Nokia N810 WiMAX Edition

Is it too much to say that WiMAX gives the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet a reason to exist? Nokia's it's-not-a-phone experiment in extreme Linux geekery now lets you surf the Web anywhere, any time, at least in Baltimore where Sprint has rolled outXOHM , its version of WiMAX. (Baltimore is the only place you'll find it, for now.) But the Nokia N810 Internet tablet WiMAX Edition ($449.99 street) still isn't a handheld that's likely to rule the mainstream market.

A quick recap from our original N810 review: This device isn't a phone, it's a Linux-based handheld computer that connects to the Internet via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, and now XOHM. The N810 is a pleasure to hold and to use. The 2.8-by-5-by0.55 inch (HWD), 7.9-ounce metallic body feels solid, and the richly colorful 800-by-480-pixel screen slides up to reveal a comfortable thumb keypad. There's a VGA camera built into the side for video calling, and a little stand pops out of the back if you want to prop the N810 up on your desk. A mini-SDHC card can drop into a slot in the bottom. It's an attractive, thoughtfully built piece of hardware.

Besides providing Internet access, the N810 features a media player, an e-mail program, contacts and calendar apps, and other software, but browsing is its real strength. Nokia is the true king of handheld Web browsers—the company's Series 60 phone browser is the best in the business, and the N810's browser renders pages that look just the way they look on a desktop PC, including Flash (but not Java) plug-ins.

There's still no Microsoft Office or PIM support, and the N810 still sometimes stutters when multitasking with music and video. Since our first review, the download servers have been improved, so you can easily grab the various additional apps that Maemo.org has to offer. The site currently lists 256 apps, including a PDF reader, alternative media players, and instant messaging programs.

Of course, the real news here is the WiMAX. I activated the N810 using the XOHM Web site, by punching in the device's MAC address. (It's on a label on the box.) The N810 was working within minutes, and it auto-connected to the XOHM network in Baltimore.

Testing Internet speeds on a handheld that doesn't act as PC modem can be tough, because speed tests are usually restricted by the device's browser or processor, rather than by its modem. (And no, the N810 currently can't tether to a PC as a modem. I don't think that would violate the terms of service; the software just doesn't exist. It might be available in the future.)

I used www.speedtest.net, which is recommended by Sprint. In four tests, I achieved download speeds generally around 1Mbps down and 500 to 800Kbps up—much slower than the results I got with a PC and Samsung's SWC-E100 ExpressCard in the same location. So it's likely the N810's browser slowing things down. The more important test, however, is that Web pages felt fast, maps rendered quickly, and music streamed over the Internet seamlessly.

But when the N810 lost its signal, it had trouble picking it up again. Several times I went to the N810's connection manager after leaving a XOHM dead spot, to find a long list of Wi-Fi networks and no XOHM. When I rebooted the handheld, XOHM reappeared. Nokia needs to make that transition smoother.

The N810 isn't a phone, but it can do VoIP. Gizmo, a free program, worked over XOHM, but Skype didn't. All my Call buttons were grayed out and unavailable, so all I could do was chat. That was disappointing.

The Nokia N810 Internet Tablet WiMAX Edition isn't on the market yet, but the original non-WiMAX model is selling for around $350 or 400. WiMAX certainly transforms this gadget into a more interesting go-anywhere Web surfing device, but I still feel that its primary appeal is to Linux geeks, since it lacks some other key apps and has a relatively high price. Also, WiMAX isn't widely available yet. Today, most people will likely settle on an iPhone 3G, instead. If not, Nokia's own excellent E71, or a XOHM-powered mini-laptop (when those devices are available) are viable alternatives.

SPEC DATA :

Price as Tested: $449.99 Street
Networking Options: 802.11g
Operating System: Linux Internet Tablet 2008
Processor Class: TI OMAP 2420
Type: Linux
RAM: 128 MB
Megapixels: 0.3 MP
Flash Memory Type: Secure Digital

T-Mobile G1 (Google Android Phone)

Call it the T-Mobile G1.0. The first-ever Google Android smartphone is a solid initial effort that, given an open development platform, will grow with time. It's missing a bunch of key features right now—like a decent media player and support for corporate e-mail, for instance. But the G1, manufactured by HTC, is a quality phone with few bugs, and given the open nature of Android, I'm confident that more features are on the way. This makes the G1 a good choice for anyone who wants an expandable phone and is interested in the future of mobile communication.

The 5.6-ounce G1 looks like a grown-up Sidekick. It's a rectangular black phone (4.6 by 2.1 by 0.6 inches—HWD) with rounded corners and a big 3.2-inch, 320-by-480-pixel capacitive touch screen that's bright and responsive. Below the display, there's a trackball; Menu, Home, and Back buttons, and buttons to pick up and end calls. Volume and camera controls are on the sides of the handset, and the 3-megapixel camera is on the back.

Slide the screen up to reveal a comfortable little QWERTY keyboard. The keys are slightly domed and separated. They're not as excellent as, say, the BlackBerry Curve keys, but they're on a par with the keys you'll find on a Sidekick.

The G1 starts up to a configurable home screen onto which you can drop any application you'd like, along with a big analog clock and a Google search box. And, yes, this home screen is completely configurable—you can even throw out the phone dialer if you want. You drag icons around on three virtual home screens, through which you scroll with a flick of the finger, just like on the iPhone.

By default, most of the phone's applications are hidden in a "drawer" that pops open with a single touch. (Again, you can move them to the home screen if you wish.) Working Android apps will be familiar to anyone who's used a touch-screen device before, with two twists: Hitting the physical Menu button brings up context-specific options and you can pull down a "window shade" from the top of the screen at any time to suppress new messages alerts and calendar alarms.

To select items on the screen, you can use either your fingers or the trackball. I found the trackball especially useful in the Web browser, where some links were too small to click with my finger.

A quad-band EDGE, dual-band HSDPA phone (1,700/2,100), the G1 works on T-Mobile's 2G and 3G networks here in the U.S. and on high-speed networks overseas. You can't use this phone as a modem for your PC, at least not yet.

We achieved 600-to-700-kilobit-per-second speeds in the G1's browser on the 3G network, which is fairly typical for a 3G phone. We also connected to our WPA2-secured 802.11g wireless network without a problem, though the G1 doesn't support T-Mobile's HotSpot @Home system for making calls over Wi-Fi. RF reception was decent.

Calls on the G1 sound terrific, at least for the person who's using the phone. Calls on T-Mobile's 3G network in New York were loud, clear, deep, and well-rounded. There's no in-ear feedback of your own voice, but whether that's good or bad is a matter of taste. The speakerphone is loud and clear. But the phone's mic layers your voice in with a lot of background sound on the other end. The G1 made calls with our mono Plantronics Voyager 520 Bluetooth headset but couldn't successfully pair with our stereo Motorola S9 headset. You get voice dialing, but you can't trigger the feature with a Bluetooth headset; you have to tap an icon on the phone. Your MP3s can be used as ringtones.—next: What You Get and What You Don't

SPEC DATA :

Price as Tested: $179.00 List
Service Provider: T-Mobile
Operating System: Other
Screen Size: 3.25 inches
Screen Details: 320x480, 65k-color capacitive TFT LCD touch screen
Camera: Yes
Megapixels: 3.1 MP
802.11x: Yes
Bluetooth: Yes
Web Browser: Yes
Network: GSM, UMTS
Bands: 850, 900, 1800, 1900, 2100, 1700
High-Speed Data: GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA
Special Features: Music
Notes: Price: $179 w/ two-year contract

RIM BlackBerry Curve 8330 (Alltel)

Ah, the joy of a BlackBerry Curve. One of our favorite smartphones ever, the Curve just works—and that goes for Alltel's model too. It's a great buy for anyone who wants a terrific phone with unparalleled messaging, excellent media features, and a bit of Web thrown into the mix. One complaint, though: Alltel could have done a little more to set its model apart from the pack.

The Alltel Curve, in sober gray, looks like a darker, handsomer version of Verizon's model. For a basic rundown of the Curve's design and features, check out PCMag's review of theVerizon or Sprint Curve.

On Alltel's network, the Curve sounds as beautiful as ever. Reception is excellent, and volume is pretty much perfect, with no distortion even at the top level. And the speakerphone is loud and clear. Curves are among the best voice phones we've tested, and this one is no exception. This Curve also got particularly stellar battery life, with over 6 hours of talk time.

Like other Curves, Alltel's has a 3.5mm headphone jack for phone or music headsets and works with mono and stereo Bluetooth headsets. Oddly, I could trigger the VoiceSignal voice dialing with our mono Aliph Jawbone, but not our stereo Plantronics Pulsar 590 headset.

Alltel lets you use the Curve as a modem for your PC (but not for a Mac) on Alltel's EV-DO Rev 0 high-speed network. The carrier provides easy-to-use software that enables a one-click connection—it was a snap to set up. Speeds were slow for EV-DO, though, at around 400 kilobits per second down, but this seemed to be a problem with Alltel's network—our other smartphones ran even more slowly in modem mode.

So what does Alltel bring to the table? In terms of software, the carrier's model falls somewhere between Verizon's sparse offerings and Sprint's richer ones. You get Google Talk and Yahoo! Messenger IM clients but no AIM. The free Google Maps for Mobile uses cell-tower triangulation to get a rough location fix, but there's no bona fide GPS (unless you pay for additional software). Buried under an odd icon marked "Axcess Shop" is an information app, which gives you news headlines, weather, stocks, and traffic information.

You can also buy software for the Curve, and this is where things get interesting. Alltel's MobiTV-based streaming Axcess TV ($9.99 per month) is available, along with Garmin Mobile ($9.99 a month) for true GPS capabilities and DynoPlex MasterDoc ($49.95), which provides enhanced attachment viewing. Shape's IM+ ($49.95) adds MSN, AIM, and MySpace IM to the Curve's list. There are also plenty of games to be had, among them Guitar Hero.

RIM's forthcoming BlackBerry OS 4.5 will include support for Microsoft Office document editing through DataViz's DocumentsToGo program, and Alltel will offer a free upgrade to Curve owners. That combined with the standard Curve features, such as the great camera, including video recording; the terrific BlackBerry messaging, including both SMS and MMS; and the new PC software, which helps transfer music and videos over from Windows XP and Vista PCs to the phone, makes Alltel's Curve 8330 as much a winner as its Verizon and Sprint cousins. We think it's the best balance of smartphone functionality for Alltel subscribers.

SPEC DATA :

Price as Tested: $229.99 - $519.99 List
Service Provider: Alltel
Screen Size: 2.5 inches
Screen Details: 320x240 65k color screen
Camera: Yes
Megapixels: 2 MP
802.11x: No
Bluetooth: Yes
Web Browser: Yes
Network: CDMA
Bands: 850, 1900
High-Speed Data: 1xRTT, EVDO
Processor Speed: 312 MHz
Special Features: Music

Samsung Behold SGH-T919

Samsung's Behold SGH-T919 brings a mix of fun multimedia features to T-Mobile's new 3G network. If you're looking for some 'wow' without springing for a smartphone, the Behold's big touch screen, fun and unusual interface, and 5-megapixel camera might just fill the bill. Just be aware that better versions of each of its individual features can be found other handsets—just not all on a single phone.

The Samsung Behold looks and works a lot like Sprint's Samsung Instinct or Verizon's LG Dare. All three are feature phones with extra bells and whistles; they look and feel a little like smartphones, but aren't as expandable or complex. The 3.9-ounce Behold is a 4.1 by 2.1 by 0.5 inch (HWD) black slab with an attractive plastic back that looks like brushed metal. On the front of the handset, there's a big, 3.1-inch, 240 by 400-pixel touch screen above the Pick Up, Hang Up, and Back buttons. Camera, Lock and Volume buttons reside on the sides of the phone, and a whopping 5-megapixel, autofocus camera lives on the back. One sour design note: the MicroSD card slot is tucked under the battery, which makes getting at it a challenge.

Samsung's TouchWiz interface makes using the Behold fun. Like on the LG Dare, the home screen is highly customizable. You can drag various icons for apps including the music player, the photo viewer, the IM client, and the Web browser from a sidebar and plop them anywhere you'd like on the home screen. I found the touch screen and accelerometer to be responsive.

As a voice phone, the Behold isn't bad, as long as you don't venture into areas with a lot of background noise. Since this is a 3G phone (T-Mobile 3G only, but global EDGE), I experienced the richer tones of a 3G call, without the hiss I hear on a lot of 2G T-Mobile calls. Indoors or in a quiet area, the earpiece volume was fine, and a lot of in-ear feedback made talking pleasant. But outdoors, the earpiece had trouble triumphing over very noisy areas, and a lot of background noise came through the microphone. The speakerphone was loud, if tinny, and also transmitted a lot of background noise. The phone comes with a wired headset for its oddball, proprietary Samsung jack. It also worked fine with our Plantronics Voyager 520 mono and Motorola S9 stereo headsets, including activating the excellent Nuance voice dialing system. Battery life was very good for a 3G phone, at 5 hours and 10 minutes of talk time.

As the carrier typically does, T-Mobile has locked down this phone, prohibiting you from installing your own apps; in all fairness, though, the Behold isn't a smartphone. But this means you're stuck with a mediocre browser, and underwhelming e-mail and IM programs. The IM app handles AIM, ICQ, Yahoo! and Windows Live messenger; the e-mail program supports AOL, Gmail, Yahoo!, and a few other ISPs, but not generic POP/IMAP e-mail. The browser is the popular NetFront 3.4, but with a twist: T-Mobile passes all pages through a WAP-translation portal which makes it easy to read the basic text content from Web pages, but it also mangles their layout. It's safest to stick with mobile-formatted pages on this phone.

The 5-megapixel camera doesn't quite measure up to the one in the Motorola ZN5, still it's a lot better than the 2-megapixel shooters you get on many feature phones. The Behold's camera captured about 25 percent fewer lines than the ZN5's, resulting in fuzzier images. Also, the LED flash is very weak compared to the ZN5's Xenon flash, and shutter lag was disappointing at 1.93 seconds (compared to a snappy 0.45 seconds on the ZN5.) On the positive side, using the Imatest testing suite, the Behold showed low amounts of noise at all light levels, and pictures had cooler tones than the ZN5's. And the Behold has a better movie mode than the ZN5 does, capturing relatively smooth 320 by 240 videos at 15 frames per second. You can store your pictures in the phone's roomy 200MB of onboard memory or on a MicroSD card up to 16GB.

Using the included USB cable or Bluetooth, the Behold syncs with Samsung's free PC Studio 3.1.2 software for Windows Vista. You can also transfer files to and from Macs or PCs with Bluetooth; file transfers were unusually fast for a phone, at around 1 megabit per second, but PC Studio is much rougher than either Nokia's or Sony Ericsson's PC suites. You can copy single contacts, calendar entries, tasks, and notes from Outlook or just type them in on your PC, but you can't select a range of entries or folders to copy. The program imploded when I tried to copy all of my calendar entries back to 2004. PC Studio also lets you copy music and video files over to your phone, but it doesn't transcode them into the right formats for on-the-go viewing. MP3, AAC, and WMA music files are supported, and you can use your own songs as ringtones. The music player is very attractive, displays album art, and supports the typical sorting options. In my video tests, the Behold played a 320 by 240, 30-frame-per-second MPEG4 movie file smoothly in landscape mode, but an H.264 video stuttered badly. You also get TeleNav GPS driving directions software. But since the phone is satellite-only and not AGPS, it had trouble locking on and finding a location when we tried it in two different boroughs of New York City.

The Samsung Behold isn't the best at any one thing, but it offers up a lot on a single device. On T-Mobile, the Motorola ZN5 is a better camera phone, the T-Mobile G1 delivers far superior Web experience, and the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 offers free Wi-Fi calling and syncs with iTunes. But the Behold balances a little of this, and a little of that in a fun device that just might make it worth your $200.

SPEC DATA :

Price as Tested: $199.99 - $399.99
Service Provider: T-Mobile
Operating System: Other
Screen Size: 3.1 inches
Screen Details: 240x400, 262k-color touch screen
Camera: Yes
Megapixels: 5 MP
802.11x: No
Bluetooth: Yes
Web Browser: Yes
Network: GSM, UMTS
Bands: 850, 900, 1800, 1900, 1700
High-Speed Data: GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA

HP iPAQ 910

HP iPAQ 910

HP's venerable iPAQ handheld line has seen its ups and downs over the years. But today, the company's tight enterprise focus distinguishes it from its competitors. Even Research In Motion, the perennial business-handset manufacturer, has pushed into the consumer smartphone space. But HP is sticking to its corporate guns. The unlocked iPAQ 910 is HP's latest business smartphone, and the successor to the company's hw6900 series handsets. The new version comes loaded with Wi-Fi, GPS, and HSDPA data radios, along with a 3-megapixel camera, and good video-playback performance. But first and foremost, HP is positioning the iPAQ 910 as a corporate e-mail device that can access workplace data anywhere in the world.

Despite the iPAQ 910's bulging feature set, it's not ungainly—in fact, it looks much like a BlackBerry 8800 or Motorola Q9c. The handset measures 4.5 by 2.5 by 0.6 inches (HWD), and is fairly hefty: 5.4 ounces. Still, those numbers pin it as slightly smaller and lighter than the Palm Treo 755p—an apt comparison, given the iPAQ 910's 2.5-inch, 320-by-240-pixel touch screen and stylus input. HP packs into the box an AC adapter, a USB synchronization cable, a metal stylus, and wired stereo earbuds.

Fashioned in a glossy black, the iPAQ 910 has a gunmetal-gray chrome surround on the front bezel. With its rubberized back panel, the handset is comfortable to hold and talk into. Control-wise, the iPAQ 910 is the anti-iPhone: neither sleek nor minimal, and covered in buttons, dials, and ports. On the front panel, there's a five-way navigation key in the center, with four buttons to either side, which perform various functions. The left-hand side of the unit houses a hardware volume control, a voice-control button, a mini USB port, and a microSD slot. The right-hand side, meanwhile, contains a scroll wheel—more on this below—along with OK and Camera buttons. On the back of the handset, you'll find the camera sensor and flash, a small self-portrait mirror, and the phone's mono speaker. My preproduction review unit had a troublesome rubber port cover on the left side. Whenever I pressed down one side, the other side popped up. HP claims that final retail models wouldn't have this problem.

The QWERTY keyboard deserves special mention. Given the constraints of smartphone design, no cell-phone keyboard is going to be roomy or comfortable to use for long periods. But the iPAQ 910 excels here, with properly spaced keys, just the right amount of resistance, and a muted click response. There are even dedicated comma, period, and question-mark keys along with the standard issue Backspace and Enter buttons. I found I could type paragraphs at a time without getting frustrated or feeling fatigued.

So about that thumb wheel: It's like the one found on older 8700 series BlackBerrys. But this one is positioned higher up on the right-hand side of the handset. The touch screen is picky—all Windows Mobile touch-screen devices are. But the net effect of the abundance of controls is easy operation, even with one hand. It's probably the most successful implementation of Windows Mobile I've seen in this regard, and speaks volumes to the idea that Apple doesn't have a monopoly on control schemes. If you're familiar with Windows, you'll fly on the iPAQ 910.

Voice calls sounded crisp and clear in both directions, although the sound in the earpiece was a little colder and tinny-sounding than I preferred. Reception was strong enough to pull in weak 3G HSDPA signals in a rural area northwest of Boston, consistent with the reception of other HSDPA phones I've tried in the same location. When paired with an original Aliph Jawbone, the iPAQ 910 sounded spectacular in both directions. But a Cardo S-800 Bluetooth headset exhibited a high level of hiss and even a slight buzz in the background on all calls. (This headset sounds fine when paired to other models). Disappointingly, the iPAQ 910's mono speaker was far too weak for even indoor voice calls, much less outdoor calls or listening to music.

The iPAQ 910 is a tri-band UMTS/HSDPA device with support for 3.6/7.2-megabit-per-second HSDPA data networks. It also works as a broadband modem for a laptop. The built-in Wi-Fi radio connects to 802.11b/g networks with up to WPA2-level security. It also supports Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR. At the iPAQ 910's heart is a 416-MHz Marvell PXA270 processor, 256MB of flash ROM, and 128MB SDRAM, with 76MB free for running programs such as Oracle or Salesforce applications. Those are relatively powerful specs—although HP's PDA-only iPAQ 210 sports Marvell's next-generation PXA310 CPU, which performs better at the same clock speed and also has built-in graphics acceleration. Still, the iPAQ 910 felt reasonably fast in operation, just a tad sluggish compared with recent BlackBerry and Palm OS devices.

Since the iPAQ 910 is a Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional smartphone, it comes with Microsoft Office Mobile, which lets you view, edit, and create Word and Excel documents out of the box. It can also view (but not edit or create) PowerPoint documents. The handset can synchronize e-mail, contacts, and calendar data with Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Exchange Server. Windows Mobile 6.1 also includes numerous security and encryption enhancements, along with somewhat improved Internet browsing using Internet Explorer. The included MSN Messenger is a plus, but it's not an IM account aggregator, which you can get with many other handsets.

HP throws in a copy of Cyberon's Voice Commander & Recorder, which let me dial contacts without having to train it first. It also lets you respond to e-mail messages by voice. The GPS chipset works with the built-in Google Maps for Mobile; there's also a hidden jack at the top of the handset to add an aftermarket antenna that HP claims will boost its GPS reception fivefold. Finally, HP includes Enterprise Mobility Suite, which is invisible to the user but gives IT departments remote wipe, software provisioning, camera disable/enable, and other management tools.

As a media device, the iPAQ 910 achieved only mixed results. Its processor is fast enough for smooth full-screen playback of properly encoded video files. The microSD slot is easily accessible, and although HP claims it works with cards up to 4GB, I had no problems reading and writing to an 8GB SanDisk microSDHC card. Music tracks sounded very poor over the included set of wired earbuds, and upgrading would be a pain owing to the mini-USB connector. Music fared better, with much more bass, over a paired set of Etymotic Ety8 Bluetooth stereo earphones, but these still lacked the richness of a wired set.

The iPAQ 910's 3MP camera includes autofocus, but you'd never know it: The indoor shots were soft, with dull color and blown out highlights. (It fares much better outside.) The weak LED flash is an all-on-or-all-off affair—there's no auto mode; it had virtually no effect on photos, though, so you might as well leave it off, or just use it as a flashlight. The unit records middling QVGA video files, and there's also a direct Snapfish upload feature. Battery life was average for the class at 9 hours 13 minutes of continuous talk time.

The $499.99 (direct) price may sound expensive to those accustomed to subsidized handsets. But for an unlocked smartphone, HP's pricing is pretty aggressive. For comparison, Nokia's E61i, a previous Editors' Choice winner in this category, costs $450 and is far less capable, as it lacks 3G, GPS, and document editing. (The brand-new E71 looks spectacular, but an early review unit turned out to be too buggy; we're still waiting for a final review version.)

The HP iPAQ 910, with its business-focused Windows Mobile design, has a completely different mission from the Nokia N82, our current Editors' Choice for unlocked smartphones. Since we can award our Editors' Choice to only one product in the unlocked smartphone category, we're now giving it to the iPAQ 910, which is hard to beat when it comes to business-class devices. But that in no way diminishes the N82, still the top pick for anyone who wants a stellar multimedia phone with one of the best integrated cameras you can get. Despite very different target markets, you can't go wrong with either one of these top-quality smartphones.

Benchmark Test Results

Continuous talk time (GSM): 9 hours 13 minutes

SPB Benchmark: 365.14

CPU index: 1634.1

File system index: 146.39

Graphics index: 4953.37

SPEC DATA :

Price as Tested: $499.00 Street
Service Provider: AT&T, T-Mobile
Operating System: Windows Mobile Pocket PC
Screen Size: 2.5 inches
Screen Details: 320x240, QVGA, 65K colors
Camera: Yes
Megapixels: 3 MP
802.11x: Yes
Bluetooth: Yes
Web Browser: Yes
Network: GSM, UMTS
Bands: 850, 900, 1800, 1900, 2100
High-Speed Data: EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA
Processor Speed: 416 MHz
Special Features: Music

The PC Edge / Datawind Pocketsurfer 2

A good idea that's oddly executed, the $299.99 (list) PC Edge is a small handheld device for on-the-go Web browsing, and it pulls up full, desktop-style Web pages quickly and clearly. Unfortunately, its many eccentricities make it difficult to recommend.

A wide, slim (6 by 4 by 0.6 inches HWD, 6.1 ounces) palmtop that browses the Web over a proprietary thin client system, the PC Edge uses T-Mobile's GPRS (not even EDGE!) network to connect to the Internet. It's not a phone; it doesn't have a user-accessible SIM card; and there's no onboard storage. When you press a key on the keyboard, the device links up with Datawind's servers in Canada, which push down highly compressed images of Web pages that are updated several times a second. The device is basically a remote-desktop client for Datawind's browsing servers.

The upside is that sites load faster than on any GPRS device I've ever seen. It's a true technical feat. Pages appear within a few seconds, though as you scroll down, the pages then pause to draw additional chunks. You get all the Web elements you would see on a desktop PC, including Java and Flash—though anything that shifts or changes can do so only once or twice a second, making animations mostly useless.

There are plenty of downsides, though. Graphics aren't sharp. Standard mode dithers pictures down to 16 colors, though you can push it up to 256 colors with relatively little cost in download speeds. If you click on any user elements (such as pop-up menus) on pages, it takes a while for pages to respond. And there's a long delay while typing into some AJAX-based text-entry boxes, such as in Google Docs or Yahoo! Mail. The Edge is sending each character up to the server as you type. In more traditional HTML text-entry fields, the PC Edge lets you type locally and then bundles your text together before sending it up to the central server. There's no sound and, because of the slow frame rates, no video.

The device is pretty, but it's also a bit odd. It uses a bright but washed-out 5-inch, 640-by-240-pixel passive-matrix display and a flat, backlit keyboard with a bunch of mysterious function keys. These keys control functions like zoom, navigating the Web browser, double-clicking, and activating the built-in GPS, which works with Google Maps. (Or at least it's supposed to; my device thought I was in Florida instead of New York.

The keyboard is just a bit too wide to hold comfortably for thumb-typing, and the Edge's hinge won't let you sit it on a table as a mini-laptop, either. You navigate around pages using a virtual pointer on the screen, which is controlled by a cursor pad on the keyboard. It's a little awkward, especially because my cursor would sometimes run right off the screen and disappear.

The Edge offers a bunch of links to Web applications, including an e-mail client that runs on Datawind's servers, so it's faster than just navigating to your webmail client. You also get Web-based office suites, LogMeIn.com, and an online storage system (25GB). Because it's a server-based thin client, the Edge doesn't have any onboard storage. Google Docs ran slowly, because of the Edge's delay with entering text. LogMeIn.com wasn't very usable because my desktop image was so zoomed out that I couldn't read the names of icons.

My sample device had some build problems and some mysteries. The keyboard was slightly separated from the case on the left-hand side, and the device had a mysterious rubber-covered slot next to the power adapter that wasn't mentioned in any of the documentation.

Ultimately, the PC Edge is a solution to a problem that's swiftly disappearing. At $300 (plus $20 or $30 per month data plan—depending on whether it's on sale at the moment), this device is the same price as a16GB Apple iPhone 3G , which is not only slicker but does a lot more. Yes, the Edge can handle aspects of Web pages, like Flash, that most handhelds fail to do. But navigating the Web and entering data is much easier on other mobile devices. Graphics look awful with the Edge's compression. And the Flash advantage is partially canceled out by the Edge's slow frame rates.

I can't deny the technical feat Datawind has pulled off here. The Edge is slim, and it loads Web pages quickly using an unusual tactic that represents desktop pages with great fidelity. But should you buy it? I'm not sold. For simple Web surfing, I suggest getting a Nokia N810 Internet Tablet or even an ASUS Eee PC 2G Surf instead.

SPEC DATA :

Price as Tested: $299.99 List
Type: Other
Screen Size: 5 inches
Network: GPRS, GSM
Bluetooth: No

Palm Tungsten T, Zire

As a replacement for the Palm V series and the short-lived m500 series, the Palm Tungsten T ($400 street) is a rugged and high-powered PDA that's well suited for mobile professionals. The device is collapsible, and the compact case fits easily in your hand or shirt pocket.

You can slide the case open to expose the Graffiti area—an effective space-saving design for a device that is used more often for data viewing than for entry. A removable, clear plastic cover protects the 320-by-320 display—a vast improvement over earlier Palm units—and a five-way button enables one-handed navigation.

For business users, the Tungsten T comes with Palm OS 5.0, and a 144-MHz Texas Instruments CPU that supports wireless connections and multimedia. It also has a built-in Bluetooth radio for short-range wireless connections.

Thanks to the processor and OS, the Tungsten T is the first Palm PDA designed from the ground up to handle multimedia. It performed well compared with the other Palm OS devices on our audio and video tests, although it's not as good for entertainment as the two high-end Sony models. The Tungsten T is a good choice for mobile professionals and reasonable for entertainment, too.

Combining low cost ($100) and the simplicity of Palm OS, the Palm Zire is a very attractive entry-level PDA. For consumers who want to carry their contacts, appointments, and to-do lists electronically, the Zire is an excellent first PDA purchase and earns an Editors' Choice.

But you get what you pay for. The plastic case is not sturdy, and the device is not designed for multimedia; it has a monochrome screen and no audio capability. It runs only the simplest games. You can't expand it with an add-in card, and don't even think about using it for Internet connectivity or e-mail.

Printed documentation is limited to a brochure, although full manuals are available on CD and online. A removable, rubberized, translucent flip cover protects the screen and flips back easily with one hand, but it tends to fall right back down over the display.

We are pleased to find a rechargeable lithium ion battery in a model this inexpensive. If you're looking for a PDA with easy-to-use applications—and plenty of third-party software—you can't go wrong with the Zire, as long as you don't mind its limitations.

T-Mobile Sidekick LX

The summer 2008 software update for the Sidekick LX handheld fixes some of our top complaints about the device. But at the end of the day, the LX is still really bulky and doesn't have enough storage for text and e-mail messages. If you're an existing LX user, download the free software, but if you're in the market for a new device, get the new Sidekick 2008 or a BlackBerry instead.

The Sidekick LX, which we reviewed when it first launched last October, is a messaging limousine, a gigantic device that's 5.1 inches long with a 3-inch, 400-by-240-pixel screen. Its 1,540-mAh battery lets it run for almost 11 hours of talk time. Compare that with the new Sidekick 2008, a more compact model, at 4.7 inches, that has the same 400-by-240-pixel resolution on a 2.6-inch screen and achieves about 8 hours of talk time on its smaller battery.

Check out our original review for the basic details of the Sidekick LX. We'll focus on the 2008 improvements here.

We dinged the Sidekick LX for not supporting stereo Bluetooth for music, video recording and playback, or Yahoo! Mail. All those features are here now. The LX paired easily with our Plantronics Pulsar 590 stereo headset to play unprotected AAC, MP3, and WMA files. The LX also plays small video files—like the ones sent in MMS messages. It doesn't do a good job of playing larger files, though; even our relatively undemanding 320-by-240, 15-frame-per-second 3GP test file was jerky and choppy.

Video capture is strictly for picture messaging, but it's here. The LX now takes wobbly, pulsing, and grainy 176-by-144 videos of up to 20 seconds in length and stores them on a memory card. Our 8GB SanDisk microSD card worked fine as a source and destination for music, photos, and videos.

