Fixup
12-25-2002, 02:46 PM
I just did a comparison between A500 and N400. With the antenna not pulled out, A500's signal is 104dB and N400's is 108dB. 108 is at the edge, so the N400 looks for service sometime while A500 is steady. This may explain why N400 could not get signal when you put it into pocket.
With antenna extended, A500 and N400 get almost equal signal levels. A500's reception is still more steady and about 5dB better when signal is weak.
I prefer the design of N400. It has the best features of a flip and non-flip phones. You don't have to flip it up when receive a call and surf Internet. You don't need to lock the keys when you put it into pocket. It is a little larger and heavier, but thinner. It has a reflective screen like iPaq so you don't have to turn on the backlight (actually front light) to read the screen and it is readable under sunlight. Its joystick is a joy to use. No need to mention its speakerphone.
The main problem is: N400 is very buggy. It crashes for no reason. EmailViewer and WebViewer are always "waiting for reply". It cannot extract a URL correctly from a message so you have to enter the URL mannually when you send picture to it from t1mmy. I have to power-cycle it every time I connect it to my computer. Its browser is fast, but often crahes. Its speakerphone turns on automatically sometimes (this has not happended to me though).
When connected to a computer, both A500 and N400 gives 230400 speed on Win2000 and XP. The actual spees is very good, easily 100-150K. However, the connection often goes to dead and you have to disconnect and re-connect manually. A workaround is "PING -t".
LG 5350's reception is almost identical to that of N400. 5350 is the best vision phone, if and only if I can get a true USB cable for it. It gave me the best Internet experience on a cellphone - fast, fast and never crashed. It ran both EV and WV beautifully. When connected to a computer, the driver allows only 115200 speed, on both win2000 and XP, even with a true USB cable. The speed is around 40-70KB and I've never seen above 100K. The connection never goes dead though.
The 4900 has the best reception, but it is the worst vision phone. Slow, slow and slow. It took 40 seconds only to load EV! When connected to a computer, the speed is almost the same as A500 and N400. On Win2000 you can only select 115200 because it uses the built-in driver which has that limit. A500 and N400 use Samsung's own driver which provides 230400 speed option. Like A500 and N400, the connection goes dead frequently, but it recovers by itself (in couple minutes though!). A big problem with 4900 is: although it can receive calls while connected, you have to disconnect before you make a voice call. You can leave A500, N400 and 5350 connected and meanwhile receive and make a phone call as long as no data activity.
I did not try the 5300 (i don't need a crappy camera) but I beleive it behaves very close to 4900. For example, you may not make a phone call and you may not charge the battery while it is connected as a modem. I did not try the Hitachi P300 becuase I could not find a cable for it (is it included in the package?) and its $300 tag keeps me away from it.
For all above phones (except P300), you can buy a connection cable from Radio Shack (call different stores if you cannot find it in one store) for only $19.99. Note that all the cable work for Internet conection but may not work with sync software. The one for 4900 works for 5300. The one for 5350 is not a true USB cable but has a prolific USB-serial adapter (so download the prolific driver). The one fore A500/N400 is not compatible with sync software.
Overall, so far the A500 is the vision phone that has the least problems. I think this is why SPCS has never offered any rebates for A500 yet. It is still far from perfect, not even the best. This phone, like any other, absolutly does not worth $300, not even $200. The good news is its price has dropped from $300 to below $200 (I bought mine from my local Staples for $179).
With antenna extended, A500 and N400 get almost equal signal levels. A500's reception is still more steady and about 5dB better when signal is weak.
I prefer the design of N400. It has the best features of a flip and non-flip phones. You don't have to flip it up when receive a call and surf Internet. You don't need to lock the keys when you put it into pocket. It is a little larger and heavier, but thinner. It has a reflective screen like iPaq so you don't have to turn on the backlight (actually front light) to read the screen and it is readable under sunlight. Its joystick is a joy to use. No need to mention its speakerphone.
The main problem is: N400 is very buggy. It crashes for no reason. EmailViewer and WebViewer are always "waiting for reply". It cannot extract a URL correctly from a message so you have to enter the URL mannually when you send picture to it from t1mmy. I have to power-cycle it every time I connect it to my computer. Its browser is fast, but often crahes. Its speakerphone turns on automatically sometimes (this has not happended to me though).
When connected to a computer, both A500 and N400 gives 230400 speed on Win2000 and XP. The actual spees is very good, easily 100-150K. However, the connection often goes to dead and you have to disconnect and re-connect manually. A workaround is "PING -t".
LG 5350's reception is almost identical to that of N400. 5350 is the best vision phone, if and only if I can get a true USB cable for it. It gave me the best Internet experience on a cellphone - fast, fast and never crashed. It ran both EV and WV beautifully. When connected to a computer, the driver allows only 115200 speed, on both win2000 and XP, even with a true USB cable. The speed is around 40-70KB and I've never seen above 100K. The connection never goes dead though.
The 4900 has the best reception, but it is the worst vision phone. Slow, slow and slow. It took 40 seconds only to load EV! When connected to a computer, the speed is almost the same as A500 and N400. On Win2000 you can only select 115200 because it uses the built-in driver which has that limit. A500 and N400 use Samsung's own driver which provides 230400 speed option. Like A500 and N400, the connection goes dead frequently, but it recovers by itself (in couple minutes though!). A big problem with 4900 is: although it can receive calls while connected, you have to disconnect before you make a voice call. You can leave A500, N400 and 5350 connected and meanwhile receive and make a phone call as long as no data activity.
I did not try the 5300 (i don't need a crappy camera) but I beleive it behaves very close to 4900. For example, you may not make a phone call and you may not charge the battery while it is connected as a modem. I did not try the Hitachi P300 becuase I could not find a cable for it (is it included in the package?) and its $300 tag keeps me away from it.
For all above phones (except P300), you can buy a connection cable from Radio Shack (call different stores if you cannot find it in one store) for only $19.99. Note that all the cable work for Internet conection but may not work with sync software. The one for 4900 works for 5300. The one for 5350 is not a true USB cable but has a prolific USB-serial adapter (so download the prolific driver). The one fore A500/N400 is not compatible with sync software.
Overall, so far the A500 is the vision phone that has the least problems. I think this is why SPCS has never offered any rebates for A500 yet. It is still far from perfect, not even the best. This phone, like any other, absolutly does not worth $300, not even $200. The good news is its price has dropped from $300 to below $200 (I bought mine from my local Staples for $179).