Phone or PDA? how about both?

Author's Rating:

Pros: Easy to use.

Cons: Price, SMS counter (fixed with OS upgrade)

The Bottom Line: 
Great 2 in 1 device.. Easy to use, but not cheap.

Author's Review
Phone or PDA? How about both?
by mwildey, Apr 21 '04

When I was looking to get a phone/PDA combo, I was looking at the Kyocera 7135, but ended up with this, and am glad I did. I've had this device for almost a year now, and have had very few problems with it. I am going to break this review down into 2 parts, the Phone and the PDA. Let me start with the phone.

The phone part is very easy to use. You have 3 options to use, you can hold it to your ear, use a headset (the stereo one that comes with it, or any standard phone 2.5mm headset) or speakerphone. The speaker phone is workable. It is not the best option while driving, but in the house or office, it works well. With the headset, it works well, and even comes with a stereo headset (more about that in the PDA part) as far as the voice clarity goes, it is as clear as a cell phone as I have used, the Verizon Wireless version is an all digital (no analog) phone, so it is always clear. Since it is an all digital, if you will be driving in the sticks, it might not be the best phone, however, the VZW network has gotten to the point, that you have to be pretty far from population to not be able to use it, so it is less of a problem now.

Other 'Cell phone' features include SMS/Text Messaging and voice dial. I haven't used the voice dialing (which can also be used as a voice memo or voice command, witch I haven’t used either).

The SMS works well, and appears to be the only down-fall of the device that I have come across. It uses the same entry method of the PDA to write the message. There is a bug in the SMS that causes the count to be 1 less than the actual number of new messages that you have (if you have 3 new SMS messages, it will say you have 2, if you have no new messages, it will display -1 new message) that isn't really a problem, so much as it is an annoyance. I did a master reset, and it fixed it temporarily, but it came back about 2 months later. Another draw back on the SMS is that when you get one, it gives you the number it came from, even if it is a name from your contact list.


I am not what you would call a 'Power User' but I like to think that I am more technical than the average guy, that said, I will review the PDA part of the device now. The PDA runs the Microsoft PocketPC 2002 OS. This is very user friendly, and is very similar to the Windows everyone is familiar with on their desk top PC. Some of the software that comes pre-loaded include: Word, Excel, Outlook (email, contact list, calendar), WMP, IE, Calculator, Solitaire, and a couple more. It comes with 64 megs of memory, with an expansion slot for an SD card. With WMP, I have loaded several .MP3 files on an SD card, and it works great. You can use the speaker on it, or the stereo headset. When a call comes in, it pauses the song; you can take the call, and then return to the music when you disconnect the call.

One nice feature is the digital camera. It isn't the best resolution, (it maxes out at 640x480, the same resolution of the early camera phones), but you always have your phone, but don't always have a camera. It is not a camera phone; it is a phone with a camera. The difference is you can't pix message the photos you take to other VZW camera phones (like the LG 6000 or Samsung 610) but you can add it as an attachment to an email.

Setting up Active Sync on your PC is not hard, and if you follow the directions, it is very straight forward. The battery life is not fantastic, but not bad. I used the standard battery almost exclusively for about 6-8 months, but it is wearing down, and will not hold a charge for a full day with normal use (which for me isn't that much) so I use the extended life one. I have the car charger to be sure I don't ever run dry.

You can access the internet in 2 ways, either using the PPC version of IE or by using the phone as a modem for your laptop. This is a bit tricky, since neither VZW nor Samsung will provide the drivers needed, but they can be found if you know where to look. Using VZW's "National Access" (formerly know as Express Network) allows you to connect with max speeds of 144kbps. In the real world, I connect between 50 and 60kbps (which is still faster than Dial-up)

The packaging includes 2 batteries (standard and extended life) a pair of styli, stereo headset, dual port desktop charger/sync cradle, travel charger, leather case, User guide (on CD) and the active sync software (including the full version of Outlook for the PC). I purchased the data cable because the cradle is a bit bulky for my laptop bag. You can also plug the travel charger into the data cord, so you can charge the battery while connected to your PC.


Since upgrading to the new version of PocketPC, (origianally a free upgrade from VerizonWireless.com, after a 3 month window, a nominal fee is charged) a few of the bugs have been cleared up. I upgraded the OS about 4 months ago, and the SMS bug (counter problem) is gone. Also, it now displays the name if the name is in the contacts list. Another nice thing is that you can now enter the name of the person you would like to send an SMS to, and it will check your contacts for matches, both firs and last names.. for example, if you enter in 'jo' it will look for any first name that starts that way (Joe etc..) as well as last names (e.g. Johnson etc..) nice touch.

Over all, this upgrade made a great piece of equipment even better. Makes me wonder what the next version might be like, don't let us down Samsung!