Yahoo! Mail has joined the e-mail client, and now there's spell-check too, but the LX still has a major, potentially fatal flaw common to all Sidekicks: a way-too-small mailbox. With space for only 6MB of e-mail and 100 SMS messages, you'll be cleaning out your inboxes frequently.

A few minor changes to the Web browser are pluses, but they fail to make the browser desktop-quality. You can now zoom out to see everything on a page before zooming in on a particular part of the page, and you can save images from pages to your memory card. But many pages still display awkwardly, especially if they use JavaScript or DHTML.

A neat new feature, Quick Find, lets you search all of the phone's databases for a name or date from the home screen.

We can't see many advantages the updated LX has over the new Sidekick 2008, which is smaller but still has an excellent keyboard and a sharp screen. Its features are very similar to those of the LX (they're running the same version of the OS), but a lousy 2-megapixel camera has replaced the LX's 1MP model. More exciting for the average Sidekick user, the new 2008 model features completely user-customizable cases, which the LX lacks. The update also still doesn't put the LX ahead of the BlackBerry Curve 8320 which does pretty much everything the LX does, just better.

SPEC DATA :

• Service Provider: T-Mobile
• Operating System: Windows Mobile Pocket PC
• Screen Size: 3 inches
• Screen Details: 400x240, 65k-color TFT LCD display
• Camera: Yes
• Megapixels: 1.3 MP
• Flash Memory Type: Micro SD
• 802.11x: No
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Web Browser: Yes
• Network: GSM
• Bands: 800, 900, 1800, 1900
• High-Speed Data: GPRS, EDGE
• Special Features: Music

PalmOne Zire 72

The palmOne Zire 72 is palmOne's latest model in the consumer Zire line with a heavy emphasis on multimedia. The handheld brings built in bluetooth wireless, new features, enhanced software and many other improvements over its predecessor the Zire 71.

Design
The Zire 72 looks much like a traditional handheld, with its square display and silkscreen input area. The Zire 72 does not share the sliding mechanism found on the 71. The camera is now always exposed on a slightly raised portion on the back of the device. It also has a new application button layout and a tungsten like 5-way navigator. The new Zire 72 and Zire 31 are also the first handhelds to be launched with the palmOne logo.

The casing is predominately made of plastic. The handheld has an attractive blue color, that is unofficially called "Zapphire." The blue sides of the handheld are a new rubbery like paint that has a very good, non slip gripping quality. The unique rubbery finish is a "next-generation" Velecron finish from PPG Industries, the Zire 72 is one of the first commercial products to use it.

On the top of the handheld from right to left is a clear green LED for alarms and indicates charging, that unfortunately does not turn off when fully charged. On the immediate top is the SD expansion slot with a built in dust cover, the IR window, power buttons and 3.5mm standard stereo headphone jack. The right hand side holds the exposed stylus silo, while the left is smooth with a small flush button which is set to activate and launch the voice recorder.

The back of the Zire 72 contains the Camera sensor, speaker and microphone all encased behind a aluminum metallic mesh plating. Below that is a sticker full of serial numbers and logos. The bottom of the unit has a small center protrusion that contains the mini-USB port and the separate power connection.

Its dimensions are 4.6 in. x 2.95 in. x 0.67 in. (116 x 75 x 17 mm). The 72 weighs a pocket friendly 4.8 ounces (136 g). The build quality is solid with no creaks or rattling loose parts.

The included stylus is a solid black and plastic. It is a decent thickness and weight, but is nothing fancy. The small reset button on the back is large enough to be conveniently activated with the stylus tip. palmOne does not include a cradle. Since this unit lacks the Universal Connector, separate mini-USB and charging cables are provided. A soft felt slip case is included in the box, while it may prevent exterior scratches it does not offer much protection.

Hardware
The Zire 72 runs Palm OS 5.2.8 and uses the new 312MHz Intel PXA270 processor. The processor automatically manages voltage and frequency changes for additional power savings. It includes 32MB of RAM (24MB user-available), double the amount of the Zire 71. The memory expansion slot accepts MMC, SD and SDIO cards.

The processor is pretty snappy and has good multimedia performance. In my standard torture test, I was able to surf the web over Bluetooth while listening to a mp3 in the background with no noticeable slowdown.

Screen
The display is a square 320x320 pixel transflective TFT color display that supports over 65,000 colors. The display is very bright and quite vivid, even at lower brightness levels. The display is the same type as the highly praised screens found on the Zire 71 and Tungsten C. The colors are accurate with excellent contrast and viewing angles and is consistently backlit without any shadows or bright spots. It has an on-screen slider to set the backlight brightness. The screen fades and slightly washes out in direct sunlight, but is still useable. The screen has a neat little fade out effect when it is turned off.

Camera
The Zire 72 has rear mounted built in 1.2 megapixel digital camera. The camera can capture images in up to 1280x920 resolution and has a 2x digital zoom. The camera can also capture videos at up to 320x240 resolution with audio. The camera can be launched from the dedicated application button. The camera app can be controlled one handed with the 5-way navigator, and photos are snapped by pressing in the center button.

The camera has automatic and customizable controls for white balance, low light, contrast, brightness, saturation and sharpness. There are also 3 photo effects, black & white, Sepia and Blue. Pictures can automatically be saved to photo albums to either the handheld memory or an SD card. Pictures taken at the maximum resolution are roughly around 450K file size per photo.

The quality of the photos is much better than its predecessor and many of the current VGA cameras built into handhelds and phones today, though it likely won't replace your dedicated camera. The new camera will take much larger and more detailed photos which is better for printing. The main problem with the new sensor is that colors seem dimmed and washed out and certain objects will tend to be fuzzy and out of focus. palmOne includes a neat new feature that lets you draw or write over a photo and then save it before syncing or emailing it. Below are a few full size, unedited photos taken with the Zire 72 in various conditions.

Bluetooth
The Zire 72 has built in bluetooth for wireless networking. The Bluetooth software has been updated to make setting up connections to a mobile phone, computer or access point much easier. With Bluetooth you can dial out contacts from your address book, send and receive files, sms and photos wirelessly, hotsync, and connect to the internet from a bluetooth mobile phone, computer or a bluetooth access point. The software was able to automatically configure itself to recognize my Sony Ericsson T610 and use it's GPRS connection without any complicated setup.

A new Bluetooth icon is available in the launcher, which acts as a shortcut to the Bluetooth preferences and connection controls. A small Bluetooth logo now appears beside the battery meter in the main launcher when Bluetooth is turned on. palmOne has also added a Bluetooth shortcut to the command bar, so you can jump to the Bluetooth prefs from any application.

Audio
The Zire 72 has a rear mounted speaker in the metal mesh below the camera lens. The speaker is quite loud and mp3's and voice memos sound very clear, though most will opt for using headphones (not included) for listening to music. For listening to music files, the Zire 72 ships with the RealOne player. The microphone is also hidden behind the rear grill, which is used for the voice and movie recorder.

Even with the updated audio and speaker capabilities, palmOne is still using the same DateBook alarm sounds that debuted on the original Pilot 1000. While there are many third party replacements, these are so very overdue for an update!

Battery Life
The 72 has a 950mAh rechargeable lithium ion battery. According to the palmOne specs, assuming normal usage (~30 minutes of use a day) the battery life will be about one week. For continuous MP3 playing, the battery life will be about five hours. I found I was able to get about 5 hours off of a full charge, with heavy camera and bluetooth use. More typical use may yield a longer battery life.

Software
Updated PIM apps
The Zire 72 inlcudes the new palmOne updated PIM suite that debuted on the Tungsten T3. The suite has a number of enhancements over the standard Palm OS PIM applications. First of all you may be confused at first because all of the names have changed. DateBook is now Calendar, Address is now Contacts, To Do List is Tasks, and Memo Pad is now Memos. The changes were made based on user feedback and research and also to more closely resemble Microsoft Outlook.

Calendar
Calendar sports a redesigned Agenda View that lists your most recent upcoming appointments, tasks due and email. New on the 72 is the ability to select a background image for the agenda view. It can use any of the photos taken with the camera or added to the handheld. You can now assign colors to different categories, appointment location details and a new year view. Palm also made it possible to have events spanning midnight, separate calendar support and the ability to beam multiple appointments and categories.

Contacts
Contacts has a number of visual and structural improvements. You can now have multiple contact addresses, such as work, home, other. The are new contact fields for more phone numbers, email addresses, website and instant messaging accounts. There are now nine custom fields and a new birthday field, that will keep track and remind you before an approaching birthday (Palm calls this the marriage saving feature). The Zire 72 also adds the ability to assign a picture to a contact taken with the camera.

Memos and Tasks
Many will rejoice that you can now have memos larger than 4k, the new app has a 32k maximum memo size. They have also added repeating tasks and new views for To Do items.

The main application launcher also shares the new ability to add a background image behind the program icons. You can select a camera image, or select any image file from the Media application. There is a build in control to fade an image for better blending visibility.

One the desktop side of things, palmOne includes their Quick Install program for Windows. Quick Install simplifies installing programs and converting documents and photos for handheld use. Users simply drag zip files, prc application files, photos, videos and even MS office files into the app and it will preform the necessary conversion and install the the files on the next hotsync. The software CD includes the Palm Desktop for windows and Mac as well as the palmOne Outlook Conduit.

Documents to Go
palmOne bundles the latest version of Documents to Go standard edition on the CD for Microsoft office compatibility. Docs to Go 6 supports native Microsoft Word and Excel files, no conversion is necessary. You can use files received from Email, Bluetooth or and SD card.

The Zire 72 includes Web Pro v3.5 for web browsing and VersaMail v2.7 for email. VersaMail is an excellent email application that supports both POP3 and IMAP mail servers. Web Pro is a proxy and proxyless web browser. It does a good job of rendering most websites and seems a bit faster than its earlier versions. palmOne also includes a single Media application that handles both photos and movies. Also on the CD are versions of palmOne Messages (sms/mms), Expense, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Solitaire, PalmReader, powerOne personal calculator, Audible player and a Java J2ME runtime.

Conclusion
The Zire 72 is a fun excellent multimedia machine and power organizer with a great screen. It improves upon and corrects a number of issues and shortcomings with the Zire 71. The new top of the line Zire has a lot to offer hardware wise with an excellent balance of quality software.

Palm Tungsten C

Business users will find everything they need in the Palm Tungsten C ($500 street), a powerful PDA with built-in Wi-Fi (802.11b) networking that provides wireless access to corporate applications, a desktop PIM, e-mail, and the Web. This latest addition to the Tungsten line incorporates a 400-MHz Intel XScale processor, the latest Palm OS (5.2.1), a backlit 320-by-320 screen, a 64K color display, an integrated QWERTY keyboard, 64MB of RAM (with 51MB available for user storage), a rechargeable battery, the Palm Universal Connector, and an SD I/O slot. The end product is a well-designed mobile productivity tool that stacks up against other PDAs in its class.

The Tungsten C runs in close competition with the Sony Clié PEG-TG50, which is Sony's best model for mobile professionals, and the Palm Tungsten T (both $400 street), the Tungsten C's predecessor. The Sony Clié PEG-TG50 offers the same screen technology and an integrated keyboard, runs Palm OS 5.0 on a 200-MHz processor, provides 16MB of RAM and a voice recorder, and wirelessly connects via a Bluetooth radio. The compact Palm Tungsten T, another Bluetooth device, shares the screen technology of the Tungsten C and the PEG-TG50, provides 16MB of RAM and a voice recorder, and runs Palm OS 5.0 on a Texas Instruments OMAP1510 chip, but lacks a keyboard. The Tungsten C, with its faster CPU and more than three times the user memory, is more powerful, and the integrated Wi-Fi is more useful than Bluetooth for connecting to the Internet and corporate LANs.

With its side-flip cover installed, the 6.8-ounce brushed silver Tungsten C is 4.8 by 3.1 by 0.8 inches (HWD), which fills a small hand. Lacking a jog dial on the side panel, the device isn't conducive to one-handed operation, but we like the keyboard's tactile feedback and the placement of the five-way navigation button with the four application-launch buttons below the keyboard. There is an integrated mono speaker for audio, but no microphone, requiring the use of the $15Palm Tungsten W and C Hands-free Headset (also mono) for making voice recordings.

In addition to the standard Palm PIM (VersaMail 2.5) and Web browser applications, the latest Palm OS offers useful improvements, such as color themes, the optional capability to use the full screen for handwritten input, and the PC Quick Install HotSync program that simplifies synchronization of multimedia and zipped files. The Tungsten C's impressive third-party productivity, communications, and entertainment software bundle includes Bachmann Software's PrintBoy for printing Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files from DataViz's Documents to Go 5.0 Professional Edition. You'll also find Solitaire, the Kinoma Player PDA video application with the companion Kinoma Producer for the desktop, and Colligo Meeting for WLAN, which maintains joint schedules between two WLAN-enabled Palm PDAs.

Palm's Wi-Fi Setup application requires only four screen taps to discover and connect to an existing public or unprotected private Wi-Fi network, such as a network with WEP turned on. We established a connection to our home office network in 9 seconds. Mergic VPN, a separate app that's also accessible from Wi-Fi Setup, lets you enter VPN information for a secure connection to a corporate network.

Built-in Wi-Fi connectivity versus the less practical—and less expensive—Bluetooth connectivity justifies the Palm Tungsten C's price tag for Palm devotees who want a versatile and powerful PDA to boost their productivity.

Palm Tungsten T3

The Tungsten T3 takes its place as the flagship among Palm's PDAs. With its 400-MHz Intel XScale CPU and 64MB of RAM (52MB available to users), the T3 is easily the most powerful Palm-branded PDA yet. It's a bit larger and heavier than the T2, measuring 4.3 by 2.9 by 0.6 inches (HWD) and weighing 5.4 ounces.

Most physical features carry over from the earlier models, although the application launch and five-way navigation buttons have changed. They are now bigger and hence easier to use. The T3 uses the same slider design as the earlier T models. But in this instance, instead of exposing a Graffiti area, the case opens up to show more screen (for a total of 2.1 by 2.9 inches).

That bright, transflective TFT display has 320- by 480-dpi resolution (half VGA). This increased screen resolution is stunning: The display seems to pop right out at you. And by tapping one button, you can switch from traditional portrait orientation to landscape.

The company positions the T3 for professional and enterprise users, in part because of its Bluetooth wireless capability and support for SD I/O. A new Socket SD Wi-Fi card will also be supported, but it was not ready for our testing. The lack of integrated Wi-Fi holds back the T3 somewhat, although the Tungsten C is available with Wi-Fi built in.

The closest Sony model that corresponds to the T3 is the Clié TG50 ($350 street), which lacks Bluetooth and has a smaller display with lower resolution. In the Windows Mobile world, the closest competing model would be the HP iPAQ h2215 ($400 street), which has a similarly rated CPU and RAM amount, integrated Bluetooth, and a CF II slot as well as an SD slot.

The h2215 is about the same weight and just a bit larger than the T3, but it has a lower-resolution display. Unlike any current Palm OS models, however, the h2215 can keep multiple applications running—still a Palm shortcoming. The T3 and the h2215 are equally impressive. Your choice should be dictated by your OS preference.

Product: Palm Tungsten T3

Street price: $400

Company Info: Palm Inc., 800-881-7256, www.palm.com

Sony Clié PEG-T615C

Enhancing its entertainment-centric PDA line, Sony's elegant Sony Clié PEG-T615C ($400 street) is a sleek device with a high-resolution, 16-bit color display, 16MB of memory, a Memory Stick expansion slot, a USB connection, and Palm OS 4.1. A quick comparison against Palm's flagship Palm m505 ($400 street), with its 8MB of memory and lower-resolution color screen, leaves little doubt that the PEG-T615C can take the lead in the Palm OS PDA competition. Unless you need wireless e-mail and Web functions (delivered by the Palm i705, reviewed on page 56), this Sony model is the PDA of choice.

Available in either shiny silver or royal blue, the PEG-T615C weighs 6 ounces (including its black leather flip cover) and measures 4.8 by 2.8 by 0.6 inches (HWD).

The PEG-T615C shares most features with the monochrome PEG-T415 ($250, reviewed in First Looks in our issue of January 15, 2002), including a jog dial for easy navigation, a universal remote-control functions for running some home entertainment devices, a generous software bundle, and a lithium ion polymer battery (rated at 12 days per charge).

The best part of the PEG-T615C is its gorgeous color display. The 320-by-320–resolution backlit TFT display is great indoors and fantastic outdoors, even in direct sunlight. Coupling the high-resolution display with 16-bit color, applications such as the included PictureGear Pocket image viewer from Sony become a lot more impressive to use. In fact, all of the included applications are easier and more enjoyable to use with the color display.

We wish the PEG-T615C came with a standard travel charger instead of requiring you to use the docking cradle to recharge the unit's battery. And if you often play MP3 files, the Sony Clié PEG-N760C ($450) is probably a better choice. With the PEG-T615C, you'll need to add the Sony PEGA-SA10 Audio Adapter ($130 street). Still, in the Palm OS PDA world, the PEG-T615C is unsurpassed.

Product: Sony Clié PEG-T615C

Street Price: $400

Requires: 233-MHz Pentium CPU or better; 64MB RAM; 128MB hard disk space; Microsoft Windows 98, 98 SE, 2000 Professional, Me, or XP

Company Info: Sony Electronics Inc., 888-315-7669, www.sony.com/clie

Garmin iQue 3600

Add-on GPS units were among the earliest and sexiest accessories for PDAs. A GPS could help you find out where you were and track your progress on trips, using the PDA's display and software downloaded from a host PC. But adding GPS capability typically requires a bulky add-on or a CompactFlash card.

Now Garmin, one of the most respected names in the GPS industry, has entered the PDA market with an intriguing convergent device, the Garmin iQue 3600 ($590 street). While the Palm OS 5.0–based iQue 3600 isn't inexpensive compared with many conventional PDAs, it's cheaper than buying a PDA and a GPS add-on.

The iQue 3600 has 32MB of RAM for map data and other Palm applications. Conveniently, an SD card slot lets you save map files (which can be large) separately. The 6.6-ounce device has a 2.2- by 3.2-inch 320-by-480 backlit 16-bit color display.

The GPS unit itself is a WAAS-enabled, 12-parallel-channel receiver with rated GPS positional accuracy within 15 meters and rated WAAS accuracy within 3 meters. The GPS antenna fits into and folds out from the top of the back of the case. Close it and it turns off, conserving battery power. If you're going to use the iQue in your car for long trips, it's probably a good idea to buy the optional 12-volt car power adapter ($30 direct).

The iQue includes a vibrating alarm and an MP3 player function, but its primary function is as a location and navigation device. Bundled software includes Garmin's GPS clock, address lookup, mapping, tracking, trip computer, router generator, and turn-by-turn voice guidance programs. On our tests in the Hartford and New Haven, Connecticut, areas, the iQue 3600 performed as well as any add-on GPS unit we've tested.

During installation a base map of major cities, roads, and state and county boundaries is loaded on the PDA. A license is included to use detailed map and POI data from a two-disc MapSource City Select.

The iQue's applications use moving maps; just move the cursor to any edge and the map moves to the next area. You can also easily zoom in or out for more or less detail. We tested routing to locations in the Hartford area, and the software quickly showed us the best way to get to our favorite pizza places.

Integration with the Palm address book is helpful: Tapping the "Route to" button automatically generates a route to any address on your contact list. And the mapping feature quickly shows you how to get to the next appointment on your calendar.

If you often travel in new areas, Garmin's iQue 3600 is a handy single-device combination. Use it as a regular PDA when you're not out and about, but when you need directional help, flip up the back panel with confidence.

Sony Clié PEG-NX80V

If you've been wanting a general-purpose digital camera but what you really need is a PDA, Sony seems to have the answer—the Sony Clié PEG-NX80V ($600 street). The NX80V is the most highly evolved of the Clié NX series, with a large 320-by-480 display, a usable (but not lovable) QWERTY keyboard, a Sony Wireless LAN CF slot, an MP3 player, a voice recorder, AV remote control, and saving the best for last, a truly usable 1.3-megapixel camera.

The Palm OS 5.0–powered NX80V uses Sony's Launcher application instead of the traditional Palm home screen—a more graphical interface that is better looking and easier to use. The image-friendly Clié has a 200-MHz DragonBall CPU and 32MB of ROM and RAM. The 8 ounce, 0.8- by 2.8- by 5.25-inch (HWD) NX80V uses the now-famous swivel screen, so you can use the PDA in clamshell format, exposing the tiny—albeit functional—round-keyed keyboard, or you can spin the display 180 degrees and fold it flat so the whole unit resembles a conventional PDA.

In addition to the Memory Stick slot, the NX80V has the same proprietary CF slot found on several other Cliés (such as the NX70V and NZ90, for example). The CF slot is primarily for the $150 Sony Wireless LAN card. Other Wi-Fi cards, which are usually a bit cheaper, will not work. Some other CF memory cards will work, but not all. We had success using a Lexar Media card but could not one from Viking Components. And despite the CF capability, you can play MP3s stored on Memory Stick or MagicGate Memory Stick media only.

We had the most fun using the NX80V's integrated camera. Located in the hinge, the camera swivels to protect the lens and lets you capture images in front of or behind the PDA. A software button turns on the capture light, located just to the left of the lens. The light, which stays on until you turn it off, isn't powerful enough to take pictures in a darkened room, but it can brighten the scene in a normally dim room from up to 12 feet away. Another software button controls the 3X digital. An integrated filter will cut the light in overly bright scenes such as those with full sunlight.

We found the camera easy and pleasant to use. Images take about 1 second to record. The video recording mode has a low resolution of 160-by-112, with playback of up to 320-by-240. The best feature of the camera is its 1.3-megapixel resolution. Once you've captured your images, you can display them on the PDA, edit them with Sony's useful but minimal Photo Editor software, or transfer them to a conventional PC for further editing and for printing.

For those who don't need to print pictures but like the other NX80V features, the similar Sony Clié PEG-NX70 ($500) has a more common 640-by-480 camera with no light. The NZ90 has a 2-megapixel camera with a more conventional integrated flash, but the 10.4-ounce PDA is heavy, and at $800, costly. $600 for the Sony Clié PEG-NX80V isn't a giveaway, but considering that you get a truly usable digital camera in addition to a great PDA and an MP3 player, this new model should find plenty of acceptance.

Palm Tungsten W

Mobile professionals who need both a PDA and a cell phone in a single device should consider the Palm Tungsten W ($549 list), a tri-band GSM/GPRS world phone that is relatively rugged, has an integrated keyboard, and offers an SD expansion slot. It has outstanding battery life (10 hours talk time, 240 hours standby time), six-party conference calling capability, and an impressive bundle of portable-office, communications, and e-mail software. It doesn't have a voice recorder or speakerphone, however, and you have to use an external earphone for voice calls.

The Tungsten W is a bit of a handful because of its 3.1-inch width, but its keyboard works well for two-thumb typing. And the excellent Jot software can capture handwriting anywhere on the screen. The integration of the address book with the built-in telephone streamlines phone calling.

The 320-by-320, 16-bit color display is a real standout—a significant step ahead of Palm's earlier wireless-enabled PDAs, and the best among the PDA/phones we looked at. The Tungsten W uses Palm OS 4.1 and a 33-MHz Motorola DragonBall VZ CPU, which is fine for everyday PIM functions but not for multimedia.

Palm Tungsten E

Remember when business buyers had unlimited budgets for technology? Well, we can't, either. Enter the new Tungsten E, the spiritual successor to the popular Palm V and m500 series. It's built for business but equipped for multimedia as well, though playing MP3s requires a memory expansion card.

Weighing just 4.6 ounces and measuring 4.5 by 3.1 by 0.5 inches (HWD), the sleek Tungsten E has a remarkably bright 320-by-320 transflective display. It's ready for all standard Palm business applications. With the addition of an MMC or SD card to store media files and a pair of stereo earphones (neither is included), it's suitable for on-the-road entertainment purposes.

The $200 Tungsten E is the same price as the entry-level HP and Dell Windows Mobile PDAs, which are larger and heavier. It also goes up against the Sony Clié SJ33 ($220 street).

The Tungsten E's 126-MHz CPU and 32MB of RAM are about twice the speed and capacity of the Sony Clié SJ33. It comes with the newest Palm OS and PIM software, but the Sony unit has the advantage of the much-appreciated jog-dial, plus Sony's excellent proprietary interface and applications. But all in all, the Tungsten E offers a great value in a powerful and highly mobile business device.

Product: Palm Tungsten E

Street price: $200

Company Info: Palm Inc., 800-881-7256, www.palm.com

Sony Clié PEG-NR70V

With full-blown laptop PCs now selling for $899, can you justify spending $600 on a PDA? If it's the new Sony Clié PEG-NR70V ($600 street) you can.

Sony has stuffed its new Palm OS handheld with some mouthwatering goodies including a color screen capable of displaying more than 65,000 colors, a built-in keyboard, a digital audio/video player, and a low-res (100,000-pixel) digital camera, all neatly packaged in a cool clamshell case. Another new Clié, the PEG-NR70, is available without the camera for $100 less. The only features missing from our wish list are integrated wireless communications and voice-recorder functions.

We tested all of the new Clié's features on a near-production unit and were extremely impressed. The PEG-NR70V uses a 66MHz DragonBall Super VZ processor—twice as fast as the CPUs in other current Palm OS models. The extra processing power comes in handy for multimedia files, but even normal applications pop up on the screen unlike any other Palm OS PDA we've tested. The new handheld also has 16MB of internal RAM, a Memory Stick expansion slot, and Sony's ever-convenient jog dial and back button for one-handed navigation.

At 5.3 by 2.8 by 0.6 inches (HWD) and 7 ounces, the new PDA packs all these standard features into a case that is just slightly larger and a bit heavier than the company's previous flagship model, the Clié PEG-N760C. The rechargeable lithium-ion battery provides about 10 days of normal use (figured at 30 minutes per day) according to Sony. If you use the multimedia features, battery life will be much shorter, of course.

The screen on the PEG-NR70V is built into a rotating flip cover that opens in clamshell fashion to reveal the integrated keyboard and traditional Palm OS application launch buttons on the device's bottom panel. The 3.8-inch (diagonal) LCD has a resolution of 320 by 480 pixels and delivers great visibility inside and good (but not great) visibility outside.

If you don't want to use the keyboard, you can twist the cover around by 180 degrees, and fold it down over the keyboard. The screen will be upside down, but the image flips automatically. In this compact orientation, the Clié resembles a typical Palm OS PDA and has a virtual Graffiti area at the bottom of the screen.

The QWERTY keyboard on the bottom half of the Clié clamshell has 7-mm center-to-center key spacing and 42 tiny, round protruding keys. Too small for normal typing, the keyboard is fine for two-thumb use. The contrast isn't great between the dark gray labels and the brushed silver keys they're printed on, however, and this somewhat diminishes the keyboard's appeal.

The swivel camera is conveniently built into the unit's hinge and is usable with the cover open or closed. There are three ways to take a picture: You can press the center of the jog dial, tap the software button, or press the shutter button located on the hinge. Image resolution choices are 320 by 240, 160 by 120, and 88 by 88 pixels. The camera has selectable white-balance levels, brightness settings, and special effects (black and white, negative, sepia, and solarization).

The camera is incredibly easy to use, and images can be stored internally or on a removable Memory Stick. Image quality is suitable for display on the device or for e-mail, but don't expect it to be suitable for printing.

The bundled AudioPlayer application plays MP3 files, and the included Sound Utility allows you to import MIDI and WAV files from a PC. The sound from the speaker on the back of the device is pleasant, but, as we expected, not loud or rich. Plug in the included earbud headphones, though, and the stereo sound and volume are as good as any mobile digital-audio player.

The package includes a USB docking cradle, AC adapter (but no travel charger), headphones, and a wired remote (for controlling the audio features). In addition to the standard Palm OS PDA applications, the rich software bundle includes PictureGear Pocket (for organizing photos), DataViz Documents To Go 4.0 Standard Edition, Intellisync Lite, gMovie, three games, and demo versions of Amy Reiley's Pocket Gourmet and Rand McNally StreetFinder.

It's not cheap, but the Sony Clié PEG-NR70V combines usable entertainment and image-capture features in a versatile PDA, clearly making it the best Palm OS device yet.

Sony Clié PEG-SJ20

The best 16MB entry-level Palm OS PDA around, the Sony Clié PEG-S360 ($180 street), has just been replaced by an even better model, the Sony Clié PEG-SJ20 ($200). The PEG-SJ20 offers a higher-resolution monochrome screen (320-by-320 versus the PEG-S360's 160-by-160) and enhanced white-screen backlighting, making it equally usable indoors and outdoors. The 16MB Handspring Visor Pro is comparable in price to the PEG-SJ20 but doesn't offer the enhanced display technology. And Palm's only 16MB PDA, the Palm m515 ($400), costs more than the PEG-SJ20 because of its color display.

At 4.0 by 2.8 by 0.6 inches (HWD), the silver PEG-SJ20 is not as tall as its predecessor, and it weighs slightly more, at 4.5 ounces. The PEG-SJ20's internal, rechargeable lithium battery is rated for 15 days of use.

You can easily operate the PEG-SJ20 one-handed with the jog dial, Back button, Scroll button, and four application buttons. When we first depressed the device's Power button, it stayed depressed until we pried it up; then it worked consistently. You'll get a reasonable but not rapid response from the 33-MHz Motorola Dragonball VZ processor.

The PEG-SJ20's Memory Stick expansion slot opens the door for add-on storage and accessories, such as the Sony Memory Stick and the Sony Clié Memory Stick Camera Module PEGA-MSC1. The unit has no external keyboard, which is typical of an entry-level device, but you can add the Sony Clié Compact Keyboard PEGA-KB11 for $90. A USB travel cable is included, and an optional cradle accessory, the Sony Clié USB Cradle PEGA-UC50, is available for $30.

You can synchronize the PEG-SJ20's standard Palm OS Software 4.1 PIM applications with Lotus Organizer, Microsoft Outlook, or Palm Desktop using the included synchronization conduits. The unit also includes a host of bundled utility, productivity, travel, health and leisure, and gaming programs, which could take hours to explore. For example, Sony includes five Memory Stick utilities and a handful of software, including DataViz's Documents to Go Standard Edition 4.0 (for viewing and editing Microsoft Word and Excel files), Franklin's Mobipocket Reader, and Vindigo 2.0 (a group of city guides).

The PEG-SJ20 can run Palm OS–compatible games such as Astraware's Bejeweled. Its excellent display, easy navigation, and Memory Stick storage all benefit gamers. The latest Sony PDA accessory, the Sony Clié Game Controller PEGA-GC10 ($40), can boost the gaming features in the PEG-SJ20. Another entertainment option is the Sony Clié Audio Adapter for PEG-T Series PEGA-SA10 ($130), which converts the PEG-SJ20 into an MP3 player.

The Sony Clié PEG-SJ20 is the front-runner entry-level Palm OS PDA, not only because of its included features and software but also for its ability to work with an appealing array of accessories. For only $20 more than the previous model, this package provides an excellent value to consumers.

Product: Sony Clié PEG-SJ20

Street price: $200

Requires: Pentium/133 processor or better (Pentium III/450 or better recommended for Windows XP); 64MB RAM (128MB recommended for Windows XP); 128MB hard drive space; CD-ROM drive; Microsoft Windows 98 SE, 2000 Professional, Me, or XP

Company Info: Sony Electronics Inc., 888-315-7669,

Palm m125, m505

Palm's latest entries—the m125 and the m505—incorporate integrated SD/MMC expansion slots, Palm's Universal Connector, and Palm OS 4.0. Palm is still the major force in the PDA market and offers models for many market sectors, but its innovations are trailing those of HandEra, Handspring, and Sony, the leading Palm OS licensees.

