The keyboard-less counterpart to the Motorola Cliq on T-Mobile brings its own special sauce in the form of custom multimedia applications, a higher resolution camera and Swype on-screen keyboard input. The Cliq XT has a 3.1" HVGA capacitive touch screen and it runs on a 528MHz Qualcomm CPU. Like the Cliq and Backflip, it runs MOTOBLUR social networking software on top of Android 1.5. The Cliq has a GPS that works with Google Maps and Telenav, MS Exchange support, plenty of social networking integration, WiFi and Bluetooth. The 3G Cliq XT has excellent voice quality and a pretty decent camera.
Buying a Lenovo ThinkPad means spending the big bucks but getting some serious quality, right? Lenovo's changing that with the new ThinkPad Edge series that sits between the uber-quality and uber-staid ThinkPad line and their consumer IdeaPad line. The 13" Edge has ThinkPad appointments like the dual TrackPoint and trackpad design, solid build quality and great battery life. But it walks on the wild side with gloss black and gloss red lid options and it opts for CULV Intel and AMD Neo X2 CPUs to keep things affordable. It comes with WiFi, optional Bluetooth and mobile broadband and a max 4 gigs of RAM. At 3.6 lbs. it's mighty portable too.
The Backflip gets its name from the unusual reverse clamshell design. When this QWERTY smartphone is closed both the display and keyboard face outward. It's a polarizing design that will have you doing backflips or calling it the "Backflop". We like the design since the 3.1" capacitive display is always accessible and it allows for a large keyboard in otherwise compact phone. This is Motorola's third MOTOBLUR Android phone, and that means it's social networking-enhanced; great for you cyber-social types and those who need solid Exchange support. The features are mid-range with a 528MHz CPU, 320 x 480 pixel display, a GPS that works with Google Maps and AT&T Navigator, WiFi and Bluetooth. The 5 megapixel autofocus camera is better than average for a mid-tier smartphone. The Backflip is no threat to the Droid but it's on par with the Motorola Devour and classier than the Motorola Cliq.
Living large doesn't mean having to swell (or further swell) that credit card bill. Toshiba's 18.4", 9.7lb. gaming and super-sized desktop replacement laptop starts at $1,199 with a pretty impressive NVIDIA GeForce GTS 360M graphics card with a gig of DDR5 dedicated memory. It looks pretty sleek in gloss black and red, despite the beefy dimensions. You can get it with an Intel Core i5 CPU or pay more for the Intel Core i7, but we found the i5 handles Modern Warfare 2, F.E.A.R.2 and Crysis well-- hey we have the video footage to prove it in our review. A DVD burner, WiFi 802.11n and a 1680 x 945 gloss display are standard. Upgraded models include a Blu-ray drive and the top of the line X505 has an HD 1920 x 1080 display.
Looking for a high end Android phone on AT&T? Not having much luck with that, are you? Sure the Motorola Backflip is a decent mid-range Android smartphone but it can't play with the big boys like the Nexus One and Motorola Droid. The Acer Liquid can, thanks to its 480 x 800, 3.5" capacitive display, Snapdragon CPU, 5 megapixel camera and solid feature set. Better yet, it has 3G HSDPA on AT&T's 1900MHz band, and that means you'll get 3G most places AT&T has 3G. The Acer Liquid is sold unlocked and it's a quad band GSM world phone with triband 3G, and it costs less than the Nexus One.
The Motorola Droid's little brother isn't exactly smaller, but it is more affordable and built like a tank. The aluminum casing inspires confidence even if the design isn't tres chic. It has a slide-down QWERTY keyboard and MOTOBLUR software for you social networking addicts. Twitter, Facebook, MySpace-- it's all there and more. The Devour runs on Android 1.6 and it has a HVGA capacitive touch screen, 3 megapixel camera, GPS, 3G EV-DO Rev. A, WiFi and Verizon's VZ Navigator, V Cast Music and V Cast Video.
