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As for phone support, I have the Samsung A900 as well as a Treo 700w which does have Windows Mobile. Both support it though.

You keep on making these claims that all sorts of devices that you have can play WMV files. Interestingly, even the manufacturers disagree with you. I'm sure you'll just say that they're wrong and they don't know what they're talking about, though.

Samsung's NDP warrantee is for South Korea only. For US customers, they consider up to 6 bad pixels on a 15" monitor "acceptable"

This link here is to Samsungs page on dead pixel policy (last updated 2004-06-18) and has no mention of this "new" policy. It still stands that they won't replace an in warranty monitor as follows:

• For a 15" Monitor - 7 or more bad pixels
• For 17" and 19" Monitors -10 or more bad pixels
• For 21" - 24" Monitors - 17 or more bad pixels

The combination of clamshell form-factor and PDA capability is the `hardest' requirement for you. If all you want is Outlook sync, you no longer need avoid Palm-based phones, and that's good, because there are very few PocketPC/SmartPhone/Windows Mobile/etc phones that use a clamshell form-factor.

You might be interested in the Kyocera 7135 Palm clamshell.

You might also be interested in the Samsung SPH-i500 clamshell Palm phone, or it's Windows Mobile cousins, the Samsung SP-i600 and the Samsung SCH-i600.

You may have to switch carriers to get the phone that you want, which is a shame, but that's also the way our markets work.

The combination of clamshell form-factor and PDA capability is the `hardest' requirement for you. If all you want is Outlook sync, you no longer need avoid Palm-based phones, and that's good, because there are very few PocketPC/SmartPhone/Windows Mobile/etc phones that use a clamshell form-factor.

You might be interested in the Kyocera 7135 Palm clamshell.

You might also be interested in the Samsung SPH-i500 clamshell Palm phone, or it's Windows Mobile cousins, the Samsung SP-i600 and the Samsung SCH-i600.

You may have to switch carriers to get the phone that you want, which is a shame, but that's also the way our markets work.

The combination of clamshell form-factor and PDA capability is the `hardest' requirement for you. If all you want is Outlook sync, you no longer need avoid Palm-based phones, and that's good, because there are very few PocketPC/SmartPhone/Windows Mobile/etc phones that use a clamshell form-factor.

You might be interested in the Kyocera 7135 Palm clamshell.

You might also be interested in the Samsung SPH-i500 clamshell Palm phone, or it's Windows Mobile cousins, the Samsung SP-i600 and the Samsung SCH-i600.

You may have to switch carriers to get the phone that you want, which is a shame, but that's also the way our markets work.

RGB, CMY, CMYK, etc... *cannot* represent the entire visible color gamut. YIQ (the one used by NTSC TV), YUV (PAL TV), and YCrCb represent a smaller gamut than RGB, to be sure, but neither represent the whole thing.

For that, you need a more complex model like CIELAB.

Here's some links:

A whole lot of information.

Samsung stating that their shiny DTV sets can't match the visible gamut.

A graph of visible, RGB, Pantone, and CMYK gamuts

Unless you happen to have a 50" Samsung DLP TV with DVI inputs that runs at 1280x720. I've got a HLN507W which is a beautiful display. If I could just get a PC that's quiet enough for the living room without spending $2000, then I'd be set. Note: I'm not affiliated with Samsung, I just love this TV. It also virtually eliminates the glare from those "well lit living rooms".

The current crop of "smart phones" are too big, however a few more years of minituarisation and we'll see cheap phones with good battery life and the regular PDA features such as calendar, internet access, decent addressbook, mp3 player, java VM, email client etc. in a form factor around that of today's regular phones.

