Samsung I300 now Available Online from Sprint

The Samsung I300 smartphone is no longer listed as "Out of Stock" on the Sprint PCS webstore and appears to be available for immediate delivery. They are offering it for $500. Sprint also has a variety of accessories available, too.

While the I300 has had some limited availability in stores, until now it hasn't been available online.

The Sprint webstore sells additional standard and extended batteries for $60 each. They also offer a HotSync cradle for $60 that can charge both the I300 and an additional battery.

A travel charger costs $40, a leather case is $20, and a stylus is $10. A Hands-Free Car Kit is $200.

Included free with the I300 is an earbud headset and a vehicle power adapter. These items show up with a price of $0 when placing an order for the smartphone.

The I300 is the first PalmOS smartphone to have a 256-color screen, which is 240 by 160 pixels. The Graffiti area is virtual though so far the only application that makes use of this is the I300's built-in phone app. The body is 4.9 by 2.3 by 0.8 inches and weighs 6 oz. There will be an extended battery available that will change it to 4.3 by 2.3 by 1.1 inches and 7.5 oz.

It runs Palm OS 3.5 and has 8 MB of memory. The battery life of the SPH-I300 is approximately 4 hours talk time and 100 hours standby time in digital mode using a standard battery. It will come with a spare battery.

It is a dual band phone: CDMA PCS 1900 MHz and analog 800 MHz. It supports both voice and data. Both Web clipping and true Web browsing are supported.

Thanks to Druce MacFarlane for the tip. -Ed

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How does it compare to the Treo?

skoty @ 11/2/2001 10:37:33 AM #
Anybody care to comment on how this compares to the Handspring Treo. One thing that jumps out at me is that this only has 8MB and the Treo will come with 16. How about some size/volume comparisons.

RE: How does it compare to the Treo?
I.M. Anonymous @ 11/2/2001 10:56:46 AM #
I can't give exact numbers, but the Treo is a bitter smaller then the m1xx series, making it the smallest handheld to date, or whatever, maybe I forgot about something.
IMHO, treo beats the i300 into the ground, it has a keyboard, it has a real cell phone form factor, and it has more memory. Only down side people will probably give is the treo's lack of expansion, i.e no expansion slot, and color (something I think isn't important at all, especially in something that will be used as a phone). In the future, I wouldn't be suprised to see someone create an expansion ability for the Treo line, i.e sleeve type device, hey, it could happen. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of GPS, and as a sprintuser, this would be better then switching to an entirely new network, but as a visor user, I'm waiting for the airprime to come out.

RE: How does it compare to the Treo?
Scott @ 11/2/2001 11:15:43 AM #
Basic differences are that the Treo is not available yet, will initially be grayscale only, is smaller, and uses the GSM network (vs the i300's Sprint network w/analog backup). Note that while the Treo will be smaller, the i300 is actually quite small/light. I believe the jury is still out as to whether or not the i300 has flash ROM, but most believe it does not. I've lately been trying to decide between these various smartphones and had been leaning towards a Kyocera 6035, despite the larger size and grayscale screen because of the potential of getting it cheaper, good battery life, hard keypad, Verizon network, and availability. I would like to see the i300 up close before I decide, though.

Scott

RE: How does it compare to the Treo?
I.M. Anonymous @ 11/2/2001 11:45:25 AM #
Questions:

1. Does the I300 have flip lid of any kind? The pix don't show any such, even on the Samsung site <http://samsungelectronics.com/mobile_phone/wireless_terminals/cdma_pcs/sph_i300_features.html>

2. Will the Treo be a Sprint-capable phone? As in, can I just transfer my existing Sprint account from my cellphone to the Treo (as I think I can with the I300).

3. Which OS do these puppies use. I think the Treo uses 3.5.3, which would be a knock against it if true.

RE: How does it compare to the Treo?
I.M. Anonymous @ 11/2/2001 11:50:58 AM #
#3 Answer: I think it uses 3.5.2 if I remember right

RE: How does it compare to the Treo?
I.M. Anonymous @ 11/2/2001 1:03:29 PM #
My comment on either IS300 or Treo would be that they rise and fall very fast in general. These ~$500 geek items does not shine more than 1 or 2 seasons before another expensive geek outshine it. If you seek comparison and this is what comparison will tell you. No bad feeling here. I own an Edge and VP and at least I still like it. I also looking forward to Treo release and would like to see how it live up.

