/mp3, or whatever. I LOVE this phone! The first place I went didn't have it in stock, and neither did any of the local stores, so I bought a TREO 600 and absolutely HATED it - very clumsy. I returned it after 1/2 day and drove 1 1/2 hours to the nearest town to buy this great device (they only had 1 left). Did I mention I love this phone?
35 Horrible software
Just got this phone.
Software will not load on an XP machine. Error I receive is Error -1607: Unable to Install InstallShield Scripting Run Time
I am going back to the treo 600. A bit larger but it was up and running within seconds. Other advantages of the treo.
- speakerphone
- camera
- vibrate
- external readout
I hope sprint reads this review and fixes these problems.
36 Nice but not worth the money
If it's not for the rebate , this phone is really not worth the money. With phones that are free after rebate and some that you can get CASH BACK. This phone does not have digital camera ability and hence restrict the use of VISION package provided by Sprint. My advice for all those whom wants to have this newest toy. ... Buy this phone only if you have never have a palm pilot before and does not know what to expect from the palm pilot! The flap on the phone can be very annoying when you are using a ear piece, it tends to get in the way!
P.S. I am NOT saying I do not like this phone, I'm saying IT IS NOT WORTH the money!!! My husband has the same phone and loves his!
EXPENSIVE ACCESSORIES - example, The stupid case that came with the phone is worthless, spend another $29.99 and you get yourself a decent holder ; It does not come with the car charger like most phone do, it is yet another $39.99 to purchase this ; Hands-free ear piece will cost you $15.99 or more! DO YOUR MATH, ADD THE FIGURES UP!
37 Best Phone I've Ever Owned
Man, I love this phone. I've now had the phone for about three months and it is the best phone that I have ever owned. The fact that the phone is my PDA plus my cell is just wonderful. Everything is with me and accessable at all times. No need to fumble for my PDA and then my cell phone. It's just great. In addition, the color and resolution is fantastic. I would concur that the flip for the phone could open up a little more, but I've been on the phone for 30 minutes at a time and it was not uncomfortable at all. Thank you Samsung. Great phone.
38 Sweet phone
I played with this phone at the store and plan to get one when my other contract expires. A few things. First, the screen is 65000 colors, not 4096 like it says above and like the one guy on here complained about. In reality I doubt that makes much difference. The phone does not flip open far enough, and I wonder if that might be an issue when talking for long periods. However, I have to say that this is exactly the right form-factor for a PDA/phone, they finally got it right. Now if they could find a way to get a keyboard on it and keep it the same size, this phone would really rock.
39 This phone rocks!
I have been waiting my entire professional life for this device and now I have it and am completely thrilled! Not only is it a full-featured cell phone, but it is the best Palm I ever have owned. This device is tiny yet extremely robust and durable. After having it for just two weeks I can't imagine living without it -- and my colleagues are buying them like candy. The sync with Outlook is flawless. Room for improvement? I'd like the flip to open further so it would fit more comfortably against my ear and face; for some reason this phone does not flip open as wide as all my previous flip phones. Even so, the bottom line is that the i500 is completely revolutionary in its tiny size and huge functionality. Forget about those clumsy, big Treos and Blackberries.
40 samsung i 500
This cell phone PDA combination is great. The screen is bright, the numbers light up and the front flips down to protect the viewing screen. The phone seems well made and can stand up to front pocket use. I previously had a older kyocera phone PDA combo but it was bulky and had a hard time getting the software to sync on my laptop. This phone is much better. The only problem I have had is retrieving emails. I am not sure but I think sprint wants you to pay for an additional monthly fee to have email access.
41 I love this phone/pda
Although I had a few software issues, I still love this phone. I cannot live with my cell phone or my pda so having both in one is as convenient as it can get. This phone has my vote.