Except for mp3 player (well technically it can play MP3 type files, but the storage space is limited to the sim card) and address book, my phone does all that. And it also has a built in camera. It's a Samsung E715. It's great on battery life (last about 3 days with 2 hours of talk time, or if I use the camera a lot or have a lot of calls it lasts around 2 days.) It has an organic LCD screen so I can see the screen in the dark without wasting the battery powering a back light. And if you really want an MP3 player why not just buy a MP3 player? They're really tiny, much smaller than a PDA or even a cell phone. The address book, well this phone could probably do it if it has support for CF cards. They will probably add that to their next top of the line phone anyway (store more pictures, maybe they might include a better camera too for higher res pics, although currently the built in camera has pretty impressive image quality.) That could also add MP3 support right there. The phone I have now is way small and it has a built in antanae (called an intenna or something heh) I'm sure if they made it external, they'd have room inside the phone for a CF card reader (or maybe not, this phone doesn't seem that much larger than my old samsung phone with external antanae and no camera.)

The article says the dot pitch is 0.294mm, and specifically knocks the 172X for it. However, Samsung's US product page claims 0.264mm.

Either the article is wrong, or Samsung updated their specs!

Until recently it has taken me no time to get up and running with a new phone-- this has all changed. The samsung SCH-a310, for example, has a normal key layout but the tactile response is poor and its hard to feel the difference between keys when scanning with your fingers.

Nokia has been making some terrible design choices with their key layouts lately.. the first one I remember trying was the 3600 and the 3650. Recently they've been marketing the 3200's like crazy, which look like 1993 pager technology, albeit with a camera. I tried this one out thinking it might be easy to use, but its neigh on impossible to know what key you're hitting, then you have to make sure you hit the right SIDE of the key to get the correct number.

Now I know, after awhile you get used to it, and then when you get a new phone you need to unlearn what you have learned. But shouldn't the interface technology we use strive for ease of use and ergonomics instead of visual acceptance and clever button placement? I mean we could all be using Datahand ergonomic keyboards in the future, but somehow I doubt these new cell key layouts are for anything other than aesthetics.

I have been using PocketMusic from PocketMind on my Samsung i700 PocketPC/Phone for a while, and it's amazing. I have zero iPod envy (I can't balance a budget, get e-mail, web surf, or make a call on an iPod, but I can play my Oggs on my PocketPC -- even to the extent of dagging them from my Linux box).

I mean this to take nothing away from the exquisitely designed, iPod, but I no longer have the desite to possess a single specialized device for every eFunction in my life. Sure, I sacrifice some sizzle sans iPod, some corporate penis-size sans blackberry, and some cuteness sans the postage stamp-sized phone du jour, but I love just having it *ALL* on my Samsung.

I have a Samsung CD-Yepp, which plays MP3s/WMA and CD-R/CD-RW. Also with 160s skip protection. It was a very good buy:

http://www.samsungusa.com/cgi-bin/nabc/product/b2c _product_detail.jsp?%20eUser=&prod_id=MCDHM200H/XA A

Just burn MP3s to a CD and go. It also works with folders, so you can put each album in a folder for easy browsing.

I bought a laser printer for home last week. I already have two inkjet printers at home but they suck.

This is the one I bought from local Bestbuy:

Samsung SCX-4016 .

It lists at about $280 with $ 70 mail in rebate. I paid only 250 for open box buy. With mail-in-rebate, it's a good price for a laser printer!!

I love it so far. Print quality is good. Though you have to set it to dark while printing in photo mode...
Best value for money I could find...

Mitsubishi have Firewire, most new displays have DVI w/HDCP, and the DVD players that upconvert to HD resolutions are only output over their HDCP enabled DVI ports! Granted, at present HDCP is rather kludgy, have read articles on problems connecting with the latest boxes and displays. Not to mention the test channel on DirecTV that doesn't always work.

Also, 5C works, since you can't record a D-Theater movie (warning flash), to a computer with a firewire port, or use the VGA connector from the Samsung SIR-T165 firewire STB when playing a tape. Oh, you say that's not fair use, but, it's just a glorified VHS tape, so how robust is that? Are you not allowed to make a backup of your flimsy tape?

And, in the last year or so one of the cable companies in New York "accidentily" enabled 5C copy-never on their cable boxes.

DRM for HD is just getting started. Can't wait for the Broadcast Flag.