RE: How does it compare to the Treo?
skoty @ 11/2/2001 1:35:25 PM #
A comment on OS version 3.5.3:

I've heard (read) alot of people say that it's bad for Handspring devices to be shipping PalmOS 3.5.3. Can anyone give me a list of things Handspring users will miss out on by having the "older" version of the OS.

From what I've investigated, most of the OS changes from 3.5 to 4.1 have been hardware support and bug fixes. I've heard there's a better security manager in 4.0 and an alarm manager. Similarly in the Handspring releases of OS 3.5.x there is a fast lookup in the address book program, datebook+, and citytime.

I don't see whay have OS 3.5.x is SOOOOO bad other than having a lower number.

RE: How does it compare to the Treo?
martianviking @ 11/2/2001 7:29:46 PM #
To "Anonymous" above, regarding which service providers you can use these phones on:

As "Scott" said, the Treo is a GSM phone. That means it only works with Cingular, VoiceStream, or another service provider that uses GSM.

The I300 is a CDMA phone, and it works with Sprint. Yes, Sprint lets you buy a new phone (same price with or without new activation) and you can switch your existing service over. I did this not long ago when my Motorola Sprint phone was stolen; I just bought a Samsung Uproar and switched it over very easily.

I don't believe the I300 will work on any other carrier's networks. Verizon uses CDMA as well, but they run on 800MHz "digital cellular" not 1900MHz "PCS" like Sprint, so I don't think Verizon can offer the I300.

Hope that helps...

RE: How does it compare to the Treo?
I.M. Anonymous @ 11/2/2001 8:34:33 PM #
> the Treo is a GSM phone. That means it only works with
> Cingular, VoiceStream, or another service provider that
> uses GSM.
> The I300 is a CDMA phone, and it works with Sprint.

Thank you, martianviking. Guess I'm stuck with the Samsung
or some such, Sprint customer that I am. And after reading
its opinions here, I'm not too thrilled.

I.M. Anonymous, aka Jeff G

RE: How does it compare to the Treo?
I.M. Anonymous @ 11/3/2001 6:11:55 AM #

By the time Treo is released, especially the color version, I'm sure Samsung will have the next version of this Smartphone, and it will surely be better than what we have now.

Treo has something with its keyboard, but however Treo is managing the phone part of its product, I think Samsung's expertise in the cellular phone market will make the Samsung products a more solid phone, if nothing else.

I'll go out on a limb and make a prediction. By the time Treo hits the shelves,

1) Kyocera will have a i300 competitor
2) i300 will spawn i300+ or something which will be even smaller than 1300, better battery life, better LCD, USB, and OS 4.0 taking it a step beyond Treo.



RE: How does it compare to the Treo?
Marty @ 11/4/2001 1:37:33 AM #
The I300 will be available from Verizon around Christmas time.

As for the Treo, initially it will only be available in a GSM version. However, Handspring has stated that they are aggressively developing a CDMA Treo and expect that version to be available around the same time they release the color version of the GSM Treo.



Screen washed out

I.M. Anonymous @ 11/2/2001 11:43:18 AM #
I just played with one a few days ago, and it is a great size. The screen was was smaller than my m505 but I'm not sure if that's smaller than the m100 series or not. It was just small.

But, the color is pretty washed out, kind of like the image at the top of the page. I guess that's not gonna stop me from getting it, but people ripped on the m505 for sometimes being washed out, and that was a reflective screen, and I'm pretty sure the I300 is not. They just make it really bright. I talked to another guy at the store and he said he's had one for a few days and outside, you just have to cover the screen up a little to see it. So...

It's just everything had a washed out, blue-ish tint to it. Even in the Prefs menu, you can change colors of the grafitti keyboard between like four shades of blue; no other colors. So that just backs up the blue-ish tint is maybe it's strongest color or something. Just a guess.

I couldn't get the grafitti to shut off except when you use it to dial and possibly others.

Just thought I'd tell what I saw.



Screen NOT washed out
I.M. Anonymous @ 11/3/2001 5:25:12 PM #
The units ship with the contrast turned all the way down, and most stores don't know better than to display them that way. I consider the color on mine to be pretty vivid.