42 Samsung i500.....I'm Lovin' It!
I recently purchased the Samsung i500 and I am lovin' it! First, I am constantly on the move and could not live without my PDA and my cell phone, so having a combination is essential. Originally I had a Samsung i330, but found it to be bulky and not very easy to use as a phone. Once I saw the i500, I was in love. It is so compact, yet very hefty in feel. I am not worried about it being fragile, but at the same time, the flip design and the size, renders it optimal as a phone and as a PDA. I adore the size and the flip design! Second, I am a Mac User and the fact that is syncs natively with MacOSX (i.e., right out of the box with no 3rd party software necessary) puts it way above the competition! My last four PDA's required that I purchase additional software to sync with my IBook or I could not sync at all. Third, and this may be trivial to anyone other than me, I like that the flip design allows the i500 to look like a phone, which to me (a) does not make me look silly when I am making a call and (b) makes it a little less attractive to potential thieves. I love the screen and find the color more than acceptable. I have found the memory to be fine, I have downloaded several games, a skin application and several skins and still have significant space. I dig that the phone buttons light up, which is great for making calls at night. All in all, I am very happy with the phone. The only complaint I have is the price, I wish it were about $200 cheaper......but then again, I still bought it and truth be told, I would do it again! I love it, love it, love it!
43 I Love this Phone
I don't where that last reviewer is coming from--this is the coolest electronic device I have ever owned! I have had a variety of Palm/Handspring PDAs including a Treo 300 which was very nice but huge by comparison to this little guy--this is only 4 and a half ounces and fits in my pocket without me noticing. I have been very pleased with Sprint; it has been much better for me than Verizon. I cannot believe anyone would call the I500 old technology. Let's get something straight: this device is a PDA, phone and web browser in one unit and is smaller and lighter than most cell phones on the market. In fact, there isn't a PDA on the market smaller than this. Wouldn't size count as a technological advance? What it lacks: a card slot, but I can live without it for now. It is fast, has a beautiful screen, and does everything I need in a gorgeous small package. I have had it for a month and no problems. It sold out immediately and has been very hard to get until recently. The price has come down and will continue to drop--check it out!
44 the holy grail...
The form factor is outstanding. Palm pda phones to this point have been clunky and far too compromised ergonomically. The i500 is the same size as most flip phones with all the functionality of Palm 4.1. The cool part is that the Palm o/s is fully and seamlessly integrated with the phone. For example, you can look up an address in the Palm address book and then tap the number to make the call. The color screen is vibrant and very easy to read in doors. Outside the screen looks washed but is still fairly easy to work with. Contrary to another review below, it has a 65K color screen. Colors are natural, smooth and have depth. Not exactly hi def but for a portable viewing device the quality is superior. The overall fit and finish exceeded my expectations and has that hard to define feel of a quality product. Very smooth and substantial feeling. When the phone is closed it closes with a satisfying thud rather than a plastic or tinny clap. It comes with the Blazer browser running at 3 g speeds. Think ISDN speeds with html capability. In other words, you don't have to view stripped down versions of websites. You get basically the same viewing as you would from a computer. Since it's running the Palm o/s there are literally thousands of applications that will run on it. For AOL users simply load AOL on the phone and you'll be able to read, write and instant message as you would from home or work. The intended market for this phone is the business user. As such it's a no nonsense product. No camera, mp3 player or other such add-ons. If you want these, Samsung's follow up product to this model may be the way to go. The only improvement I can think of would be an sd card slot for added storage. All in all a truly outstanding product. Nice work Samsung.
45 Good antique item
Let's face it. 66MHz CPU, Palm OS 4, 4096 colors.
This is an old technology you should have already thrown out.
You don't want to buy it for next few years by spending $600.
Even if someone is trying to give it to me free, I would refuse.
These days if you want a PDA with phone, it has to be at least
200MHz, so that it may run the map applications properly
(not simply static map image viewer - I mean, zoom in, zoom out,
pan operations). Also, playing mp3 (with 66MHz cpu ?),
picture viewing (your family photos - with 4096 colors ?)
This Samsung I500 can be a good antique item at this moment
though.
