Hitachi G1000 & Samsung

Sprint PCS Vision Smart Phones

Hitachi G1000 & Samsung
SPH-i500

Review by Adam Cochran

Hitachi G1000 (left) & Samsung SPH-i500 (right)

When Rick and I aren't on the radio, we work at our real jobs where were each own computer house call businesses. I don't want to speak for Rick, but I am going to anyway, the main tool that we could not live without is our smartphones.

Rick uses a Treo 300 on the SprintPCS service and I use a very outdated, yet still functional Kyocera 6035 also on the Sprint. Each of these phones is a Palm device and cell phone combined. We use these devices constantly throughout our day and feel uniquely qualified to evaluate this type of product.

Using these smartphones we can keep track of our daily mileage, track time at each clients home or office, check our email at lunch, look up an appointment on our map software, return calls to clients, surf the web and play Yahtzee while we wait for our next appointment (if we ever have time).

A smartphone is more of a tool than a cell phone. Most consumers have little need for all the functions we use, but for those who would prefer to carry a small device on their hip instead of a large $1500 laptop everywhere they go, these devices are just the answer.

These smart phones can also replace the maps in your car, your day timer notebook, scrap pieces of paper and more.

Sprint PCS, to the best of our knowledge, carries more smartphones than any other cell carrier. We reviewed two of their most recent additions, the Hitachi G1000 and the Samsung SPH-i500.

First, I will discuss the G1000.

I must come clean and say that I am not a fan at all of the PocketPC (PPC) platform. PPC is Microsoft's attempt to compete with Palm. PPC works similar to Microsoft Windows without the ease of functionality.

It is important to get past the fact that this phone is bulky and awkward right off the bat, this allows me to move on to the phone's strong points.

The screen is pretty and the built in digital camera was very good for a 640x480 shot. Some complain that the resolution is too low, but the camera is not intended to replace a real digital camera. It is a fun little bonus. I imagine most who purchase the G1000 will play with the camera for all of 10 minutes after they get it out of the box, then forget they have it from that point on.

Both phones are Sprint Vision enabled. This means for $15 or less (included in many Sprint PCS plans) a subscriber can have unlimited web surfing.

Web surfing and email are this phone's strong points. The screen is large enough to treat as a legitimate laptop replacement in many ways. Surfing the web is also very nice as the PPC utilizes Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser. This means that pages often are much easier to read on PPC than on a Palm device...if you don't mind the size.

I personally have no use for the G1000, but for business travelers who want to manage email, listen to MP3s, and edit and read MS Word and Excel documents while on the road this phone may be a better solution that toting around a laptop, MP3 player and cell phone.

Now for the Samsung SPH-i500.

Samsung got this one right. Most smartphones are larger than the average cell phone. The i500 is very small and un-geek-like.

The i500 is powered by the Palm OS but is first and foremost a cell phone. The Palm functionality is easy to use but the screen is about 2/3 the size of the average Palm device. That said, the screen is still plenty bright and sharp enough to use once you get over the fact that this phone isn't intended to be a Tungsten or Zire Palm device.

Most of the information about this phone can be found following the Samsung SPH-i500 link. Instead of rambling about the geeky stuff like processor speed and memory capacity I will tell you why I liked it so much.

Rick and I each spent a day with the phone and we were each very impressed at how nice it felt. It only took a couple of seconds to become fixated with it.

The construction was strong and the weight was heavy enough to make it feel substantial, but still plenty light compared to other clamshell style phones.

Web browsing and email was very easy to use as you can enter text via Palm's graffiti or via the phone pad (so that's what the letters are for!).

The phone also has a back button which allows you to bounce back and forth between current and previous applications. This is very cool and handy. Often when I am out in the field looking for an address, I have to leave my address book to look up a map on my map software then I have to search for the name again in my address book to get the exact address number which closes my map program. Sometimes it takes several minutes just to look up an address. The back button would allow me to bounce between programs like this very easily.

The phone also comes with two batteries. A small one that makes the phone cute and sleek, and a large one that you wouldn't know was the large one unless you had the small one was next to it. Both batteries are very small and portable.

The cradle also has a slot which allows you to charge an additional battery, something I love about my 6035, since I can always carry an additional battery with me when I take my phone on the road.

When it is all said and done we found that each phone has different strengths. The G1000 is a great portable powerhouse and potential laptop replacement. The i500 is a great phone with a built in Palm.

The feature that makes each of these phones even better is Sprint PCS's Vision service. Early Internet visionaries used to predict days when everyone everywhere would be connected via the Internet and you would use the Internet in your car or at the grocery store to get information.

Rick and I were in our car in Vegas at last year's COMDEX and we looked up Mexican restaurants, the UNLV basketball schedule, checked email and COMDEX information all via the Internet, all on a cell phone and all as part of his unlimited Vision service which is included in the price of his plan. Sprint has it together and for the most part they are doing it right with the latest in smartphone technology.