RE: Screen washed out
I.M. Anonymous @ 11/4/2001 11:31:16 PM #
I would agree that the screen is washed out on this unit. I've had mine over the weekend, and the screen is the only disappointing thing about it.

Now, I admit I migrated to this from a Handspring Prism - so I was accustomed to having one of the best screens available. But the screen is definitely washed out - I would recommend anyone considering one should go see one in person first.

If you remember way back to the early days of color laptop screens, there was a significant difference between "Active Matrix" screens and "Passive Matrix". I would say that this phone seems to be a passive matrix screen - you get after-images whenever the screen changes.

Still, not a showstopper for me. But I will seriously consider upgrading to the Treo (color) when it is available.

I300 My Observations

MadMax @ 11/2/2001 12:04:34 PM #
Here's a few observations:
Screen quality is ala IIIC at best. I have an M505 and the I300 can't come close. The screen turns in to that familiar black rectangle outside in sunlight; which is where I found myself using the phone quite frequently and thus, couldn't see the phone pad. Vertical lines show up (depending on temperature?). The resolution is tight. The Virtual Graffiti area only goes away for the virtual phone pad.

Serial Hot Sync cradle. depending on the system setup, the serial cradle behaves 'strangely' when placing the I300 in the cradle with the unit on.

E-mail. Use a program like Iambic mail, or Eudora. don't try one of those silly PQA's unless you are absolutely desperate.
You must have a dial up ISP to send mail. Sprint PCS is not and will NOT provide you with an SMTP address. If you happen to have ATT @home, their SMTP account info won't work.

AIR TIME. Note You cannot change your plan in the middle of your billing cycle so, plan ahead. There are several plans NOT in print OR on on the web; like the 6000 anytime + 6000 Night & Weekends for $399. Depending on how much you use your phone, this may or may not seem expensive.
No matter what plan you are on Sprint PCS charges $.50 min for Analog roaming. You can purchase blocks of 50 minutes of A.R. up front.

After using the I300 for nearly 3 weeks I sold it to a business contact who was using a Palm VII. He is very happy since he doesn't know any better than a VII with Palm.net. If you are here at P.I.C. you probably know better.

It was a fun unit. I'm sure with the right service plan and user conditions the I300 is a great mobile office solution for some. Just not me.

The Road Warrior


RE: I300 My Observations
I.M. Anonymous @ 11/2/2001 12:17:54 PM #
Thanks for the info. That's good stuff to know.


frank I300 My Observations
I.M. Anonymous @ 11/2/2001 12:27:45 PM #
thanks for your observations,
i think so far, you're one of the few people who've made a very frank subjective observation of the I300. I found that when reading other people's post they generally want to justify their purchase.
Thanks again.

Jano

RE: I300 My Observations
I.M. Anonymous @ 11/2/2001 2:24:28 PM #
Here is my justification after spending $500 48 hours ago at my local Sprint store for the I300.
Display: Almost unreadable in bright sunlight if you don't shade it; very bright in a bright room indoors; use it as a flashlight in a dark room.
Screen Adjustments: Brightness not adjustable, although you can adjust contrast.
Color: Very unsaturated. Blue is more intense, but reds and yellows are very washed out.
Size: Thicker than my Palm V, but also narrower. Feels about right in the hand. I wouldn't want it too much smaller as a phone.
As a cell phone: About as good or bad as my older Sprint phone unit. (I removed the antenna of the I300 so that it does not snag in my pocket. The antenna adds nothing to reception that I can detect.)
Ringer: Not very loud. I have it set at the loudest setting so that I can hear the unit when it is my pocket. If it hangs on a belt, then perhaps a lower setting will do.
Screen size. Narrower than the Palm V, but also longer, due to the virtual Graffiti area.
Problems: A few areas near the screen edge are numb. Also, when I enable Jot, the bottom area of the screen,including the zero on the dial pad, is numb. Thus, I can't dial an 800 number with Jot enabled.
Dialer: No problem hitting the on-screen virtual buttons with my fingertips. Gives aural confirmation.
Has: Speakerphone, voice dialing, side scroll buttons, top screen, easy on-off side buttons.
Ver.: 3.5.2
Flashable: ?
Battery Life: If it sits on the synchronizer/charger most of the day, if should never run down. Overnight off the charger, I did not notice that the unit's battery-charge indicator had moved from its full-charge indication. An extra battery comes with the unit.
Synchronizaton: Synchronized on the first attempt.


