PCS Phone Samsung i500 (Sprint)

Product Description

• This tri-mode CDMA phone from Samsung is one of Sprint PCS's flagship 3G phones
  
• Large color display supports 4,096 colors (128x160 pixels)
  
• Comes with personal calendar, date book, address book, to-do, and HotSync
  
• Supports wireless Internet (WAP 2.0) and text messaging
  
• Stylish phone features a graphical menu and polyphonic ringtones
  

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.

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.

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.

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This phone is the reason I finally got a mobile phone

I've avoided the whole cellphone thing until just last month when I finally decided to take the plunge. I've been using this phone steadily since then and I'm quite happy with it (as well as Sprint's service). I was looking for a few key features, and this phone met them all:

1. I want a phone first and a PDA second. The Treos look nice and all, but I want a 12 button keypad to make my phone call. I don't want a mini qwerty keyboard where I have to decode which keys are the number keys.

2. I wanted a Palm Pilot phone. Even though my primary use is a phone, I still need it to be a PDA/organizer. Since I don't want a qwerty keyboard, I need another way to enter data quickly and switch to different programs. The Palm Pilot Graffiti interface and touch screen on this phone are perfect! I can quickly jot down a note with Graffiti or I can jump around the touch screen menus with the stylus (which fits neatly in the back of the phone when you're not using it). I've been using Palm Pilots on and off ever since they came out, so this just "feels" right.

3. I wanted to be able to HotSync to Linux. I use Linux at work and at home, so I need to be able to keep my calendar and address book up to date -- this phone does it all. Linux has pretty good support for Palm devices, and (sure enough) it recognizes the i500. All of the usual HotSync programs work: I prefer kpilot, but I can confirm that gpilot and jpilot work as well.

As for service, while Consumer Reports gives Sprint middling levels of customer satisfaction (not the best, but certainly not the worst), I've never had a problem with call quality, dropped calls or reception in my home area (Seattle) or when I went to the East Coast. I signed up for the "Fair and Flexible" plan, which seems like a pretty good deal to me. If I go over my minute allotment, it's just $5 more for another 100 minutes (0.05/minute -- like a good long distance plan). I also bought the $5/month no-roaming option just to be safe. After all, what good are prepaid minutes, if you spending $0.45/min to roam?

All in all, I'm VERY satisfied with this phone and with Sprint. FYI, you might want to buy directly from Sprint's website -- they seem to be having some sort of promotional price right now.