But, back to the article, hopefully Intel can get better yeilds since Hitachi and Mitsubishi have pulled their sets (ahh, can't find any links.) erik g

Everyone here is ranting on about "Yeah, I've seen it done before in cars, video cards, etc. Only one post brought up the point that it may be a simple mistake and a little more digging would have clarified the situation. Note this:

The contrast specs on the Samsung USA site show the following:

172T - 700:1
173T - 450:1

The specs on the Samsung Canada site say:

172T - 500:1
173T - 700:1

Perhaps he got a Canadian unit although I don't know why they would be any different.

Everyone here is ranting on about "Yeah, I've seen it done before in cars, video cards, etc. Only one post brought up the point that it may be a simple mistake and a little more digging would have clarified the situation. Note this:

The contrast specs on the Samsung USA site show the following:

172T - 700:1
173T - 450:1

The specs on the Samsung Canada site say:

172T - 500:1
173T - 700:1

Perhaps he got a Canadian unit although I don't know why they would be any different.

Caveat emptor also comes to mind.

Caveat emptor also comes to mind.

In this positive review of the 191T, they state that the contrast ratio is 500:1. The Samsung site lists that unit with a 700:1 contrast ratio.

Does this balance everything out?

• Neuros Digital Audio Computer
• Rio Karma 20 (Picture)
• PhatNoise's PhatBox, Kenwood's Music Keg (Powered by PhatNoise) These are in-car players that are installed into the trunk of your car and hooked up to your car stereo. Both players run ARM-Linux and support playback of FLAC files. Beta firmware to support Ogg Vorbis is available at http://phatbox.sixpak.org/phatbox/ogg.phtml.
• KISS Technology's DP-450 and DP-500 DVD Players
• MPST Digital Jukebox
• Freemax FW-960
• iRiver iHP-120, iHP-100, iGP-100, possibly others
• Umax/Yamada have a few standalone DVD players that support Vorbis.
• Neuston provides a standalone DVD player (model DVX-1201) that supports Vorbis.
• Samsung The MCD-CM600 is now available in Korea. It is a CD portable that can play Vorbis, MP3, and WMA. Page with photo of MCD-CM600. Closeup of MCD-CM600.

Last year, the Federal Communications Commission ordered cellular companies to equip all new cell phones with Global Positioning Satellite tracking devices that can pinpoint a user's location to within 300 feet, anywhere on the planet.

This thing is seriously sexy. Size matters.

You forgot to mention #4:

4. It's fugly!

While this won't even get consideration, I'm holding off on the Treo, Kyocera, Blackberra combos for now... Why? The Samsung SPH-i500 Smartphone w/Palm OS 5.x is why.

Samsung SPH-i500 Features

Samsung Palm OS 5 Smartphone Announcement

Unfortunately service is only offered from Sprint right now, but that should change soon.

-r

perhaps some of the metric/english impaired nasa engineers when to samsung?

don't believe me? check the specs.

- no concerns about light control. if you're using a front projector, your room has to be DARK.

- no concerns about burn-in. unlike plasma, lcd, and crt (direct view and rear projection) the screen cannot have an image burned into it. watch blackboxed 4x3 television, play video games, and watch channels with static logos without having to deliberately balance your viewing.

- lightweight. samsung's flagship 61" rpdlp set weighs only 100 lbs. a 40" wega direct view crt weighs 300 lbs (and most of the weight is in the front of the unit).

- little calibration required for optimal viewing. most alternative sets need numerous factory menu tweaks in order to get acceptable color levels.

- inexpensive. compare the prices :)

- dvi-hdcp interface for future-proofed hdtv compatibility. also a perfect pixel reproduction as a monitor.

the only maintenance needed is a $250 lamp every 2-3 years. i know a lot of these comparisons have been in contrast to front projection, but they should all be weighed.

look at samsung's rpdlp site (they're the only major people pushing the sets so far), hit the avs forum for much better advice than you'll get here, and then check them out at your local store. most major department stores (best buy, circuit city, etc) have them on display unlike front projection units.