RE: I300 My Observations
I.M. Anonymous @ 11/2/2001 4:43:27 PM #
How's the vibrating ringer? Is it similar to the m500 series?

And how do you feel about spending $500 on the device? You regret it or think it's pretty cool or what?

I'm thinking about getting it but I'm curious for your more subjective viewpoints, well, anyone that has had one for a few days at least.

Any body have any more pointers???


Thanks

RE: I300 My Observations
I.M. Anonymous @ 11/2/2001 5:24:50 PM #
Subjective Comments: Way cool. My life is much improved now that I don't have to carry both my cell phone and my Palm. I now can carry color photos of my wife and kids on my handheld. This I300 is a keeper, unless I trade for another I300 that doesn't have the screen numbness problem.
Why: Why don't they put the stylus on the right side, where it belongs? Why do they still use a serial connection on the sync cradle instead of USB?
How: How do they get so much juice into that teenie battery?

Not a good idea
I.M. Anonymous @ 11/3/2001 8:14:00 AM #
If you remove the antenna, you force the cell phone to transmit using more power. Since digital encoding maintains the voice quality at both low and high power, you may not notice the increase in power output. Unfortunately, this increased microwave output may increase your chances of getting certain types of cancer.

RE: I300 My Observations
I.M. Anonymous @ 11/3/2001 2:08:35 PM #
Does the increase in power output take place only during the time when you are making a call, or does it occur all the time that the unit is on standby?

RE: I300 My Observations
Marty @ 11/4/2001 1:43:43 AM #
You can send email with the I300 by using the smtp address "mail.aribridge.net" (the sprint kyocera 6035 has the same problem). You do NOT have to have a dialup ISP to send email with the I300!

Also, after using my I300 for three weeks, I can positively say the screen is not totally washed out in direct sunlight. I can see how it could be a little difficult to see for someone with not that great vision but it is definitely useable in direct sunlight.

As for the screen quality, I respectfully disagree with the posted review. I have a Prism (and used to have a M505) and with the exception of using it in direct sunlight, the Prism blows away the M505 as far as screen quality goes. Likewise, I prefer the screen of the I300 over that of the M505. I do agree, however, that the I300's screen is very Palm IIIc like.

I have not had any problems with the serial hotsync cradle with the I300 on or off.

The I300 is a very useful tool and with apps like PalmVNC and Docs-To-Go, I have been able to leave my laptop at home when I travel. Just waiting for someone to release a keyboard for the phone then I'll be all set...


My totally opposite opinion
I.M. Anonymous @ 11/4/2001 10:08:54 AM #
Maybe I'm not that anal, or don't expect the world in cutting edge electronics (and I have a house full of them), but I LOVE my i300. I previously had the Kyocera palmphone and hated it. Here's what I think is great about the i300

1) Managable in size, and tiny compared to the Kyo. The Kyo is a brick whereas the i300 feels like a regualr cell phone. Plus its a few .oz lighter, which does make a difference in your pocket

2) Phone reception is excellect. Never could get a decent connection with the Kyo.

3) Color screen makes viewing easier. Yes, it is washed out, especially in bright sun, but I tested this out before I bought, so I knew what I was getting. Phone dialing is managable even in bright sunlight. Using the Palm isn't so great, but I don't really use my Palm outside much, so no big.

4) Virtual keypad and graffiti. No problem with usability here. My fingers work the keypad great, with no errors. I use voice dial mostly though.

5) No flip. Flips are annoying. Just one more thing to do before you can do what you need to do. If you are worried about protection get a case.

6) Coolness factor. It looks cool (unlike the Kyo) plus it begs to be taken with you (unlike the Kyo) and its is stealthy (unlike the bulky Kyo) so you can take it everywhere.

7) Fasted Palm on the market! Yes, its true. The benchmarks prove it.

8) Misc. Battery power is on the low side, but managable. When I get the car and travel chargers this won't even be a negative factor. ** Serial connection. This was kinda nutty decision for a cutting edge phone. Even Palms don't use serial anymore. Of course there is always a serial to usb adapter. I use the IR port on my laptop. ** Upgradability of newer Palm OSes unknown.

Overall, I think this is the best and most usable implementation of the Palm OS on a cell phone to date. To be sure, 3G is coming soon, and the i300 will be relagated to yesterday's product soon than I'd like to admit. But until then this is the real deal.

