The i700 also shares both the up and down sides of the Pocket PC platform. In this case, disappointingly, it's the Pocket PC 2002 operating system. Samsung reportedly won't have a PPC 2003 firmware/software upgrade for the i700 until the end of the year.

One of the often stated Pocket PC down sides, especially noticeable after using a Blackberry for awhile, is the reliance on touchscreen and stylus. Unlike the clamshell-design Samsung i600 from Sprint, which has an integrated numeric hardware keypad, the i700 has only virtual, i.e. onscreen, keypad and keyboard.


Samsung i600

For those adept at electronic handwriting, composing e-mails and notes is easier with stylus and touchscreen than with a PDA-size keyboard and thumbwheel. (I once hand wrote a travel journal on a Pocket PC, making lengthy entries each day - unimaginable with a Blackberry.)

But when it comes to using the device as a phone, a hardware keypad is definitely nice to have. And when you only need to make quick menu selections and enter small bits of text, it's nice not to have to grope for the pen and pull it out of its scabbard.

This is the nature of Pocket PC computing, though, and those accustomed to the interface wouldn't have it any other way.

Also, if you insist on a hardware keypad, you will pay a price. The i600 is slightly smaller, folded, and lighter than the i700 (3.54 x 2.1 x 0.92 inches, 5.0 oz. versus 5.2 x 2.8 x.6 inches, 6.9 oz.), but it makes sacrifices on screen size.

The i700 features a bright, clear 240x320-pixel screen (approximately 2.2 x 2.8 inches) with 65,000 colors, while the i600 has a relatively puny 176x220-pixel display.

The user interface is important, of course, but radio/network performance is more important. In our testing on the Telus network, even with signal reported by the device to be weak, calls were clear, loud enough and free of break-up - though it won't always be as good, of course.

Internet Issues

The Telus CDMA/1X network is not always on for Internet access. Each request for a Web session or e-mail retrieval requires "dialing" over the cell phone network. Though this is done automatically and takes only a couple of seconds, it can be irritating if you're having trouble e-mailing something and keep making repeated attempts.

Meaningful comparisons of data throughput between devices and networks are difficult or impossible. MSN Mobile, available over the Telus network, is much more graphically oriented than most of the sites and services available on Rogers' GSM/GPRS network, which I have recently used, for example. The graphics probably slow both network throughput and display time.

My subjective impression, though, is that there isn't much to choose between throughput speeds on the two networks, and I doubt the i700's processing power was a factor in page display time.

One point to keep in mind: you can't use the Internet while making a voice call on the i700.