I've got several SprintPCS phones on a family plan (yes, even geeks sometimes procreate), and the two most-recently manufactured (a Nokia 3585i and a Samsung A460) both have options to disable the GPS locator for everything except 911 usage. That's good enough for me - if I call 911, I want the cops to find me!

Of course, the more paranoid among you might claim that disabling the "location-based services" on these phones doesn't actually do anything. So just wrap your cell phone in 1/8" lead sheeting and you'll be fine.

I remember when I was in Japan I was impressed by their vastly superior cell phone technology. 3g phones which double as pdas and have video capability.

Like this or the older now $199 model from Sprint? Ironic they should fair poorly in the poll in the article, but understandable, since I can't get a signal at times in uptown New Orleans (note there are no tall buildings in uptown New Orleans, due to the difficulty and expense of building a structure in the swamp. And in general, we're quite poor). Also, the market is a bit different between Japan and the United States.

While our students are lazy and self centered individuals, the Japanese youth know the value of conformity and hard work. Ever hear of crime or poverty in Japan ? There isn't much. Gun control along with a generally more polite attitude keeps crime there very low.

I'm going to skip my flaimbait rant here, because your next sentence

We Americans could learn a lot from the Japanese, although we are still the best damn country in the world our technology is slightly lacking!

astounds me. Tell me, is it our lazy and self centered students, or our high crime and poverty that make America "the best damn country in the world"? I'm a bit confused here.

I remember when I was in Japan I was impressed by their vastly superior cell phone technology. 3g phones which double as pdas and have video capability.

Like this or the older now $199 model from Sprint? Ironic they should fair poorly in the poll in the article, but understandable, since I can't get a signal at times in uptown New Orleans (note there are no tall buildings in uptown New Orleans, due to the difficulty and expense of building a structure in the swamp. And in general, we're quite poor). Also, the market is a bit different between Japan and the United States.

While our students are lazy and self centered individuals, the Japanese youth know the value of conformity and hard work. Ever hear of crime or poverty in Japan ? There isn't much. Gun control along with a generally more polite attitude keeps crime there very low.

I'm going to skip my flaimbait rant here, because your next sentence

We Americans could learn a lot from the Japanese, although we are still the best damn country in the world our technology is slightly lacking!

astounds me. Tell me, is it our lazy and self centered students, or our high crime and poverty that make America "the best damn country in the world"? I'm a bit confused here.

You can find the pertinent information here: Samsung DVD-HD931
Retail price is $299

I have a Samsung ML-1430 that I'm extremely happy with... It prints ~15 ppm, and costs about $150 by PriceWatch, $185 on buy.com. It has great print quality, ships with Linux drivers (includes Cups + some PPD files and other crap on the CD) and works via over USB or Parallel. Unless you need to print color photos, I don't believe there's any good reason to get an inkjet over a printer like mine...

I might be willing to hand over the big bucks for one of the bigger flat-panel displays, but to do so I would have to accept a number of dead pixels in the bargain. For instance, there's the Samsung 240T which goes for about $3,000, regardless of whether the thing has dead pixels or not.

Why aren't the 240T's with, say, eight dead pixels sold at a different price? I understand the issues with the manufacturing of these displays, that if they were to reject all but those without dead pixels the cost would be prohibitively expensive, but why can't they just count the number of dead pixels and set a price accordingly.

Monitors are important; I end up looking at the thing most of the day for work and for play, I am willing to pay a premium for a very fine display. But to risk getting one with a bunch of dead pixels right in the middle of the screen, I mean, that would just suck really, really bad.

First, let's try a SONY 23"

Then, we have a Samsung 24"

Of course we can't forget the Apple 23"

All rated at 1920x1200. Now, if you want cheap, Dell makes a FP2000 at 1600x1200 (20") that can usually be gotten for under 1000. Too bad they sell out faster than hot cakes.