Q's for Marty
I.M. Anonymous @ 11/4/2001 12:05:29 PM #
I guess you ment "airbridge.net". none the less, airbridge is a Verizonwireless specific item so, I'm not sure how to do this.
www.verizonwireless.com/images/mobileip/user_guide/user_guide.pdf

I too am trying to set up my email so I may SEND & sprint tells me to get the SMTP from my ISP! So, if I use mail.airbridge.net what sort of info do I use for the username & password? Also, what email client are you using?


Thanks!

RE: I300 My Observations
Marty @ 11/4/2001 6:56:26 PM #
No, I definitely meant "mail.airbridge.net" Yes, it is a Verizon server but that doesn't really matter. In Eudora, under the "security" tab where you set up your account in Eudora on the I300, simply set it to "don't authenticate" for the smtp server and you won't receive the prompt asking for your username and password. Works just fine.



RE: I300 My Observations
I.M. Anonymous @ 11/5/2001 1:01:35 AM #
Marty,

Thanks for the tip on Eudora along with airbridge. (btw your original post wrote mail."A R I" bridge.net -no big deal) To my knowledge, Eudora is the only Email that let's you get that specific on security preferences. If you know otherwise, please share it with us!( I tried Iambic mail- no dice, & Multimail would let me trick it but that's too much of a pain just to send & receive)I tried it on my 505/Minstrel combo using AT&T and it worked perfectly.

Thanks again!

RE: I300 My Observations
Marty @ 11/5/2001 2:45:40 AM #
I haven't really tried any other email apps. Eudora works just fine for me so I'm not bothering with anything else.

On a separate note, what are your thoughts on the CDPD coverage of your M505/Minstrel combo? I was using a Prism/Minstrel previously for wireless internet but the signal was so finnicky/easily lost that it frustrated me so much that I decided to bite the bullet and fork over the cash for the I300. I must say that the data coverage is much improved over the CDPD network the Minstrel uses and I can now check my email/browse the web in so many more places than I could before with the Minstrel. I just miss the Prism's awesome screen :( Hopefully, the CDMA color Treo will take care of that...



RE: I300 My Observations
I.M. Anonymous @ 11/5/2001 11:06:09 PM #
Well, so far it's pretty much the same as with my Old Omnisky service; O.K. by me. I've only had the Minstrel 500 modem for less than a week & I couldn't "use" my E-mail, it's hard to give a good opinion. E-mail is my primary function with wireless service so, I'm really glad to have it working [correctly].

RE: I300 My Observations
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/21/2001 11:54:09 AM #
This forum is very helpful in helping me to get my Samsung working right. I have been trying the mail.airbridge.net for SMTP to push mail through my yahoo email account (you can set up a Yahoo account for POP and smtp access) any other thoughts because it aint working for me. Also, I am trying to remote hotsync using my wireless cdma modem. It connects and idetifies me as the user on the laptop but never identifies me on the samsung and disconnects after 3-4 mintues. Has anyone had any luck remote hotsyncing to a modem on your computer?

RE: I300 My Observations
I.M. Anonymous @ 1/15/2002 11:50:08 AM #
Marty, Thanks for this great advice about SMTP address to use for outgoing Eudora mail on the I300. I have made the changes you describe, but receive an error after sending complaining about an addressing error: "Ad addreess has error: 5.7.1 Relaying:" followed by the email address to which I was sending. I have tried various email addresses I know are correct, but always get the same error on sending mail. Any ideas? Brent

RE: I300 My Observations
I.M. Anonymous @ 1/17/2002 6:18:09 PM #
I can't do a wireless network hotsync either. It works about 1 in 4 times, but usually it fails about the point where it say identifying user.

Go here for reams of info...

I.M. Anonymous @ 11/3/2001 12:45:26 AM #
pdabuzz.com, in the Smartphones forum, and also
sphi300.com - many of the same posters on both. The sphi300 one is dedicated to the Samsung phone, whereas the pdabuzz one is for all smartphones. But - pdabuzz posts are probably 95% combo of Kyocera and Samsung related.

stuck

shadowdogcarny11 @ 2/11/2003 1:42:47 AM #
i'm stuck at the identifying user-
anyone know how to fix it for a palm v?

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