Samsung Desktop Charger for Samsung I300 Series Phone

Rating:
Summary: charger portion burns out
Review: I have owned 2 of these units, and am now unhappy about buying a third, because other chargers and sync cables are more cumbersome to use. The problem I've had (maybe there's something strange in the air in my office?) is that the ability to charge the Samsung unit DIES after a year of use.

Rating:
Summary: charger portion burns out
Review: This desktop charger and HotSync cradle is almost perfect. It's an excellent product with outstanding features, but has a few "issues". Overall, I strongly recommend it.
Positive attributes / benefits:
(1.) CONSTRUCTION - it feels very "solid" - some chargers are too "light-weight" - this one is well-built;
(2.) HOTSYNC BUTTON - there is a button on the front of the charger, which allows you to initiate the HotSync with a single touch - this is important because the screen on the Samsung SPH-i300 mobile handset quickly turns off (to preserve power), and it's easier to push the HotSync button on the charger than to "wake-up" the handset and find the HotSync icon to initiate the HotSync operation;
(3.) LIGHTS - there are two separate LED lights on the front of the charger - one is for the mobile handset, and the other is for the battery-only charging position in the back - both of the LEDs are fully functional bi-color --> they are "red" when the battery is being charger, and they turn "green" when the battery is fully charged (or within 90% of fully charged); and
(4.) APPLE MACINTOSH - the HotSync cradle works with an Apple Macintosh computer.
A few problems / issues:
(1.) CANNOT SLIDE PHONE UP - because of the shape of the Samsung i300 mobile handset and the shape of the HotSync cradle, you CANNOT slide the phone UP to remove the phone from the cradle - you must PULL the phone forward and then lift up - this is because the bottom of the phone is slightly wider than the middle - silly little design flaw - not a big deal;
(2.) NO USB CONNECTOR - the HotSync cradle only connects with a Serial port cable connector to your computer - it does NOT have a USB connector - most Windows 2000 or Windows XP PCs and Apple Macintoshes now use USB connectors instead of old serial connectors - the work-around is to purchase a USB-to-serial converter; and
(3.) INCOMPATIBLE HOTSYNC SOFTWARE VERSIONS - when using this desktop charger / HotSync cradle to synchronize the Samsung i300 with an Apple Macintosh, there is a problem with incompatible versions of the Palm OS software - the latest version of the HotSync desktop software for the Mac OS is Palm OS version 4.1 - the version of the Palm OS that runs on the Samsung i300 mobile handset is Palm OS version 3.5.4 - when HotSyncing, this incompatibility results in the Apple Mac desktop version of your database ALWAYS overwriting the data on your Samsung i300 handset - there is no work-around that I know of - Samsung should upgrade the phones to run Palm OS version 4.1 - or, Palm should fix the incompatibility problem.
Bottom line: This is an excellent product - quickly charges the phone and a separate battery - and allows you to HotSync with a Windows or Apple Mac computer.
I strongly recommend this product.

Rating:
Summary: Samsung i300 desk charger & HotSync cradle = almost perfect.
Review: This desktop charger and HotSync cradle is almost perfect. It's an excellent product with outstanding features, but has a few "issues". Overall, I strongly recommend it.
Positive attributes / benefits:
(1.) CONSTRUCTION - it feels very "solid" - some chargers are too "light-weight" - this one is well-built;
(2.) HOTSYNC BUTTON - there is a button on the front of the charger, which allows you to initiate the HotSync with a single touch - this is important because the screen on the Samsung SPH-i300 mobile handset quickly turns off (to preserve power), and it's easier to push the HotSync button on the charger than to "wake-up" the handset and find the HotSync icon to initiate the HotSync operation;
(3.) LIGHTS - there are two separate LED lights on the front of the charger - one is for the mobile handset, and the other is for the battery-only charging position in the back - both of the LEDs are fully functional bi-color --> they are "red" when the battery is being charger, and they turn "green" when the battery is fully charged (or within 90% of fully charged); and
(4.) APPLE MACINTOSH - the HotSync cradle works with an Apple Macintosh computer.
A few problems / issues:
(1.) CANNOT SLIDE PHONE UP - because of the shape of the Samsung i300 mobile handset and the shape of the HotSync cradle, you CANNOT slide the phone UP to remove the phone from the cradle - you must PULL the phone forward and then lift up - this is because the bottom of the phone is slightly wider than the middle - silly little design flaw - not a big deal;
(2.) NO USB CONNECTOR - the HotSync cradle only connects with a Serial port cable connector to your computer - it does NOT have a USB connector - most Windows 2000 or Windows XP PCs and Apple Macintoshes now use USB connectors instead of old serial connectors - the work-around is to purchase a USB-to-serial converter; and
(3.) INCOMPATIBLE HOTSYNC SOFTWARE VERSIONS - when using this desktop charger / HotSync cradle to synchronize the Samsung i300 with an Apple Macintosh, there is a problem with incompatible versions of the Palm OS software - the latest version of the HotSync desktop software for the Mac OS is Palm OS version 4.1 - the version of the Palm OS that runs on the Samsung i300 mobile handset is Palm OS version 3.5.4 - when HotSyncing, this incompatibility results in the Apple Mac desktop version of your database ALWAYS overwriting the data on your Samsung i300 handset - there is no work-around that I know of - Samsung should upgrade the phones to run Palm OS version 4.1 - or, Palm should fix the incompatibility problem.
Bottom line: This is an excellent product - quickly charges the phone and a separate battery - and allows you to HotSync with a Windows or Apple Mac computer.
I strongly recommend this product.