The m125 is the high end of the m100 series and may be beyond the purse strings of its intended consumer market. The cute, tapered design feels like a small spiral notebook, with a digital clock viewable through a window in the flip-top lid. No other PDA offers consumers as much customization potential, with 19 cover colors and textures ranging from dull gray to leopard skin. With third-party covers available too, you can personalize an m125 whether your taste runs to Beacon Hill, the boardroom, or South Beach.

The Universal Connector supports true USB connections (unlike earlier Palm devices) and lets you connect fast I/O peripherals to the m125. According to Palm, all future models will include the same connector, which should improve the availability of cross-model accessories. These two devices handily outperformed all other Palm OS PDAs on our performance tests.

Like the m500 series, the m125 has an SD slot on the left side. But when an SD or MMC card is inserted, it protrudes slightly and feels more vulnerable than a top-panel expansion slot design would.

The backlit monochrome screen is reasonably visible both indoors and out. When you use the Palm Reader application, you can view text in either portrait or landscape mode, but we found the screen too small to read text comfortably even in the largest font.

There is no audio or upgradable flash ROM in the m125, which limits its appeal for mobile professionals. Consumers looking for a bargain have other, less expensive options from Palm. And from other manufacturers.

On the other hand, for mobile professionals who want a sure thing, there is little risk in choosing the Palm m505. Nearly identical in size to the extremely popular Palm V, the m505 adds a color screen, the Universal Connector slot, and an SD/ MMC expansion slot. The m505's side-lit, reflective color display isn't as bright as the Palm IIIc's when inside, but outside it's equal even to the Compaq iPAQ's screen, which is as good as it gets. Unique to the m500 series is the backlit Graffiti area, which helps you see the icons on the sides of the area but doesn't illuminate your Graffiti strokes.

Relative to some of its competition, the m505 is light on bundled software, sharing the productivity and entertainment applications of the m125 and adding only the Expense application and Infinity Software's PowerOne Advanced Calculator. Unlike the m125, the m505 does have rechargeable batteries and includes a flashable ROM for future OS upgrades. Like previous Palm models, the m505 does not have a microphone, speaker, or headphone jack, limiting its value as an entertainment device.

Sony Clié PEG-TG50

We love everything about each successive Clié PDA that Sony releases—except for the mounting prices. But the new Sony Clié PEG-TG50 ($400 street) gives road warriors a host of features at an affordable price.

With this model, you'll find a built-in keyboard, integrated Bluetooth wireless, a voice recorder, and the excellent proprietary interface Clié Launcher, which is integrated with the underlying Palm OS 5. The PEG-TG50 lacks the swivel display and camera that are prominent in the more expensive PEG-NZ90 and PEG-NX70v models. But its features set bests others in its price class. For example, neither the HP iPAQ Pocket PC h5450 nor the Palm Tungsten T has a built-in keyboard.

The PEG-TG50 weighs 6.2 ounces and measures 4.9 by 2.8 by 0.6 inches (HWD) with its protective flip-cover installed. The PDA's application launch buttons and scroll dial are conveniently located directly below the excellent 320-by-320 backlit color screen. Because the jog dial, action dial, and Voice Recorder button are on the left panel, you can easily operate the PDA with one hand.

The unit comes with Picsel Viewer for Clié to view Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word files. There's also the Clié Remote Commander utility to convert your PDA to a remote control for consumer electronics.

With a Bluetooth connection to a compatible GSM phone, you can browse the Internet (with the included Access NetFront 3.0 for Clié browser) and send and receive text messages with the built-in SMS application. In testing, the flashing LED in the PDA's hinge quickly confirmed our Bluetooth connection between the PEG-TG50, a Sony Ericsson t68 phone, and an HP Deskjet 995c printer.

For multimedia applications, you can transfer files using a Memory Stick (not included) and the PEG-TG50's expansion slot. You can view images and videos in Sony's Clié Viewer and Movie Player apps and listen to music with Sony's audio player.

If you've been longing for the Clié platform's unique mix of productivity and entertainment applications but couldn't justify paying $800 for other Clié models, the Sony Clié PEG-TG50 could be just what you've been waiting for.

Product: Sony Clié PEG-TG50

Street Price: $400

Requires: 400-MHz Pentium II CPU or better (500-MHz Pentium III recommended); 96MB RAM (128MB recommended); 200MB hard drive space (350MB recommended); Microsoft Windows 98 SE, 2000 Professional, Me, or XP

Company Info: Sony Electronics Inc., 888-222-7669,

Palm m130 Handheld

Overview

The m130 is Palm's new color mid-range model from Palm. It offers a fast processor and an SD/MMC slot for memory expansion. It is the first non-high-end Palm model to have a color screen.

It is basically an m125 with a color instead of a monochrome screen. But what a difference that little change makes.

Exterior
The m130 gets most of its external appearance from the m100 series. It has the same curvy shape. It is small but not super-slim by any stretch of the imagination. If you want the exact dimensions, it is 4.8 by 3.1 by .9 inches, which is exactly the same size as the m125. It weighs 5.4 ounces, just slightly heavier than the m125.

I think there is an important tradeoff that gets overlooked in handheld design. What fits best in your pocket generally isn't what fits best in your hand. The m100 series sits in my hand much better than any other handheld. But much slimmer handhelds are easier to carry around. The m130 goes much better in a backpack or purse than it does in a pants pocket.

It can use the removable faceplates designed for the m100 series so it can be personalized to fit your taste. There are quite a few of these available, from very conservative to quite outrageous. The faceplate that comes on the m130 is in the conservative category, being a silver with blue around the edges.

The Power button is at the top in the middle.The hardware buttons are nicely sized and neither too easy nor too hard to push. They help makes this a decent handheld for playing games.

Alone of the Palm OS licensees, Palm still hasn't embraced the jog wheel. Maybe someday...

Screen
The m130's screen gets maligned because it is a bit smaller than the standard. It has the usual 160 by 160 pixels; they are just packed into less space. I don't think it deserves a bad rap. The slightly smaller screen actually makes fonts look a bit better because the pixels are smaller and closer together. This means letters look less bitmappy. Of course, this assumes you have good eyesight. If you regularly use reading glasses, smaller fonts are probably not something you are looking for.

The screen absolutely depends on having a backlight. Without one, the screen is utterly unreadable. In fact, there is no way to use the handheld with the backlight off. It has two settings, high and low. Holding down the Power button toggles between these. The only time the backlight is off is when the handheld itself is off.

Indoors, the screen looks very good. It displays colors well, and, even with the backlight on low, it's brighter than an m505. Contrast is excellent so reading text is a breeze. The screen does have a slight bluish tint to it.

The image on the right shows an m505 and an m130. The picture was taken in low light. The sidelight for the m505 is on and the m130's backlight is on low.

Unfortunately, I can't say many good things about how the m130's screen looks outdoors. Like I said, the m130 depends on a strong backlight and if the ambient light is brighter than the backlight, it is difficult to read the screen. I'm not saying the screen is unusable outdoors. If you needed to look up a phone number, you could. But you won't be lying out in the hammock reading an eBook.

This is about the only real flaw in the handheld. While I realize that this will kill the deal for some people, I don't think the typical user regularly uses their handheld for long periods of time outdoors.

Even indoors, the screen suffers from "ghosting". Moving items, like in games, leave a trail behind them. This sometimes makes it difficult to read moving text but that doesn't come up very often.

The Graffiti area isn't backlit.

Battery
In any review of a handheld with a color screen, battery life is an important issue. In an earlier review, I tried to get a feel for battery life with a very unrealistic torture test, where I kept the handheld on continuously. This isn't the way most people use their handhelds so this time I came up with a much better one to test the m130's internal Li-ion rechargeable battery..

I loaded onto it an app called Uptime 1.3.1. Among other things, it tracks how much time a handheld has been on. Its timer stops running when the handheld is off.

Then I just used my handheld normally. I played some games, I read AvantGo channels, my alarms went off as normal, etc. while the app was tracking how much use the handheld was actually getting. This gave me a much better picture of actual battery life than keeping the m130 on continuously.

First, I used it with the backlight on full power. After almost exactly 4 days since its last recharge, I got my first battery warning at 5 hours and 32 minutes of use. I got another warning after 5 more minutes of use and after about 5 hours and 45 minutes it shut itself down.

Next I set the backlight on dim. This gave me 10 hours and 20 minutes of use before the first warning but didn't shut itself down until I had used it for 11 hours and 11 minutes. This took almost 5 days of heavy use.

In case you are wondering, a full charge is 4.21v. I have it set to give its first warning at 3.74v and shut down when it gets below 3.72v.

SD/MMC Slot
One of the best features of the m130 is the expansion card slot. This allows huge amounts of files and applications to be stored and available for use relatively easily.

The support for memory cards built into the OS is decent but not outstanding.

When an SD or MMC card is inserted into the handheld, a new category is created in the Launcher. This is named the same as the expansion card. There is no way to create sub-folders or different categories of apps on the SD card; they are all listed together.

Some applications can be run from the card but what really happens is the app is copied into RAM, run from there, then deleted out of RAM. This won't work for large apps that are made up of several different parts, like AvantGo.

Before you experts fire off an angry comment, I'm talking about what is possible in the Launcher built into the Palm OS. There are quite a few applications out there that allow expansion cards to be much more useful. Going through the whole list is way beyond the scope of this review but I suggest McFile for moving files around and Launcher III for launching apps. They are a good place to start for beginners.

An odd fact about the m130's SD/MMC card slot is that it is on the side of the handheld, not the top as we have come to expect from other handhelds with expansion slots. For most people this won't be a problem, as regular memory cards fit fine. But SD Input/Output devices, like the Bluetooth card, will extend well beyond the confines of the slot itself. Users of these will pretty much have to remove them before putting the m130 away.

I can tell you I carried an m130 around in my pocket for almost two weeks with an SD card in it and never had a problem.

Before I move on, I want to point out that you remove an SD or MMC card from the m130 by pushing it in, then letting it pop out a bit. Do NOT yank it out of the slot with main force. You will break the slot, requiring your entire handheld to be shipped off for repair.

Rugged
Unlike most handhelds, the m130 has actually been designed to survive the conditions handhelds are regularly put through. The casing is larger than many other handhelds because it kind of has a built-in hardcase. Also, the screen is plastic instead of glass to make it much harder to break. This makes a heck of a lot of sense to me. While many high-end models may get carefully coddled in expensive hard cases, most low- and mid-range ones get jammed straight into book bags or purses. Palm was smart to design this series so that it doesn't need any extra protection.

Take a quick look around and you will find all kinds of cases for handhelds but you'll find very few designed for the m100 series. That's because the people who make cases understand that these models really don't need one very much.

Internal
The m125 runs OS 4.1 on the 33 MHz Dragonball processor. It has 8 MB of internal memory, which is about half what I think it ought to have. Palm really should have gone ahead and put 16 MB of RAM in this. This isn't a critical lack because expansion memory will help compensate but 16 MB is what we expect these days.

One feature that is controversial is its lack of flashable ROM. This means the OS can't be upgraded. This probably isn't as big a deal as some people think it is. There isn't going to be another major OS upgrade that the m130 could run even if it did have flash ROM. Palm is working now on OS 5, which is designed for handhelds running ARM-based processors. There's no point in making an upgradable handheld if there probably won't be anything to upgrade it to.

But that doesn't mean the m130 will be junk in six months. Palm OS 5 will be backwards compatible with current apps so m130 users won't suddenly be unable to use all the new Palm apps. Keep in mind, though, there will almost certainly be high-end apps out late this year that this mid-range model won't be able to run. But it is only the very high-end ones that this will be true of, like some games and video players.

Software
Of course the m130 comes with a bunch of useful applications but the most significant of these is DataViz' Documents To Go 4.0 Professional Edition. This allows users to transfer Word and Excel files onto their handheld and work with them there. On the next HotSync, the original document or spreadsheet on the desktop gets updated with any changes made. Docs to Go is neither my favorite word processor nor spreadsheet app but it is hard to compete with free. And it does a very good job of updating the Windows files without losing any formatting. I've read several reviews that said Docs to Go is better than Microsoft's Pocket Word. Windows users can view Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, too.

It also comes with MGI PhotoSuite for displaying pictures. These look good on the m130's color screen and it's handy to always have the pictures from your last vacation with you.

They updated the Note Pad for this model, too. This is the little app that lets you draw notes to yourself, rather than having to write them. It has come in handy for me plenty of times. Too bad the changes they made to it are almost useless.

They added the ability to change the color of the the background and line color for all notes, but not each individual note. So you can make the background on all your notes green but you can't make the background on one green and another blue.

Universal Connector
The m130 uses the Universal Connector, first seen on the m500 series. This allows the m130 to use most peripherals designed for the m500 series that connect to the HotSync port.

For example, I never even bothered to connect the m125's cradle up to my computer; I've been using the one for my m505 with no problems. I've also used it with my Stowaway folding keyboard and the Kodak PalmPix camera that have the UC.

I think Palm's move to standardize on the UC is one of the best moves the company has made. I've heard so many complaints from people who don't want to upgrade because they would have to buy all new peripherals. Palm will be using the UC for at least the next couple of years so you can buy your peripherals with confidence that you'll be able to use them on your next Palm model, too. Unless you are waiting until 2005 to buy it.

I wish Palm would let other companies use the UC, too. It would be great for peripheral makers if they could make one keyboard or GPS module and know that everyone can use it, whether they have a Clié, Visor, or whatever. It's not too likely, though. One of Palm's big advantages is there are far more peripherals for its models than for its competitors.

While the m130 can use many of the same peripherals as the m500 series, this means it can't use the ones designed for the m100 series. This is going to cause confusion for buyers. Packages that say "Works with the Palm m100 Series" are all going to have to be changed. It might have been simpler if Palm had just called this the m305 and pointed out that it can use some m500 peripherals and some m100 ones.

I'll try to help clear some of this up. The m130 can use the faceplates and flip covers for the m100 series. It can't use the m100 series styli. It is slightly thicker than the m100 series, which means many cases won't fit, either. Anything that needs to connect to the HotSync port, like a modem, needs to use the Universal Connector.

Of course, some products don't say they use the UC; they just say they are for the m500 series. And some that have been designed for the m500 series won't work with the m130. See why I said this is going to cause confusion? If there is any doubt, contact the manufacturer or visit their website to find out if the product is m130 compatible.

Tis is going to get a little easier as the older m100 series models, which don't have the UC, get discontinued. As it is, any peripheral that works with the m125, also works with the m130.

Infrared Port
Of course, the m130 has the standard infrared port that is on all Palm powered handhelds. It also comes with the Mobile Internet Kit so if you have a mobile phone with an IR port, you can use it to wirelessly access the Net. It uses Palm's Web Clipping technology to get information from websites. I had to install it from the CD first, though. I then loaded the Palm Infocenter Web Clipping app onto the m125 to try it out and had no problems.

Plus you can use the IR port for the standard stuff, like beaming apps and files to other handhelds.

Peripherals
The flip cover has the same general design as the one from the m100 series, but isn't exactly the same. It is made of a semi-rigged plastic. It has a clear window in it and an opening for the Up button. This allows you to use the m130 as a pocket watch. You can pull it out of your pocket or purse and without opening the cover, push the Up button to display the time and date in the window. Very convenient.

The stylus is particularly cheap. It is essentially a solid bit of plastic. There is no reset pin built into it.

The cradle is the same one that ships with the m500 series. It has been described as looking like a slipper and I think this is accurate. Like I said, I used the cradle from an m505 without a hassle.

While I'm on the topic of cradles, I ought to point out that I've never heard of a case of the m130 or m125 suffering from the USB problems some m500 series models do.

Conclusion
At $280, I think the m130 is an excellent deal. It is the least expensive color Palm OS handheld you can get.

I think this is a good handheld for a high school or college student. Of course, students aren't the only people who might like an m130. It is right for anyone who wants a color handheld with a lot of storage who doesn't want to spent $400 to get it.

Sony Clié PEG-710C

Sony's second Clié handheld is a huge improvement over the original model. The Sony Clié PEG-710C ($500 street) is the most expensive Palm OS–based PDA on the market— easily the coolest. In addition to its unique 320-by-320 resolution and 256-color reflective TFT display (which is great for both sunlight and indoors), this Clié plays MP3 audio and even comes standard with small earphones and a wired remote control. If you require only basic handheld capabilities, save your money. But if you want a cool-looking handheld with multimedia functionalities, the Clié will tempt.

Weighing in at 6.4 ounces, the Clié measures a slim 4.5 by 2.75 by 0.7 inches (HWD). The device is a bit heavier and thicker than the Palm m505 (5.2 ounces and 4.5 by 3.2 by 0.45 inches), but odds are you won't mind: The Clié is a class act, with its shiny silver case and dark blue flip cover. The control buttons on the other hand, are a mixed bag. A clearly marked Power button on the lower front is helpful, but the almost-flush up-and-down scrolling controller is awkward to use. The jog dial introduced on the original Clié is augmented with a convenient adjacent Back button. A Hold button shuts off the display to conserve battery power while you play audio files.

Like most of the other recently introduced Palm OS–based handhelds, the Clié uses the 33-MHz Dragonball VZ processor and comes with 8MB RAM, 4MB flashable ROM, plus an 8MB Memory Stick for the integrated expansion slot. Sony keeps promising other peripherals for the Memory Stick slot (including a teaser application that hints about upcoming wireless support), but so far we've seen only memory modules. A compact USB-synchronization cradle is included and worked well in our tests. The rechargeable lithium-ion battery is rated to last for 15 days of normal use (quickly reduced to several hours if you play audio files), which is average for Palm OS devices.

The Clié's best feature is its reflective screen. Indoors anytime and outdoors at night, the screen is illuminated from the bottom and is brighter than the Palm m505's display and almost as bright as the Compaq iPAQ Pocket PC's screen. In sunlight, the Clié joins the m505 and iPAQ in leaving all other color displays in the dust. The device's 320-by-320 resolution has the same proportion as conventional 160-by-160–resolution Palm OS devices and automatically scales Palm applications. Compared with the Palm m505, the Clié's screen fonts are thinner and finer; the difference in quality is quickly apparent.

If you want a handheld to do double duty as a portable music player, the Clié is up to the task, although it's not the device's strongest feature. The Clié can play MP3 and digitally protected ATRAC3 audio files. We found it cumbersome to use the included desktop and PDA software to transfer and play ATRAC3 files, but moving an MP3 file to the Memory Stick via the host PC and Windows Explorer was drag-and-drop simple. For playback, you have to use the included headphones. The worst drawback to using the Clié as a music player is the limited capacity of the 8MB Memory Stick. We could still fit only three MP3 files. You can play more audio with larger media, but it will cost you: Sony sells 64MB for $140 and 128MB for $260 on its Web site.

We transferred our own image files to the Clié, using the bundled PictureGear SE application; the process was easy and the images look reasonably clear. The bundled gMovie video player is good only for short videos--and even then you still see occasional image blurring.

The MP3 function, though limited, is very cool, but the Sony Clié PEG-710C's slick design, navigation aids, and all-lighting display keep the core PIM tasks in the forefront. Buy this one for the function and the fun.

Street price: $500

Requires: Host PC with Pentium/233 and MMX technology processor or better; 64MB RAM; 128MB hard drive space; CD-ROM drive; Windows 98, 98SE, 2000 Professional Edition or Me

Company Info: Sony Electronics Inc.; Park Ridge, NJ; 800-571-7669; www.sonystyle.com

Nokia N95

The N95 is so loaded with high-end features that it sometimes seems as if it dropped out of a time warp from the future. Perhaps its astronomically high $749 price won't be worth much in future dollars, but right now, that is a lot to pay for a cell phone. Still, for power users, it is worth the extra expense. It's the first 5-megapixel cameraphone to hit U.S. shores, the first decent camcorder-phone, the best music phone I've seen yet, and the only Symbian smartphone I've used that feels really, really fast. As if that wasn't enough, it also shoots video that's good enough to burn to DVDs. But wait, there's more. The phone's GPS mapping is gorgeous, its Web browser sublime, and its 3D games will knock your socks off. It plays sweet music, too, with a Napster or Rhapsody subscription. Oh, and it also makes phone calls.

For such a groundbreaking device, the N95's looks, at first glance, are that of an ordinary Nokia slider phone. Weighing 4.2 ounces, it's a little chunky, at 2.2 by 3.9 by 0.8 inches, but not unpleasantly so, and it still fits easily into pockets. The handset is handsome too, with a curved purple back and a silver face. Slide down the keypad and you'll find somewhat small, but nicely domed keys—unlike Nokia's N73, nobody will find this hard to dial.

The quad-band N95 gets very good reception on both Cingular's and T-Mobile's networks. The earpiece isn't all that loud, but it's clear, with subtle and pleasant in-ear feedback. Transmission is very good, too, with good blocking of background noise; it can sound a little tinny in noisy situations, but it's fine at other times. The speakerphone uses the N95's powerful stereo speakers, an effective combo. The handset worked well with the Plantronics Bluetooth headsets I use for testing. That said, the N95 uses Nokia's somewhat perplexing voice-dialing system, which isn't as easy to operate as the VoiceSignal and Nuance systems you find on other phones. Sure, the N95 is a perfectly fine phone, but that's not why it's so expensive. After all, if you just want to make calls, get a Nokia 6030.Let's talk about the real power of this device.

SPEC DATA :

• Service Provider: AT&T, T-Mobile, Edge Wireless, Centennial, i Wireless
• Operating System: Symbian OS
• Screen Size: 2.6 inches
• Screen Details: 320x240, 16-million-color screen
• Camera: Yes
• Megapixels: 5 MP
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Web Browser: Yes
• Network: GSM
• Bands: 850, 900, 1800, 1900, 2100
• High-Speed Data: GPRS, EDGE
• Processor Speed: 352 MHz
• Special Features: Music

RIM BlackBerry Curve 8320

The new RIM BlackBerry Curve 8320 ($449.99; $249.99 and up with two-year contract) for T-Mobile is the carrier's best handheld for communication addicts, thanks to its stability, e-mail verve, and its ability to make phone calls from any Wi-Fi hot spot.

Texting and e-mail fanatics on T-Mobile have been flocking to BlackBerrys ever since the Pearl came out, making the once-stodgy brand sexy. The Curve is a more grown-up Pearl, bringing a full keyboard but keeping (and improving) the camera, music, and video options that made the Pearl successful.

T-Mobile's Curve adds one key feature that AT&T's version of the same phone lacks: Wi-Fi with UMA—the ability to make calls over Wi-Fi. T-Mobile calls this "Hotspot@Home" and charges $10 a month; in exchange, you aren't charged for calls that begin on Wi-Fi networks. You can make calls using any Wi-Fi 802.11b or "g" network, secured or unsecured, that you can get access to. I connected easily using a ZyXel 802.11g router with WPA security, a D-Link router with WPA, at a Starbucks hot spot, and with a T-Mobile-supplied Linksys router. T-Mobile offers tweaked Linksys and D-Link 802.11g routers, designed to work particularly well with its system, for free through a rebate.

When I first tested Hotspot@Home in June, it had serious problems with dropped calls. I'm happy to say that with the Curve, those problems seem to have been licked. During testing, I dropped only one call out of more than a dozen while handing off between Wi-Fi and cellular networks, and didn't drop any calls while staying on Wi-Fi. Much more often, I heard a momentary "pop" when transferring between networks. Call quality on Wi-Fi is generally quite good, too, and I got more than 8 hours of Wi-Fi talk time on one battery charge.

Setting up Wi-Fi is far easier than on competing smartphones. The straightforward setup wizard lets you scan for networks and enter your password; once you've saved a Wi-Fi network, it will jump onto that network whenever it can. Settings for T-Mobile Hotspots are preprogrammed into the Curve. On my tests, the Curve did take a few minutes, and occasionally a reboot, before it transitioned from EDGE back onto my home network, but moving in and out of a Starbucks hot spot went perfectly.

Don't expect Wi-Fi to greatly speed up Web browsing or e-mail. As I found on the 8820, the BlackBerry system is so optimized for slow networks that there's very little visible difference in the speed of Web page loading in the BlackBerry browser or e-mail delivery over Wi-Fi versus EDGE. Browsing, IM, and other Internet applications all work over Wi-Fi, no problem—they just don't work much faster than they did before.

Wi-Fi does seem to take one toll on the Curve 8320: It is generally a touch less responsive than AT&T's non–Wi-Fi model, with menu options taking a little longer to register. It still feels livelier than Windows Mobile, though.

The AT&T Curve is an excellent phone, and the Curve 8320 is the same. The earpiece and speakerphone are both loud, and the phone supports both Bluetooth and wired headsets. Call quality is generally very good as well, except for the occasional popping noises. The phone's VoiceSignal voice-dialing system requires no training. Battery life isn't awesome, but it's fine. I squeezed at least two days' worth of ordinary use.

The BlackBerry e-mail system is still unmatched. I set the service up with Gmail, Microsoft Exchange Web Access, and Yahoo! Mail accounts within minutes. The e-mail system also supports attachments, displaying picture attachments, and PowerPoints, but it boils PDFs and other Microsoft Office documents down to text. Built-in IM clients let you sign into AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo! IM, and Google Talk all at once and all in the background, though only your "mobile" AIM buddies show up.

The Curve is also the best multimedia BlackBerry, thanks to its 3.5mm headphone jack and Bluetooth stereo support. The phone was able to take a 4GB Kingston microSD card to hold music and video, and it comes with Roxio software that automatically transcodes your videos into a format that works on the phone. The device also pops up as a drive on your PC, so you can drag music and photos on and off it. WMA, MP3, and AAC files of any bit rate worked fine, though the Curve doesn't support DRM music purchased from online stores. Playing video, an MP4 file originally encoded for an AppleTV re-encoded beautifully for the Curve and played in full screen without a hitch. A WMV file lost its lip sync during re-encoding.

An integrated 2-megapixel camera, with the usual weak flash, takes sharp shots, but you have to watch out when photographing in backlit settings or outdoors—a bright sky will force the camera to underexpose a darker foreground. Indoor shots were much more balanced.

There's still one glaring hole in BlackBerry's software lineup: a decent and affordable Microsoft Office document editor. While you can sync contacts, calendars, tasks, and notes with Outlook using the BlackBerry Desktop software on XP or Vista, and you can extract the basic data from Microsoft Office files received through e-mail, the only option for actually editing Word and Excel documents is Dynoplex's $100 eOffice. That may change soon when DataViz's DocumentsToGo comes out for the BlackBerry platform.

The Curve's stiffest competition isn't posed by handsets that T-Mobile offers directly; it's from unlocked phones such as the Nokia E61i and the HTC S710. The E61i has a better Web browser, and the S710 has Pocket Office. But if you're more of a communicator than a spreadsheet maker—meaning that you live and die by phone calls, e-mails, texts and IMs—the Curve 8320 with HotSpot@Home will be your new best friend. That's worthy of our Editors' Choice.

SPEC DATA :

• Service Provider: T-Mobile
• Operating System: BlackBerry OS
• Screen Size: 2.5 inches
• Screen Details: 320x240, 65k-color screen
• Camera: Yes
• Megapixels: 2 MP
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Web Browser: Yes
• Network: GSM
• Bands: 850, 900, 1800, 1900
• High-Speed Data: GPRS, EDGE
• Special Features: Music

Apple iPhone

When he announced the iPhone , Steve Jobs said to expect three things: "an incredibly great cell phone," "the best iPod we've ever made," and "the Internet in your pocket." One out of three isn't bad. Yes, the iPhone is the best iPod ever—ironic for something not even called an iPod! But it's just a plain lousy phone, and although it makes some exciting advances in handheld Web browsing, it's not the Internet in your pocket

Maybe nothing could have lived up to the "Jesus-phone" hype, but only Apple is to blame for pumping up expectations well beyond what any Version 1.0 product has delivered in the history of mankind, including "fire" and "the wheel." The iPhone is just that, version 1.0. Even though it could be seen as Generation Six of the iPod, it's Apple's first phone. Its interface innovations have already spurred the rest of the mobile phone industry into imitative action, and there's enough here to show that Apple will be a real leader with future products.

Let's celebrate the iPhone first: it's a marvelous iPod. No one will miss the scroll wheel, despite the fact that it was once the greatest tactile control panel ever designed. Once you've messed around with the easiest-to-use, best-looking player interface currently available, your old iPod will seem like a quaint relic from a time when people expected less from their gadgets. This is the best portable multimedia player we've seen—albeit, with relatively low capacities of 4GB or 8GB of non-upgradable flash memory.

The seamless integration of the Internet, iPod, Maps, Phone, and email functions flaunted in the commercials is no exaggeration. The iPhone is intuitive, interconnected, and impossible to get lost in—just hit the home button to get to the main screen. The price tag may be ridiculously high, but it could be reasonably argued that this beauty may actually be worth every penny. Excellent technology isn't cheap.

But the iPhone isn't called the iPod With Phone. It's the iPhone and, put simply, it isn't a very good phone. Call quality was the worst we've heard on a high-end device in years. We're not going to put that on AT&T, either: our Blackberry Curve made much clearer calls at the same time, in the same place. Reception leaves something to be desired. It's complicated to dial, difficult to send text messages on, and missing all sorts of features that are basically assumed to be in most high-end multimedia phones nowadays.

To be fair, the iPhone Internet experience is loads of fun. It's not quite "the Internet in your pocket," however. It displays HTML pages gorgeously (even over EDGE!) but the Internet is now loaded up with Javascript, Java, Flash, streaming media and other plug-ins. The iPhone can't hit many of these rich experiences—so while the browser is the best a phone has ever had, it's not desktop-quality and some sites are off-limits.

SPEC DATA :

• Music Playback Formats: AAC, AIFF, Apple Lossless, Audible, MP3, WAV
• Megapixels: 2 MP
• Storage Capacity: 8 GB
• Video Formats: MPEG4
• Video Recording: No
• Audio Battery Life: 24 Hr
• Dimensions: 4.5 x 2.4 x 0.46 inches
• Player Type: Flash MP3 Player
• Radio: No
• Recording, Line In: No
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Bands: 850, 900, 1800, 1900
• Camera: Yes
• High-Speed Data: GPRS, EDGE
• Operating System: Mac OS X
• Network: GSM
• Service Provider: AT&T
• Web Browser: Yes
• Screen Details: 160 dpi LCD display
• Screen Resolution: 480 x 320 pixels
• Screen Size: 3.5 inches
• Special Features: Music
• Video Battery Life: 2.8 Hr
• Weight: 4.8 oz
• Notes: Price: 4GB ($499); 8GB ($599)

HTC Touch (Sprint)

The Sprint Touch looks like the GSM HTC Touch we reviewed a few months ago, but it's different inside. It's a small (4 by 2.4 by .6 inches; 4 ounces), easily pocketable slab with a soft-touch plastic case and a 2.8-inch 320-by-240 display. The only physical buttons are a cursor pad, phone pick-up and hang-up buttons, a camera button, and a volume rocker. There's a stylus tucked into one corner, but ideally you'll never have to use it.

The Touch's major challenge has always been to take the Windows Mobile interface, which is full of tiny buttons, and make it friendly for fingertips. The original Touch redid the home screen, giving you a big clock and some large action buttons, and introduced a rotating "cube" of large buttons. With the Sprint Touch, sliding your finger across the screen will access easily your top nine contacts, mail, and Sprint 's music and TV options. It's a big step from the traditional Windows Mobile way of doing things.