The T410 is Lenovo's refresh of the T4xx line. It features the new Intel Core i5 processor that packs a serious punch, and a seriously bright LED backlit 14" display. That ThinkPad standard high end build quality is alive and well, as is the signature matte black grippy texture. Though the T410 uses Intel GMA HD integrated graphics, it can handle demanding games like Modern Warfare 2 (we've got the video in our review to prove it). The notebook can run up to 6 gigs of DDR3 RAM, has a built-in DVD burner, plenty of ports and wireless options that include WiMAX and 3G Mobile Broadband. And the price isn't that bad either.
Despite the incredibly not snazzy product name, the Gateway LT2118u is a stylin' Intel Pine Trail netbook. The Gateway has a 10.1" LED backlit display and weighs just 2.76 lbs. with the standard 6 cell battery, and that battery is good for up to 8 hours on a charge. The 1.66GHz Atom N450 is the latest Intel netbook CPU and the mini-laptop ships with a gig of RAM, a 250 gig hard drive and Windows 7 Starter Edition. WiFi 802.11n is standard as is a webcam, but Bluetooth isn't. Things we like: the price is right and the machine is easy to upgrade.
The BlackBerry Curve 8530 is the CDMA counterpart to the GSM BlackBerry Curve 8520 we reviewed a few months back. The Curve 8530 is available on both Verizon and Sprint, and we look at the Verizon version in our review. The BlackBerry 8530 is the new entry level Curve with a rugged body, RIM's new optical trackpad that replaces the trackball and multimedia controls up top. It runs OS 5 and has WiFi, Bluetooth with a full set of profiles, 3G EV-DO Rev. 0, an SDHC microSD card slot and a 3.5mm stereo jack. Other features include a QVGA display, the new VZ Navigator version 5 and V Cast support.
The Nokia E72 is the follow-up to the extremely popular Nokia E71 that earned our Editor's Choice award 1.5 years ago. Can the E72 live up to its admirable predecessor? It boasts a 600MHz ARM 11 CPU and an upgraded 5 megapixel autofocus camera with flash and a few other goodies that give it a running start. The E72 is an unlocked GSM world phone with 3G HSDPA on AT&T's bands. It's sold in the US without contract, and like the E71, the price isn't bad. Other features include WiFi, GPS with free navigation, Bluetooth and an FM radio.
That dynamic duo of Palm webOS phones are back, this time on Verizon. They're nearly identical to their Sprint cousins, but they gain a plus thanks to double the flash storage on the Palm Pre Plus and added WiFi on the Pixi Plus. The Palm Pre Plus is a QWERTY slider smartphone with a vivid 3.1" capacitive touch screen, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth and 16 gigs of storage. The Palm Pixi Plus has a 2.6" capacitive touch screen, a QWERTY keyboard, WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth and 8 gigs of flash storage. Both have 3G EV-DO Rev. A that works with the downloadable Mobile HotSpot application to share the 3G connection over WiFi with notebooks and other WiFi enabled devices.
The HP TouchSmart TM2 or TM2t does a 180 from HP's long-running line of TX convertible tablet PCs. Gone are the plasticky looks and AMD CPUs that shouted "budget PC". For roughly the same price as the outgoing TouchSmart TX2z, the TM2 has a brushed aluminum casing and chiclet keyboard borrowed from the high-end HP Envy line. The HP TM2 has a non-grainy capacitive touch screen and a Wacom active digitizer for pressure-sensitive drawing and note-taking. The new TouchSmart runs on an Intel 1.3GHz CULV SU7300 processor that's long on battery life and cool running and it comes standard with a fast 7200 RPM hard drive. We look at the retail store model, the TM2-1070US, that comes with 4 gigs of DDR3 RAM, a 320 gig hard drive, 3 USB ports, HDMI, Intel's 4500HD graphics, WiFi 802.11n and a webcam. And we also benchmark the 1.6GHz model with ATI Radeon HD 4550 graphics. This full review includes 3 video reviews.
When Barnes & Noble introduced the nook in early December 2009, it didn't go well. The eBook reader was slow and quirky and many pre-orders never arrived for the holidays. Fast forward a few months to mid-February 2010 and the nook is just now readily available online and in B&N stores. Better yet, firmware updates have transformed it from trash to beloved trinket. The nook features a dual screen design with a 6" eInk display and a capacitive color touch screen. It works with ePUB books, eReader PDB books and PDF books, making it more versatile than the Kindle. The nook has both 3G and WiFi for book shopping directly on the device and a microSD card slot. This review includes a video review and comparisons with the Kindle 2 and Sony Reader Daily Edition.
