Samsung SPH-i500
Average Ratings
NOT TOO BAD
well I'm a traveling sales person and this phone worked out really well for me .. i did stumble across a few difficulties that i noticed no one else posted about .. if the phone is powered off for an extensive amount of time .. all memory will be reset and lost ... that really hurt!!! TWICE actually ... with two of these phones ... moving on to bigger and better but not a bad starter PDA at all .. just don't try to text ... hard and not worth the time nor effort .. just IMO
nice
Well, the Samsung i500 is almost perfect phone. I like it because it is a flip phone. Moreover, it is a phone plus PDA and more.
However, this phone is missing a camara which I think is cool thing.
I did a research online and I found that Samsung made a new i550 model to replace i500, but Sprint do not want to sell it yet. This is very sad because the i550 has the whole tools.
Ok phone when it came out, but now don't even think about it!
This Phone was great when it first came out, but now: may 05- Don't even think about it. It sells for under $200 if you can get it for $150 buy it: It does all the basic things. Organize take phone calls..that's about it.
Palm OS is slow and crappy
If you can shell out a little more and get the i600 or treo 650 or shell out a little more and get the audiovox6600
If you just need something really really basic, go for this phone. You will be content, otherwise if you need more of a phone that will work for you, and which you will rely on more: pass this one.
YOU CAN'T BEAT IT AS A PHONE AT $89 FROM SPRINT
Let me make a short story long ... I bought a Treo 650 from Sprint in December. I paid $450 for it (two year contract). Right off the bat, it was clear that it was better for e-mail, web browsing, even word processing/document viewing than as a phone. And the first two had firmware problems. The screen mysteriously cracked on the third one -- while it was safely in my suit jacket. I'm on my fourth one. And while I love all it can do it just proved to be too fragile for active use.
So I ended up also carrying around a Samsung V1660 to use as a phone. Then my company decided to hand out Blackberry devices to all of us. And then I saw that Sprint was closing out of the SPH-i500 at $89 (two year contract). I grabbed one.
At that price, the i500 is simply awesome. It is a sturdy little flip phone. And it has the Palm 4.0 OS functionality. You can use it to receive/read e-mails (e.g. Business Connection). In the box comes TWO batteries and a case and a really nice cradle. It has no camera (who cares?) and no SD slot (it would be nice, but ...). It has no internal keyboard. And it really isn't going to work as an MP3 player with only 16 MB. But at $89 it can simply be a great phone with Palm OS functionality -- WordSmith and Adobe Acrobat Reader to review documents, Address Book, e-mail, some games. You can get a flexible (roll-up) keyboard for it and with the extended battery (which is a little beefy) you'll double the already decent between-charge capacity.
I'm carrying it around (in my suit jacket) with my Blackberry (in my briefcase). In that combination, the i500 gets an A++.
p.s. My wife gets an almost-new Samsung V1660 and shares Sprint minutes with me. And my Treo 650 is reduced to the status of am expensive novelty item.
Best one out there as of 5/05
If you have to have Palm and form factor is of prime importance, the i500 is it. I can put this small phone in my pants pocket and don't even remember it is there. Does what I want it to do. I use my phone little to moderate and need Palm functions such as
Todo, schedule and contacts. It is great.
I500 Is The Answer
Background = Sprint PCS, last phone = 5300 & Treo 600. Waited several months before purchasing this phone (due to the cost). Price dropped, picked up phone, works perfect for phone, work, PDA. Prior to this phone, didn't use the camera phone on the 5300, waist of innovation (and money). But, the Treo had Business Connect. This was a huge sell for my job, as this allowed me to connect to my corporate e-mail (period). This phone does that, as well as allow you to download an install other work related programs. I do agree that the "quick" dial phone method on this phone absolutely sucks, and I've almost gotten into 3 accidents because it's hard to navigate. - Pull Over idiot! Here is what I like and hate:
Pros: Phone is small, stylish, cheap, pda ready, business ready, solitare rules (download from another site), you can download programs from other sites, cool docking station.
Cons: No downloadable ringtones (Sprint will charge you this unless you call and say "hello, I can't download ringtones"), Sprint customer service (or any cell customer service but very expected), random Internet freezing (requires removing battery to reboot), battery life (purchase new batteries via E-Bay), anything else who cares? No SMS text enabled Sprint to Sprint messenging without external service, requires e-mail program to view basic e-mail (why?), I bought this phone mainly because I was waiting for the I600 to come out with Windows CE. Well they forgot to mention until too late, that I600 didn't have a pen stylis (sp) so you have to hunt and peck the number keys = no thank you, up your's.
Hints: Look for FREE Palm enabled games online. Go to Eudora to download FREE e-mail program for "Palm."
Conclusion: If you find this phone for less then $300 bones, then buy it; you'll like the clamshell phone / palm unit. If you're looking for a camera, mp3, streaming video, speakerphone then I suggest finding something else. Good luck!
I dig it!!
The thing works great. If you want a camera buy one! Palm 4 vs 5, not much of a diff if you just need to keep appointments, numbers and notes straight. Very cool having only one item to take care of two needs especially when the size is small and light. I get my other e-mail and can browse the web to.
Great replacement for SPH i330
After reviewing specs on SPH i600 and SPH i500, I chose the later and I'm glad I did. It replaced my SPH i330 and in every way it is superior. Recommendation for address file is to download 321 Contact from Handango. It is designed for the SPHi500. Samsung should have included it in their preloaded software!
Pro
Small and compact.
Touch screen
Ease of connecting to computer
Great desktop software
Voice dial exceptional
Con
Camera???
Speaker phone.
Terrible
Cons:
* The phone has no speaker nor an external caller ID.
*The battery does not hold its life for very long.
*There is a delay when dialing a number and it registers on the screen.
* There is no blue tooth capability or similar technology.
* Buttons are too small and close together.
* A lot of dropped calls
Pros:
* Good Color screen
Samsung i500 vs Kyocera 6035
I have used a Kyocera 6035 PalmPhone since 2001 and loved it other than the fact that I went through 5 of them (usually the same failure). Thank goodness for Sprint lock\line insurance.
Recently, my 6035 started acting up again but they had no more, so they replaced it with the Samsung i500. Here are my thoughts:
Samsung is nice, but other than being faster, more memory, color and ring tones, it is missing features that I used in the Kyocera:
1. No speaker phone
2. No programmable power on/power off (6035 let me program on/off times)
3. No programmable rings (you could download them for 6035, wav samples)
4. No "vibrate, then ring" or "escalate volume" ring mode -- either vibrate, ring, or both
5. No WAP browser comes with it, so no way to SMS or chat or anything via Sprint!
6. No e-mail app comes with it
7. No integration apps like the minute tracker and such (virtually NO i500 software found online!)
So, although it's smaller and cooler, I can't do half the things with it I could have done with a Kyocera 7135 had Sprint carried it.
It's a good phone so far, but severely lacking in features. It's basically just a phone with a color Palm with very little intergration between the two.
The dialer system is better, and I think you can do more memos and voice dialing slots, but...
Once I get a sync cable and get my 3rd party apps moved over I will be happier.
For $600, though, I would look into the Treo 600 - coworkers with it seem to like it (just no analog mode and not a flip).