The Sprint Touch improves the tactile experience in several subtle ways. The Start menu is wider, and there's an option for larger fonts, making links and buttons easier to tap. You can scroll through most applications and screens by swiping your finger down the middle of the screen rather than finding and prodding a tiny scroll bar. And HTC revamped Windows Mobile device's keyboards. For most text entry areas, the Touch pops up a 20-key pad with two letters per key, similar to theBlackBerry Pearl's . You can double-tap or use predictive text to enter information. When you get to a password field, the keypad turns into a full QWERTY keyboard, which is larger and wider than the standard Windows Mobile keyboard and thus far more finger-friendly. For dialing the phone, you get a traditional number pad. The touch functions are more responsive than on the original Touch, too.

The new keypad has one big minus. If you're entering text into a field on the lower third of the screen, the keys cover the field, so you're typing blind. I found that to be really annoying, and I'm hoping HTC will find a solution.

Inside, HTC doubled the processor speed from the original Touch to 400 MHz and added high-speed EV-DO Rev 0 networking, software-upgradable in the future to Sprint's even-faster EV-DO Rev A. Tethered to a Windows Vista laptop with a USB cable, I got download speeds of more than a megabit per second, according to speed test sites, which is excellent for a Rev 0 device. A microSD card slot in the side of the device took my 4GB Kingston card without a problem; Sprint will include a 512MB card with the device. The 140MB of storage and 72MB of program memory should satisfy most users.

As a phone, the Sprint Touch is good enough, if not as good as the Sanyo models that are our standards for Sprint excellence. It did acceptably, but not spectacularly, on our RF signal test. The earpiece and speakerphone are both loud, and there's enough in-ear feedback on your voice. I heard some wobble in incoming sound, but I couldn't tell whether the actual device or Sprint's network was the culprit. Very loud background noise obscured my own voice in the microphone, when heard from the other end. Voice dialing requires you to record tags for each name. Battery life was nearly 5 hours, excellent for such a slim device.

The Sprint Touch has very good messaging options, including support for POP3, Windows Live, and Yahoo! e-mail (including supporting full HTML) and a built-in multiplatform IM client. Microsoft's Web browser, Pocket Internet Explorer, is far behind browsers from Nokia and Apple when it comes to displaying Web pages in their full glory. Adding the $24 Opera Mobile browser helps.

The 2-megapixel camera takes somewhat underexposed photos, which is mostly a problem in low light—a slow shutter speed means you could experience some blurring. Videos are smooth, if a bit blurry. There's no GPS on the device, but Sprint is developing its own navigation application, which will be available for download in the future.

Thanks to the speedy processor, music and video played well in both Windows Media Player and on our CorePlayer benchmarks, over both wired and Bluetooth headsets. But when underground in a New York subway, out of Sprint's coverage area, I had to switch the device to airplane mode to stop music from skipping while it searched for the network. This wasn't a problem when a signal was available.

I had a less-entertaining time with Sprint's self-branded media apps. Sprint TV has plenty of channels with brand-name content, including live news feeds from CNN, ABC, and FOX, and full episodes of ABC and CBS shows like Lost and Numb3rs. But when I tried to watch shows, I experienced stuttering and jerkiness. SlingPlayer Mobile also didn't work on the Touch, but that's typical with new Pocket PC devices; Sling often needs a few weeks to come out with an updated version for a new device.

Sprint's Music Store app has become more finger-friendly in that it now has an unattractive, text-only interface with large links and buttons rather than small ones. And Sprint's 99-cent price for over-the-air music downloads is great. But the Music Store app refused to acknowledge the existence of my 4GB memory card, when every other app on the device (including Windows Media Player) had no problem.

The device has some other minor problems, as well. If you want to listen to music through a wired headset, you have to use a huge, 4-inch adapter. When you slide the volume key, video or music skips. These little quirks add up to general clunkiness, which is common among Windows Mobile devices. Though this is the most elegant and finger-friendly Windows Mobile phone yet, it's no iPhone.

On the plus side, like all Windows Mobile 6 devices, the Touch integrates seamlessly with Windows Media stores such as Napster and Yahoo! Music Unlimited, Windows Media Player on the desktop, and Microsoft Exchange 2003 (and later) servers for direct push e-mail. And the device offers flexible, over-the-air calendar and contact syncing, which the iPhone doesn't.

In Sprint's lineup, the Touch sits between the Palm Centro and the HTC Mogul. It's smoother and more stylish than either, and its form factor and tactile interface make it the best media player of the bunch. Still, the competition is stiff. If you don't need the big screen, the Centro gives you full phone and PDA capabilities for less than half the price, and the Mogul's integrated Wi-Fi and keyboard will help you work more efficiently than on the Touch.

SPEC DATA :

• Service Provider: Sprint PCS
• Operating System: Windows Mobile Pocket PC
• Screen Size: 2.8 inches
• Screen Details: 320x240 TFT color screen
• Camera: Yes
• Megapixels: 2 MP
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Web Browser: Yes
• Network: CDMA
• Bands: 850, 1900
• High-Speed Data: 1xRTT, EVDO
• Processor Speed: 400 MHz
• Special Features: Music

Motorola Q9c

Since its inception, the Motorola Q has been successful. Versions of the popular slim handheld—originally billed as the "RAZR smartphone" at just 0.4 inches thick—can now be found on three carriers, with the device available in both CDMA and GSM versions. When Motorola revamped the Q, Verizon saw the new model first and branded it theQ9m. AT&T followed with its upgraded version, the Q9h , which bested the Verizon model with its excellent software bundle. Now Sprint finally has a new Q, and I'm pleased to report that the Q9c is a highly capable, inexpensive ($99.99 with a two-year contract, after a $100 mail-in rebate) smartphone, even if a few flaws hold it back from true greatness.

The Motorola Q9c looks a lot like its siblings except for one key difference—its battery pack. For some reason, Sprint trashed the RAZR-thin thing and decided to package all Q9cs with the extended battery. Now, my test unit scored a stellar 6 hours 56 minutes on a talk-time rundown test; that's easily the best figure I've seen on a CDMA handset. But the extended battery looks seriously bizarre. It sticks out sideways and adds both thickness (0.7 inches) and weight (5.2 ounces) to the Q's otherwise slender design. For those who want the original "standard" battery, it can be purchased for $44.99 from Sprint. But it crosses the line to make that the default option and mess with the handheld's slim profile.

Other design aspects fare better. The new keyboard is a nice improvement over the original; the Q9c's keys are larger and have just the right amount of quiet resistance for comfortable typing. The bright, 320-by-240-pixel display now includes an ambient light sensor. The thumbwheel on the right-hand side is a little stiffer and more recessed than on the original Q, but it's still usable. There's also a (nonstandard) 2.5mm headphone jack, a Back button, and a control area with six membrane buttons surrounding a responsive five-way control pad. Unfortunately, the Q9c still has the Backspace key above the regular keyboard.

As a voice phone, the Q9c excels. Test calls were clear and punchy, with plenty of volume. In one case, on a blustery day, the caller on the other end picked up a little wind noise but still heard me perfectly well. Another call had a slight buzz in the background. Overall, the handset sounded fine, particularly on my end, with a warm, full-bodied tone in the earpiece. When paired with a Plantronics Explorer 370 headset, the Q9c was clear if slightly computerized-sounding on the other end, but normal on my side.

The Q9c hits the Internet with EV-DO Rev 0 data; sadly, there's still no Rev A support. The handset uses the same Marvell 312-MHz processor as that of the Verizon Q9m and the original Q. It felt reasonably speedy in basic use but bogged down when switching between programs. Part of the problem is memory: There's just 50MB of internal storage and 25MB of RAM available for running programs, so keep an eye on the Task Manager.

The Q9c now supports Sprint TV, which offers dozens of channels. Live TV looked good, with smooth animation in full-screen mode; I averaged about 10 to 15 frames per second. Sprint's latest control panel for changing channels is simple to navigate and responds quickly. Sprint TV audio was distorted, however—the result of too much compression on Sprint's end. Another quibble: The volume control in Sprint TV works left to right, whereas in Windows Media Player it's up and down. I never got that straight throughout the review period.

The instant-messaging client is a welcome addition. It supports AIM, Windows Live Messenger, and Yahoo! Messenger accounts, but not Google Talk or ICQ. On my tests, the app was responsive and even logged in and out quickly. I also liked its collapsible buddy lists, and the ability to sign off from individual accounts as well as a one-button "sign off all and exit" option.

The built-in Internet Explorer displayed Web pages at a decent clip, although it's no Opera Mobile (which comes standard on the Q9h). The Q9c includes the excellent DataViz Documents To Go, which views, creates, and edits Microsoft Office documents and also handles ZIP archives and PDFs. There's also a GPS radio, and the device works with Google Maps and Sprint Navigation. E-mail support is robust as usual, since this is a Windows Mobile 6 phone; it works with POP, IMAP, and Microsoft Exchange accounts, as well as Direct Push e-mail.

The Q9c sounded surprisingly detailed when playing music on a set of paired stereo Bluetooth Etymotic Ety8 earphones. Stereo music sounded tinny but clear over the built-in speakers (the distorted audio issue occurs only with Sprint TV). The Q9c accepts media cards up to 32GB; my Kingston 4GB miniSDHC card worked perfectly. Video was another story—none of the Qs perform particularly well on our CorePlayer video benchmark tests, and we couldn't get acceptable frame rates on 320-by-240 video, only on 176-by-144 3GP-format files.

The Q9c disappoints in the camera department and is essentially unchanged from the original Q. It sports a 1.3-megapixel CCD and an LED flash, but no autofocus. The camera takes decent pictures, all things considered, with no glaring flaws aside from muted color; the flash doesn't do much, unfortunately. The phone also records the usual, near-useless 176-by-144 thumbnail-size videos at 10 frames per second.

Overall, the Q9c has the best balance of price and performance on Sprint. The Palm Centro is cute and costs the same, but it's not nearly as capable, and it's uncomfortable to type on. The BlackBerry 8830, our Editors' Choice, is a speedy, stable e-mail handler, but it's more expensive, and the Q9c beats it on document editing, instant messaging, and battery life.

The MOTO Q9c by Motorola is one of the least-expensive ways to get a cutting-edge smartphone on Sprint. At just $100 together with Sprint's data plans, which undercut Verizon's by an average of $25 per month, the MOTO Q9c offers plenty of value, power, and flexibility—not to mention good voice quality. With that bulky battery, just don't look at it sideways.

SPEC DATA :

• Service Provider: Sprint PCS
• Operating System: Windows Mobile Smartphone
• Screen Size: 2.4 inches
• Screen Details: 65K colors, 320x240 resolution
• Camera: Yes
• Megapixels: 1.3 MP
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Web Browser: Yes
• Network: CDMA
• Bands: 800, 1900
• High-Speed Data: 1xRTT, EVDO
• Processor Speed: 312 MHz
• Special Features: Music

Samsung BlackJack II (SGH-I617)

Why spoil a good thing? Samsung kept this idea in mind when designing the BlackJack II, an evolutionary update to the original and well-receivedBlackJack smartphone. The new version adds a number of useful enhancements: the built-in camera now has 2-megapixel resolution; there's a built-in GPS radio with optional TeleNav GPS Navigator; and it's compatible with AT&T's (expensive) Video Share service. My review unit was made of glossy black plastic instead of a rubberized casing like the original; there's also a burgundy version available. Thankfully, Samsung has replaced the odd split-numeric keys with a tighter, more conventional arrangement. You also get a slightly increased processor speed and double the RAM—always a good thing with a Windows Mobile handset. There's also a higher-capacity battery. At just $149, the BlackJack II isn't perfect, but it's a worthy upgrade and a compelling high-speed alternative to the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8310.

The BlackJack II is a bit larger than the original, weighing 4.1 ounces—about half an ounce more—and measuring 4.4 by 2.3 by 0.5 inches (HWD), which is a little thicker as well. Screen size is up to 2.4 inches, though it retains the same 320-by-240-pixel resolution, brightness, and 65K color support. The BlackJack II features a jog/shuttle wheel that also acts as a control pad. The wheel scrolled a bit slowly, but it's a nice enhancement and makes quick work of thumbing through menus, Web pages, and option lists.

The BlackJack II's keyboard is a little cramped and clicky, but it's fairly comfortable to type on, though not as comfy as the keyboard on the Motorola Q9h, which costs $50 more. The BlackJack II's keys are oval as before, but wider than on the original model and closer to being square. The device's proprietary connectors aren't all that practical. The box includes a charger and a USB cable, but you're on your own for wired earbuds, and finding emergency replacements will be difficult, since the device doesn't have a standard headphone jack.

Voice quality was bright and crisp over 3G and somewhat less so over GSM, but still not bad. Despite its proximity to Manhattan, my Queens neighborhood has spotty 3G coverage, so I experienced the problematic high-speed hand-off fairly often—as did my callers, who pointed out static and a volume drop whenever it occurred. The BlackJack II exhibited good reception otherwise. Calls made outdoors on the street were intelligible except when an overhead train rolled by. The handset sounded fine when paired with a Plantronics Voyager 510 Bluetooth headset, and the speakerphone was loud enough to use outdoors in a pinch.

The BlackJack II features 256MB of ROM and 128MB of RAM, with 87MB of free memory and 131MB of free storage available, both of which are welcome improvements over the original. The new 260-MHz CPU and extra RAM definitely help when running multiple programs at once: I rarely saw any "Out of Memory" error messages during the review period. However, the handset still felt a little sticky in operation. Screen redraws were occasionally sluggish, and some key presses took a beat or two before registering, but that's endemic to most Windows Mobile 6 handsets.

Since the BlackJack II runs Windows Mobile 6.0 Standard, you can edit but not create Microsoft Office documents. AT&T also bundles an RSS reader and an IM client that supports AIM, MSN, and Yahoo! Messenger. (The Q9h goes the BlackJack II one better, though, with its built-in DataViz Documents To Go office suite and excellent Opera Mobile browser.) Using the BlackJack II's built-in HSDPA 3.6 radio, I saw consistent data speeds in the 1,000-Kbps range—an impressive showing. AT&T packs in its clumsy XpressMail client, but you also get Outlook Mobile, which supports POP/IMAP, Yahoo! Mail, and Windows Live support, along with Microsoft Direct Push E-Mail. There are also icons for AT&T Video Share, which lets you stream live video to other callers; TeleNav GPS; and MobiTV; all of which cost extra to activate. Video Share, in particular, is too expensive at 35 cents per minute. AT&T offers a few Video Share–related plans to offset the cost, but none are unlimited, and none reduce the additional cost below 25 cents per minute.

With MobiTV, you get dozens of streaming television channels. I counted 45, plus a couple of promo stations. Live MSNBC and CNBC looked okay, but transmission sometimes stuttered and took a while to begin streaming. MP3 and WMA music files sounded clear over a set of Bluetooth Etymotic Ety8. Inconveniently, the music stopped every time I adjusted the BlackJack II's volume. To resume playback, I had to press the Done soft key in Windows Mobile and then press Play again, which was pretty lame. Standalone video files played smoothly, even in full screen mode, though there was no way to skip forward or backward while watching files.

The 2-megapixel camera took disappointingly soft and blurry photos. Some 1.3-megapixel camera phones I've tested recently, including the $49 LG Rumor, put it to shame. The BlackJack II lacks auto-focus and an LED flash. I was able to record smooth 320-by-240-pixel videos—a usable size—but some of my test files were plagued by intermittent stutters. The phone's microSD slot supports up to 4GB microSD cards, but not higher-capacity microSDHC media.

HSDPA data radios are notoriously hard on cell-phone batteries. Fortunately, the BlackJack II was a welcome exception, lasting 6 hours 14 minutes on a talk-time rundown test. That's more than 2 hours longer than the original BlackJack's score of 3:51. This alone might be enough to sway BlackJack owners to upgrade.

Anyone tethered to Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Outlook can make a solid bet on the BlackJack II on AT&T, especially if they can't afford the HTC Tilt or aren't a fan of its larger size. The Motorola Q9h's comfortable keyboard and Documents To Go suite makes it a better choice for Microsoft Office mavens on the go, but that device doesn't match the BlackJack II's sheer broadband speed. The BlackBerry Curve wins out on e-mail handling and overall OS responsiveness, although its pokey EDGE radio pales in comparison to the BlackJack II's HSDPA chipset. Overall, the BlackJack II plays a strong, winning hand, just like the original BlackJack did back in 2006.

SPEC DATA :

• Service Provider: AT&T
• Operating System: Windows Mobile Smartphone
• Screen Size: 2.4 inches
• Screen Details: 320x240-pixel TFT, 65K colors
• Camera: Yes
• Megapixels: 2 MP
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Web Browser: Yes
• Network: GSM, UMTS
• Bands: 850, 900, 1800, 1900, 2100
• High-Speed Data: GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA
• Processor Speed: 260 MHz
• Special Features: Music

Samsung Ace (SPH-i325)

The world needs more CDMA/GSM combo phones to let Sprint and Verizon users roam internationally. Enter Samsung 's Ace, which lets Sprint users roam abroad without giving up Windows Mobile flexibility at home. At first glance, this slim handset, with its excellent keyboard, looks as if it could be a good solution for international travelers. But it turns out that there are better smartphone options for globe-trotting Sprint subscribers.

Let's praise the Ace for its physical design first: At 4.7 by 2.3 by 0.5 inches (HWD) and 3.9 ounces, it's a slim slab-style smartphone and looks a lot like a member of Samsung's BlackJack line for AT&T. One standout feature, though, is the Ace's excellent keyboard. The keys are slightly pyramid-shaped, bowing out in the middle, resulting in a truly comfortable and fast typing experience. It's far better than the BlackJack's or even the BlackBerry's keypads and is on a par with, though very different from, the stellar keyboards of the Motorola Q9 series. If you're a hard-core texter or e-mailer, you'll be very happy with the Ace's keys.

This phone's special advantage is that it combines the GSM and CDMA networks for global roaming. Most Sprint phones (except the Ace and theBlackBerry 8830 ) work on the CDMA radio system, which runs in the U.S., Canada, and about 30 other countries—but most notably, nowhere in Europe. The competing GSM system pretty much covers the rest of the globe. If you're traveling to a GSM country, you can switch the phone's mode using a built-in application. Sprint supplies the phone unlocked, so if you'd rather slip in a local SIM card to get a foreign phone number and lower calling rates, you're free to do so.

In GSM mode, you can make and receive calls using your Sprint phone number, browse the Web, and check e-mail overseas, though at slow speeds. When I took the Ace to Spain, I got 40-kilobit-per-second downloads owing to the slow GPRS modem, but it was good enough for basic surfing. You also lose text-messaging capability, which is a real pity because those Europeans really love their texting.

As a phone, the Ace is average. The handset exhibited decent reception in CDMA mode, and call quality in both CDMA and GSM mode was fine. Volume levels were average in both the earpiece and the speakerphone, though calls in CDMA mode sounded a bit muddled, with some volume wobble. The Ace connected easily to our Editors' Choice–winning Plantronics Voyager 520 headset and was able to trigger voice dialing through the headset, though accuracy was poor.

For a device outfitted with a 312-MHz Marvell PXA270 processor, the Ace feels surprisingly slow. It scored low on our CorePlayer video-frame-rate tests, and the interface lagged from time to time. Speeds on Sprint's EV-DO Rev 0 network weren't too impressive, either. Both on the device itself and when it was used as a modem for a Windows Vista PC, I got speeds in the 400-to-500-Kbps range—well below what I've achieved with a dedicated PC Card on the Sprint network.

The 53MB of program memory was enough to run a few programs at once, but the built-in software pales in comparison with the luscious bundle on the competing Plantronics Motorola Q9c. While the Ace supports the Sprint TV video-streaming service, you won't find an IM client, Sprint Navigator (or any support for GPS), or Documents To Go; instead, there's a poor-quality alternative, the Boratech File Viewer. I've never seen this program in four years of reviewing Windows Mobile devices. It handles basic Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents but chokes on PDFs, misplaces some visual elements, and periodically spits out error messages in really poor English ("Out of memory, document it ends," for example) You're better off investing the $30 in Documents To Go. You can also buy an IM client, of course, but we'd prefer to have it included.

The flashless 1.3-megapixel camera takes relatively soft, somewhat blurry photos, but it records surprisingly good 320-by-240-pixel video at 12 frames per second. The device played 176-by-144-pixel videos from a PC smoothly in full-screen mode, although PC videos in full 320-by-240 were jerky. For music, the Ace supports MP3, protected WMA, and unprotected AAC files, and it can play music through Bluetooth headphones (or wired headphones, though you'll need an adapter for the oddball jack). Disappointingly, the handset supports microSD cards up to only 2GB; it wouldn't read our 4GB or 8GB cards.

Another big drawback: You'll get socked with incredibly high fees for browsing the Internet abroad with the Ace. Business accounts can get a $70-a-month unlimited global data plan, but individual buyers are stuck paying a shocking $16 per megabyte for data in Western Europe. Using a local SIM card, for instance, a French card from (Call In Europe) can reduce that rate to $5 per megabyte, but that's still pretty high if you plan on doing any real surfing. With the BlackBerry 8830, on the other hand, any Sprint user can get the $70 per month unlimited data plan.

Ultimately, expensive data rates sink the Samsung Ace for us. Although the BlackBerry 8830 is less fun, you'll likely feel more at ease with the predictability of an unlimited data plan for roaming in Europe rather than getting charged $16 every time you want to download a Google map. If you're staying Stateside and want a superb messaging smartphone experience, check out the Motorola Q9c instead. It, too, has a killer keyboard, along with better performance and a heartier software suite.

SPEC DATA :

• Service Provider: Sprint PCS
• Operating System: Windows Mobile Smartphone
• Screen Size: 2.3 inches
• Screen Details: 320 x 240, TFT LCD screen with 65K colors
• Camera: Yes
• Megapixels: 1.3 MP
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Web Browser: Yes
• Network: GSM, CDMA
• Bands: 850, 900, 1800, 1900
• High-Speed Data: GPRS, 1xRTT, EVDO
• Processor Speed: 312 MHz
• Special Features: Music

RIM BlackBerry 7290

With its Bluetooth headset support, the BlackBerry 7290 becomes much more viable as a combination PDA/phone rather than just a traditional e-mail handheld device. The BlackBerry 7290 looks much like its predecessors; in fact, it looks just like the BlackBerry 7230. It's slender and slab-like, comfortable in the hand, with the usual full QWERTY keyboard and a bright 160-by-240 color screen that looks especially good in sunlight. Battery life is excellent—talk time is 60 percent longer than that of our Editors' Choice for phone/e-mail devices, the palmOne Treo 650. And as a quad-band GSM device, the BlackBerry 7290 can travel the world.

Support for Bluetooth headsets is the real innovation here. Though BlackBerry devices have packed in phones for years, holding them up to your head has always felt and looked awkward. Because the 7290 paired easily with our Logitech and Nokia Bluetooth headsets, that's now much less of an issue. Unfortunately, the 7290 doesn't support voice dialing, so you'll still have to pull out your BlackBerry in order to dial. There's also no support for the Bluetooth dial-up modem profile and no Bluetooth file transfer. Phone calls are clear, although there's no speakerphone.

Like other recent-model BlackBerrys, the 7290 is supported by RIM's Web client, which will forward up to ten e-mail accounts to the device. T-Mobile's version of the 7290 client easily merged our POP3, Microsoft Outlook, Lotus, and AOL accounts and shipped them to the device. Unfortunately, it does not yet support the free versions of Hotmail or Yahoo! (then again, neither do the palmOne or Windows Mobile operating systems, though Windows Mobile 5.0 will support Hotmail when it starts to ship later this summer). You can, of course, get these services by logging on through a mobile Web browser or, in some cases, third-party clients.

Natively, the 7290 boils Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and PDF attachments down to text files, but it does display Excel spreadsheets on a grid and JPG attachments clearly. Keep in mind though, that to import or export Word or Excel files and work on them, you'll have to purchase DynoPlex eOffice Standard Edition ($149.95 direct, www.dynoplex.com), a suite of productivity applications. Business users whose IT departments are running BlackBerry Enterprise Server 4.0 will be able to wirelessly sync their contacts and calendars in addition to e-mail.

The 32MB flash memory, up from 10MB in previous generations, reflects the explosion in third-party BlackBerry applications over the past year. (Those new to BlackBerry devices should note that they were originally meant to be the ultimate thin clients—in other words, all data would be managed from the server end, so there was therefore no need for much memory on the device itself.) You can now check your stocks, view the weather, or chat on four instant-messaging services.

The 7290's Web browser supports JavaScript, but not frames. Unfortunately, it mangles tables.

The old-fashioned slab-style BlackBerrys have become outclassed in features by powerful PDA/phones like the palmOne Treo 650 and the Verizon XV-6600, but they still have plenty of partisans who love their easy-to-set-up push e-mail and extra-long battery life, not to mention the proliferation of third-party applications that make them a bit more flexible. If you're already a BlackBerry fan, want to upgrade from a previous generation, and like the idea of wireless headsets, the 7290 will be right up your alley.

SPEC DATA :

• Service Provider: AT&T
• Operating System: Other
• Screen Size: 2.75 inches
• Camera: No
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Web Browser: Yes
• Network: GSM

Sprint PPC-6600

The Sprint PPC-6600 is basically the same as its older sibling, the PPC-6601 Pocket PC/phone. The one difference is the addition of a camera. Despite this, we're rating the PPC-6600 a notch below its predecessor—not because it's less powerful but because the competition has gotten stiffer.

Both the Verizon XV-6600 and Cingular's Siemens SX66 are identical to the PPC-6600, but these two devices offer support for high-speed networks. In the XV-6600's case, the network is Verizon's EV-DO; in the SX66's, it's Wi-Fi. T-Mobile also has a Wi-Fi Pocket PC phone, the HP iPAQ h6315. That makes Sprint the odd carrier out.

The only change to the PPC-6600 is the addition of a VGA camera, which also takes QVGA videos. Unfortunately, the camera is of poor quality. In our test shots, we saw serious color noise and dithering problems that made solid lines and areas of color look stippled. Videos, which can be shot in MP4 or 3GPP format, were average for a camera phone: In other words, they were jittery and compressed.

The camera interface, on the other hand, is excellent. You can start shooting by hitting a side button or tapping an option on the device's home screen, and icons on the main camera page let you switch easily between photo mode, video mode, and a mode with the right setting for caller ID pictures.

The PPC-6600 is still the most powerful handheld Sprint offers. But with three competing major carriers using high-speed networking to up the ante, that's not enough to make Sprint an industry leader.

Because the only changed feature from the PPC-6601 is the camera, we did not redo benchmark tests for this device. The results shown below are the numbers we got for the PPC-6601.

SPEC DATA :

• Operating System: Windows Mobile 2003
• Type: Pocket PC
• Screen Size: 3.5 inches
• Flash Memory Type: Secure Digital
• Bluetooth: Yes

Siemens SX66

The new triple threat in networked handhelds, the hefty Siemens SX66 packs Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a phone into a Pocket PC PDA that should fulfill most of your wireless data needs.

No, you're not crazy if you think you've seen this device before: It looks exactly like the Sprint PPC-6601 and the Verizon Audiovox XV6600 (all three products are actually made by a Taiwanese company called HTC). The SX66 has the same 400-MHz processor as those two devices, uses the same slide-out membrane keyboard, and performed just about the same on our Pocket PC benchmark tests. It's fine for office applications and e-mailing, but like its fellows, it's among the biggest, heaviest PDA/phones around.

The major difference with the SX66 is in the networking. Sprint's model has cellular and Bluetooth, allowing cellular data connections up to about 110 Kbps. The Verizon unit has Bluetooth and EV-DO cellular data, the latter of which we clocked at up to about 670 Kbps. This Cingular version has poky GPRS (expect 40 Kbps—useless for Web surfing, but okay for text e-mails) but speedy Wi-Fi, as well as Bluetooth. Though the 802.11b Wi-Fi can allow for up to around 6 Mbps of useful throughput, Web surfing in Pocket Internet Explorer felt about the same as on a strong EV-DO connection with Verizon's unit. The SX66 also works on European GSM networks, albeit with high per-minute roaming charges; the Sprint and Verizon devices don't work in Europe.

During testing we found that SX66's different mix of networking technology affected the its battery life. In our standard-use test we got 5 hours and 28 minutes of PDA-only time. Turning on Wi-Fi dropped that to 3:41. With both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned off, we managed a spectacular 11:19 of talk time. The actual battery life you'll get will depend on how much you use the power-sucking Wi-Fi.

Initially, we had some problems connecting to Logitech and Nokia Bluetooth headsets with our SX66, and some trouble configuring the Wi-Fi, but a firmware update from the Siemens Web site fixed both of those problems. You can surf the Web over Wi-Fi and make calls over a Bluetooth headset at the same time, but you can't effectively use a Bluetooth headset and a Bluetooth mouse at the same time, and you can't pipe non-phone-call audio (such as music or voice prompts) over a Bluetooth headset.

None of the HTC-sourced phones balance PDA and phone capabilities as well as our Editors' Choice in this category, the PalmOne Treo 650. They're all much more PDA than phone. But the Siemens SX66 is faster and more powerful than its Wi-Fi/cellular competitor, the HP iPaq h6315, and unlike the iPaq, it has a built-in keyboard. If you spend a lot of time in hot spots, choose the SX66 over Verizon's XV6600. If you'd rather roam free with EV-DO, go for the XV6600 instead.

SPEC DATA :

• Operating System: Windows Mobile 2003
• Screen Size: 3.5 inches
• Flash Memory Type: Secure Digital
• Bluetooth: Yes

Audiovox XV-6600

The Audiovox XV-6600 (which will be available to consumers beginning January 17) is almost the same as the Sprint PPC-6601. There's one huge change, though: This is the first handheld to use the Verizon EV-DO (Evolution Data Only) network (which the company calls BroadbandAccess).

EV-DO is true wireless broadband. It's currently in 16 major cities and counting. (We expect Verizon to announce more EV-DO cities at the Consumer Electronics Show.) Testing in New York City, we got throughput of from 520 to 670 Kbps.

With that kind of pipe, Web pages and e-mail attachments download smoothly, limited more by the awful Microsoft Pocket Internet Explorer than bandwidth. Pony up for NetFront's superior browser and Westtek's ClearVue attachment viewers to get a better Web and e-mail experience. The only third-party software Verizon bundles is Intellisync wireless sync, which uses a desktop redirector to let you manually sync PIM files and e-mail with POP3/IMAP accounts or a PC running Microsoft Exchange or Lotus Notes. It works, but stops short of BlackBerry-style push e-mail.

The XV-6600 lacks Wi-Fi, but with EV-DO, that doesn't matter much. Remote desktop access via LogMeIn worked perfectly, and large files downloaded swiftly.

You can also use the XV-6600 as a Bluetooth modem for your laptop, but speeds drop sharply because of restrictions on the Bluetooth connection: Our throughput was from just 250 to 300 Kbps on EV-DO—slow enough that downloading files definitely felt sub-broadband. But that's still more than twice what Sprint's version manages. Enterprising hackers have hooked the XV-6600 up as a USB modem to get much higher speeds. Verizon doesn't support that approach, but doesn't forbid it, either, so Google away.

EV-DO comes with a price, of course: for unlimited use, you'll pay a monthly fee of $45 on top of your voice plan. That's reasonable, though—it's about the same as most Wi-Fi hotspot providers charge, and it's much lower than Verizon's harsh $79-per-month plan for laptop PC cards. When you're not in an EV-DO area, the XV-6600 drops back to Verizon's national 1xRTT network, running at around 70 Kbps—a real difference, and a drag.

