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Saw the new lower price on the i500, and was wondering....
How is it as a phone?.. as a PDA?... how is the signal strength?....
I was looking at a 650, but if the i500 would do most of what I want, since i don't plan on heavy PDA use, it might be good for me. Anyone connecting an i500 to their Mac?...
vbush75901
05-16-2005, 09:01 PM
I just returned one after 3 days use. I had been waiting for the i550 but finally gave up and tried the i500. I absolutely loved the form factor and it did everything I needed as a PDA, but the reception was the worse I've ever had in a cell phone. It didn't work in my office or house, while I have no problem with the Sanyo 8100, Nokia 6116, or LG 125 that my I use. The sound quality was much better than any of those phones, but the reception was horrible making it useless as a phone.
Van
booklaw
05-16-2005, 10:45 PM
I've used the i500 for over a year now with both my Macs (one running OS 9.2.2 and the other OS 10.3.8-10.4) and with my office PC running Windows XP. It syncs flawlessly and easily with all three machines.
I do not have the reception difficulty the other poster mentioned. I am very, very happy with the i500. If it had true SMS, it would be nearly perfect.
For more information, check the extensive i500 boards at www.pdaphonehome.com.
bob
chipster85
05-18-2005, 03:26 PM
I've used over 20 different phones with Sprint and the I500 is my absolute favorite.
dfwtxpatrick
05-18-2005, 05:24 PM
For the current price of the I500, IMO, makes it the best pda phone available right now! Especially if you've never had one!
For the beginner, the I500 provides all the necessary tools to learn how to use Palm devices and works very well as a phone too!
I too have not had the reception issues mentioned above. I actually did enjoy the I500 working in a building where even my beloved Sanyo's couldn't keep a signal.
Basically, for $300, it is $200 cheaper than the next palm phone (Treo 600 @ $499.99)
And over $300 cheaper than any other PDA device.
So, if your wanting to get into a PDA device, the I500 makes the best sense due to cost. Besides, you can always return it prior to your 14 days if you don't like it.
And, if you do decide to get a I500, visit www.i500.nopdesign.com and you can upload wallpapers to your phone from them, or use the site to create your own wallpapers.
vermag
05-19-2005, 09:10 AM
If anyone has done side by side dB ratings of the i500 with other phones, could you please share ?
Brooose
05-22-2005, 02:49 PM
I have a Treo 650 and a Samsung I500. I compared the two phones side by side in my office, which is in the middle of a concrete jungle building. Usually at my desk, it is a tossup whether or not you can make calls. The Treo was 2-3 dB better than the I500 consistently and did not lose signal nearly as much under these borderline conditions. In attempting to call out, with the dBs around -99 to -102 on the Treo, it went through 9 times out of ten. For the I500, the dBs were between -102 and -107 in the same location and the calls only went through about 50% of the time. YMMV
i330
05-22-2005, 05:14 PM
i have tons of sprint phones, and i can vouch that the i500 is as good as any other one, besides for being a great overall phone, complete with many features that are actually lacking in the treo series such as analog roaming, voice dialing, a very stable os, and the best "feature" for me when switching from a treo to the i500 is that people stop asking "is that a banana in your pocket... " question!
vermag
05-23-2005, 09:05 AM
I have a Treo 650 and a Samsung I500. I compared the two phones side by side in my office, which is in the middle of a concrete jungle building. .........
Thanks Broose. I was interested in the RF performance under borderline conditions, and your info was on the point.
danpedraza
05-24-2005, 08:59 AM
I am looking into one of these instead of the treo 650 to save $ . Does it have a speaker? Can you have an earbud on and have a conversation while using the pda calender?
vermag
05-24-2005, 11:51 AM
I am looking into one of these instead of the treo 650 to save $ . Does it have a speaker? Can you have an earbud on and have a conversation while using the pda calender?
The I500 does not have a speakerphone. You can use the calendar when talking on the phone.
aatoy1234
06-01-2005, 11:32 PM
Is there a program where i can text other people using my phone beside PCS phones?
coasterjob
07-06-2005, 09:42 AM
I do not have the reception difficulty the other poster mentioned. I am very, very happy with the i500. If it had true SMS, it would be nearly perfect.
bob
What kind of SMS does it have?
Jordan
07-06-2005, 09:59 AM
Short Mail... It still works like SMS, but takes a lot longer. You have to log onto vision and go into the short mail icon... I'm glad I don't have to deal with that anymore :)
coasterjob
07-06-2005, 10:34 AM
Short Mail... It still works like SMS, but takes a lot longer. You have to log onto vision and go into the short mail icon... I'm glad I don't have to deal with that anymore :)
that sucks....
so what determines if a phone can do SMS, or Shortmail? Firmware, network access?
Does anyone know of a good SMS app i can buy from handango or somewhere like that??
Thanks
Jordan
07-06-2005, 10:39 AM
SMS is usually built in. Depending on the age of the phone, will depend on SMS. My old kyocera 2345 had shortmail, while my 7400, 325, 5600, and treo's do SMS. There should be an SMS app on www.palmgear.com
monkeyboy
07-06-2005, 01:52 PM
Does anyone know of a good SMS app i can buy from handango or somewhere like that??The text messaging app for the i500 that you want is I500SMS from www.pdaapps.com . It is the only reliable one, is carrier-independent and works with some of the SMS directory/info services, like www.synfonic.com (http://www.synfonic.com/) . It has its problems, but is the best solution for the i500. Or, you could use one of the freebie WAP-based SMS sending sites on the Internet, but it is even more clumsy to use those than I500SMS and may open you up to endless SMS-spam or other marketing junk. NB, you must have a functioning i500 Vision connection to use it as the transmission is via the Internet.
Hawkeye
07-23-2005, 06:43 AM
Short Mail... It still works like SMS, but takes a lot longer. You have to log onto vision and go into the short mail icon... I'm glad I don't have to deal with that anymore :)
You say log onto Vision and goto the Short Mail icon ... where exactly is this? I just got an i500 last week, and thus far have been unable to find any of the old Vision stuff I was used to surfing on my old Sanyo 8100.
mhuebner
08-08-2005, 02:18 PM
is it just me or is it true that the I500's web is really weird. You cant download pictures you have on pictures.sprintpcs.com. Also i couldnt go to websites like hotmail.com. If it does have a sms program you can download where you didnt have to go to shortmail all the time, then that would be cool. I tried it and when someone sends you a message, there isnt any stupid option for reply. that bites
Brooose
08-08-2005, 03:12 PM
You need to go to www.pdaapps.com and get I500sms. It works with the on board sms program to allow you to reply. The ***** about the I500 is that caller ID does not work with SMS so you often can't reply because the phone does not have the number to reply to.
With respect to the Web, you are using an older version of Blazer which does not allow downloads. The newer version on the Treos will not work as it is only for OS5 handhelds.
Hawkeye
08-08-2005, 08:01 PM
Actually, with SMS and caller ID, its kind of a hit and miss. Sometimes I get a number when I get a text, and sometimes I don't. I think its related to which networks it is. I know if someone on Sprint sends me a text, I do in fact get the caller ID info, so I am able to reply.
mhuebner
08-09-2005, 06:45 AM
has anyone set up picture caller id on their i500? or what about a third party web brower? i remember i tried one with me treo 650. it started with an x i believe. i really dont know if i should keep this phone. a lot of good things about it, but also some things i am not familiar with as far as other phones ive used. thanks.
Brooose
08-09-2005, 07:35 AM
Are you talking about xiino?
mhuebner
08-09-2005, 08:10 AM
yes, i believe that was it. it was like a trial version or something.
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