My old cell phone has officially been retired. With a battery only giving about 20 min of talk time it was time to get a new phone. I opted for the phone since a new battery cost more than a new phone (110.00 USD). The phone I chose was the Samsung I300. Read on for the review.

First of I just want to say this phone absolutely kicks ass. It’s a MUST have for anyone who carries both a phone and a PDA on a regular basis.

Features
The phone itself is powered by the Palm OS – even the actual dial pad is a palm application (wow your friends with a touch screen dial pad). It has flawless integration with standard palm applications (ie. your contact list). Despite reviews saying it was hard to dial one handed I found this to be the contrary – with easy to reach arrow keys it was pretty quick. The screen is color, which is a complete bonus. Another added benefit is that it comes with all the standard wireless Palm applications (including Handsprings browser) – so you get the web in 256k color at 14.4 speeds. Not great but fine for checking movie times, getting directions, etc. I would have to say what I like most about this palm is the fact that it’s form factor is REALLY small for a Palm Phone – it’s only slightly larger than my old Samsung and fits nicely in my pocket. Samsung was also nice enough to throw two batteries and two stylus in the box for me 🙂

Things I don’t like
The screen is a little small. I’ve also read it’s hard to read in sunlight, but haven’t had any problems with it so far.

The Price
I paid 349.99 (USD) at Best Buy. You can get a 50.00 rebate if you are a new Sprint customer (which I’m not). So for 349.99 I get a color Palm, a phone, and a big wow factor – not shabby.

Overall I’m very pleased with my purchase. If you know of anyone looking for a Palm V let me know – I’ll sell it for a song.