The XV-6600's talk time is a little less than its Sprint-branded sibling, but sound quality is a bit better thanks to Verizon's excellent voice network, and you'll get a little more PDA time. Otherwise, the XV-6600 is just like the PPC-6601—big, heavy, speedy, powerful, and expensive. It's uncomfortable to hold to your head and has a quiet built-in speaker, but it comes with a very good wired stereo headset and worked fine with our Logitech and GN Netcom Bluetooth headsets. Neither model of this PDA/phone supports voice dialing.

The XV-6600 won't win away Treonauts who adore their device's perfect balance of phone and PDA. But if you have deep pockets and a thirst for true mobile broadband, the XV-6600 is a great choice.

SPEC DATA :

• Operating System: Windows Mobile 2003
• Type: Pocket PC
• Screen Size: 3.5 inches
• Flash Memory Type: Secure Digital
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Notes: price with contract

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PalmOne Treo 650

When it was released in the fall of 2003, the Handspring Treo 600 was arguably the best phone/PDA combo any company had produced to date. Now owned by palmOne, the Treo line has upped the ante with the Treo 650. The new model delivers improvements that will enhance the experience for most users, though a couple of omissions—namely more internal memory and Wi-Fi—keep it from perfection. That said, most people using a midrange Palm device, a mobile phone, and/or a Blackberry-type device, should give the Treo 650 a serious look; it can replace all three of these devices.

For the most part, the Treo 650 looks just like its predecessor. But look closer and you'll see some differences. The power button is also the End Call button, as on other mobile phones. The addition of the backlight is a boon. And though the QWERTY keyboard is just as cramped, the ergonomics are improved for thumb-typing. The function keys (Home, Menu, and so on) are positioned a bit better than before. Accessories like pouch cases for the Treo 600 and preprogrammed SD cards should work fine with the Treo 650, but charging/sync cables and other accessories, such as slipcover cases with punch-outs for function keys, will need to be upgraded.

The new Bluetooth functionality is a welcome addition, allowing users to sync with Bluetooth-capable PCs and Macs and to connect to wireless Bluetooth headsets, which are becoming a huge part of the hands-free landscape. You can't, however, use the Treo 650 as a Bluetooth modem (via Dial-Up Networking) with your notebook, since Sprint has locked up that feature for now; watch for a future firmware upgrade that will enable it.

The Treo 650's 312-MHz PXA270 processor is an improvement over the Treo 600's 144-MHz ARM processor, complementing the higher-resolution screen with faster processing. The built-in Blazer Web browser works well as a smartphone/WAP browser, with enough features for quick lookups and pressing information. We were able to open PCMag.com on the Treo 650, with a good balance between screen formatting and usability. The five-way directional controller and keypad worked so well that you may never have to use the included stylus or the touch-sensitive screen.

During testing, the Treo 650 started indicating a low battery at about 5 hours 10 minutes, easily meeting palmOne's claim of a 5-hour continuous talk time. Surfing the Web on the 1xRTT digital network was speedy and very usable for a mobile device. The Treo 650's camera, though still a VGA resolution camera, is an improvement over the Treo 600's. It can now do motion capture and is much clearer and brighter in still mode, especially in low-light situations. Picture exposure is much more even than on the Treo 600, which showed dark spots in the corners.

Compared with the Treo 600 and other smartphones, the Treo 650 is an improvement that falls just short of perfect. Although it has a faster processor, a higher-resolution screen, Bluetooth, a removable battery, and memory that doesn't blank out when the battery does, the Treo 650 could've used Wi-Fi for WLAN connectivity and more memory for those power users who like to install programs with databases like the Zagat To Go guides or a bunch of e-books. Sure, the SDIO slot makes the Treo's data storage virtually unlimited, but we usually recommend installing programs on the device's internal memory to avoid problems when you swap SD cards. The newest palmOne Tungsten T5 has 256MB of internal (nonvolatile) memory; why doesn't the Treo?

The Treo 650 is more compact than the HP iPAQ 6315 Pocket PC/phone (though the Treo lacks Wi-Fi). And Good Technology will soon enable its corporate e-mail platform on the Treo 650, making this Treo every bit the business tool as theBlackBerry 7100t.

If your business currently supports the Treo 600 or other palmOne PDAs for your mobile workforce, the Treo 650 is a compelling upgrade. And though power users may crave just a little more performance, most users—and especially those new to the Treo—will be more than satisfied with the 650 as a combination phone, PDA, and text-messaging device.

SPEC DATA :

• Service Provider: Sprint PCS
• Operating System: Palm OS
• Screen Size: 2.6 inches
• Camera: Yes
• Megapixels: .3 MP
• Flash Memory Type: Secure Digital
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Web Browser: Yes
• Network: CDMA
• Bands: 1900
• High-Speed Data: 1xRTT
• Special Features: Music

HP iPAQ hw6945

Need help balancing work and fun in your life? Make it easier with HP's new iPAQ hw6945 Mobile Messenger. It gives you all the essentials to keep your business running when you're away from the office—phone, e-mail, and secure access to business-critical information. Plus, you get GPS navigation, a built-in camera, and Windows Media Player for enjoying digital music and videos. Ready for the fun part? Use it to take photos, play music and videos, and challenge yourself to games. The iPAQ hw6925 and hw6945 are the same device; the 6925 is the Cingular model, whereas the 6945 is unlocked. The 6920 and 6940 are the same gadget without the camera.)

SPEC DATA :

• Networking Options: 802.11b
• Operating System: Windows Mobile 5.0
• Processor Class: Intel PXA270
• Type: Pocket PC
• RAM: 64 MB
• Operating System: Windows Mobile Phone Edition
• Screen Size: 3.0 inches
• Camera: Yes
• Megapixels: 1.3 MP
• Flash Memory Type: Mini-Secure Digital
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Web Browser: Yes
• Network: GSM
• Bands: 850, 900, 1800, 1900
• High-Speed Data: GPRS, EDGE
• Processor Speed: 416 MHz
• Special Features: Music

RIM BlackBerry 8800

BlackBerry handhelds traditionally help business people get things done, and the new BlackBerry 8800 does this better than ever. The 8800 brings BlackBerry Pearl style and media features to a "professional" class BlackBerry, though it's missing one key feature that will cause power-users' eyes to wander from the usual fruit basket.

The 8800 is good looking, if a little thick around the middle at 4.5 by 2.6 by 0.6 inches and has a truly gorgeous 320 by 240 screen. I thought the 8700's screen was nice, but wow – this may be the brightest handheld screen I've ever encountered. Also, like that of the BlackBerry Pearl, the screen brightness adjusts itself automatically depending on ambient light.

Keys on the device are relatively small and close together, but parts of the buttons are carved out so you can feel spaces between the keys. After two weeks of use, I found the keyboard to be as good as possible given the device's size: it's more usable than the cramped Palm Treo keyboard, but not as spacious as the old, even wider Blackberrys.

As a phone, calls are loud enough, with quite a sharp, trebly sound in both the earpiece and speakerphone. Reception is very good. You can assign any song in the device as a ringtone. This is a world roaming phone, so I took it to Spain. While there it worked extremely well, with both voice and data, once I ironed out some plan problems with Cingular. The phone's slow EDGE modem has one big advantage. I measured double the battery life of faster 3G handhelds, with an amazing 15 hours of talk time and 2-3 days of heavy e-mail use.

I hooked up a Plantronics Voyager 510 mono headset without a problem, and I was able to initiate VoiceSignal voice dialing through the headset. A Plantronics Pulsar 590 stereo headset, on the other hand, couldn't launch voice dialing, and there's no stereo Bluetooth music support here anyway. If I were you I'd stick to mono.

Software-wise, it's a BlackBerry through and through, meaning it is stable, smooth, fast and easy-to-use. RIM adds TeleNav GPS and music and video players (but not a camera) to the traditional e-mail, PIM, and Web functions. The GPS acquired a signal startlingly quickly, but I found maps took a very long time to load over the stuttering EDGE cellular connection. Third-party applications designed for the 8700 series, such as Opera Mini and WorldMate Professional, may not work with the PC-based installer but download and run fine if you download them directly to the device.

E-mail functions are the same as on the Pearl, and you can't underestimate the joy of being able to scroll horizontally with that little trackball. I integrated Yahoo! Mail, POP3, and Outlook Web Access accounts quickly and easily from a Web interface. While the 8800, like the Pearl, can view JPEG attachments and listen to sound attachments, Microsoft Office and PDF attachments come through in a stripped-down form.

As usual, you sync the 8800 with a PC using RIM's BlackBerry Desktop program, or the free PocketMac for BlackBerry on Macs. BlackBerry Desktop has some trouble installing on Vista systems – rather than running the auto-extracting install program, you have to use WinZip to manually extract the installer into a folder on your desktop and then run the installer. It then works in Windows Vista.

The phone's music and video players rely on a MicroSD memory card stuck inconveniently under the back cover. You load songs by dragging and dropping on your PC, by using RIM's included Media Manager copying software, or by using the third-party TunesSync for BlackBerry. Loading 400 MB of music took us 26 minutes, or an average of 15 MB/minute. That translates into 20 seconds to load an average song, a typically slow USB 1.1 speed. The music player organizes MP3, AAC and WMA songs by folder, displaying song titles and artists but not letting you sort by them. Songs sounded good through the built-in mono speaker or through a wired headset.

A third-party freeware solution, BlackBerry Video Creator from Seabyrd Technology, helps reformat PC and DVD videos for the device. The video player, which plays MP4 and WMV videos, looks sharp but has the same annoying navigation problem as the Pearl's player did – if you're watching a 45 minute show, you can only step through in increments of two to three minutes.

Unlike on the Pearl, there's no camera, but this is typical for more work-oriented devices. I wasn't too bothered by the absence.

The BlackBerry 8800 is missing one key power user feature: 3G high-speed or Wi-Fi wireless. While the phone's EDGE connection is fine for e-mail, Web browsing on high-speed devices like the Samsung Blackjack or even RIM's own BlackBerry 8703e is immeasurably easier. High-speed wireless also makes a power user device much more useful as a PC modem. While the 8800 plugs along at 100 kbps/sec on EDGE, owners of Samsung BlackJacks are cruising at 500 kbps/sec with HSDPA.

If ease of use and e-mail are paramount in your world, the 8800 is the ultimate device at the moment, and the music and video players are just good enough to be fun. But power users may lean towards the Samsung BlackJack instead, with its higher-speed modem and better music and video syncing with Windows Media Player.

The BlackBerry 8800 is available on Cingular for $299.99 with a two-year contract. RIM typically releases all of its form factors on all US wireless carriers within about a year of their first release, so you should expect to see this trickle down to other carriers as well with time.

SPEC DATA :

• Service Provider: AT&T
• Operating System: BlackBerry OS
• Screen Size: 2.5 inches
• Screen Details: 320x240, 65k-color screen
• Camera: No
• Flash Memory Type: Micro SD
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Web Browser: Yes
• Network: GSM
• Bands: 850, 900, 1800, 1900
• High-Speed Data: GPRS, EDGE
• Special Features: Music
• Notes: $299.99 with two-year contract

Palm Treo 680

Improving ever so slightly on the popular Palm Treo 650, the new Palm Treo 680 is a basic, easy-to-use smartphone. Palm's OS is still the simplest thing around for calendar-and-contacts management, so this smartphone will attract folks skittish about combining their phone and PDA. More advanced users, however, will find that this handheld has a strong whiff of 2004 about it.

The Treo 680 comes in two varieties: a gray Cingular model, which sells for $199 with a contract; and an unlocked $399 model in white, red, or copper colors, which works on Cingular and T-Mobile.

Slightly sleeker than the 650, the Palm 680 has no external antenna. The keypad uses the new Treo 700 layout, which makes the QWERTY keys square instead of rounded, squares the cursor pad, and moves the menu button into the place of the lower right-hand shift key. The full-size SD card slot has been moved from the top of the phone to the right-hand side.

Other than the "missing" antenna and somewhat lighter weight (5.6 ounces instead of 6.3), there's one other major advantage here: a delightful 66MB of user-available memory, nearly triple what the sometimes-cramped Treo 650 had. This increased space lets you install plenty of Palm OS programs on this gadget without running out of RAM.

Otherwise, though, changes from the two-year-old Treo 650 platform are disappointingly minor; it's as if Palm declared their design and technology perfect a while ago. You can now mute a call and send a text message at the same time (an innovation that started on the Treo 700w), and there's a new phone-dialer application that integrates the Favorites screen. The excellent DocumentsToGo Microsoft Office document reader has been bumped from version 7 to version 8 (although the latest version is 9) and the Blazer Web browser has been updated to the Verizon 4.5 found on the Treo 700 models.

The 680 performs almost exactly like the 650 on benchmark tests. That's probably because it uses the same 312-MHz Intel processor, the same sharp, bright 320-by-320 screen, and the same quad-band EDGE modem, which gets download speeds averaging 116 Kbps. The Bluetooth chipset has been upgraded from version 1.1 to 1.2—but the most recent version is 2.0.

The Palm OS continues to be extremely easy to use for basic functions. Navigating through your address list and calendar operating system still takes fewer taps and clicks than it does on most Windows Mobile phones, and the interface feels snappier than Windows Mobile. But if you use more advanced features such as multimedia, the Palm OS and the EDGE network show their age. The Treo 680 doesn't multitask, except with the PocketTunes MP3 player. The network stack sometimes times out and claims it has no connection. Kinoma's new streaming video player performs very poorly, rebuffering every 30 seconds or more often on both audio and video tracks. You can't even play music over wireless headsets. And no, you can't add a Wi-Fi card.

Palm says the Treo 680's voice and camera quality are better than the 650's. I didn't have a Cingular Treo 650 to test side by side, but I found reception to be about on a par with a Nokia E62—that is, good. Call quality was just average, with occasional heavy compression artifacts heard in transmissions. The speakerphone isn't loud enough for outdoor use, and it distorts at top volume. Though the phone paired with Plantronics 655 and 590 headsets, you can't initiate voice dialing from a Bluetooth headset, though you can both send and receive files and use the Treo as a PC modem over Bluetooth. Battery life, at 6 hours 15 minutes of talk time, is nothing terrific. (It's shorter than the Treo 650's, largely because the 680 only dims the screen during calls, whereas the 650 turns its screen off entirely.)

In a world of one- and two-megapixel cameraphones, the handset's VGA camera can't possibly impress. Low-light photos are more sensitive and less contrasty than on the 650, but also less sharp. Photos taken in regular light are a bit better balanced exposure-wise, but also a touch less sharp than on the 650.

Alas, compared with the competition, the Treo 680 looks fat, old, and slow. The BlackBerry Pearl has a better camera and terrific e-mail software, and it's cute, though it's not as flexible as the 680. The Samsung BlackJack is thinner, too, with high-speed data and a better camera. If the Treo 680 cost less than these alternatives, we could crown it the king of the entry-level smartphones. But you can get more for your $199-with-contract nowadays.

The Palm Treo 680 is the smartphone equivalent of a nice cup of chicken soup: well-known, basic, safe, nourishing. But there's no "wow" factor here; it isn't Southwestern chicken soup, nor was it made with free-range chickens. The masses will find it helps them get organized, but for early adopters, there's just not enough spice here.

SPEC DATA :

• Megapixels: 0.3 MP
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Flash Memory Type: Secure Digital
• Bands: 850, 900, 1800, 1900
• Camera: Yes
• High-Speed Data: GPRS, EDGE
• Operating System: Palm OS
• Network: GSM
• Service Provider: AT&T, T-Mobile
• Web Browser: Yes
• Screen Details: 320x320 65k-color TFT display
• Screen Size: 2.5 inches
• Special Features: Music

Palm GPS Navigator Smartphone Edition

If you're considering purchasing a Palm Treo or already own one, and also are interested in buying a GPS navigation system, you're in luck. Palm's new GPS Navigator Smartphone Edition features the new Navigator 6 software powered by GPS giant TomTom. Designed to work with the Palm Treo 650, Treo 700w, and Treo 700p smart phones, it provides everything you need to turn your Treo into a full-featured GPS navigation system. You'll also be happy to know that Navigator 6 has most of the features and functions available on TomTom's popular GPS products.

Included in the box is a 1-gigabyte SD card preloaded with TeleAtlas maps and POIs (points of interest) for the U.S. and Canada, a Bluetooth GPS receiver, a suction-cup windshield/dashboard mount (with adhesive disc for the dashboard), an automobile power adapter, and the GPS receiver. Also inside are a USB SD card reader and a DVD containing additional software, a user guide, and extra maps. To equip your Treo with GPS capability, there's a small, rechargeable Bluetooth receiver that measures just 0.7 by 2.5 by 1.6 inches and contains the laudable SiRFstarIII GPS receiver chipset. Like other SiRFstarIII-based devices I've tested, this Bluetooth receiver is extremely sensitive, and satellite-acquisition time is swift.

Setup and installation aren't difficult. After inserting the Navigator 6 Secure Digital card into a free slot on your Palm device, you have to activate the software before you can use it. You can choose either automatic or manual mode. On my Treo 700P evaluation unit, the automatic mode reported that it couldn't connect with TomTom's server, so I chose manual activation. For manual activation, on your computer, you navigate to TomTom's activation Web site and follow on-screen prompts on both handheld and PC. Still, this installation procedure is much more involved than it would be on an ordinary standalone GPS unit.

Once the system was activated, I found the user interface on the TomTom Navigator and the underlying mapping and routing engine, which are very similar to software on other TomTom dedicated GPS devices. When you launch the application, the first thing you see is a default 3D navigation screen. Tapping anywhere on the screen brings up the main menu, which gives you access to the Navigate To menu and TomTom Traffic, helps you find route alternatives, , or lets you change your preferences.

There are several of the Navigator's features that I especially like: the ability to specify which data fields will appear on the displayed status bar and the option of selecting a large or small on-screen keyboard with a choice of alphabetic, QWERTY, or AZERTY layouts. I prefer to see lots of data on my screen, so I set the Navigator to show me all six available data fields: remaining time, remaining distance, arrival time, current time, street name, and speed.

Creating a route on the Navigator software is virtually identical with what it would be on a TomTom system. If you choose to navigate to an address, you're first prompted for a city name. You can input data either by using the Treo's keyboard or by tapping the keyboard icon on the screen. As you type, cities matching your input are displayed. The advantage of using the Treo's physical keyboard is that the screen can display up to seven matches. If you use the on-screen keyboard, the number of matches displayed is limited to just three. Of course, both methods include a scroll bar for viewing all possible cities. After you select the city name, you're prompted for a street name, followed by an address. If you don't know the address, you can just press Done, and a list of cross streets for the selected street will appear.

As on TomTom devices such as the recently reviewed TomTom ONE, once a route has been calculated, you are presented with a 2D route summary view. If you hit the details icon, you gain the option of browsing a "turns" list, "turns as images," or simply a map of the route. In addition, you can watch a demonstration of the route at user-adjustable playback speeds of up to five times as fast as normal speed.

During driving tests using my Treo 700p running Navigator 6 software, I found no difference in the planned routes and those generated by other TomTom GPS products. Sadly, though, like the TomTom ONE, Navigator 6 does not support text-to-speech conversion for commands.

Another area that I found disappointing was the poor integration with the Treo's other capabilities. As noted in the TomTom ONE review, after selecting a POI, the device immediately calculates the route rather than giving you an intermediate screen with the address and phone number. The Garmin nüvis do a better job of letting you dial a POI directly from the POI menu. Navigator 6 addresses this weakness with a "Call Number" feature on the third page of the main menu. When you tap on this icon, you have the option of calling a POI near you or one in a city, near home, along the route, or near your planned destination. Unfortunately, you can't dial a number directly from within the Navigator application. Since the Palm OS only runs one app at a time, you have to exit the Navigator program and dial from the phone dial pad or the contacts list. If you do elect to dial a POI, the Navigator application shuts down and you have to restart it when you terminate the call. Similarly, when you answer an incoming call while navigating, Navigator shuts down and you have to restart it after you finish talking. I found this pretty annoying because after you restart the application it takes about 30 seconds for the Bluetooth connection to the GPS receiver to be reestablished.

Currently, the GPS Navigator Smartphone edition is available exclusively through Palm. TomTom plans to release the product in early October.

Overall, TomTom has done a good job of converting its popular TomTom interface and software to run on the Palm platform. Whether it's the right solution for you depends on how you use navigation software and whether you can live with the display limitations of the Treo. The least expensive TomTom dedicated GPS device is the TomTom ONE, which sells for $499. It has a 3.5-inch display, much easier to read than the 2.5-inch, 240- by 240-pixel screen on the Palm 700P I tested.

If you're a traveler who needs to navigate and talk on the phone simultaneously, the GPS Navigator Smartphone edition is not for you. But if you see yourself as an occasional GPS user and want a full-featured navigation system integrated into your PDA, the GPS Navigator Smartphone could be a good, cost-effective solution.

SPEC DATA :

• 3D View: Yes
• Hard Drive: Yes
• Multi Segment Routing: Yes
• Power: Battery
• Preloaded maps: Yes
• Type: Bluetooth Receiver, PDA, Portable
• Waterproof: No
• Supports MP3: No
• Speakers Included: No
• Flash Memory Type: Secure Digital

RIM BlackBerry 7100g

Cingular subscribers lusting after T-Mobile's BlackBerry 7100t now have a Berry to call their own: the 7100g. But although the 7100g improves on the original model's keyboard, overall we like the 7100t a little better.

In most ways, the 7100g is just like the 7100t. It's roughly the same size and the same shape, though it's a little blockier. It runs the same top-notch push e-mail software, gets the same clear reception, and has the same battery life on the same quad-band GSM radio. It has the same very clear speakerphone and same limited Bluetooth support—headset-only, with no dial-up networking or file transfer. (You can transfer files with the included USB cable.) It uses the same corporate BlackBerry servers and the same personal Web e-mail interface. It runs the same excellent predictive text software with its 20-key keypad, and uses the same basic Web browser with no frames and so-so style sheet support.

The design difference is seen on the Cingular 7100g's keyboard, which is a little different from the original 7100t's keyboard, and it works a little bit better. Because there are spaces between them the keys are easier to hit accurately.

Strangely, though, the 7100g lacks the 7100t's instant-messaging client. It also uses a list-style main menu; the 7100t has both list and icon options. And we're disappointed that RIM didn't put EDGE into this phone. The 7100g downloads its data over GPRS at 30–50 Kbps, the same as the 7100t. But Cingular has a national EDGE network that's much faster—up to 180 Kbps—and T-mobile doesn't. That could have been the standout feature for this device.

The 7100g, new to the Cingular market, is right now more expensive than the 7100t. Both are $299 with contract, but T-Mobile has a $100 rebate; Cingular's rebate is only $50. T-Mobile's unlimited data plan is also $10 a month cheaper than Cingular's.

When comparing the 7100 models, we'd still pick the 7100t over its brother, but we're not saying the 7100g isn't worthy; it's still a very good phone and e-mail device for people locked into Cingular contracts. Cingular subscribers looking for a more powerful PDA/phone should check out the palmOne Treo 650.

SPEC DATA :

• Service Provider: AT&T
• Screen Size: 2.1 inches
• Camera: No
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Web Browser: Yes
• Network: GSM

Nokia N810 Internet Tablet

Nokia's N810 is the company's latest gift to Linux geeks, Rhapsody users, and, surprisingly, to Palm aficionados. If you're looking for a Linux handheld to hack or an upgrade for your Palm TX, you may have found it. But the lack of PIM and document reading software, and the N810's problematic third-party software in general, may keep it from taking the PDA world by storm.

The N810, like its predecessors the N800 and N770, isn't a phone. It's a Linux-based handheld computer that connects to the Internet via Wi-Fi or with a Bluetooth connection through a mobile phone. Nokia has finally gotten the form factor right; the N810 is a pleasure to hold and to use. The 2.8 by 5 by 0.55 inches (HWD), 7.9-ounce metallic body feels solid, and the richly colorful 4.1-inch 800-by-480-pixel touch screen slides up to reveal a thumb keypad. There's a VGA camera built into the side for video calling, and a little stand pops out of the back if you want to prop the N810 up on your desk. On the top, a lock switch lets you use it as an MP3 player in a coat pocket without worrying about bumping the screen. Overall, it's an attractive, thoughtfully built piece of hardware.

The N810's home screen consists of "widgets," including a Google search box, RSS reader, clock, and Internet radio app that you can move around on the screen, showing the Debian Linux–based operating system's attractive transparency effects. Big icons on the left-hand side of the screen let you launch other apps with your fingers. It's a well-designed interface, though it isn't quite as simple to navigate as its direct rival, Apple's iPod touch.

The N810 connects to the Internet effortlessly, either through Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g (with WPA2) or using a Bluetooth connection to a mobile phone. If you choose to go the mobile-phone route, you'll need to subscribe to a relatively expensive tethering plan—around $50 a month—from your carrier. This has nothing to do with Nokia, though. Web browsing is the device's real strength. Nokia is the true king of handheld Web browsers. The company's Series 60 phone browser is the best in the business, and the N810's browser renders pages that look just as good as they do on a PC, including Flash (but not Java) plug-ins. That's superior to the iPod touch, which can't handle Flash.

The e-mail program supports only POP3. When I tried to use its IMAP option, the device choked and crashed. But messages are rendered in HTML, and reading text on the crisp-looking screen is a pleasure. The interface did seem a bit sluggish sometimes, with responses trailing after button presses—a surprise considering the device's relatively powerful, 400-MHz processor. The N810 has 2GB of onboard flash memory, and a slot on the bottom of the device takes miniSD cards for additional storage; an 8GB SanDisk card worked fine.

Music and video players are also on board, along with a Rhapsody client. The music player handles AAC, WMA, and MP3 formats—though no DRM—and the video player plays WMV and a somewhat perplexing subset of MP4 files. You can put your music on an SD card or share it with PCs through your wireless network—the N810 sees Windows shared folders right out of the box and can even stream tunes shared by an Orb server over a LAN without any additional software. You can play your music through the built-in (stereo, albeit tinny) speakers or standard wired headphones (there's a 3.5mm jack on the side of the device). Bluetooth stereo isn't supported, unfortunately. To play full-screen video, I had to pass my files through Nokia's free desktop video converter (for Windows only). When I didn't do this, I had problems with some dropping frames on my sample files. The N810 played videos for about 4 hours 20 minutes before running out of battery juice.

Though the N810 isn't a phone, you can make calls using Skype and Gizmo VoIP clients that work over Wi-Fi. I got surprisingly decent call quality with Skype calls, which is refreshing: Skype on handhelds usually sounds pretty dismal. The Gizmo app also connects to popular IM networks, including AIM, MSN, and Yahoo!, but somewhat clumsily. Pidgin, a more streamlined IM app, connected to AIM much more smoothly.

The N810 comes with GPS, as well, but the GPS chipset is mediocre. Though the device acquired a signal well in low-rise Queens, it was absolutely hopeless in high-rise Manhattan. The free built-in U.S. and Canadian maps, from Wayfinder, include an extensive array of points of interest. A $129, three-year license enhances the system with driving directions and spoken prompts.

The N810's biggest drawback is that it still lacks two absolutely key features for a handheld: a PIM suite and some sort of Microsoft Office–compatible document editing program. (It does have a PDF reader, which rendered even our most complex graphical documents with aplomb.) The brilliant Palm OS emulator fixes that to some extent, but it restricts you to working in a tiny window on the N810's large screen. That makes running Palm OS apps only a stopgap solution.

That's right—Palm OS. ACCESS seems to be unable to write a new Linux OS for Palm devices, but the company has come up with a perfectly capable Palm emulator for the N810. The free Garnet VM pops a 320-by-320-pixel application window and a virtual graffiti area into the middle of the N810's screen, leaving the rest of the device's display blank. You can use the hardware keyboard or touch screen for input and according to ACCESS, the system is compatible with about 80 percent of Palm OS applications. I synced my contacts and calendars over the Internet from a PC to the virtual Palm's PIM apps quickly and easily. That makes the N810 a potential upgrade path for Palm OS users looking for a future, though they'll want to break out of the Palm OS box into full-screen N810 native apps as quickly as possible.

With Linux, it should be simple to rewrite desktop apps for the N810. According to Maemo.org, the application development group, there are now 198 apps for the device, including a contact syncing solution, text editors, IM programs, multiple music and video players, and games, though there's no comprehensive PIM or Office package shown. But I couldn't test many of the available applications because the download process is fatally flawed. Almost all downloads rely on a central server at repository.maemo.org that did not work properly over the six days I tried the N810. Sometimes I couldn't get any new apps, sometimes I could get a few. And sometimes the N810 just spewed error messages at me ("installation file corrupted"). Nokia claims servers were heavily loaded, but that's no excuse.

The poorly functioning installer hurts the N810's major advantage over its top rival, the iPod touch. Like the N810, the touch is an awesome Web browser and music and video player. The touch is better at multimedia and PC syncing; the N810 is better with the Web and integrates e-mail and IM options, which the touch doesn't. The N810 could appeal to users who want much more if the installer worked properly. It also doesn't help that the $479 (list) N810 costs considerably more than Apple's $299, similarly Unix-powered touch.

So here we are, back where we started. When I first reviewed the Nokia N800, I heralded it as breakthrough hardware that needed the software to make it sing. The N810 still struggles with the same problem. Though Nokia's Web browser is gorgeous and the development community seems to be working hard to create new software, the broken software installer brings me back to the old frustrations. ASUS, with its EEE PC, has proved that Linux devices can "just work." Nokia needs to bring its handsome tablet line out of beta and lower the price in order to truly go after Apple, ASUS, and Palm.

SPEC DATA :

• Type: Linux
• Screen Size: 4.1 inches
• Operating System: Linux Internet Tablet 2008
• Processor Class: TI OMAP 2420
• Processor Speed: 400 MHz
• RAM: 128 MB
• Networking Options: 802.11g
• Megapixels: 0.3 MP
• Flash Memory Type: Secure Digital
• Bluetooth: Yes

HP iPAQ rx5915 Travel Companion

HP's rx5915 Travel Companion is the best in-car GPS PDA we've seen so far. If HP can work out the software bugs we saw in our early preproduction unit, this will be a stellar solution for automotive navigation and entertainment.

First things first: This is not a smartphone. Like the Pharos GPS 525 Pharos GPS 525, it's a PDA with preloaded GPS software, designed to help you get around and entertain yourself on the road. Though you can connect your rx5915 to the Net via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, it's most at home telling you where to go.

At 4.7 by 3 by 0.7 inches with a bright 3.5-inch, 320-by-240 touch screen, the rx5915 is just small enough for a coat pocket, but big enough to see on your dashboard. It weighs 6 ounces. The rx5915 has fewer buttons than most Pocket PCs. There's a cursor pad and buttons for OK and Menu options on the front. On the top, there's a voice-recorder button. Four side buttons launch the device's home screen, the nav application and Windows Media Player, and rotate the device's screen. The rx5915 runs in all four possible rotations, meaning it works just as well for lefties as for righties.

When you start up the rx5915, it doesn't look quite like other Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC PDAs (though the traditional interface is under there.) Instead, it starts up to a simplified home screen with a few icons, made for poking at with a finger. The most important icon, of course, activates the TomTom 6.0 navigation software, which is preloaded with 2GB of U.S. and Canadian maps in updatable Flash ROM.

