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Samsung SLM Cell Phone Review - Organizer

Alfredo Padilla Published on December 17, 2007 Comment on this

Intro Making/Receiving Calls Software Other Features

Tour & Design Messaging Battery Life Value & Comparisons

Audio Quality Organizer Connectivity Conclusion

Imaging Multimedia Hardware Ratings & Specs

Synchronization Ease of Use (0.0)
The Samsung SLM does not come with any software to synchronize your device with a computer. As such it will receive a zero in this section.

Alerts (4.0)
You can set alerts on the Samsung SLM for both calendar appointments and tasks. We were very pleased at the flexibility of the alert system on the Samsung SLM. Not only can you set an alert to go off at any time before a task or appointment but you can also choose which ringtone to use for each individual item. We were less impressed with what happens when an alert sounds. All you get is a the alert with the appointment title and the only option you have is to dismiss it. There's no way to snooze the alert and you can't even choose to go view the appointment.

Over the Air PIM Sync (0.0)
No synchronization software.

Address Book

Adding Contacts (5.26)
It took us an average of 19.02 seconds to add a new contact to the Samsung SLM. This is about average, you can see below that the Razr2 V8 and the LG Venus were faster than the SLM here, but it was faster than the rest of our comparison phones. To get our average time for this score we find out how long it takes to add each of five different test contact names and their phone numbers.

Cell Phone	Time (sec)	Score
Samsung SLM	19.02	5.26
Razr2 V8	13.33	7.50
LG Venus	14.38	6.95
T-Mobile Shadow	21.88	4.57
Sony Ericsson W580i	22.74	4.40
Helio Fin	22.02	4.54

Looking/Sorting/Search (1.5)
The Samsung SLM organizes contacts by first name, you can assign a different display name if you wish, but it will always be sorted alphabetically by the display name. There are no options to sort by business, last name or group. The search features are also very limited, you can only search by using multi-tap on the keypad and searches only match if you start with the first letter of the first name. This means a contact named "Joe Bob" could only be searched for if you started typing "J". If you tried to search for "Bob" it would not be a match. We were not very impressed with the sorting and search options on the Samsung SLM, they're just about as basic as you can get.

Fields (6.0)
When you create a new contact on the Samsung SLM you do have a decent selection of fields to choose from. The basic contact card has ten fields, which include things like IM, ringtone, group and note. In addition there are twenty fields that can be added to any contact, including additional phone numbers or email addresses but also more esoteric fields like birthdays and a tone for messages. It's not as many fields as we see from smart phones like the T-Mobile Shadow, but its a good bit better than the dozen or so basic fields we see from most regular handsets.

Speed Dial/Voice tags/Voice command (2.33)
The Samsung SLM supports speed dial but does not support any form of voice dialing.

Calendar

Adding Calendar Items (4.57)
It took us an average of 21.9 seconds to add a lunch appointment for the following day to the Samsung SLM. This is definitely on the slow side, you can see below that the SLM put up the slowest time amongst our comparison phones and several phones did significantly better than the Samsung SLM. We found that on the SLM we were slowed down by the fact that the calendar program is buried in the menu system and that once you're in there you have to navigate overly complex menus to create a new appointment. Our time is calculated starting with the phone closed and ends when we have saved our appointment. We also add a reminder 15 minutes before.

Cell Phone	Time (sec)	Score
Samsung SLM	21.9	4.57
Razr2 V8	15.28	6.54
LG Venus	18.87	5.30
T-Mobile Shadow	9.46	10.57
Sony Ericsson W580i	14.04	7.12
Helio Fin	14.1	7.09

Calendar Views (4.0)


The Samsung SLM supports three different calendar views: day, week and month. The monthly view just shows you the current month with days that have an appointment highlighted by a small indicator in one of the corners of the date depending upon the appointment type. The week view is a typical grid with days along the top and hours on the left. Appointments are blocked out during the time they are scheduled. What is less typical is that if a day has an appointment it has a blue marker on it just like the month view. Although not super innovative, it is a nice touch that may keep you from scrolling up and down searching for an appointment that is not there.
The day view is a simple list of appointments on that day with title, start time and indicators if the appointment has an alarm or recurs. It definitely provides the most information at a glance of any of the Samsung SLM's calendar views and is likely where you will spend the majority of your time if you use the SLM's calendar. In addition to these views the Samsung SLM's calendar allows you to view appointments by certain preset categories like important or holiday. This view is a simple list just like the daily view and we found it redundant. We would have much preferred the ability to simply filter a given calendar view by a category rather than create a whole new view for categories.

