PC syncing, voice dialing, a speakerphone, USB cable support, a sound recorder, and POP3 and IMAP4 e-mail. The V3x also supports Motorolas Screen3 technology, but that feature is carrier-dependent, unfortunately. The Razr V3x is stocked with multimedia applications such as the aforementioned dual digital cameras. The primary shooter takes photos in four resolutions (2-megapixel down to 240x320 pixels) and includes a variety of editing applications, such as three quality settings, an 8x zoom, three color modes, five lighting choices, an exposure adjustment, and five shutter sounds (plus a silent option). The main display works well as a viewfinder, or you can use the external screen to take self-portraits when the phone is closed. And as we mentioned earlier, the flash is a welcome addition to the Razr family, even if it does take a lot of clicks to use. The Motorola Razr V3x had decent photo quality, though colors werent quite sharp. The camera function defaults to the exterior lens, but it takes just two clicks to switch to the internal shooter. For that camera, three resolutions (640x480, 320x240, and 160x120) are available and editing options are similar to the other cameras. The zoom, however, is limited to 4x. For saving photos, the V3x has a somewhat stingy 64MB of internal space, but you can use a MicroSD card for even more room. As is the case with Moto phones, a handy meter keeps track of how much memory you have left. Video is a big theme of the Razr V3x. Both the internal and external cameras record clips in three quality settings (Good, Better, and Best) with sound. Editing options include much of the same choices found in the still camera with the addition of such features as auto repeat, spatial audio, and bass boost. Clips meant for multimedia messages are capped at 20 seconds; otherwise you can record for as long as the available memory permits. If youd rather listen to some tunes, the Razr V3x also comes with a simple audio player for playing your favorite music. The interface is rather basic, but it does the trick for short stints. You can organize music by playlist, song title, artist name, album, or genre. Features are limited to repeat and shuffle modes, so equalizer fans will have to look elsewhere. The music player shares the same memory space as the camera. You can personalize the Razr V3x with a variety of wallpaper, screen savers, and color themes, as well as alter sounds. If you want additional choices beyond whats included with the phone, you can download them via the WAP 2.0 wireless Web browser. Gaming options were limited for such a high-end phone. You get just two Java (J2ME) titles--Crazy and Escape--so avid players will have to buy more. We tested the Motorola Razr V3x in San Francisco using Cingulars service. The phone is a tri-band world phone (GSM 900/900/1900) so it will work in the United States, but as we said earlier, it supports the 2100 UMTS band, which is used only in Europe. Voice calls, however, were mostly clear, and voices sounded natural. Callers could tell we were using a cell phone, but they didnt report any significant problems. As is the case with most Razrs, the volume was a tad low, but overall, there was a slight improvement over that of other Razrs. Bluetooth calls were satisfactory, though speakerphone calls were a tad muffled. The speakerphone on the Razr line as a whole has had mixed success in our experience, and the V3x is no exception. We werent able to test the video calling or streaming video quality, but music sounded decent if a bit low in volume. The Razr V3x has a rated battery life of 2.2 hours talk time and 9.5 days standby time. The standby time is about average, but we were expecting more juice from a promised talk time. Video talk time is rated at 1.5 hours. According to FCC radiation tests, the Motorola Razr V3x has a digital SAR rating of 0.13 watts per kilogram. ),
(839,Motorola Razr V3x (Black),Positives: The Motorola Razr V3x has a stylish and sturdy design, decent call quality, and a generous feature set that offers two digital cameras with a flash, stereo Bluetooth, and a speakerphone, as well as and support for (European) 3G networks. Negatives: The Motorola Razr V3x isnt compatible with U.S. 3G networks. Also, the volume is a tad low, the internal memory is limited, and its memory card is in an inconvenient location. Facts: Despite some minor complaints, the Motorola Razr V3x is top of the line for the Razr family. Its just too bad it isnt for use in the United States. Note: This product is part of the Motorola Razr series. ., Just because you may be tired of the Razr, that doesnt mean Motorola is bored of it as well. In fact, Moto has done all it can to