The rx5915 uses the SiRFStar III GPS chipset, which acquires satellite signals quickly and accurately. The device comes with a mounting bracket that lets you pivot it on two axes. There's no visible GPS antenna, but that didn't seem to damage performance, and there's a connector for an external antenna if you want one. The iPAQ seemed significantly faster at generating long routes than TomTom software running on a Palm Treo 700p. And if you can figure out how to connect the rx5915 to the Internet via your cell phone (for more on that, see below), you can get live traffic and weather data.

Voice prompts were quite loud enough through the single speaker on the back of the device. You can also reroute the voice prompts to an A2DP compliant Bluetooth device such as stereo headphones or a car stereo system, but if you do so, the first bit of each prompt gets cut off.

Storing the TomTom application and corresponding road maps in Flash ROM leaves the rx5915's SD card slot open for fun. We had no problem multitasking MP3 playback through Windows Media Player (even using a stereo Bluetooth headset) and navigation, though sometimes the sound overlapped during voice prompts. The PDA's 400-MHz Samsung S3C 2442 processor can handle full-screen video (synced over with Windows Media Player 10), though the video does get a bit blocky. Buy a 2GB SD card, load on a few games and a cartoon or three, and you have a full-on in-car entertainment system. Our model also came with 80MB of storage memory, 54MB of program memory, and 400MB of available memory on the 2GB of GPS-related Flash memory. All together, that should be plenty for other applications. But if Internet radio's your bag, you'll be mourning the lack of an integrated cellular modem.

The rx5915 has 802.11b/g wireless. Although we connected it easily to a WEP-enabled router, there's no option for WPA. It also has fast Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, so you can hook it up to a Bluetooth-enabled phone for Internet access, but setting up that connection requires arcane, complicated settings found in no manual. We managed to link the rx5915 to a stereo Bluetooth headset and an Internet-capable phone simultaneously. It took two tries, but it worked, with only occasional skips in the music and slightly degraded audio quality.

Also a Windows Mobile Pocket PC 5.0 PDA, the rx5915 comes with all the usual software, including the WorldMate travel information application, Microsoft Office document readers and editors, and a nifty home-screen enhancement that shows wireless, memory and battery status. We were also able to run Sling Player Mobile over a Wi-Fi connection; it had a decent frame rate but ran into some video bugs with the PDA's preproduction software.

On the SPB Benchmark tests, the rx5915 performed as expected, doing better than the iPAQ rx1950 and Pharos 525 but not up to the level of a Dell Axim X51v. Battery life is decent, at five hours with maximum backlight, but that's not a huge concern, as this device will likely spend a lot of time plugged into your cigarette lighter.

Aside from the Pharos 525, the rx5915 competes with, HP's own iPAQ hw6515 which has a built-in GPS receiver, with the GPS capabilities in smartphones such as Sprint's new BlackBerry 8703e, and with PDA/Bluetooth GPS upgrade kits. In our opinion, of all the hybrid products we've seen, the rx5915 does the best job of putting GPS front and center. And as a Windows Mobile device, it has a wider variety of features than dedicated GPS units.

Of course, we stumbled upon some bugs while testing the HP iPAQ rx5915 (mostly involving software putting up with the screen rotation), but that's par for the course with an early preproduction unit. If this product is bug-free when it comes to market, it'll be the best example of a GPS PDA we've seen yet.

SPEC DATA :

• Type: Pocket PC
• Screen Size: 3.5 inches
• Operating System: Windows Mobile 5.0
• Processor Class: Samsung SC32442
• Processor Speed: 390.6 MHz
• RAM: 2 GB
• Networking Options: 802.11g
• Flash Memory Type: Secure Digital
• Bluetooth: Yes

Verizon XV6700

Verizon's XV6700 could have been the best PDA/phone on the market today, with a great balance of small size, robust features, and decent call quality. Unfortunately, Verizon's decision to cripple the gadget's Wi-Fi abilities should send power users running to Sprint, which has a better version.

Superficially, the XV6700 looks a lot like Sprint's PPC-6700, but more stylish. The PPC-6700's dull silver cover has been replaced by a matte black with silver trim. Like the PPC-6700, this is a boxy device that, at 5.2 by 2.3 by 0.9 inches and 6.5 ounces, just fits into a medium-size hand. Slide the screen to the right to reveal an excellent keyboard of large, square keys. When you slide the keyboard out, the 2.8-inch, 320-by-240 color screen rotates into landscape mode after a second or two of delay. As on the PPC-6700, this keyboard makes the XV6700 a terrific messaging device, as long as you're willing to grip it with both hands.

The XV6700 performs like the PPC-6700 too. With their 416-MHz Intel processors, both 6700s are faster on SPB Benchmark CPU tests than most other Pocket PC phones, and they can show full-screen video at around 24 frames per second. You can sync over music and video onto a miniSD memory card using Windows Media Player 10, and edit Microsoft Office documents (but not PDFs) using the built-in Pocket Office applications. There's still some gumminess in the user interface and applications, but that's common to all Windows Mobile 5 devices.

As a phone, the XV6700 has average reception. The earpiece was loud enough to be heard inside or outside, though voices sometimes had a compressed, slightly robotic quality. The speakerphone was very quiet, just barely acceptable indoors and too quiet to use outside. We bonded the phone with Logitech, Plantronics, and Jabra Bluetooth headsets without a problem. Unfortunately, Verizon does not include voice-dialing software.

Battery life is good but not great. We got 5 hours 23 minutes of PDA usage time and 5 hours of talk time on a charge. The XV6700's camera is flexible, able to save photos in uncompressed BMP or compressed JPEG formats. Our test images were good overall; a little less noisy, but darker than the PPC-6700's shots. Outdoor photos were fine, with some purple haloing around white areas. We were very disappointed by the 1.3-second shutter delay, though, which will deter spur-of-the-moment snapshots. The video mode records 10-frames-per-second, 320-by-240 videos in 3GPP or MPEG4 formats.

Surfing the Web on Verizon's EV-DO network with Microsoft's Pocket Internet Explorer, we got low but acceptable speeds of 457 to 589 Kbps. That's similar to the speeds we've seen on other Pocket PCs.

For e-mail, the XV6700 comes with Microsoft's Pocket Outlook, which connects to POP3/IMAP and Exchange 2003 servers. Push e-mail for Exchange 2003 SP2 customers will come with a software upgrade later this year. You can also run Verizon's free Wireless Sync push solution, which works with POP3/IMAP accounts and uses a desktop redirector to send your Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Notes e-mail to the phone.

Verizon had to muck this up, though. One of the 6700's strengths is its combination of Wi-Fi and EV-DO cellular networking. On the Sprint PPC-6700, you can turn on both networks, and if both are available the handheld will pick the faster of the two. In addition, you can make and receive phone calls while surfing with Wi-Fi—a trick that's also possible on the T-Mobile SDA and MDA. But with the Verizon XV6700 you have to turn off the phone to use the Wi-Fi. So, when you're in a hot spot and want to use Wi-Fi, you can't get any phone calls. That's idiotic. We've seen this behavior before, on the Samsung i730, but we were lulled into thinking it was caused by technical limitations. Since the Sprint version of the 6700 works fine with both networks on, we know this must have been a business decision on Verizon's part.

To compound the idiocy, there is no modem plan for this device, an omission that's especially inexcusable because Verizon has just announced new modem plans for several of its other EV-DO phones. You can use Sprint's version of the 6700 as a modem for your laptop; why can't Verizon allow you this option?

We were prepared to love the Verizon XV6700. Although it doesn't work as fluidly in one hand as the Palm Treo 700w, it's a more powerful device with a better keyboard. But we're very disappointed in Verizon's decision to damage one of the XV6700's greatest strengths, its combination of Wi-Fi and EV-DO. As Sprint's EV-DO network has spread nationwide in the past six months, Sprint's PPC-6700, a superior version of this device, might be a reason to switch carriers.

SPEC DATA :

• Service Provider: Verizon Wireless
• Operating System: Windows Mobile Pocket PC
• Screen Size: 2.8 inches
• Camera: Yes
• Megapixels: 1.3 MP
• Flash Memory Type: Mini-Secure Digital
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Web Browser: Yes
• Network: CDMA
• Bands: 850, 1900
• High-Speed Data: 1xRTT, EVDO
• Special Features: Music

Motorola Q

It's the Q, the Motorola Q. The RAZR-thin Motorola Q is the coolest smartphone in America. It's a terrific voice phone, a dandy music player, and a swell e-mail machine. Just be warned: Expensive service plans mean it isn't as cheap as it appears.

The Q is an unusually wide (2.5 inches), very flat (0.5 inches thick) 4-ounce slab with a bright 320-by-240 screen and a raised, angled QWERTY keyboard. There's a scroll wheel and button on the side, just like those on BlackBerry devices, and a five-way cursor pad above the keyboard, like the ones on Palm Treo handhelds. You can use both sets of keys for navigation, making the Q unusually convenient to use with one hand. A miniSD card slot sits on the edge opposite from the scroll wheel.

For voice quality, the Q is the best Verizon smartphone I've tested. Its reception comes close to the excellent RAZR V3c and Motorola E815. Sound through the earpiece, speakerphone, and Bluetooth headsets is unusually loud and clear; transmission is nearly flawless. VoiceSignal's voice-dialing application, which works over Bluetooth headsets, is terrific. This is an excellent phone, plain and simple. Battery life, at 5 hours 25 minutes of continuous talk time, is good, on a par with that of the Palm Treo 700p.

The Q is also a great music player, thanks to its support for Bluetooth stereo. As a Windows Mobile Smartphone, the Q plays MP3, WMA, and protected WMA files downloaded from Microsoft-compatible music stores such as Yahoo! Music and Rhapsody. I hooked up three stereo Bluetooth headsets—Motorola's own BT820, the Wi-Gear iMuffs, and the Plantronics Pulsar 590A—and listened to music while surfing the Web on Pocket Internet Explorer without trouble, though the multitasking did make scrolling slightly jerky. Downloading e-mail in the background while listening to music was too much for the Q—it caused the music to skip. When I got a call, the music paused, then resumed from where I left off when the call was over. The fast-forward and rewind buttons on the headset also worked.

Video is another story. I couldn't get videos transferred through Windows Media Player 10 or downloaded directly onto an SD card to play without the device stuttering. That's odd because the Q actually was faster on our video benchmark tests than the T-Mobile SDA and MDA, both of which can play video smoothly in a small window. When I discussed this with a Motorola rep, we both suspected that my unit might have had a video-related software bug.

The video bug and Windows Mobile 5.0's generally ponderous operation (compared with that of the less resource-intensive Palm OS) may also explain why the Q got much slower video frame rates than the Palm Treo 700p, which uses the same 312-MHz Intel Bulverde processor and has a 50 percent larger screen. But I'd expect the Q to feel more responsive than the T-Mobile SDA, the T-Mobile MDA, the Cingular 2125 and the Cingular 8125, all of which use a 195-MHz Samsung processor.

The basic POP3/IMAP e-mail client on the Q, which supports up to eight accounts, works well. Verizon also provides its Wireless Sync push e-mail solution, which I've always found clumsy, and support for Good's GoodLink push e-mail system. E-mail and Web pages download swiftly over Verizon Wireless's BroadbandAccess EV-DO network. I got speeds averaging 500 Kbps on bandwidth-test sites.

To read attachments, the Q comes with the Picsel Viewer application, which is excellent at displaying even complex Microsoft Office documents and PDFs. You can't edit the documents, though. There's plenty of room for additional programs in the Q's 49MB of built-in storage.

The Q's 1.3-megapixel camera takes decent photos. There was a bit of purple fringing in bright shots but nothing too awful. The interface takes some getting used to—though there's very little shutter delay, the phone freezes for up to a second after you take a shot. The camcorder mode takes relatively smooth 176-by-144 videos at 10 frames per second.

The Q is missing a few features power users will look for. Wi-Fi could come through the miniSD card slot in the future, according to Motorola and Verizon. Push e-mail from Microsoft Exchange servers will come in an update later this year. You'll also be able to use the Q as a modem for your laptop later this year, at a $15-per-month premium to your service plan.

Besides the stuttering video, I also ran into other occasional bugs, which is not surprising on a Windows Mobile machine. Quitting The Core Pocket Media Player crashed the device. And sometimes it took two or three tries for the Q to recognize a memory card.

Verizon wants to sell the Q to ordinary consumers, but its costly smartphone service plans stand in the way of the Q sweeping America. You get 450 minutes for $79 per month, 1,350 minutes for $109, and 4,000 minutes for $169, with unlimited data and in-network calling during nights and weekends. Unlimited Q data can also be a $40 add-on to an existing family plan, so, for instance, a 700-minute, two-line plan with a Q and a voice phone would cost $110 per month. At Sprint, the equivalent of Verizon's $109 plan costs only $75, and Verizon's $110 family plan would cost a mere $85. Verizon needs to bring its monthly fees down if it wants the Q to be the success it could be.

The Q's major competitors are from Palm—the Treo 700w and the newer Treo 700p. The 700w is more expensive than the Q and has little to recommend it. The 700p comes with Microsoft Office document editors (not just viewers), has a higher-res screen, runs on both Verizon and Sprint, and is both faster and less buggy than the Q. On the other hand, it costs $200 more and is considerably chubbier. So while the 700p retains the Editors' Choice crown, the Q is an excellent machine and a terrific choice.

SPEC DATA :

• Megapixels: 1.3 MP
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Flash Memory Type: Mini-Secure Digital
• Bands: 850, 1900
• Camera: Yes
• High-Speed Data: 1xRTT, EVDO
• Operating System: Windows Mobile Smartphone
• Network: CDMA
• Service Provider: Verizon Wireless
• Web Browser: Yes
• Screen Size: 2.5 inches
• Special Features: Music
• Notes: 320 x 240, 65k color display

Dell Axim X51v

Two steps forward, one step back is still a step forward. Dell's new Axim X51v PDA is physically a very close relative of their existing X50v but runs the new Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system. The X51v has more memory and includes some more powerful features, but unfortunately its benchmark-test performance lags a bit.

The X51v looks exactly like its predecessor, and most of its hardware is the same, too: a top-of-the-line 624-MHz Intel PXA270 processor, Intel's 2700G 3D graphics accelerator, a VGA screen, built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and Secure Digital and CompactFlash expansion slots.

Usable Flash memory storage on the X50v was limited to 128MB, but the X51v offers a maximum of 256MB. In addition, the X51v includes a massive software bundle of games and applications: nine games, including full versions of 3D mini-golf and car-rally games, as well as demos of other games. Other interesting bundled applications include a full version of the Battery Pack Lite utility toolbar and demos of Resco's File Explorer utility, SPB Finance, and Westtek's ClearVue document-reading suite.

The X51v has the same excellent gaming performance, sharp screen, and networking capabilities as its predecessor. Its built-in Wi-Fi networking works fine and now supports WPA security, though it's a little awkward to set up. Bluetooth is definitely for syncing, not for audio/video transmission or even file transfer.

Changes in performance stem from both OS and hardware changes. Windows Mobile 5.0 marks a dramatic change in how Pocket PCs address memory. Formerly, Pocket PCs split their RAM between space used to run programs and space used to store files. Flash memory served as a backup for larger or less frequently used files. This makes for a fast, responsive system, but takes its toll in battery life, as RAM needs a continuous trickle of energy to keep its data intact. Pocket PC owners therefore found (and continue to find) that once their battery ran out of juice, all their data and programs stored in RAM evaporated.

The Axim X51v has taken a new tack: It uses RAM exclusively for running programs and stores all programs and data in flash. This has greatly extended the product's battery life and means that data stays intact when the battery goes dead. But flash memory is slower than RAM, so activities that move a lot of data between storage flash and operational RAM— opening files or rebooting the device, for example—become slower on devices running the new OS.

Microsoft Word document rendering takes the biggest hit, because the new Word Mobile processes invisible formatting codes that the old Pocket Word ignored. We saw opening times on large Word documents jump from 3 seconds to 18 seconds or more, though navigating through the documents was very fast once they were open.

Video frame rates for locally stored DivX-formatted files in the Core Media Player were about 7 percent faster on the X50v than on the X51v, but playback of files stored on SD cards was about 3 percent faster on the X51v than on the X50v. Notably, playback of the same file from an SD card was about 9 percent faster than from internal flash memory on the X51v. This shows the impact of the new file system, but it is not nearly as dramatic as with Microsoft Word documents.

The new device struggled on SPB Benchmark's memory and file system tests (see results below). File writes to the default storage directory took three times as long as they did on the X50v, and reads took nearly eight times as long, because on older devices those reads and writes go to RAM, whereas on the X51v they go to flash memory. But SPB's memory copy test produced the same results on the two devices, because this test addresses RAM on both PDAs.

We didn't notice any difference between the two devices in hand-timed trials with ClearVue PDF, Pocket Excel/Excel Mobile, or Pocket Internet Explorer/IE Mobile, or in the 3D games that came with both devices. And the X51v's video frame rates are still well above the 30 frames per second that the human eye can detect.

In exchange for a little patience, you get more power and better battery life. Where the old Pocket PC office applications only supported very basic formatting, the new Pocket Office is pretty good at reproducing more complex formatting in Office documents, such as for tables in Word, bulleted and numbered lists, and embedded images. There's also a PowerPoint viewer, which Microsoft didn't include before. Other minor but welcome improvements include a progress bar in Pocket Internet Explorer and support of Hotmail accounts in the e-mail application.

The X51v achieved more than 4.5 hours of battery life with wireless on—about an hour and a half longer than what we achieved with the X50v, although still well below the life of many other Pocket PCs, such as the 5 hours 46 minutes we got on the massive HP iPAQ hx4700. If we disabled the stepping down of processor speed and played a video in a loop, we got a little less than three hours, about half an hour longer than on the X50v under the same conditions.

The Axim X51v gives up a little speed to give you more data security, more battery life, and a better bundle of applications, all for the same price as the older Axim X50v. Even with hardware similar to that of the X50v, this device remains cutting-edge, with the most powerful processor, best screen, and best gaming performance available. We think that's a good deal, so we'll recommend it as the leading Pocket PC PDA of the moment.

SPEC DATA :

• Type: Pocket PC
• Screen Size: 3.7 inches
• Operating System: Windows Mobile 5.0
• Processor Class: Intel PXA270
• Processor Speed: 609.4 MHz
• RAM: 256 MB
• Networking Options: 802.11b
• Flash Memory Type: CompactFlash
• Bluetooth: Yes

ASUS P527

Catering to users who require convenient GPS navigation and full support for business and multimedia functions, ASUS has released the new ASUS P527. This powerful PDA phone comes with a complete suite of business functions for comprehensive business support, and the built-in GPS navigation feature provides timely navigational directions. Furthermore, the slim and professional-looking PDA Phone is even able to capture key events during the user's journeys as they travel and then upload them to be shared.

SPEC DATA :

• Service Provider: AT&T, T-Mobile
• Operating System: Windows Mobile Pocket PC
• Screen Size: 2.6 inches
• Screen Details: 240 x 320, 65K-color display
• Camera: Yes
• Megapixels: 2 MP
• Flash Memory Type: Micro SD
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Web Browser: Yes
• Network: GSM
• Bands: 850, 900, 1800, 1900
• High-Speed Data: GPRS, EDGE
• Processor Speed: 200 MHz
• Special Features: Music

HP iPAQ rx3715

HP says the HP iPAQ rx3715 is a sort of Swiss Army knife for mobile media: It takes pictures, streams audio, and surfs the Web. Although the built-in media applications don't live up to HP's promises, we still quite like the 3715 for its many hardware features.

The first thing you'll notice on the rx3715 is the 1.2-megapixel camera, unique among Pocket PCs sold in the U.S. Supported by a pretty good photo-taking application that takes full advantage of Windows Mobile 2003 SE's landscape mode, it took bright and well-balanced (if slightly soft) shots in our simulated-daylight tests. Forget about shooting in low light, though, as shutter speeds get so low as to guarantee blurriness. The photo-taking app shows shutter speed and aperture when you're framing your shot, which is very useful; but no matter what the shutter speed, we found we had to hold the rx3715 pretty still to get good photos.

The huge memory, SD card slot, and long battery life (9 hours 32 minutes in our typical-use test, and 6:35 playing continuous video) make the iPaq a fine media player. The bright screen makes video very easy to watch. Sound through either a stereo-wired or mono Bluetooth headset was fine and loud. The 3715 also comes with HP's very easy-to-use networking application, which got us up and running on our local Wi-Fi network very quickly.

The 3715's performance holds its own with other well-regarded Pocket PCs. It beat HP's earlier h4150 model in our file-system and applications tests, but the earlier model won out on CPU and graphics tests.

There's plenty of third-party Pocket PC media software out there, which is good, because the built-in iPAQ Mobile Media application is disappointing. It promises to stream photos, audio, and video from your home PC to your device (so you can listen to your music collection while mowing the lawn, for example). Unfortunately, it only streams unprotected WMA music files, not MP3s, AACs, or anything bought from an online music store. For video, it only streams specially-prepared WMV files designed for Pocket PCs. HP promises support for more media types in future versions.

Another built-in application lets you use the 3715 as a universal remote control. It's easy to set up; it found two TiVos, two TVs, two DVD players, a VCR, a stereo, and two cable boxes with aplomb. Recording multiaction macros is also quick and easy. But the on-screen remote-control buttons are tiny and poorly labeled, making for a sharp learning curve in daily use.

The iPAQ 3715's 1.2MP camera makes it a unique beast among Pocket PC handhelds in the U.S. Combined with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth networking, you have a flexible and powerful Pocket PC. Pity about the media streaming.

Benchmark Tests
SPB Benchmark: 1,534
CPU index: 1,531
File system index: 1,360
Graphics index: 2,938
Platform index: 1,449
Battery life: 9 hours 32 minutes (typical use test)

SPEC DATA :

• Screen Size: 3.5 inches
• Operating System: Windows Mobile 2003
• Flash Memory Type: Secure Digital
• Bluetooth: Yes

Palm Treo 750

Palm's new Treo 750 for Cingular is a damned good phone. It's one of the clearest-sounding smartphones I've ever used, and Palm's unique features make it easier to find contacts, make calls, and search the Web than on most other Windows Mobile cells. Yet in an intensely competitive marketplace, I have trouble summoning up unabashed enthusiasm for this chubby, somewhat overpriced device.

There's nothing outrageously new about the Treo 750's features, but that's okay—the cell-phone world needs not only innovators, but also refiners who make the innovations usable. That's always been Palm's role, and the company is good at it.

Just as the Treo 680 looks like a Treo 650 with the antenna lopped off, the Treo 750 looks just like a Treo 700w with the antenna missing—which also looks like a Treo 680, or a Treo 650, or any other Treo you may have seen in the past two years. There are good and bad sides to this. The Treo is a solid, friendly weight in your hand, with a smooth case and relatively clear buttons—though the keys are small and close together. But modern designs seem to have passed the Treo by a bit—you'll find that other smartphones either have bigger screens, thinner bodies, or more fluid navigation devices, such as trackballs.

Still, this is a great phone. Call quality and volume are absolutely terrific, some of the best I've heard in a long time. And the quad-band radio is able to hit even higher-speed UMTS networks in foreign countries. Admittedly, when you turn the speakerphone all the way up, the whole phone vibrates, causing a buzzing sound. But in a world where too many smartphones are too quiet, the Treo 750 is quite refreshing. Reception is pretty good too; my 750 was able to hold onto calls with a weak Cingular signal. It connected to a Plantronics Bluetooth headset without a problem, but you can't initiate voice dialing from a Bluetooth headset—a major annoyance. I couldn't measure talk time adequately because I tested the Treo 750 primarily in a weak-signal location, but the 7 hours of PDA usage time with full backlighting is good for a modern PDA phone.

The 750 is also a smartphone, of course, with a touch screen and connections to Cingular's UMTS network. It can't hit the heights of Cingular's HSDPA speeds, like the Cingular 8525 and the Samsung BlackJack can—it's earthbound, at about 384-Kbps downloads—but my tests showed that the 750 makes the best of what it has, coming close to maxing out UMTS speeds. It works as a modem for your laptop over either USB or Bluetooth, and Palm has said it will have an HSDPA software upgrade within the next six months to bump up speeds.

Palm has touched up the Windows Mobile system here and there to make it easier to use, and all of the innovations are smart. You can search your contacts list or Google right from the home screen, send text messages to callers you're ignoring, or see text messages in an attractive, IM-like threaded way.

The 750's low-res screen and 300-MHz processor combine to make it feel pretty snappy. The device was moderately fast on the benchmark tests, and the built-in Picsel viewer is unusually good at displaying complex PDFs. There's a relatively roomy 63MB of free storage memory, just like on the Sprint Treo 700wx, and a miniSD card slot that supports up to 2GB cards. The Treo comes with all the usual Windows Mobile software, too, including Pocket Office and Windows Media Player, and you can listen to music on wireless stereo Bluetooth headphones. The built-in 1.3-megapixel camera isn't all that good—photos looked a bit out of focus—but the camera phone mode takes unusually smooth videos at 176-by-144 and 30 frames per second.

Palm has made three errors that imperil the Treo 750, however.

First, there's the screen. As on the Treo 700w, Palm used a low 240-by-240 resolution—showing 25 percent fewer pixels than competing phones such as the Cingular 8525 and Samsung BlackJack, half as many as its own Treo 680, and even fewer than the diminutive BlackBerry Pearl, which the portly Treo could eat for lunch without bulging further. This affects everything you do. It means you see less of a Web page, fewer contacts, fewer calendar entries, and less of your Microsoft Office documents. It also completely screws up some Pocket PC applications that expect a rectangular 320-by-240 screen, so content runs off the edges. That said, the Palm's screen looks good: In full sunlight, it's completely readable. But you can't view something that's off the edge of the screen.

Second, the price is steep. The new sweet spot for consumer-ish smart phones is $199, as shown by the Samsung BlackJack, the Motorola Q, the Treo 680, and others. A $399 price (much more without a new contract) puts the Treo 750 in the company of the Cingular 8525 and other bigger, more powerful devices oriented toward power users. Yet the Treo isn't power user oriented. In fact, it's designed to let you get at popular features easily.

Third, I have a problem with the shape. Small and thin is in. Compared with the BlackJack (4.4 by 2.3 by 0.8 inches, at 5.4 ounces), the Treo looks like a boat. At $199, that would be acceptable. At $399, well . . . you get the picture.

The new Treo 750 is a very good phone and basic connected PDA. It's an even better phone than the Treo 680. But its high price and small screen make me reluctant to recommend it over the Treo 680, the Samsung BlackJack, and the BlackBerry Pearl on the one side and the Cingular 8525 on the other.

SPEC DATA :

• Service Provider: AT&T
• Operating System: Windows Mobile Pocket PC
• Screen Size: 2.5 inches
• Screen Details: 240x240 65k-color TFT display
• Camera: Yes
• Megapixels: 1.3 MP
• Flash Memory Type: Mini-Secure Digital
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Web Browser: Yes
• Network: GSM, UMTS, UMTS
• Bands: 850, 900, 1800, 1900, 2100
• High-Speed Data: GPRS, EDGE, UMTS
• Special Features: Music

Moto Q, Amp'd Edition

One of the peculiarities of Verizon's popular Motorola Q has been the lack of mobile TV. Verizon's robust V Cast service, which is now available in both streamed and broadcast versions, isn't accessible on the Q. This never made sense to me. But now anyone who wants a Q and live video together should check out the Moto Q, Amp'd Edition. It's what the Verizon Q should be, even if its video-playback quality falls short.

Since the Q was released, some smaller WM handsets like the T-Mobile Dash and the Samsung Blackjack have hit the market. But the Q still looks good nearly a year after its introduction, and, with its slim 0.5-inch design, remains among the thinnest smartphones available. The 4.1-ounce Amp'd Q continues the tradition and also comes with Motorola's new, rubberized housing. It's essentially the same model as the black Verizon Motorola Q, complete with blue backlit keys, but with a charcoal-gray case instead.

Amp'd's new Adobe Flash Lite interface looks nicer than what you get on standard-issue Windows Mobile 5.0 smartphones. The Start menu layout and applications are left untouched, aside from a coat of new background wallpaper. But the home screen, menu backgrounds, and Amp'd section are all glossed over with a colorful sheen and animated buttons. The new interface isn't a revolution either, but it's an improvement just the same.

Since we're talking about an Amp'd Mobile handset here, it's no surprise that the real star of the show is the phone's content. The Amp'd TV channel lineup is pretty impressive, with multiple selections for news, sports, entertainment, and so on. There are four main entertainment packages you can purchase: Amp'd Overload, Amp'd Overdose, Amp'd TV, and Amp'd Radio. Prices range from $10 to $20 per month and can include over 40 live TV channels and 10 streamed radio channels.

Unfortunately, video quality isn't up to snuff. The main window is only about half the width and height of the Q's screen. Left at its default size, it looks like an animated GIF thumbnail rather than real television. There is an option to blow it up to full-screen size, which you have to do in order to watch TV at a comfortable distance from the phone, though you end up with a disappointing amount of pixelation this way.

Still, I watched a number of shows on MTV and the History Channel, and some newscasts. After a few minutes, I forgot about the so-so video resolution and enjoyed all the programming. Even so, once you've seen true broadcast mobile TV, it's hard to go back to handhelds without tuners such as this one. Fortunately, the Q's stereo speakers are loud enough that you can watch TV without having to throw on a pair of earbuds.

Aside from the Amp'd stuff, the Q is still a top-quality smartphone. Motorola packs in a QWERTY keyboard; broadband EV-DO; a sharp, 320- by 240-pixel, 2.4-inch color screen; and a 1.3-megapixel camera that takes decent photos. The camera, though, has the usual Windows Mobile frozen "hiccup" after each picture. Voice quality is quite good, with solid external noise rejection, and the phone is comfortable to hold for long periods of time.

The Q's 312-MHz processor won't win a race with other smartphones, but it will get you where you're going, despite some occasional sluggishness. The handset has 40MB of storage memory available for applications, and Amp'd Mobile also tosses in a 256MB miniSD card to get you started with music and video (hey, 256MB isn't much, but it's better than nothing). The Q scored 5 hours 29 minutes of continuous talk time on our battery rundown test, a reasonable figure for an EV-DO phone with such a slim profile.

The Motorola Q has lost some of the luster it had at its introduction last year, but it's still a good choice for a smartphone. Add in Amp'd Mobile's superior lineup of live television channels, and you'll never be without something to do or watch on the go. As long as you can live with the subpar video quality, this edition of the Q is a winner.

SPEC DATA :

• Service Provider: Amp'd
• Operating System: Windows Mobile Smartphone
• Screen Size: 2.4 inches
• Screen Details: 320x240, 65k-color TFT display
• Camera: Yes
• Megapixels: 1.3 MP
• Flash Memory Type: Mini-Secure Digital
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Web Browser: Yes
• Network: CDMA
• Bands: 800, 1900
• High-Speed Data: 1xRTT, EVDO
• Processor Speed: 312 MHz
• Special Features: Music

RIM BlackBerry 7130c

The best-looking BlackBerry yet makes a convincing claim as the premier personal e-mail phone. The BlackBerry 7130c combines race-car–like lines with excellent e-mail compatibility and decent phone prowess, making it a great jumping-on point for folks who haven't yet taken the phone e-mail plunge (as long as they don't use Yahoo! or Hotmail).

The 7130c looks positively great. It's a rounded rectangle measuring 4.2 by 2.2 by 0.8 inches and weighing 4.2 ounces, with well-separated little keys and a bright 240-by-260 color screen that looks terrific in sunlight. The keyboard is RIM's SureType hybrid, which has two letters on most keys and uses a very good predictive text system to decide which one you want to type. It takes about 15 minutes to get used to, and then it's fine.