I just recently purchased the Samsung SPH-i330 smart phone, and I have been very happy with it. It runs PalmOS 3.5.3 with 16mb of RAM. It has a virtual silkscreen, so you can do fun stuff similar to what you can do with a HandERA such as having a full keyboard (SilkyBoard). The only draw back to it is that it doesn't have an expansion slot. I did purchase the data cable and hooked it up with my Delorme Earthmate GPS and XMap® Handheld Street Atlas USA® Edition. It works quite nicely like this.

I'll be the first to admit my utter ignorance when it comes to the wonderful world of home electronics, but I know how to spew things verbatim. :) The Samsung 50" DLP Widescreen HDTV-capable projection TV has zero problems with burn-in or convergence, since it doesn't have any CRT guns in it. My buddy just bought it for his apartment, and not only is the picture super-crisp and viewable at fairly wide angles without fading out, like some other big-ass TVs.

Oh, and did I mention it's only 17.5" deep and weighs all of 88lbs? That's just a smidgen heavier than my 21" NEC AccuSync 120 at work, and almost 3" shallower!

if the Link dies, it's the Samsung 240T, 24" LCD with 1920x1200 resolution, for about 2500 dollars last I checked.

I was in the same boat with my first few PDA's. I found their usefulness was only as good as my willingless to carry an extra device around -- and I was constantly leaving it in the car or at home where it was of little use to me.

Then I got my Samsung I300 and I found that I couldn't live without my PDA. I always had it with me when I needed it because I always had my cell phone. It gave me the same functionality as a Palm VII (full wireless internet) but the plan was integrated w/ my cell phone.

I use MS-Outlook constantly at the office (there is not even a close 2nd for group schedule and task colaboration, don't get me started on crappy open-source alternatives) -- so it's genuinely wonderful to be able, quite literally, take outlook w/ me. If I drop a note into outlook, it goes with me. If a co-worker schedules a meeting w/ me, it goes with me. Getting directions from someone over the phone? I type it into an Outlook note while I'm talking to them it goes with me when I leave. I simply don't have to touch paper anymore and it's CONVENIENT.

I would be lost without my PDA -- but ONLY because it's integrated into my cell phone and I never have to worry about whether or not it's going to be useful because I know that I've alwayd got it with me.

• contrast ratio
• viewing angle
• color
• pixel response time

I've been using the Samsung ML-4600 as my home laser printer for about a year-and-a-half, and I have no complaints. It seems to print as fast as they claimed (who tests?), the toner lasted way longer than the box said it would, and, as promised on the box, Linux setup was very easy then (required installing an RPM in RedHat 7.2, IIRC), and has gotten dead simple with subsequent Linux installs (Mandrake and Slackware). And it was only about $150.

Anyway, my main point is that all the HDTVs I saw... and I looked at a good number, could display 480i, 480p and 1080i, but definately not 720p.

That may have been true a couple months ago, but there are 3 manufacturers that make models that I know of, today, that display 720p either natively or by converting to 1080i.

The Samsung HLM437W, HLM507W, HLM4365W, HLM5065W
The Panasonic PT-40LC12, PT-45LC12.
The two Sonys KP-57WV600, KD-34XBR2 are some of many that can display 720.

To say that none can display 720p is blatantly false. The two DLP sets, the Samsung and the Panasonic, display 720p natively. The Sony's "downgrade" the 720p to 1080i. As for ABC, they are planning on broadcasting about 60% of their primetime programming in HD at 720p. I can't find the quotes on this, but you can google for it.

Uh, your $2,000 "high-end" peecee seems to be lacking a 17" digital TFT display and mouting arm. The only other machine with a widescreen TFT display is the Fujitsu C815-T, which lists for $3299. A 4:3 display of like kind and quality, like the Samsung 170T, will run you $700, and a mouting arm from Ergotron will run $300.

You've read about them in the agreement I hope?

This won't be like region-locked DVD players that become region-free by cutting a jumper. Those can't be sold under the agreement. Waiting for the next Apex to make one without signing the agreement? Watch Congress put the force of law behind this agreement. After all, it isn't being rammed down our throat like the CPDTPA was, no, no, industries agreed (sarcasm) in private action to do this.