capitalize on the success of its famous thin phone by introducing a gallery of new versions for almost every niche. The latest model to fall into our hands, the GSM Razr V3x, made its worldwide debut more than a year ago but never made a formal entry into the U.S. market. And thats a sad thing, as the V3x is the most satisfying Razr weve seen to date, with a several feature and design improvements. The 3G Razr V3x supports only the UMTS band used in Europe, but if thats not an issue, you can get an unlocked model in the States for around $250. A final word of warning though: you may not want to get too excited, as the HSDPA Razr V3xx will be out soon for Cingular Wireless. Razr enthusiasts will notice immediately that the Motorola Razr V3x looks a bit different than the original Razr V3. Though its also available in a selection of colors (black, silver, pumpkin, pink, and blue) the V3x has a camera flash, a larger hinge, and a slightly more appealing look. Were not sure why we like the design better, but it did catch our eye just the same. At 3.9 x 2.1 x 0.8 inches, its also a tad taller and wider than its predecessor (3.8 by 2.0 by 0.5 inches), and it weighs a full ounce more (4.4 ounces). Though thin-phone purists may shun the fatter profile, we didnt mind it at all, as the extra girth makes for a much more solid feel in the hand. We also like the rubberized covering on the front and rear face. The postage-stamp external display is the same size as the Razr V3s, but with a 65,000-color resolution, its more in line with the Razr V3is. The display shows the date, the time, battery life, signal strength, and photo caller ID. It goes almost completely dark when the backlighting is off, but a flick of one of the side-mounted controls will activate it again. Alternatively, you can change the backlighting time for a longer shine. Just above the display is the 2.0-megaixel cameras lens in its usual location, but this time Motorola included a flash, a feature thats sadly absent from the other Razr models. Completing the exterior is an arc-shaped LED on the bottom of the front flap that flashes when you receive a call. The Motorola Razr V3xs exterior camera has a 2-megapixel resolution. Shortcuts for the camera and the voice dialing feature sit on the right spine, while a volume rocker and the Motorola \"smart\" key are placed on the left. All the side-mounted keys are easy to use, but be advised they can be pressed accidentally while the phone is in a pocket or a bag. Also on the left spine is the mini USB port, standard on all Razrs, which serves both as a data connection point and the charging jack. The MicroSD slot is located somewhat inconveniently behind the battery cover, but we like that you don't have to remove the battery itself as well. Just below the battery cover on the bottom of the rear face is the V3xs exterior speaker. The Razr V3x has a large speaker, but its memory card slot is hidden behind the battery cover. The internal display shows a solid 262,000 colors and measures 2.2 inches (240x320 pixels). Though some colors appeared a tad washed out, the display did a great job overall of showing photos, graphics, and games. On the other hand, Motorolas outdated menu interface continues to wear a bit thin. You can change the backlighting time and the brightness, but not the font size. Look below the display and youll discover why the V3x has such an oversize hinge: Situated almost in its center is a second digital camera. Since its used for video calling, the camera is only VGA, but that shouldnt be a problem. Theres also a small macro switch for taking close-up shots using the main camera on the V3xs front face. The Motorola Razr V3xs interior camera is next to the macro switch. As with the more recent Razr models, the Razr V3x has a refined keypad thats easier to use than that of the Razr V3. Though the dialpad resembles one large touch pad, tactile ridges between the individual number keys make it easier to dial by feel. The keys also have bright backlighting for dialing in the dark. The ridges also surround the navigation array which consist of a four-way toggle with a central Menu/OK button, two soft keys, a clear/back button, Talk and End/power keys, and dedicated shortcuts for the Web browser and video-calling functions. And speaking of shortcuts, you can program the toggle to give one-touch access to four user-defined functions. The Motorola Razr V3x offers a powerful feature set that outstrips Verizons 3G Razrs, including the V3c and the V3m. But before we address the flashy extras, well tell you the basics first. The V3x has a 1,000-contact phone book with room in each entry for six phone numbers, three e-mail addresses, three