IREX is an established name in the European high end eBook reader market, and this is their first US model. The $399 IREX is unique in the US thanks to its super-sharp 8.1" eInk display with 768 x 1024 resolution. Unlike Sony touch screen readers, it's glare-free since it uses a Wacom active digitizer and EMR pen rather than a touch screen layer on top of the eInk display. It has Verizon 3G wireless with access to the Barnes & Noble bookstore, and it supports ePUB, PDF and PDB formats making it compatible with a great deal of commercial and free reading material. Its available now from Best Buy.
The HP Glisten is a Windows Mobile Pro QWERTY bar smartphone that calls to you business and messaging types. What does it have over a BlackBerry? It has both a QWERTY keyboard and an AMOLED touch screen. The Glisten is solidly built and it has a fairly high capacity battery to accompany a full compliment of wireless: 3G HSDPA, GPS, Bluetooth and WiFi. It runs Windows Mobile 6.5 Pro on a 528MHz Qualcomm CPU and it's offered by AT&T in the US.
The HTC Tilt 2 has a competitor among AT&T's Windows Mobile touch screen, high-end QWERTY sliders. While the eXpo doesn't do much to change the standard Windows Mobile 6.5 user interface, it goes for high end hardware with gusto. The eXpo is one of the very few US smartphones with Qualcomm's 1GHz Snapdragon CPU, and the LG is indeed fast. It has a very capable 5 megapixel camera with autofocus lens, a biometric fingerprint scanner, a GPS, Bluetooth and WiFi. Even more interesting is the optional pico projector that turns the LG eXpo into one of the world's smallest presentation computers. This review includes a video review.
A good case and book light are always top on our list when we get a new digital book reader. M-EDGE makes lovely cases that are reasonably priced, and they also make lights and stands. We take a look at several cases for the Barnes & Noble nook, the e-Luminator2 light and the FlexStand.
The i.Tech Solar Voice 908 is a green product that can charge via built-in solar panel. If you live in a sunny climate, say goodbye to chargers and USB cables. The 908 is a mid-sized headset that's comfortable and played well with many but not all of the current popular phones we tested it with.
An even smaller and lighter Jawbone headset that's available in 6 different personalities or looks (we take a look at The Hero). The new version of NoiseAssassin is deadlier than ever, but what we really dig are the apps and voices you can download directly to the headset. The Icon earns our Editor's Choice award.
The Taipan Lift is a TSA-friendly notebook bag that opens 180 degrees to go flat through security scanners. That means you don't have to take your notebook out of the bag at the airport checkpoint. It's available in 2 sizes and as per usual with Booq, the bag is well made and attractive.
This is one of Motorola's best portable car kits yet. The T325 does double-duty as a desktop Bluetooth speakerphone and it features loud and clear speakers. The large talk button is easy to operate and that means it won't get you killed while driving. The T325's voice prompts and intelligent power management are tops too.
We've selected the best camera phones from among our in-depth reviews of models available in the US from carriers and unlocked in the US. The phones feature high megapixel ratings, good autofocus lenses and camera-centric features. And they take very good photos too!.
They come in many forms and run a variety of operating systems, but they all offer the best brains and features for the money. Be it touch screen or QWERTY-hardware heaven, you can count on these to get your email, work on Office docs and use the web in full HTML glory.
Like to text and send email but find t9 text entry on a number pad about as much fun as getting a filling? These affordable QWERTY messenger phones help you to stay in touch with the written word but won't cost you an arm and a leg. Most don't even require a smartphone data plan. Of course, for high end email needs, the BlackBerry is hard to beat, but we take a look at the alternatives here.
The iPhone really started the touch screen craze, but it's not the only game in town. You might want a higher resolution camera, or a cheaper data plan than the iPhone offers. Or maybe you don't want to use AT&T. We take a look at the top touch screen phones on all carriers at a variety of prices.
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