CSS wasn't actually that easy to crack. Robust products must be built to resist reverse-engineering so look out for tricks like the Xbox uses (you aren't running Linux on one, so don't tell me that bunnie's crack means much). Code obfuscation, secure busses, yep, it'll all be in your way.

Building your own HD receiver might end up easier. You'll have to get a tuner/QAM decoder that gives up the decoded signal in the clear, but at least open source MPEG-2 decoders are available.

Also, buy your (over-the-air) HD receivers now! They will never be encumbered by this bullshit. Satellite & cable boxes might be recalled, but they can't take away your Samsung SIR-T150 (~$600). Don't buy a combo box (they can update your firmware). Get an OTA-only one. Unencumbered HD tuner cards for PCs are another tech that will soon be out of production & $$$$ on ebay.

-M

Some other PalmOS devices already have non-square screen resolutions, like: the virtual silkscreen on the HandEra 330 (supported by software like QuickOffice), and the Samsung I300 phone, which hides the Graffiti area to display a larger dialpad.

I have yet to see in the stores an HDTV which is either 19" or 25" or 27".

Here's a 27" HDTV for 900 bucks.

Sony & Panasonic's smallest 1080i sets are 32" for somewhere between $1500 & $2000, so you're right that a typical store probably won't have a sub-$1k set. (CT-32HX41 Panasonic & KV-32HS20 Sony).

I wish the 480p EDTV spec had gone somewhere. There's got to be some middle ground between the $450 27" Sony I got & that $900 Samsung. There's 480i Wegas (optionally XBR) with a nicer tube, but it's still interlaced dammit.

i have been using the I300 for a couple of months now. The thing is great. I have very few complaints. Sure, it could be smaller, but its way smaller than my Vx + phone was, and it still will fit in my front pocket if necessary.

Great screen - its so bright, i made the mistake of opening it in a dark jazz club the other night and got the attention of the whole room.

its the best phone i have used on the sprint network as far as reception and voice quality.

by various benchmarks it is currently the fastest palm machine out there.

for more info see samsung's page or a great message board about the phone, including some nacent hacking projects

I have to agree. I have one of the Samsung SPH-I300 phones, and the form factor is great. It is comfortable to use as a phone, and the screen is big enough, bright enough, and colorful enough to make it a great PalmOS-powered PDA.

The Palm PDA portion integrates very well with the phone features. In addition to the obvious address book integration, the Palm interface makes it easy to record voice-dial entries and access other phone preferences.

I have a Samsung Syncmaster 170mb 17" LCD and it looks excellent. It's also got a TV tuner built in, which I haven't had as much luck with though. I've played a little PS2 on it and it looks pretty bad. But for a monitor it's great.

Have you seen the Samsung I300? It is a color palm pilot that is much smaller than the kyocera model (saw a demo model in Circuit City). Go to samsung and check it out. Doesn't have the video & such, but you can browse, do email, even use the other palm functions while you talk as it has a speakerphone. Pretty cool if you ask me...

You might want to check out
samsung's palm phone. Yeah, grafitti entry sucks, but having a true pda (not like the handspring one) act as a phone is awesome, and its available in the US now (for those interested). I saw one the other day at Circuit City and it is quite compact - much smaller and thinner than those Kyocera bricks.

I just recently got the new Samsung I300 SmartPhone which runs the Palm OS. It is sweet!

It has a nice small form factor (for a Palm Device) and not much larger than your average phone. It has a color screen. Can do voice memos, which is a great feature! I can access the Internet, check email, and use it as an access device to my ISP for my PC using the data cable which is sold separately. It's fantastic!

I also like the functionality of having my contact list sync'd from my PC and being able to call directly from that. It keeps me organized and reminds me of things I have to do. It's everything I want in a personal communications/organizer device. It's so nice to finally have a Palm device and phone in one small package. Oh, and btw, it looks really cool!