Once you e-mail on a BlackBerry, you'll wonder why all devices don't work this well. Cingular's BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) Web page lets you integrate up to ten e-mail accounts—either POP3/IMAP, Microsoft Exchange (via Outlook Web Access) or Lotus Notes, though sadly not Yahoo! or Hotmail. T-Mobile's BlackBerrys support Yahoo!, so Cingular needs to get on the ball. BIS automatically figured out the settings for my vanity domain name, saschasegan.com. Unlike previous versions of BIS, the new BIS 2.0 draws directly from source mailboxes rather than storing mail at Cingular. On the good side, that means you don't have a message limit any more. On the bad side, it means you can't manage messages on the BlackBerry through the Web interface.

E-mail accounts appear as separate mailbox icons on the 7130c's home screen, as well as in a consolidated mailbox combining all the e-mail accounts with SMS and MMS. Microsoft Word, Excel, and PDF attachments are viewable with their formatting stripped; you can also view thumbnails of PowerPoint presentations, and see JPEG and TIFF graphics attachments. MP3 attachments, alas, are unplayable. A third-party editor for Word and Excel files, eOffice from DynoPlex, costs a painful $119.95, but at least it exists.

Like other BlackBerrys, the 7130c syncs with PCs through a desktop application or with Macs via the free (albeit buggy) PocketMac for BlackBerry to copy over calendars, notes, tasks, and addresses from a range of desktop PIMs. Corporate users with a BlackBerry Enterprise Server can also sync PIM info over the air, but there's no such option for individuals.

Two major upgrades separate the 7130c from its predecessors such as the 7105t and 7100g. Unlike the previous models, the 7130c uses EDGE rather than the much slower GPRS network. Tethered to a laptop as a modem, I got very respectable speeds of 99 to 170 Kbps. That means faster attachment delivery and speedier Web surfing.

The 7130c also has a 312-MHz Intel processor, like its cousins the 8700g, 8700c, and 7130e. That's just now beginning to enable new, media-rich applications like Sona Mobile's BlackBerry Media Player. News clips downloaded through the free player were slow and blocky, but they worked.

As a quad-band world phone, the 7130c is decent if not great. Reception is good, and battery life is terrific, at 10 hours 25 minutes of talk time. The speakerphone is powerful. But I heard some volume fluctuations and occasional dropouts in the earpiece, and transmissions sounded scratchy with a lot of background noise coming through. A Plantronics Voyager 510 Bluetooth headset connected without a problem, and MP3 ringtones (which you have to buy from Cingular) are loud.

A few missing features irritate me. No BlackBerry has ever had voice dialing. The 7130c lacks a camera and MP3 player. And although there's a perfectly decent Web browser, the 7130c doesn't have an IM client. You can download free Google Talk, AIM, Yahoo! Messenger or ICQ clients, but to get MSN or a single multiplatform client you must buy commercial software costing anywhere from $20 to $50.

At $29.99 per month on top of a voice plan, Cingular's BlackBerry data plan will be too rich for some people's blood. But it's $10 cheaper than Cingular's data plan for the Palm Treo 650 or Verizon's plan for the Motorola Q. Only T-Mobile's plans cost less.

The 7130c's nearest competitors are RIM's own 8700c on Cingular, the BlackBerry 7130e on Sprint and Verizon, and the T-Mobile Sidekick 3. The 8700c has a better screen and a full keyboard, but otherwise works the same as the 7130c; you should make your buying decision based on form factor. The 7130e is just like the 7130c, but much faster at Web surfing and not quite as pretty; of course, you may not want to switch to Sprint or Verizon. The Sidekick 3 is a cuddlier device, with a full keyboard, camera and an MP3 player, but its complete inability to hook up to corporate e-mail will doom it for many professionals. Maybe that's the true niche for the attractive 7130c: It's a Sidekick for people with jobs.

SPEC DATA :

• Service Provider: AT&T
• Operating System: BlackBerry OS
• Screen Size: 2.3 inches
• Camera: No
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Web Browser: Yes
• Network: GSM
• Bands: 850, 900, 1800, 1900
• High-Speed Data: GPRS, EDGE
• Notes: 2.3", 240x260, 65k-color TFT screem

Nokia 770 Internet Tablet

The Nokia 770 could be the start of a great thing. Though it's rough around the edges, this could be a terrific little Internet-surfing gadget once Nokia shakes out the bugs.

The 770 is designed to be an extra Internet portal for your home, replacing a costly laptop. It connects to the Internet via 802.11 b/g home networking or using a Bluetooth-enabled cell phone, and comes with the Opera Web browser, a simple POP3/IMAP mail reader, music and video players and a PDF reader. It runs a variant of Linux, and third-party developers are already hard at work writing new applications. We downloaded the GAIM instant-messaging program off the Web using the device, and it installed without a hitch.

At 5.5 by 3.1 by 0.7 inches and 8.1 oz, the 770 fits in your hand and slips easily into an included protective sleeve. Lest you feel misled, it's not really for roaming, unless you regularly hang out in Wi-Fi hot spots or are a true Bluetooth road warrior. We found it most useful on the arm of the couch at home, where we could check e-mail or find out who that guy on Lost was via IMDB without getting up or booting a PC.

The 770 looks good in an Ikea-meets-Bang-and-Olufsen way and the interface is simple. A truly breathtaking 800- by 480-pixel screen dominates the unit, and that screen makes the 770 a far better Web-surfing gadget than any PDA: you don't have to reformat pages or scroll horizontally. Really, you have to see this screen to believe it. A 4.1-inch, 800-pixel-wide panel delivers smoother edges and subtler colors than you've ever seen on a handheld.

There's a cursor pad and home button on the left, but no hard keyboard: You enter text by tapping an onscreen keyboard with a stylus or by using handwriting recognition. The handwriting recognizer kept inserting upper-case letters into the middle of words, so we mostly used the on-screen keyboard. The lack of a physical keyboard adds emphasis to the point that this gadget is for consuming data and content, not for writing e-mail. You could attach a Bluetooth keyboard, but then you'd be carrying two pieces.

We connected the 770 to Wi-Fi networks using both WEP and WPA encryption without a problem. Bluetooth connectivity was a little tougher—we had to dig up our wireless carrier's dial-up networking settings. We eventually got it connected to the Internet via Cingular's network, using both the Nokia N90 and Sony Ericsson S710a phones as modems. We totally failed to connect it to Motorola V551 and V557 phones, receiving the message back from the tablet that it could not complete "service discovery."

We found the 770's interface a little bit gummy, but more worrying is that the device can easily max out its 250-MHz TI OMAP 1710 processor and its 64MB of RAM. Opening two browser windows and starting a mail session brought performance to a standstill.

It was nice to see that the 770 accepts RS-MMC memory cards through a slot in the bottom, for storing MP3s and videos. A 64MB card comes with the unit. If you hook the 770 up to a PC or Mac with a USB 2.0 cable, you can see the RS-MMC card as a drive, but not the 770's internal RAM or its 128MB of internal Flash memory.

Battery life with the 770 was very good: we got more than five and a half hours of surfing, reading e-mail, and listening to Internet radio and MP3s. Nokia promises seven days of standby time.

The 770's Internet radio player has some real potential, but at present it's pretty limited. Shoutcast or Real-format radio stations can be streamed through the unit's tinny little speaker or over headphones plugged into its standard, 3.5mm jack. Unfortunately, there's no station directory anywhere on the device, so you're reduced to either wandering the Web in search of radio links or listening to the single preprogrammed built-in top-40 station.

The video player is also promising, but hobbled. It played Real format streams from the BBC's Web site well, but failed to play video downloaded from our PC. Though it supposedly plays 3GP, MPEG-1 and MPEG-4 formats, it's extremely picky about which MPEG files it will play, allowing only files with specific codecs and frame rates.

The RSS viewer looks good and displays news feeds on the device's home page, but entering new feeds is a chore. You can't click on new feeds in the browser and send them to the viewer, nor can you copy and paste links—you need to copy the feed addresses down onto a piece of paper and enter them into the viewer's "new feed" box.

The Opera Web browser handles multiple windows, JavaScript pop-ups, cookies, and Macromedia Flash animations, but more advanced features like the Ajax extensions used in the new Yahoo! Mail interface don't work. Folks with poor eyesight should be aware that Nokia uses tiny text to squeeze a full Web page onto a 4.1-inch screen. You can zoom in on pages to make the text bigger, but then you can no longer fit the entire width of a page onto one screen.

The mail reader hooked up to both POP3 and IMAP4 accounts easily and downloaded mail with attachments, which popped up in the appropriate viewers. The music player handledMP3 and AAC format songs (with Nokia's AAC extension, not Apple's M4A) without trouble. The 770 also comes with a PDF viewer, image viewer, and file manager, all of which worked well.

SPEC DATA :

• Type: Linux
• Screen Size: 4.13 inches
• Operating System: Linux Internet Tablet 2005
• Processor Class: TI OMAP
• Processor Speed: 244.1 MHz
• RAM: 64 MB
• Networking Options: 802.11g
• Flash Memory Type: RS-MMC
• Bluetooth: Yes

HP iPAQ h6315

The HP iPAQ h6315 will keep you connected pretty much anywhere and anytime. The first consumer-oriented Wi-Fi cell phone, it combines a camera phone and a full Pocket PC PDA, hooking you up via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or T-Mobile's GSM network.

At 4.7 by 2.9 by 0.7 inches (HWD) and 6.7 ounces, the h6315 certainly feels like a Pocket PC, and its 3.5-inch screen ensures that it looks the part. Rubberized sides let you keep a grip on the device, and handy side buttons let you change the volume or turn on the camera or voice recorder with one hand.

The h6315 works just fine as a phone, with a loud-enough internal speaker (but no speaker-phone.) Our unit connected easily to a Bluetooth headset, although the audio was somewhat hissy. The built-in VGA camera wasn't great; images appeared jagged and in somewhat soft focus (but still fine for MMS). In low light, you're pretty much guaranteed blurry pictures.

HP put effort into its networking software, and it shows. Individual, inconspicuous LEDs near the top of the device show which of the 6315's three networks is online. If you're using GPRS and a Wi-Fi network comes into range, a dialog box will pop up asking you if you want to switch. If the Wi-Fi fades, you can keep surfing, and the iPAQ will try to redial your GPRS connection. This worked for us, though we noted that when you switch networks you also switch IP addresses; in other words, you'll have to restart streaming connections. You can also run Wi-Fi and a voice call (or even Wi-Fi, a voice call, and a Bluetooth headset) simultaneously. Alas, the new Pocket PC version of the popular Voice over IP program Skype doesn't work on the h6315 because it doesn't run on the TI OMAP processor, so you'll have to stick to GSM for your voice calls.

We had spotty results with T-Mobile's push e-mail system. The free, Web-based system checks your POP3, IMAP, or Outlook Web Access account to see when new messages arrive, and pings your handheld to pull down the e-mail independently. It didn't work at all with one POP3 account we tried; with another, there was a 10-minute delay between sending a message and the alert arriving on the handheld. The 6315's Inbox program, on the other hand, worked fine, conveniently combining SMS, MMS, POP3, or IMAP e-mail and ActiveSync messages in one application. It handles attachments well, and lets you put pictures in MMS messages by tapping on thumbnails of the images.

The h6315 also comes with a neat, snap-on QWERTY keyboard that adds three-quarters of an inch of length to the device. The keyboard is truly plug-and-play: You can even snap it on or pull it off in the middle of a call. The keys are tiny but usable, about on a par with PalmOne's Treo 600.

As a Pocket PC, the h6315 won't be winning any speed awards: The 200-MHz TI OMAP 1510 processor is optimized to save power, not to provide blazing performance. Our h6315 was even slower than the low-end HP rz1715, and much slower than Dell's Axim X3. Opening a 47K Microsoft Word attachment in the mail application summoned the whirling "wait" cursor for noticeably longer than on our Axim X3, and managing a long mailbox felt a bit gummy.

The processor choice pays off in battery life, though. We got a spectacular 10 hours and 6 minutes of normal use with both the Wi-Fi and GPRS radios on, thanks to the 1.8-Ah battery. (An even beefier 3.6-Ah battery is available as well.) HP estimates 4.5 hours of solid talk time and 210 hours of standby time in phone mode. The balance between phone and Pocket PC is a delicate one, and HP seems to have gotten it right here. For T-Mobile customers, this is one gadget that can really keep you connected in a wide range of situations.

Benchmark Tests
SPB Benchmark: 734
CPU index: 707
File-system index: 656
Graphics index: 1,677
Platform index: 728
Battery life (typical-use test): 10 hours 6 minutes (4 hours, 5 minutes tested continuous GSM talk time with Wi-Fi on).

SPEC DATA :

• Operating System: Windows Mobile 2003
• Type: Pocket PC
• Screen Size: 3.5 inches
• Megapixels: .3 MP
• Flash Memory Type: Secure Digital
• Bluetooth: Yes

HP iPAQ rz1715

The new entry-level HP iPaq rz1715 is meant to compete with low-priced Pocket PC entries from Dell and others. But in the end, the rz1715 is an overpriced, underpowered dud you should avoid.

First, the positives. The silvery case looks even more slender than it is, and at 4.2 ounces it's feather-light. The 3.5-inch screen is bright and clear, looking just as good as those on the more expensive iPaq 3700 series. The rz1715 starts up with a cuddly home page that allows quick access to Windows Media Player, a photo browser, and the contacts and calendar applications.

But there's no wireless networking, and the unit has only has 25MB of free memory—and that includes 10MB of flash. There's so little free memory, in fact, that our benchmark tests had trouble running. The 203-MHz Samsung processor dragged down the 1710's CPU, file-system, and application benchmark-test results. That said, you might not notice the slow performance if your needs are relatively basic. This is where the simplicity of Pocket Word and Pocket Excel come in handy: Documents you've synced from your desktop are unlikely to strain the 1710. And for basic PIM and media playing uses, the speed is just fine. The unit has an SD expansion slot and a stereo audio jack, so it might have made a good MP3 player except for the relatively short battery life: 4 hours 45 minutes in regular use and 3:59 playing video, the shortest battery life of any of the four new iPaqs we tried.

At the end of the day, though, you get a lot more for your money with Dell's Axim X30, now selling for $199. Dell's low-end model has a 50% faster processor and twice the available memory of the rz1710. You can even get more with the older iPaq h1945, still available through several retailers for $279—with a 266-MHz processor, double the 1710's memory, and Bluetooth.

When we asked HP why they're charging so much for so little, they said they expect to sell this to enterprise customers, presumably at a discount. That's disingenuous. The last we checked, going forward means adding features or cutting prices—not cutting features and raising prices, which is all the 1710 really seems to offer.

Benchmark Tests
(For all scores, a four-year-old iPAQ 3600 = 1,000)
SPB Benchmark score: 1,030
CPU score: 1,009
File-system score: 942
Graphics score: 1776
Platform score: 873
Battery life: 4 hours 45 minutes (typical use test)

SPEC DATA :

• Screen Size: 3.5 inches
• Operating System: Windows Mobile 2003
• Flash Memory Type: Secure Digital
• Bluetooth: No

Toshiba Pocket PC e805

Toshiba's earlier e-series PDAs had some ground-breaking features—the e740 was the first to integrate Wi-Fi, for example. The new Toshiba Pocket PC e800 series retains the 802.11b capability and adds a raft of other impressive features, but the highlight is the 4.0-inch (diagonal) TFT display that lets you work with certain applications at 480-by-640 pixels. This high-resolution mode is terrific for viewing Microsoft Office files and images. Using the RGB port that comes with a $100 Toshiba Presentation Pack, you can connect the PDA to an external monitor or projector and show VGA or SVGA screens. Our test model, an e805 ($600 street), is the same as the e800, but includes ArcSoft's PhotoBase software for editing and managing digital images. This PDA is a clear winner for corporate road warriors and those who depend heavily on productivity applications.

The e805 measures 5.3 by 3.0 by 0.6 inches (HWD)—about the size of a large HP iPAQ—but it's fairly light (6.8 ounces), considering all it packs. The 400-MHz Intel PXA 263 processor is backed by an impressive amount of internal memory including 128MB of SDRAM, 32MB of ROM, and 32MB of NAND Flash ROM—nonvolatile memory that's dedicated for use as backup storage. The unit has CompactFlash II and SDIO expansion slots, a useful but rare combination currently found in only one Dell Axim and a few HPs. The built-in wireless networking already proved capable in earlier Toshiba PDAs, and the included Toshiba ConfigFree software makes it easy to use.

An ATI video controller with its own 2MB of memory drives the graphics. Switching from the normal 240-by-320 resolution to the cool high-res mode is simple: You just choose Screen Resolution from the Start Menu, and the PDA restarts in the new mode. Four included ClearVue applications from Wesstek let you work in high-res mode: ClearVue Document handles Microsoft Word files, Worksheet lets you manipulate Excel spreadsheets, Presentation works with PowerPoint presentations, and Image is, of course, for viewing images. On our tests, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents loaded quickly from an SD card, and the display resolution, brightness, and clarity were all so good that we found reading to be much more like what you experience with a desktop system than a PDA (which meant less scrolling).

No other Pocket PC vendor currently offers as large a display. The $650 HP h5550 comes close, with its 3.8-inch screen, and it does have internal Wi-Fi. Unlike the e805, it also incorporates Bluetooth, but it lacks the 32MB backup memory and integrated CFII slot. The e805 is unique because it has both types of expansion slots and Wi-Fi, but the display is what really makes it stand out.

With its fast processor, ample memory that includes backup storage, dual-mode expansion slots, internal Wi-Fi, and the largest display currently offered on a PDA, the Toshiba Pocket PC e805 vaults to the summit of road-ready PDAs for mobile professionals.

Spec Data: 400-MHz Intel PXA263; 128MB SDRAM; 32MB ROM; 32MB NAND Flash ROM; 4.0-inch, 640-by-480, 64K color TFT display; Wi-Fi; SDIO slot; CFII slot; Microsoft Mobile Software for Pocket PC 2003 Professional Edition

Pros: Wi-Fi; SDIO and CFII slots; backup memory; large, high-res display
Cons: Somewhat bulky
Bottom Line: A raft of features and a top-of-the-line display make this the PDA for mobile professionals and heavy users of productivity apps.

HP iPaq hx4700

The new HP iPaq hx4700 is a gorgeous and powerful handheld. It's a fine tool for mobile pros that's waiting for the software that will make it really shine.

At 6.6 ounces and clad in a gray magnesium chassis, the 4700 feels solid and professional in your hand. The 4700's star feature is the screen. The 4-inch VGA LCD looks positively huge, with rich, deep colors. But you'll pay a penalty in brightness for this wealth; although the display is deep and subtle, we found it a bit dim under direct light. A sturdy plastic cover protects the screen, but we found it annoying because it kept threatening to flip back into place while we were working.

A tiny touchpad replaces the usual four-way navigation button. It works well for navigation, either as a traditional touchpad or as a virtual four-way navigator. But we had trouble double-tapping with our finger to select things, and often had to pull out our stylus.

The 4700's 624-MHz Intel processor simply blows away previous-generation iPaqs, and helped the unit perform about on a par with the Dell Axim X30 (built on the same CPU) in everything but our PDA graphics tests. (The X30 has a QVGA screen, so it only has to process ¼ of the graphics data the 4700 does.) The HP model is far faster than the only other VGA PocketPC on the US market, the Toshiba e805.

That said, both we and HP strained to find any applications that take full advantage of the processor and VGA screen. We settled on two, PDF viewing and remote access to our desktop PC (through GoToMyPC, as Microsoft's built-in Terminal Services Client wastes screen real estate with a huge menu bar). Over a Wi-Fi connection, we saw and manipulated our desktop screen with minimal scrolling; the processor ensured that the system felt responsive. PDF viewing is similarly exciting; in landscape mode it's easy to view the full width of an 8 ½-by-11 page. But we were stymied by the buggy ClearView PDF browser we used, which crashed on or refused to open several PDFs. In our testing, we also managed to crash Pocket Word, Mapopolis, and the Pocket PC version of Skype—though not the Pocket PC OS itself. Mapopolis in particular seemed deeply confused by the VGA screen in landscape mode.

Basic Web browsing also looks great, though we wanted more. Pocket Internet Explorer uses too much screen real estate for menu bars, and it mangles sites like Travelocity, MTV.com, and the New York City subway/bus map and schedule site. Microsoft says they're working to improve Pocket IE, and that they've recently added JavaScript and CSS support, but there's still no desk-top-quality browser for this desktop-quality hardware.

HP did throw in some other useful utilities. A new Today screen shows battery life, free memory, and brightness. Also included are the award-winning Pocket Informant PIM application and an easy-to-use wireless application that makes hooking up to Wi-Fi networks and Bluetooth devices a breeze.

The hx4700 is an investment in the future. HP has supplied the hardware for the next-generation Pocket PC experience. Now it's time for application vendors to come out with software that's worthy of this machine (and that will run properly on it).

Benchmark Data:
SPB Benchmark: 1,635
CPU index: 2,460
File-system index: 1,462
Graphics index: 877
Platform index: 1,333
Battery life: 5 hours 45 minutes (typical-use test)

SPEC DATA :

• Screen Size: 4 inches
• Operating System: Windows Mobile 2003
• Flash Memory Type: CompactFlash, Secure Digital
• Bluetooth: Yes

RIM BlackBerry 8700g

Bright, effortless, and elegant, T-Mobile's BlackBerry 8700g brings the best Berry to that carrier, with just a few more features than Cingular's BlackBerry 8700c. In most ways, the 8700g is identical to the 8700c, which earned four stars when I reviewed it earlier. It's the same size and weight and has the same buttons. But the case looks a little different: The 8700g is navy blue, whereas the 8700c is silver gray.

Both of these 4.7-ounce devices are a little smaller than previous slab-style Blackberry devices, with a beautiful, backlit, 2.6-inch, 320-by-240-pixel screen. Text, photos, and Web pages all look great on the bright, 65k-color screen. Keys on the QWERTY keyboard are small but distinct.

The 8700g adds a few small things to the 8700c's feature set. Yahoo! Mail accounts are supported easily and seamlessly, along with the POP3, Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes, and AOL (but not Hotmail) supported by the 8700c. I set up my Yahoo! account in about 60 seconds using an icon on the 8700g's main screen without ever touching my PC, and messages started showing up within 10 minutes. It doesn't get easier than that. Each of your e-mail accounts (up to ten) appears as a separate icon on the 8700g's home screen, and they're also consolidated under an omnibus "Messaging" icon.

The 8700g shares both the 8700c's very good support for reading Microsoft Word and Excel attachments and its troubled PDF support. (You can read most of the text on PDFs, but mangled fonts and misplaced images are frequent.) T-Mobile's version of the BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) also lets you view JPEG attachments as thumbnails within messages and see PowerPoint attachments. You can view entire slides as images and read the associated text. (Cingular is turning on those features as well, RIM said.)

T-Mobile adds the popular OZ instant-messaging client. This allows IMing on the AIM, ICQ, Yahoo! and MSN networks (though the AIM buddy list is limited, as usual, to the "Mobile Device" group). Cingular charges extra for an IM client.

Just like the 8700c, the 8700g has a Class 10 EDGE modem built in to speed up e-mail attachments and Web browsing. T-Mobile doesn't support using the 8700g as a laptop modem, so I couldn't get solid EDGE speed test results, but Web page load times were identical to those I saw on the 8700c, and decent for an EDGE modem.

My 8700g came loaded with Google Local on Mobile and Handmark Pocket Express information applications. Blackberry devices have fully made the transition from e-mail-only devices to real smartphones, with hundreds of applications available and 64MB of storage for programs and data. They lack only multimedia apps like music and video players, although the first BlackBerry streaming video player, from Sona Mobile, is scheduled to arrive this summer. Performance isn't great—the 8700g and 8700c performed like midrange feature phones rather than like high-end smartphones on JBenchmark's Java benchmark tests—but maps look gorgeous on the 320-by-240 screen.

Phone reception on this quad-band device is in the average, acceptable range. As with the 8700c, the earpiece is loud and the speakerphone is very loud. I didn't hear the dropouts or audio fluctuations that I did on the 8700c—there was some background hiss and a bit of scratchiness, but calls came through solidly. Both Logitech and Plantronics Bluetooth headsets paired and connected without a problem. Like all other BlackBerry devices, the 8700g is still missing voice dialing.

Battery life, at 7 hours 7 minutes, was right in line with that of the BlackBerry 8700c and the 7100g, both of which use similar bright color screens. Earlier BlackBerry models, such as the 7290, lasted longer because their transreflective screens didn't drain as much power.

On T-Mobile, the BlackBerry 8700g's competitors are the MDA and the Sidekick II. While the MDA is a more powerful multimedia device with a bigger keyboard and Wi-Fi, the 8700g is much easier to use for e-mail and Web browsing, and gets slightly better phone reception. The Sidekick II is a terrific personal device, but it doesn't support business e-mail, and it generally looks less professional than the 8700g. For e-mail-focused users on T-Mobile, this is the sweetest berry of them all.

SPEC DATA :

• Service Provider: T-Mobile
• Operating System: BlackBerry OS
• Screen Size: 2.75 inches
• Camera: No
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Web Browser: Yes
• Network: GSM
• Bands: 850, 900, 1800, 1900
• High-Speed Data: GPRS, EDGE
• Notes: 320 x 240, 65k color screen

Hitachi G1000

For the strength of Microsoft's Pocket PC operating system along with wireless connectivity—and a very straightforward e-mail setup—look to Pocket PC 2002 Phone Edition. We tested the Hitachi G1000 ($499.99 with a two-year contract), which lets you easily check your POP3 and IMAP e-mail accounts. Unlike most devices that use this software, the G1000 has an actual keyboard. It makes typing easier but also makes the device way too bulky.

You can collect your Sprint PCS mail or personal mail using the built-in e-mail software, or you can run Business Connect to access your corporate mail. (Currently, you can receive but not send SMS messages.) Business Connect offers more advanced functions. For example, you can access all the files on your desktop that you are sharing. Thanks to the advanced browser, you can actually view images; other files, such as Microsoft Word documents and PDF files, can be downloaded and opened directly on the device.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

HP iPAQ rx1950

HP fixes the mistakes of the disastrous rz1710 with the handsome new iPAQ rx1950 PDA, which runs Windows Mobile 5.0. It's a good business PDA and currently the most inexpensive device available with built-in Wi-Fi.

The new rx1950 looks good. The boxy form of last year's PDAs has been discarded for the rounder lines of venerable and beloved iPAQs like the h1940. Measuring 4.5 by 2.8 by 0.5 inches and weighing just 4.4 ounces, this is a sleek, thin, and lightweight little machine. Battery life is surprisingly good for something so slim running Windows Mobile; we got more than 6 hours with Wi-Fi turned off.

The rx1950 is better suited for work than play. Its 300 MHz Samsung SC32442 processor works fine with both PIM and Internet applications, but is too slow for full-screen, full-motion video. The five-way navigation button is also too cramped to provide a great gaming experience. Programs have 23.75MB of RAM to call on and there's another 37.65MB of storage space. This is fine for storing business documents, but you'll need to supplement with a separately-purchased SD card if you want to carry much in the way of multimedia (no card is included).

Thanks to Windows Mobile 5.0 and the on-board Wi-Fi, the rx1950 is a whiz at connecting to corporate networks and the Internet. HP's Wi-Fi software is easier to use than the standard Microsoft settings dialog used by Dell. In fact, there are a host of software improvements that come with Windows Mobile 5.0: The new Internet Explorer Mobile adds more Web page compatibility and a progress bar; the new mail application supports Hotmail; and the OS has built-in hooks for syncing with Exchange servers and SMB shared drives. Unfortunately, the folks at HP told us that they probably won't enable Microsoft's upcoming push e-mail software extension, which will automatically send Outlook email and PIM information from an Exchange server directly to Windows Mobile devices, on the rx1950. We think that's shortsighted and hope they'll reverse their decision.

The switch to Windows Mobile 5.0 slows down memory access (see our review of the for a more detailed explanation of this Dell X51v) and brings the process of opening Microsoft Word documents to a crawl, thanks to the OS's labored processing of invisible formatting codes. We think the new features of Windows Mobile 5.0 are worthwhile despite this: better built-in Word, Excel and PowerPoint viewers, better battery life, better integration with Exchange servers over the air, and a persistent file system that won't erase your data when the battery runs down. In applications other than Word Mobile slowdowns are barely noticeable, and ActiveSync time isn't affected by the new OS. We found the device faster than the old rz1715, but slower than other Pocket PC handhelds on the market.

The rx1950's closest competitors are the Palm Tungsten E2 ($199) and the 416 MHz version of Dell's Axim X50, which comes with a free upgrade to Windows Mobile 5.0 ($299). Neither has Wi-Fi, but casual users may prefer the Tungsten E2's low cost, ease of use, and snappy PIM responsiveness. Other consumers may find the X50's somewhat faster processor, bigger memory, and Compact Flash expansion slot more compelling.

We think it's interesting and sad that there are no new Pocket PC handhelds below $300. Yes, Wi-Fi is great, but lowering the price by $50 or even $100 would make the rx1950 a slam dunk for consumers. As it is, the budget-conscious PDA buyer will still go for a Palm OS device.

With its sleek style and integrated Wi-Fi, the rx1950 is a good corporate PIM and Internet-enabled handheld. While a lower price and firm support for Microsoft's upcoming push e-mail features would make the rx1950 even more compelling, this Pocket PC will suffice as a good corporate solution for Microsoft-focused companies.

SPEC DATA :

• Type: Pocket PC
• Screen Size: 3.5 inches
• Operating System: Windows Mobile 5.0
• Processor Class: Samsung SC32442
• Processor Speed: 293 MHz
• RAM: 64 MB
• Networking Options: 802.11b
• Flash Memory Type: Secure Digital
• Bluetooth: No

Sony CLIÉ PEG-TJ37

The Sony CLIÉ PEG-TJ37 ($299.99 direct) is Sony's middle offering between the high-end PEG-TH55 ($399.99) and the entry-level PEG-TJ27 ($199.99). It's a decent PDA that comes loaded with cool apps and lets you listen to your favorite MP3s and take pictures without a flash. We did find its inconsistent wireless capability troublesome, however.

The PEG-TJ37 weighs 5 ounces and measures 4.5 by 3 by 0.5 inches (HWD)—about average for a PDA. The screen resolution is 320-by-320 pixels with 65,000 colors. The screen is crisp but not as bright as those on other PDAs, such as the Palm Zire 71. The PEG-TJ37 comes with a collapsible stylus, which we found a bit too small to handle easily.

The device's camera (640-by-480 pixels, 65,000 colors) lets you take pictures while holding it horizontally—similar to the feel of a typical camera. We like the sliding lens cover, as it helps keep things clean, but there's no flash. The image quality is slightly better than that of the camera on the Zire 71. The included CLIÉ camera software offers options like brightness setup and white-balance presets, and lets you view the previous picture taken. But if you want to view all your pictures, you have to open a separate viewer application.

The PEG-TJ37 runs Palm OS 5.2. In addition to the default Palm applications, like Address Book, Graffiti 2, and Date Book, Sony adds its own applications. For example, NetFront 3.1 lets you browse the Web, CLIÉ Memo lets you draw and type on a pad, and CLIÉ Files lets you browse through the files on your device or on your Memory Stick. In addition, if you want to access information on the Memory Stick but your PC doesn't have a reader, you can connect the PEG-TJ37 to your computer and use the Data Import feature. This will give you access from your desktop to read and write to the Memory Stick. It will show up as an added drive on your system.