Web addresses, three street addresses, a birthday, a nickname, and notes. You can save callers to groups and pair them with a photo or one of 30 polyphonic ring tones. You also can save a special number for video calls, but keep in mind that feature will work only when you have access to a compatible UMTS network. Other essentials include a vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging, an alarm clock, a calculator, and a date book. On the higher end, youll find full Bluetooth for connecting to a stereo headset or for exchanging files, PC syncing, voice dialing, a speakerphone, USB cable support, a sound recorder, and POP3 and IMAP4 e-mail. The V3x also supports Motorolas Screen3 technology, but that feature is carrier-dependent, unfortunately. The Razr V3x is stocked with multimedia applications such as the aforementioned dual digital cameras. The primary shooter takes photos in four resolutions (2-megapixel down to 240x320 pixels) and includes a variety of editing applications, such as three quality settings, an 8x zoom, three color modes, five lighting choices, an exposure adjustment, and five shutter sounds (plus a silent option). The main display works well as a viewfinder, or you can use the external screen to take self-portraits when the phone is closed. And as we mentioned earlier, the flash is a welcome addition to the Razr family, even if it does take a lot of clicks to use. The Motorola Razr V3x had decent photo quality, though colors werent quite sharp. The camera function defaults to the exterior lens, but it takes just two clicks to switch to the internal shooter. For that camera, three resolutions (640x480, 320x240, and 160x120) are available and editing options are similar to the other cameras. The zoom, however, is limited to 4x. For saving photos, the V3x has a somewhat stingy 64MB of internal space, but you can use a MicroSD card for even more room. As is the case with Moto phones, a handy meter keeps track of how much memory you have left. Video is a big theme of the Razr V3x. Both the internal and external cameras record clips in three quality settings (Good, Better, and Best) with sound. Editing options include much of the same choices found in the still camera with the addition of such features as auto repeat, spatial audio, and bass boost. Clips meant for multimedia messages are capped at 20 seconds; otherwise you can record for as long as the available memory permits. If youd rather listen to some tunes, the Razr V3x also comes with a simple audio player for playing your favorite music. The interface is rather basic, but it does the trick for short stints. You can organize music by playlist, song title, artist name, album, or genre. Features are limited to repeat and shuffle modes, so equalizer fans will have to look elsewhere. The music player shares the same memory space as the camera. You can personalize the Razr V3x with a variety of wallpaper, screen savers, and color themes, as well as alter sounds. If you want additional choices beyond whats included with the phone, you can download them via the WAP 2.0 wireless Web browser. Gaming options were limited for such a high-end phone. You get just two Java (J2ME) titles--Crazy and Escape--so avid players will have to buy more. We tested the Motorola Razr V3x in San Francisco using Cingulars service. The phone is a tri-band world phone (GSM 900/900/1900) so it will work in the United States, but as we said earlier, it supports the 2100 UMTS band, which is used only in Europe. Voice calls, however, were mostly clear, and voices sounded natural. Callers could tell we were using a cell phone, but they didnt report any significant problems. As is the case with most Razrs, the volume was a tad low, but overall, there was a slight improvement over that of other Razrs. Bluetooth calls were satisfactory, though speakerphone calls were a tad muffled. The speakerphone on the Razr line as a whole has had mixed success in our experience, and the V3x is no exception. We werent able to test the video calling or streaming video quality, but music sounded decent if a bit low in volume. The Razr V3x has a rated battery life of 2.2 hours talk time and 9.5 days standby time. The standby time is about average, but we were expecting more juice from a promised talk time. Video talk time is rated at 1.5 hours. According to FCC radiation tests, the Motorola Razr V3x has a digital SAR rating of 0.13 watts per kilogram. ),