Fields (9.0)
When you create a new calendar appointment you are first asked what type of appointment to create, which includes five options from a regular appointment to an anniversary, holiday or private event. Once you've selected the type your additional fields are constrained depending upon the appointment type, for example a holiday doesn't allow you to set an alarm and only allows you to set annual recurrence. The standard appointment has the most fields so that's the one we will score on.

With appointments you have a pretty good selection of fields. In addition to title, start and end times you can also add notes for the event, a location, alarm and set a recurrence pattern. The alarm allows you to control exactly how long before the event it will go off and the recurrence option is similarly customizable, allowing you to set up complex daily, weekly or monthly recurrence patterns. Given that these last are features that not even all smart devices have we were very happy to see them on the Samsung SLM.

ToDo/Tasks

Adding ToDo/Task (4.83)
It took us an average of 20.7 seconds to add a new task to the Samsung SLM. This is not a particularly impressive time, as you can see below. As with calendar appointments we were slowed down by the fact that the tasks program is buried in the menu system. We also had to enter both a title and details of an appointment before we could save a task, which added an extra step compared to most phone's task programs. To get this score we time how long it takes to go from phone closed until we have added a new task reminding us to pick up groceries. We do this five times and take the average for our score.

Cell Phone	Time (sec)	Score
Samsung SLM	20.70	4.83
Razr2 V8	14.74	6.78
LG Venus	n/a - no tasks	0.00
T-Mobile Shadow	14.62	6.84
Sony Ericsson W580i	16.56	6.04
Helio Fin	11.58	8.64

ToDo/Task Sorting and Prioritizing (3.5)
The Samsung SLM does not support categories for tasks so you can't filter tasks by category. You can prioritize tasks, however, and you can sort them by done, due date or priority.

Fields (5.5)
When you create a new task on the Samsung SLM you only have a few fields to choose from. There's a title and detail area, both of which must be filled in before the task can be saved. There's also start and due date, alarm and priority. With the alarm you can set the date and time that it will go off as well as choose the particular ringtone for that task.

Notes

Adding Notes (2.19)
It took an average of 22.8 seconds to add a new note to the Samsung SLM. This is a very slow time; as you can see, our comparison phones below did significantly better than the SLM. Not only is the notes program on the SLM buried in the menu system, you actually have to go one level deeper than tasks or calendar. Once in the program, however, the interface is simpler. Unfortunately we were also slowed down by the fact that we had to manually change the text entry method to T9 each time. To get this score we time how long it takes to go from phone closed until we have added a simple test note. We do this five times and take the average for our score.

Cell Phone	Time (sec)	Score
Samsung SLM	22.8	2.19
Razr2 V8	13.66	3.66
LG Venus	18.86	2.65
T-Mobile Shadow	14.76	3.39
Sony Ericsson W580i	12	4.17
Helio Fin	15.3	3.27

Note Interface (2.0)
The notes interface on the Samsung SLM is exceedingly simple. You have a simple list of notes with the left soft key assigned to a menu where you can create new notes or manipulate existing ones. Only simple options like sending a note or deleting it are available under the menu. When you have a new note interface on screen you just have a blank canvas to type into. Notes are limited to 100 characters and the only options you have are to change text input methods. Big points on ease of use, but anyone who uses notes a lot and likes to have powerful options will be very disappointed.

Note Formatting (0.0)
The Samsung SLM doesn't offer any formatting options like changing font type or size.

Voice Memo (5.0)
Like all other organizer features the voice memo program is buried in the menu system. The interface is very simple, you can record notes and then do things like set it as a ring tone or send it via MMS. You can set the time limit for notes to anywhere between one and sixty minutes, and there's also an option to limit it for MMS. Voice notes are saved in the audio folder on your phone and aren't directly visible from the notes program, but there is a menu item that will allow you to view them. All in all very simple functionality but we like the flexibility to use voice notes as ring tones and the fact that you aren't unduly limited in the length of your voice notes.

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