The CLIÉ also comes bundled with Aero Player, which lets you play MP3s. This application is fairly easy to use, but you must install it from the included CD. Keep in mind that the device doesn't come bundled with headphones, though it does have a standard 3.5-mm jack.

We ran into some problems when testing wireless capabilities. We used two 802.11g wireless access points by Linksys and SMC set in 802.11b mode. Unfortunately, the PEG-TJ37 couldn't connect to the Linksys AP and achieved only an intermittent connection to the SMC AP, mainly when we stood in front of (but not behind) the AP.

The Sony CLIÉ PEG-TJ37 is a good PDA. It lets you listen to your favorite MP3s and take pictures, and it comes loaded with cool apps. But if you're looking for good wireless performance, it may be best to look elsewhere.

Pros:

Crisp screen, MP3 playback, built-in camera, latest Palm OS

Cons:

Somewhat dim screen compared with other PDAs, lack of flash limits camera's usability indoors, problematic Wi-Fi

Bottom Line

For Palm OS users, the Sony CLIÉ PEG-TJ37 is a handy device, but because of its poor wireless performance, you may want to think twice about buying it.

Toshiba Pocket PC e405

The competition in entry-level consumer PDAs is hot and heavy, which may be why Toshiba has tried to aim its Pocket PC e405 ($300 street) more at business professionals who value portability and handheld power over the lowest price. This model costs the same as the e400, but includes ArcSoft's PhotoBase software for editing and managing digital images.

At only 4.6 ounces and 4.9 by 3.0 by 0.4 inches (HWD), the e405 is light, slender, and shirt-pocket friendly. It's powered by a 300-MHz Intel PXA261 CPU, comes with 16MB of ROM, 64MB of SDRAM, and—one of its biggest advantages—32MB of NAND Flash ROM, which is nonvolatile. The NAND ROM can serve as additional data storage, or more significantly, as backup memory should power run out. A data save-and-restore utility cleverly named DataBackup uses this memory by default but will also work with memory cards in the e405's SDIO slot.

Three hands-free applications can make life on the road easier: Voice Command lets you start applications automatically; Text-to-Speech reads phone numbers or other data out loud so, for example, you don't have to look at the screen while dialing a contact on a cell phone; and Microsoft Voice Recorder is, as always, useful for voice notes.

There are other compelling choices for those considering the e405, though. The HP iPAQ h1940, identically priced, is a bit lighter and has 13MB of backup memory. The $229 Dell Axim X3 is a little heavier, but its 400 MHz CPU is faster.

The Toshiba Pocket PC e405's slim, sturdy design and 32MB of integrated backup memory are strong points, helping make it a competent handheld in its own right and a solid choice for demanding mobile pros. But it may get lost in the forest of entry-level and business PDAs from other vendors, and even in the shadow of its supercapable (although twice as expensive) brandmate, the e800.

Spec Data: 300-MHz Intel PXA261; 64MB SDRAM; 16MB ROM; 32MB NAND Flash ROM; 3.5-inch, 240-by-320, 64K color TFT display; SDIO slot; Microsoft Mobile Software for Pocket PC 2003 Professional Edition

Pros: Slender, light, has nonvolatile backup memory
Cons:In-betweener (entry-level users will want to spend less, high-end users will want more function)

Bottom Line: The backup memory is a plus, and this is a solid choice for mobile professionals, but plenty of alternatives are equally compelling.

The upcoming phone Nokia N79

The upcoming phone Nokia N79 has been approved by FCC. Nokia N79 first seen at CTIA with following several features such as GPS support,Wi-Fi, 3G, 5Mpix Carl-Zeiss camera.Beside integrated with great features the phone is also come with candybar form factor and slim design.Stay tune for more information.

T-Mobile Dash

Watch out, Motorola Q. The T-Mobile Dash is an even cuter morsel of Windows Mobile tastiness, ready to take on BlackBerrys and Treos for the crown of the hottest, smartest handheld around.

The Dash is essentially the more evolved descendent of the T-Mobile MDA and SDA. Like the SDA, it has excellent phone performance, combines EDGE with Wi-Fi for networking, and runs the Windows Mobile Smartphone 5 operating system. And just like the MDA, it has a keyboard.

The Dash is more about finesse than power. It's extremely elegant, clad in soft-touch black plastic that feels great in the hand. The handset is light but feels solid; it weighs 4.2 ounces. The 2.5-inch, landscape-format screen has a resolution of 320-by-240 and is both sharp and bright (though it isn't a touch screen). Below the screen are a cursor pad, soft keys, and a QWERTY keyboard. All the keys are quite small but are domed and slightly separated, so they're comfortable for typing.

HTC, the makers of the Dash, did make one design misstep. Instead of buttons, the volume control is a vertical touchpad slider to the right of the screen. The problem? Although the Dash plays a little tone telling you that you pressed a button to change the volume, there's no physical feedback. This makes it extremely difficult to know how accurately you're changing the volume—especially when you hold the handset up to your head.

Turn on the Dash (and wait 40 seconds, just like with the SDA) to get a tight little start-up screen with one enhancement over older smartphones: The little recent-application icons at the top of the screen are explained with text. Start to dial a number and the phone kicks into phone mode. Like the SDA and the Q, but unlike the MDA, this is a terrific phone. It isn't the loudest, but calls are extremely sharp, with no background hiss. The built-in microphone doesn't cancel background noise, but voices punch right through. The speakerphone is on the back, and it's just okay in terms of volume—good enough in most conditions, but it could be overwhelmed outdoors. The speakerphone mic is pleasantly robust, though.

The Dash also uses T-Mobile's new MyFaves service, which lets you call five contacts anywhere in the US for free, putting cute icons for the five contacts on your home screen and letting you call or message them with a few clicks. In general, it's a fun application, and especially makes picture messaging much easier. The Dash's MyFaves implementation has one annoying aspect, though: in some situations you get returned not to your home screen, but to an intermediate MyFaves screen. You can then return to your home screen by pressing the "hang up" button, but that's a perplexing, unecessary keypress.

The Dash lets you connect separate Bluetooth devices for headset and wireless stereo music devices, or use one stereo headset for both types of devices. Ours connected easily with a Motorola HT820 headset, and we could activate voice tag–based voice dialing over Bluetooth. The Motorola Q's VoiceSignal system is superior, though.

Music and audio from video tracks played through the Motorola Stereo Bluetooth Headset HT820 via Windows Media Player also sounded good. Thrillingly, you can finally play video in full-screen mode, something that didn't work on previous Windows Mobile Smartphone OS devices. Media playback on the Dash is loud enough to hear in most indoor environments. Sling Player Mobile launched on our Dash and tried to connect to our Slingbox, though we couldn't test the frame rates because of network problems.

An integrated 1.3-megapixel camera takes pretty sharp pictures, although they suffer from a lack of saturation and a tendency to wash out in bright areas. Unfortunately, the video mode captures unremarkable 176-by-144, 10-frames-per-second videos.

Powering the handset is a 200-MHz TI OMAP 850 processor that performs almost exactly on a par with the SDA and MDA in most applications—though power users will grumble about the impossibility of running processor-hogging apps such as Skype. I'd prefer more than the 22MB of available memory for running programs, but it's a big jump over the SDA's cramped 11MB. The 68MB of free storage memory is sufficient, especially if added to an up-to-2GB microSD card that you slip into a slot in the side of the Dash. (You have to remove the back of the case to add the card, but fortunately, you don't have to remove the battery.) Battery life, by the way, is excellent considering the small size of the device.

The Dash is extremely well connected. It links to the Internet either through T-Mobile's EDGE network—we got speeds between 86 and 134 Kbps—or Wi-Fi. The service plan you'll need costs a reasonable $29.99 per month for unlimited EDGE and T-Mobile Wi-Fi hot-spot use. The device supports WEP, WPA, and WPA2 encryption, and there's a very attractive "communication manager" application that lets you control the EDGE, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi radios all from one screen, along with Microsoft's Direct Push e-mail system. Web browsing in Pocket Internet Explorer felt quite zippy over Wi-Fi. A built-in application lets you use the Dash as a Wi-Fi or USB modem for your laptop.

Sadly, the Windows Mobile Smartphone OS is still missing one key part of the smart-device equation: Editing Microsoft Office documents isn't an option! Although the Dash comes with ClearVue's viewers for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF files, there's no actual way to change the files. It's shocking that neither Microsoft nor DataViz has stepped up to the plate there. Otherwise, the Dash comes with the standard set of smartphone apps, plus a utility for auto-connecting to T-Mobile's Wi-Fi hot spots and the OZ instant-messaging client, which supports AIM, ICQ, and Yahoo!

The T-Mobile Dash is now the carrier's top handheld. It knocks the poor little MDA out of the park with better phone performance and a more pocket-friendly size, and it bests the SDA by providing a keyboard. It's a cool little smartphone that deserves a place in the top rank of handhelds, and it's a worthy competitor to the BlackBerry Pearl, Motorola Q, and Palm Treo 700p.

SPEC DATA :

• Service Provider: AT&T
• Operating System: Palm OS
• Screen Size: 1.6 inches
• Screen Details: 320x240, 65k-color display
• Camera: Yes
• Megapixels: 1.3 MP
• Flash Memory Type: Micro SD
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Web Browser: Yes
• Network: GSM
• Bands: 850, 900, 1800, 1900
• High-Speed Data: GPRS, EDGE
• Special Features: Music

PalmOne Tungsten E2

PalmOne didn't mess with success when it came to the E2, the sequel to the most popular business handheld ever, the Tungsten E. PDA users who are merely looking for a way to keep track of their contacts, calendar, and Microsoft Office documents, and play MP3s on the road, will find this handheld is an excellent successor.

The original Tungsten E gave business users exactly what they wanted at the time—a great-looking handheld at a reasonable price and without too many unnecessary features. The E2 fulfills the same basic needs, but unfortunately, it doesn't go much further.

So why upgrade? For one thing, your data won't vanish if you forget to plug the thing in. Like the palmOne Treo 650—and unlike most other handhelds—the E2 has 32MB of nonvolatile memory that doesn't get erased when the battery hits zero.

The E2 also has a faster 200-MHz processor (compared with the E's 126 MHz), a brighter screen, and smoother conduits for syncing with Microsoft Outlook. And configuring Bluetooth is simpler, in case you want to hook the handheld up to a mobile phone to surf the Net or check e-mail. Our E2 connected very easily to a Motorola V551 and downloaded e-mail quickly, but we were still a little disappointed by palmOne's hoary list of officially supported phones, which hasn't been updated since last November. We also synchronized and connected to the Internet via a Bluetooth-enabled PC, though that took knowledge of some obscure Microsoft Windows settings. (Why doesn't palmOne offer a tool to configure your PC properly?) If you need Wi-Fi, a $99 SDIO expansion card will become available next month from palmOne.

A new Today screen, like the one on the higher-end Tungsten T5, summarizes appointments, tasks, and e-mail messages, and the E2 also comes with the new version (7.0) of DocumentsToGo, still the best Office document reader available for any handheld. This being a Palm OS device, most buyers are likely to turn to a third-party PIM solution, such as Beyond Contacts.

The new processor didn't seem to make much of a difference compared with the original on our application tests. The E2 is fine at playing music from an SD expansion card through Kinoma Player, Pocket Tunes, or RealPlayer or surfing the Web using the Palm OS Blazer browser. It's still too slow for full-screen video, though (we had to get Kinoma to reduce our video to a tiny 200-by-160 resolution for it to play smoothly). Office documents, even large and complex ones, format and display within a few seconds, but the E2 struggles with complex PDFs in Adobe Reader for Pocket PC.

The E2's main competitors are palmOne's own Zire 72 ($299) and the Dell Axim X30 ($279). Both are a step up from the E2, with faster processors and either built-in Wi-Fi (in the Axim's case) or a camera (in the Zire's). But the sleek silver lines and smooth PIM functionality of the E2 make it the best choice for the average office PDA user.

SPEC DATA :

• Type: Palm
• Screen Size: 3.2 inches
• Operating System: Palm OS 5
• Flash Memory Type: Secure Digital
• Bluetooth: Yes

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Approved By FCC and will ship to worldwide.The first country who will receive the phone are India, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Russia and Spain end the end of 2008. and for the other countries will receive at 2009.Nokia 5800 XpressMusic will be offer for about 279 EUR.to know more about this phone you can download Here

i-mate JAM

A gem in both scale and value, the i-mate JAM ($640 street, as low as $540 with contract) is the world's smallest Pocket PC PDA/phone. It's also the only Pocket PC phone that feels truly comfortable in the hand, making it a good (if expensive) choice for folks who desire a phone that runs Microsoft's OS. Its lack of high-speed networking, though, makes it a poor choice for those who also need on-the-run Internet access.

At 5.4 ounces and only 4.5 by 2.3 by 0.7 inches (HWD), the aluminum-clad i-mate JAM is svelte. A particular design and engineering choice we approve of is the unit's use of a four-way rocker in place of the usual overabundance of Pocket PC buttons. Surrounding the rocker—without crowding it—are intuitive phone pick-up and hang-up buttons, as well as a calendar and contacts button. Side buttons let you jump to the camera or voice recorder. The small screen (2.8-inch, QVGA) is sharp, though glare becomes a serious problem if you're trying to watch videos in Windows Media Player 10.

Because of its relatively compact size and small screen, the i-mate JAM makes the most of the 1.2-Ah battery (larger screens require more backlighting and run the battery down faster). Our test results bore this out, as we got a very good 5 hours 43 minutes of PDA usage with the backlight cranked up, and a very usable 10:56 of phone talk time. One problem is that the i-mate JAM's lack of a hold switch makes turning the device on accidentally and thus draining the battery rather easy.

As a phone, the i-mate JAM suffers from a case of the whispers. The headset volume is fine, if not very loud; but the speakerphone is so quiet as to be useless. That's especially strange because ringtones, MP3s, and videos can all blare out at high volume. Reception was acceptable, though at times the i-mate JAM was a bar behind Motorola phones we tried on the same networks. The 1.3-megapixel CMOS camera is poor, however, with washed-out colors and an incredible amount of color noise in low-light situations.

We also encountered some software quirks. Our Bluetooth mysteriously turned itself on every once in a while, and the "dial from phone off" function, on the other hand, would occasionally not turn the phone on as it should have. Our i-mate JAM also underreported its signal strength, showing only two bars when a 73 percent signal rating warranted more (this percentage rating was acquired using the third-party download, the Phone Dashboard application from Hudson Mobile, www.hudsonmobile.com, $15 street).

For data traffic, you get Class 8/10 GPRS and Bluetooth, but no high-speed wireless LAN or WAN connectivity. On Cingular's network, we achieved 16- to 34-Kbps data rates with the device—barely enough for e-mail, and downright painful for Web browsing (EDGE devices like the palmOne Treo 650 manage five to ten times that throughput). The i-mate JAM paired easily with a Nokia Bluetooth headset and sounded very good, and it can be used as a Bluetooth modem for a PC as well. We were also able to transfer files via Bluetooth to and from a PC using the device's Beam command.

On our Pocket PC performance tests, the 416-MHz i-mate JAM scored about 8 percent slower than the 400-MHz Sprint PCS Vision PPC-6601, Audiovox XV-6600, and Siemens SX66 Pocket PC phones, scoring especially low on file-system access. But it's a good 60 percent faster than the HP iPAQ h6315. We didn't feel any noticeable slowness in Pocket PC applications, and the i-mate JAM played music and video synced from a Media Center PC without skipping. The i-mate JAM's 64MB of RAM (57.4MB available) and 7.6MB of flash ROM aren't enough for media files, but the SD slot can handle cards up to 2GB.

The i-mate JAM is the only Pocket PC phone as small as the palmOne Treo 650. That will attract many handheld aficionados who are turned off by the heft of most PDA/phones, and it can certainly carry the weight of average use. But you give up some power and speed for the size, and we still prefer the Treo for its faster networking, better voice quality, and integrated keyboard.

No major carrier has picked up the i-mate JAM, but it's available from independent retailer Expansys (www.expansys-usa.com) in two models: an 850/1,800/1,900-MHz version for Cingular subscribers and a 900/1,800/1,900-MHz version for T-Mobile users. You can provide your own SIM card or get a T-Mobile plan through Expansys.

SPEC DATA :

• Service Provider: AT&T, T-Mobile
• Operating System: Windows Mobile Phone Edition
• Screen Size: 2.8 inches
• Camera: Yes
• Megapixels: 1.3 MP
• Flash Memory Type: Secure Digital
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Web Browser: Yes
• Network: GSM
• Bands: 850, 900, 1800, 1900
• High-Speed Data: GPRS

Samsung i730

Samsung i730

The most powerful thing you can hold in your hand short of a pocket nuke, the Samsung i730 PDA/phone is small, blazingly fast, but guzzles battery power.

It's also the first handheld to support both Verizon's EV-DO network (providing data throughput of over 400 Kbps/sec in 43 cities) and Wi-Fi. It's also the best-looking Pocket PC phone yet. In size (5.2" x 2.8" x 0.6") and weight (6.7 ounces, 7.2 with extended battery), it falls between the palmOne Treo 650 and behemoth Pocket PCs like the Audiovox XV-6600. This product though, is actually slim enough to fit comfortably into a pocket. Side buttons control volume, voice recording and voice dialing; they're easy to press—almost too easy—so it's good that there's also a key lock switch on the side.

Sliding down the bottom half of the device reveals a keyboard that contains long, oval-shaped keys. It's far superior to the membrane keyboards on some other Pocket PCs, and is at least as usable as the Treo's, though the shiny keys can at times make it hard to read the markings on them. The 320 by x240 screen is gorgeous: rich, sharp, and viewable in sunlight.

As a phone, the i730 is just acceptable. The earpiece is loud and clear, but at the other end of the line, the reception was quieter than we'd have liked. The speakerphone is loud, but has sound distortion problems at high volumes. We paired the phone easily with Nokia and Plantronics Bluetooth headsets and even did voice dialing over Bluetooth. We also successfully sent and received files from both Macs and PCs over a Bluetooth connection.

The 520-MHz Intel PXA272 processor, the fastest on any phone, helped the i730 score 22 percent better on SPB Benchmark Pocket PC tests than its nearest competitor, the Audiovox XV-6600. For users, that means top-flight performance even with demanding applications like video playback and remote desktop access.

There's some great software on this gadget. VoiceSignal's no-training voice dialing is the best in the business. The Picsel Viewer lets you read Microsoft Office documents and PDFs with full formatting; it occasionally complained about low memory, but we viewed files of up to about 1.5 MB. A ringtone manager lets you sort, test and pick ringtones (yes, you can use your own MP3s). You can use the device as a TV remote control. And Windows Media Player 10 syncs music, video and TV shows with a PC. The Dave Matthews Band and The Fast and the Furious looked and sounded terrific and looked sharp. You can store media in the 64MB of RAM (57MB available), 86MB of flash ROM, or on an SD card.

Verizon includes Intellisync for push e-mail. It connects to POP3/IMAP accounts directly or to Microsoft and Lotus corporate e-mail through a desktop redirector application.

The speedy EV-DO cellular network is addictive; we got download speeds between 400 and 700Kbps. Outside the 43 EV-DO cities, the device connects to Verizon's 1X network, running at speeds a little faster than dialup.

We like the little Bluetooth/WiFi status line on the main Today screen. Unfortunately, Wi-Fi and the phone networks (voice, CDMA 1X, and EV-DO) can't coexist; you have to turn one off to use the other. So if you're surfing with Wi-Fi, you can't receive phone calls. On the other hand, if you're paying for EV-DO, you'll only really find yourself using Wi-Fi when you have no phone signal anyway, or when you're not in an EV-DO city. (Outside the EV-DO cities, the device drops to Verizon's 1X network, which is a bit faster than dialup; that's when you'll want Wi-Fi.)

You can't use the device as a modem for your PC, either, but that's true with all Verizon EV-DO devices, and unlikely to change any time soon.

The i730's Achilles heel is its battery life; the device comes with two batteries, a slim one and an extended one, and a cradle that charges both at once. We got under 4 hours of talk time and between 3 hours, 41 minutes and 6 hours, 22 minutes of PDA usage time in phone mode, and 2 hours 20 minutes of PDA usage in Wi-Fi mode with the slim battery. That's well short of the Treo. Popping in the bigger battery boosted the battery life at least 50 percent, but made the device bulkier. Realistically, you'll probably have to bring both batteries wherever you go.

All this power carries a hefty price tag as well: between $599.99 and $719.99, $200 more than either the Audiovox or the Treo. Tack on $45/month for EV-DO service and you have a gadget for the geek elite. At that rate, you can probably afford a few more batteries, too.

The Samsung i730 is the most powerful connected handheld device on the market today. Because of the high price and shorter battery life, we can't quite recommend the i730 over the Treo 650 for basic phone, PIM and email use. But if you can afford to charge your handheld at least daily, the i730 gives you a truly broadband device with the power of a mini-laptop.

SPEC DATA :

• Service Provider: Verizon Wireless
• Operating System: Windows Mobile Phone Edition
• Screen Size: 2.8 inches
• Camera: No
• Flash Memory Type: Secure Digital
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Web Browser: Yes
• Network: CDMA
• Bands: 850, 1900
• High-Speed Data: 1xRTT, EVDO

PDA Technology

A Personal digital assistant (PDA) is a handheld computer, but has become much more versatile over the years. PDAs are also known as small computers or palmtop computers. PDAs have many uses: calculation, use as a clock and calendar, accessing the Internet, sending and receiving E-mails, video recording, typewriting and word processing, use as an address book, making and writing on spreadsheets, scanning bar codes, use as a radio or stereo, playing computer games, recording survey responses, and Global Positioning System (GPS). Newer PDAs also have both color screens and audio capabilities, enabling them to be used as mobile phones (smartphones), web browsers, or portable media players. Many PDAs can access the Internet, intranets or extranets via Wi-Fi, or Wireless Wide-Area Networks (WWANs). Many PDAs employ touch screen technology.

Currently, a typical PDA has a touch screen for entering data, a memory card slot for data storage and at least one of the following for connectivity: IrDA, Bluetooth and/or WiFi. However, many PDAs (typically those used primarily as telephones) may not have a touch screen, using softkeys, a directional pad and either the numeric keypad or a thumb keyboard for input.

Software typically required to be a PDA includes an appointment calendar, a to-do list, an address book for contacts and some sort of note program. Connected PDAs also typically include E-mail and Web support.

Touch screen

Many original PDAs, such as the Apple Newton and the Palm Pilot, featured touch screens for user interaction, having only a few buttons usually reserved for shortcuts to often used programs. Touch screen PDAs, including Windows Pocket PC devices, usually have a detachable stylus that can be used on the touch screen. Interaction is then done by tapping the screen to activate buttons or menu choices, and dragging the stylus to, for example, highlight. Text input is usually done in one of four ways:

• Using a virtual keyboard, where a keyboard is shown on the touch screen. Input is done by tapping letters on the screen.
• Using external keyboard or chorded keyboard connected by USB or Bluetooth.
• Using letter or word recognition, where letters or words are written on the touch screen, and then "translated" to letters in the currently activated text field. Despite rigorous research and development projects, end-users experience mixed results with this input method, with some finding it frustrating and inaccurate, while others are satisfied with the quality.^[1] Recognition and computation of handwritten horizontal and vertical formulas such as "1 + 2 =" was also under development.
• Stroke recognition (termed Graffiti by Palm). In this system a predefined set of strokes are defined to represent the various characters needed. The user learns to draw these strokes on the screen or in an input area. The strokes are often simplified character shapes to make them easier to remember.

PDAs for business use, including the BlackBerry and Treo, have full keyboards and scroll wheels or thumb wheels to facilitate data entry and navigation, in addition to supporting touch-screen input. There are also full-size foldable keyboards available that plug directly, or use wireless technology to interface with the PDA and allow for normal typing. BlackBerry also has additional functionality as push based email and applications.

Newer PDAs, such as the Apple iPhone and iPod touch include new user interfaces using other means of input. The iPhone and iPod touch uses a technology called Multi-touch.

Memory cards

Although many early PDAs did not have memory card slots, now most have either an SD (Secure Digital) and/or a Compact Flash slot. Although originally designed for memory, SDIO and Compact Flash cards are available for such things as Wi-Fi and Webcams. Some PDAs also have a USB port, mainly for USB flash drives.

As more PDAs include telephone support, to keep the size down, many now offer miniSD or microSD slots instead of full-sized SD slots.

Wired connectivity

While many earlier PDAs connected via serial ports or other proprietary format, many today connect via USB cable. This served primarily to connect to a computer, and few, if any PDAs were able to connect to each other out of the box using cables, as USB requires one machine to act as a host - functionality which was not often planned. Some PDAs were able to connect to the internet, either by means of one of these cables, or by using an extension card with an ethernetRJ-45 adaptor. port/

Wireless connectivity

Most modern PDAs have Bluetooth wireless connectivity, an increasingly popular tool for mobile devices. It can be used to connect keyboards, headsets, GPS and many other accessories, as well as sending files between PDAs. Many mid-range and superior PDAs have Wi-Fi/WLAN/802.11-connectivity, used for connecting to Wi-Fi hotspots or wireless networks. Older PDAs predominantly have an IrDA (infrared) port; however fewer current models have the technology, as it is slowly being phased out due to support for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. IrDA allows communication between two PDAs: a PDA and any device with an IrDA port or adapter. Most universal PDA keyboards use infrared technology because many older PDAs have it, and infrared technology is low-cost and has the advantage of being permitted aboard aircraft.

Synchronization

An important function of PDAs is synchronizing data with a PC. This allows up-to-date contact information stored on software such as Microsoft Outlook or ACT! to update the database on the PDA. The data synchronization ensures that the PDA has an accurate list of contacts, appointments and e-mail, allowing users to access the same information on the PDA as the host computer.

The synchronizing also prevents the loss of information stored on the device in case it is lost, stolen, or destroyed. Another advantage is that data input is usually a lot quicker on a PC, since text input via a touch screen is still not quite optimal. Transferring data to a PDA via the computer is therefore a lot quicker than having to manually input all data on the handheld device.

Most PDAs come with the ability to synchronize to a PC. This is done through synchronization software provided with the handheld, such as HotSync Manager, which comes with Palm OS handhelds, Microsoft ActiveSync for older versions of Windows or Windows Mobile Device Center on Windows Vista, which comes with Windows Mobile handhelds.

These programs allow the PDA to be synchronized with a Personal information manager. This personal information manager may be an outside program or a proprietary program. For example, the BlackBerry PDA comes with the Desktop Manager program which can synchronize to both Microsoft Outlook and ACT!. Other PDAs come only with their own proprietary software. For example, some early Palm OS PDAs came only with Palm Desktop while later Palms such as the Treo 650 has the built-in ability to sync to Palm Desktop and/or Microsoft Outlook, while Microsoft's ActiveSync and Windows Mobile Device Center only synchronize with Microsoft Outlook or a Microsoft Exchange server.

Third-party synchronization software is also available for many PDAs from companies like Intellisync and CompanionLink. This software synchronizes these handhelds to other personal information managers which are not supported by the PDA manufacturers, such as GoldMine and Lotus Notes.

Nokia N80

So this is what the Europeans have been keeping from us. The Nokia N80 ($799 list) is the ultimate bleeding-edge convergence phone and the first 3-megapixel camera phone in the U.S., packed with connectivity and multimedia features. Though it can be a bit sluggish to use and lacks push e-mail, the N80's sheer audacity warrants our Editors' Choice.

At 3.7 by 2 by 0.9 inches and 5.2 ounces, the N80 is a boxy, businesslike slider phone that feels solid in the hand. The 352-by-416 screen is just bright enough and shockingly high-res, so photos and text look beautiful. A tiny VGA self-portrait camera sits above the screen. Below the screen, there's a bunch of confusingly labeled buttons that turn out to be pick-up, hang-up, menu, clear, two soft keys, and a quick application-access button. The camera button is on the side, encouraging you to turn the phone 90 degrees to use the 3MP camera on the back. Dedicated music playback and volume buttons are, sadly, absent. Slide the screen up to reveal a keypad of tightly packed, rectangular black keys.

The N80 has excellent reception and good sound quality through the earpiece and speakerphone. Calls that I made from a noisy street came through clearly, and the speakerphone is loud enough for most situations. Speaker-independent voice dialing lacks digit dialing, but it generally works with names in your contact book, and it works over Bluetooth. Battery life, at a little more than 5 1/2 hours of talk time, is short for a GSM phone, and it drops further with extensive Wi-Fi use. Still, the N80's battery life is comparable with that of some CDMA phones on Sprint and Verizon, so I won't judge it too harshly. The phone is ideal for world travelers, with quint-band roaming: the usual four global bands and the 2,100-MHz band used for high-speed data in Europe and Asia.

Connectivity is a big strength here: You get EDGE, stereo Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. EDGE speeds were a bit poky, at around 80 Kbps, when the phone was hooked up to a laptop as a modem. Wi-Fi zipped along at up to 925 Kbps using the built-in Web browser. I connected the phone up to several Plantronics headsets, a PC, and a Mac via Bluetooth. File transfers, PC modem use, and syncing with Microsoft Outlook via Nokia's PC Suite all worked fine. I couldn't get the N80 to sync with the Mac, though file transfers worked.

The N80's flashiest feature, of course, is the 3MP camera, the first of its kind on a U.S. cell phone. It's pretty basic in terms of options: no optical zoom, no lens cap, no autofocus, and a standard, weak LED flash, but at least there's a macro switch. As with all camera phones, the pictures it takes are barely passable in the realm of dedicated digital cameras; they're soft, with only about 700 lines of resolution, a slightly hazy look, and some visible color noise. At first glance, you might think 2MP camera-phone shots like the ones from the Samsung MM-A800 look better. But that's because the MM-A800's shots are automatically digitally sharpened; the N80's extra pixels give you more realistic lines and color gradations. You can save pictures in the 40MB of onboard memory or on a mini-SD card, or beam them to a PC or printer using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or a USB cable. This is a huge step forward for camera phones.

The lack of autofocus and optical zoom can also be overlooked because nobody's gotten them to work on camera phones yet. The two optical-zoom camera phones I've tested, the Samsung A940 and A970, had focus and shutter-speed problems, and autofocus on other phones increases shutter delay. With nearly a second of shutter delay on the N80 already, taking pictures with autofocus would likely incur an unbearable wait.

The N80's video camera mode is far better than that of most competitors, though, able to capture 352-by-288 videos at 15 frames per second. Outdoor footage looks great; indoor footage is noisy but still viewable.

Web browsing on the N80 is excellent. The built-in Nokia Web and optional Opera browsers both handle a full range of pages including tables and frames, though they can't deal with Flash or embedded Windows Media. Nokia's e-mail program handles POP3 and IMAP mail with attachments, but doesn't do BlackBerry-style push. There's an N80 client for Cingular's Xpress Mail push solution, according to Lars Aase, marketing director for Seven (the company that makes Xpress Mail), but Cingular hasn't decided whether to support it yet.

The N80 is also a Symbian smartphone, running the latest version 9 of Symbian OS. Symbian is popular in Europe but relatively unknown here. The user interface is sluggish compared with Palm OS and Windows Mobile devices. When you need to switch screens, the screen goes blank and then redraws. Web-page scrolling feels slower than on the Mo