(840,Motorola Razr V3x (Blue),Positives: The Motorola Razr V3x has a stylish and sturdy design, decent call quality, and a generous feature set that offers two digital cameras with a flash, stereo Bluetooth, and a speakerphone, as well as and support for (European) 3G networks. Negatives: The Motorola Razr V3x isnt compatible with U.S. 3G networks. Also, the volume is a tad low, the internal memory is limited, and its memory card is in an inconvenient location. Facts: Despite some minor complaints, the Motorola Razr V3x is top of the line for the Razr family. Its just too bad it isnt for use in the United States. Note: This product is part of the Motorola Razr series. ., Just because you may be tired of the Razr, that doesnt mean Motorola is bored of it as well. In fact, Moto has done all it can to capitalize on the success of its famous thin phone by introducing a gallery of new versions for almost every niche. The latest model to fall into our hands, the GSM Razr V3x, made its worldwide debut more than a year ago but never made a formal entry into the U.S. market. And thats a sad thing, as the V3x is the most satisfying Razr weve seen to date, with a several feature and design improvements. The 3G Razr V3x supports only the UMTS band used in Europe, but if thats not an issue, you can get an unlocked model in the States for around $250. A final word of warning though: you may not want to get too excited, as the HSDPA Razr V3xx will be out soon for Cingular Wireless. Razr enthusiasts will notice immediately that the Motorola Razr V3x looks a bit different than the original Razr V3. Though its also available in a selection of colors (black, silver, pumpkin, pink, and blue) the V3x has a camera flash, a larger hinge, and a slightly more appealing look. Were not sure why we like the design better, but it did catch our eye just the same. At 3.9 x 2.1 x 0.8 inches, its also a tad taller and wider than its predecessor (3.8 by 2.0 by 0.5 inches), and it weighs a full ounce more (4.4 ounces). Though thin-phone purists may shun the fatter profile, we didnt mind it at all, as the extra girth makes for a much more solid feel in the hand. We also like the rubberized covering on the front and rear face. The postage-stamp external display is the same size as the Razr V3s, but with a 65,000-color resolution, its more in line with the Razr V3is. The display shows the date, the time, battery life, signal strength, and photo caller ID. It goes almost completely dark when the backlighting is off, but a flick of one of the side-mounted controls will activate it again. Alternatively, you can change the backlighting time for a longer shine. Just above the display is the 2.0-megaixel cameras lens in its usual location, but this time Motorola included a flash, a feature thats sadly absent from the other Razr models. Completing the exterior is an arc-shaped LED on the bottom of the front flap that flashes when you receive a call. The Motorola Razr V3xs exterior camera has a 2-megapixel resolution. Shortcuts for the camera and the voice dialing feature sit on the right spine, while a volume rocker and the Motorola \"smart\" key are placed on the left. All the side-mounted keys are easy to use, but be advised they can be pressed accidentally while the phone is in a pocket or a bag. Also on the left spine is the mini USB port, standard on all Razrs, which serves both as a data connection point and the charging jack. The MicroSD slot is located somewhat inconveniently behind the battery cover, but we like that you don't have to remove the battery itself as well. Just below the battery cover on the bottom of the rear face is the V3xs exterior speaker. The Razr V3x has a large speaker, but its memory card slot is hidden behind the battery cover. The internal display shows a solid 262,000 colors and measures 2.2 inches (240x320 pixels). Though some colors appeared a tad washed out, the display did a great job overall of showing photos, graphics, and games. On the other hand, Motorolas outdated menu interface continues to wear a bit thin. You can change the backlighting time and the brightness, but not the font size. Look below the display and youll discover why the V3x has such an oversize hinge: Situated almost in its center is a second digital camera. Since its used for video calling, the camera is only VGA, but that shouldnt be a problem. Theres also a small macro switch for taking close-up shots using the main camera on the V3xs front face. The Motorola Razr V3xs interior camera is next to the macro switch. As with the more recent Razr models, the Razr V3x has a refined keypad thats easier to use than that of the Razr V3. Though the dialpad resembles one large touch pad, tactile ridges between the individual number keys make it easier to dial by feel. The keys also have bright backlighting for dialing in the dark. The ridges also surround the navigation array which consist of a four-way toggle with a central