[PaulOBrien]

You may have heard that there are 1 or 2 people who are unhappy with their HTC Kaisers, and it looks like they now have a similarly specced alternative... the Samsung i780.

A first European Pocket PC release for Samsung (I think?), the i780 features a 320x320 screen, 3G + HSDPA, GPS and WiFi connectivity. Chuck in an innovative 'Optical Mouse' control stick (check out this video), Line 2 support, a QWERTY thumboard, a 416MHz Marvell (formerly XScale) serious processor and 256MB ROM / 128MB RAM and we think this could be the new must-have device! Only the 2 Megapixel camera slightly disappoints, but we can forgive the numbers if the quality is at least half decent

Did I also mention it's SMALL? Check out the picture below of the i780 mixing it up with it's Smartphone brother, the svelte i600 (aka Blackjack).

The device is up on the Orange Business site already, pricing and exact release date (think 'any day now') are yet to be confirmed.

I was kinda hoping that Samsung would finally drop their proprietary connector for the ubiquitous miniUSB, but the spec at the Orange site lists 'pop-port' connectivity.

Got one? Getting one? Let us know!

P

[Via: CoolSmartphone, pic via CNet]

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[J273]

Im defo getting one...cant wait for this to be released...Looks perfect.

Im just hopeing i can use the internal GPS with my tomtom.....Ive heard its locked the same way as with the BJ2.

Think im going to wait for the sim free model estimated release on the 14th.

This post has been edited by J273: 30 January 2008 - 07:38 PM

[J273]

Check these reviews out....

http://www.mobile-review.com/pda/review/sa...g-i780-en.shtml
http://www.mobile-review.com/pda/review/sa...i780-2-en.shtml

This post has been edited by J273: 30 January 2008 - 07:42 PM

[PaulOBrien]

Good reviews, and performance seems great!

My concerns...

- Does GPS work?
- Is the directional pad usable?
- Why oh why the stupid proprietary connector!



P

[J273]

Hmm yeah....they say thats a pre-release model though.


Theres a few good vids on the unwired.....http://www.theunwired.net/?query=i780&amount=0&blogid=1

They've had GPS working with google maps..........he's also mentiond he's tried igo and it worked well....apart from the uncommon screen res.



Another thing is battery life 1000mah ...i hope its better than the BJ2.

[cre8or]

PAUL(MVP) the processor is the Marvell PXA a 624 MHz.... Not the 410 Mhz ....

[Metoo]

cre8or, on Jan 30 2008, 21:43, said:

PAUL(MVP) the processor is the Marvell PXA a 624 MHz.... Not the 410 Mhz ....

Yikes, how many batteries are they going to ship with this one?

The battery life on the i600 was bad enough (in fact, on all Samsung phones I've ever known)

But now they're stuffing in a third more display pixels, a faster CPU, double the RAM, and GPS, but 10% less battery?

How are you going to get through a working day on that?

[J273]

My only samsung phone was a samsung s100 years ago....So is samsung's battery life that bad?

whats it down to just the 1000mah battery used?

Could it be resolved with say a 3rd party battery?

Im realy looking forward to this phone but if samsungs device battery life is that bad.....May have to give it a miss.

This post has been edited by J273: 30 January 2008 - 10:24 PM

[Metoo]

J273, on Jan 30 2008, 22:24, said:

My only samsung phone was a samsung s100 years ago....So is samsung's battery life that bad?

whats it down to just the 1000mah battery used?

Could it be resolved with say a 3rd party battery?

Im realy looking forward to this phone but if samsungs device battery life is that bad.....May have to give it a miss.

Well there's a reason they're the only brand to bundle most of their phones with 2 batteries. If the BJ's anything to go by, form over function, unless you're a very light user.
And another thing...
After all the years ex-Palm users have been waiting for Microsoft to get their finger out and up screen resolutions, it's good to see how they've managed to achieve the full 240x240 experience with a 320x320 screen. Good old numpty Microsoft. What a waste.

This post has been edited by Metoo: 30 January 2008 - 11:36 PM

[Monolithix]

That is one sexy device, wish O did a decent data tarrif! Also, Line 2 on a PPC? A first surely?

[encece]

Square screens on a PPC always seem like a waste to me. Especially on the Today screen.

Also...wasnt the Blackjack the i607? Or was the i600 a Blackjack too?

[Monolithix]

The Blackjack in the US was the i607, the wifi-enabled i600 was released here in Europe...

[PaulOBrien]

cre8or, on Jan 30 2008, 21:43, said:

PAUL(MVP) the processor is the Marvell PXA a 624 MHz.... Not the 410 Mhz ....

Well, i've read it was gonna be 624MHz but is actually shipping clocked at 410MHz...

P

[Alison Astraware]

I'm still loving my i600, but I think him indoors will be in the market for one of these. He's got a Treo 750 at the moment, but would love the higher-res screen and built-in wi-fi!

[Dr Who]

Do Tmob do Samsung models? Any more news on the rumoured i900?

[Ovie]

I think this will most probably be my next upgrade.

This propietary jack then, are adapters available for it so I can use my own earphones?

[Monolithix]

Not found anything on a quick google. Hopefully its a standard Samsung port though so adapters for other models will work...

[Confucious]

GPS - eats battery
HSDPA - eats battery but not as much as
WiFi

No idea what the battery life is likebut with those 3 you need a lot of reserve.

Personally I'm not a fan of this form factor but a nice spec phone and nice to see some competition for HTC available on contract in the UK.

[Monolithix]

Yep, all true of any device. Same as your Athena, no?

[Confucious]

Monolithix, on Feb 3 2008, 10:45, said:

Yep, all true of any device. Same as your Athena, no?

Exactly - I'm lucky to get a days usage out of my Athena but can get through a full battery in 2 hours! My point was that if people were worried about the battery usage on a device without these features then it won't be any better with them. All those features are great but do come at a cost in terms of battery life.
I'd rather have the features, just don't expect to go days without charging!

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