Menu/OK button, two soft keys, a clear/back button, Talk and End/power keys, and dedicated shortcuts for the Web browser and video-calling functions. And speaking of shortcuts, you can program the toggle to give one-touch access to four user-defined functions. The Motorola Razr V3x offers a powerful feature set that outstrips Verizons 3G Razrs, including the V3c and the V3m. But before we address the flashy extras, well tell you the basics first. The V3x has a 1,000-contact phone book with room in each entry for six phone numbers, three e-mail addresses, three Web addresses, three street addresses, a birthday, a nickname, and notes. You can save callers to groups and pair them with a photo or one of 30 polyphonic ring tones. You also can save a special number for video calls, but keep in mind that feature will work only when you have access to a compatible UMTS network. Other essentials include a vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging, an alarm clock, a calculator, and a date book. On the higher end, youll find full Bluetooth for connecting to a stereo headset or for exchanging files, PC syncing, voice dialing, a speakerphone, USB cable support, a sound recorder, and POP3 and IMAP4 e-mail. The V3x also supports Motorolas Screen3 technology, but that feature is carrier-dependent, unfortunately. The Razr V3x is stocked with multimedia applications such as the aforementioned dual digital cameras. The primary shooter takes photos in four resolutions (2-megapixel down to 240x320 pixels) and includes a variety of editing applications, such as three quality settings, an 8x zoom, three color modes, five lighting choices, an exposure adjustment, and five shutter sounds (plus a silent option). The main display works well as a viewfinder, or you can use the external screen to take self-portraits when the phone is closed. And as we mentioned earlier, the flash is a welcome addition to the Razr family, even if it does take a lot of clicks to use. The Motorola Razr V3x had decent photo quality, though colors werent quite sharp. The camera function defaults to the exterior lens, but it takes just two clicks to switch to the internal shooter. For that camera, three resolutions (640x480, 320x240, and 160x120) are available and editing options are similar to the other cameras. The zoom, however, is limited to 4x. For saving photos, the V3x has a somewhat stingy 64MB of internal space, but you can use a MicroSD card for even more room. As is the case with Moto phones, a handy meter keeps track of how much memory you have left. Video is a big theme of the Razr V3x. Both the internal and external cameras record clips in three quality settings (Good, Better, and Best) with sound. Editing options include much of the same choices found in the still camera with the addition of such features as auto repeat, spatial audio, and bass boost. Clips meant for multimedia messages are capped at 20 seconds; otherwise you can record for as long as the available memory permits. If youd rather listen to some tunes, the Razr V3x also comes with a simple audio player for playing your favorite music. The interface is rather basic, but it does the trick for short stints. You can organize music by playlist, song title, artist name, album, or genre. Features are limited to repeat and shuffle modes, so equalizer fans will have to look elsewhere. The music player shares the same memory space as the camera. You can personalize the Razr V3x with a variety of wallpaper, screen savers, and color themes, as well as alter sounds. If you want additional choices beyond whats included with the phone, you can download them via the WAP 2.0 wireless Web browser. Gaming options were limited for such a high-end phone. You get just two Java (J2ME) titles--Crazy and Escape--so avid players will have to buy more. We tested the Motorola Razr V3x in San Francisco using Cingulars service. The phone is a tri-band world phone (GSM 900/900/1900) so it will work in the United States, but as we said earlier, it supports the 2100 UMTS band, which is used only in Europe. Voice calls, however, were mostly clear, and voices sounded natural. Callers could tell we were using a cell phone, but they didnt report any significant problems. As is the case with most Razrs, the volume was a tad low, but overall, there was a slight improvement over that of other Razrs. Bluetooth calls were satisfactory, though speakerphone calls were a tad muffled. The speakerphone on the Razr line as a whole has had mixed success in our experience, and the V3x is no exception. We werent able to test the video calling or streaming video quality, but music sounded decent if a bit low in volume. The Razr V3x has a rated battery life of 2.2 hours talk time and 9.5 days standby time. The standby time is about average, but we were expecting more juice from a promised talk time. Video talk time is rated at 1.5 hours. According to FCC radiation tests, the Motorola Razr V3x has a digital SAR rating of 0.13 watts per kilogram. ),
(841,Sanyo M1,Positives: The Sanyo M1 is a feature-packed multimedia phone with a 2-megapixel camera, EV-DO support, ReadyLink (Sprints push-to-talk service), a music player, stereo speakers, access to Power Vision content such as streaming audio and video, and an astounding 1GB of internal memory. Audio quality is good as well. Negatives: The Sanyo M1 is a boxy and clunky handset. It can be hard to view the screen in bright daylight, and pictures taken with the phones camera can be a little murky. Facts: The Sanyo M1 is a multimedia-powerhouse cell phone from Sprint. It wont win any design awards, but its solid feature set and 1GB of internal memory make this an excellent handset for media junkies. , The Sanyo M1 made an impressive debut in late 2006, not only because its Sanyos first high-end handset in the U.S. but also because of its record-breaking 1GB of internal memory. The M1 is chock-full of multimedia features that will delight the power user, especially with support for Sprints Power Vision content. That said, the M1 is rather bulky in size, and its lackluster appearance may not be to everyones tastes. The M1 is available for $199 with purchase of a service plan.As we just mentioned, the Sanyo M1 is a hefty phone. Measuring at 3.6x1.9x0.9 inches and weighing in at 3.8 ounces, the M1 wont fit in your pants pocket easily. Whats more, its boxy and chunky appearance wont win any design accolades, and its glossy black exterior was a little too fingerprint-prone to our tastes. And despite the bulk, the M1 also feels a little cheap and plastic in the hand, almost like a walkie-talkie rather than a phone. That said, we found it comfortable enough to hold and to cradle next to our ears. The Sanyo M1 has external music controls.Were glad to see a 1.3-inch color external screen that displays battery and signal strength and the date and time. You also can view song playlists and the currently playing track when the music player is activated. By pressing the Camera button on the right, you can launch the camera, the camcorder, or the voice recorder without flipping open the phone. Similarly, you can activate the voice recorder simply by holding down the Voice Recorder button on the left spine for a few seconds. Since the external screen supports a healthy 260,000 colors, it shows photo caller ID and functions as a camera viewfinder when the phone is closed. Underneath the external screen are the circular music player controls that look a bit like the iPod-like controls on the LG Fusic. Above the screen are the stereo speakers. The left spine is home to the aforementioned Voice Recorder button and a headset jack and the volume rocker, while the Voice Command button and the Camera button are to the right. The Sanyo M1 has a 2-megapixel camera.Flip open the phone, and youre presented with a lovely 2-inch QVGA TFT 262,000-color display. Images look great on the screen, and we like the colorful animated menu icons. You can adjust the displays backlight time and the font size, but you cant adjust the screens brightness or contrast. The screen looked just fine indoors, but we had a hard time seeing it out in bright daylight. Below the display are two soft keys, a four-way navigation toggle with a center Menu/OK key, a dedicated Camera key, a Back key, a Talk and End/Power key, plus a dedicated Speakerphone key in the middle. The navigation toggle also doubles as shortcuts to text messaging, Sprints On Demand service, the My Content menu, and the media player. These keys plus the alphanumeric keypad are a tad slippery, but theyre raised sufficiently above the surface so that you can dial by feel. The keypad has a blue backlight when the phone is activated.The primary attraction of the M1 is its feature set. Not only does it have support for Sprints ReadyLink push-to-talk service, but also it has plenty of multimedia features that take full advantage of Sprints EV-DO service. The M1 has a 500-contact address book, and each entry can hold up to six numbers, an e-mail address, a Web URL, a home address, and a memo. You also can assign them to a caller group, or pair them with one of 17 polyphonic ringtones (a bit low for a music phone), and a photo for caller ID. You can even assign a video ringtone if you wish. Other features of the phone include a vibrate mode, a speakerphone, stereo speakers, Bluetooth 2.0 with an A2DP profile, a voice recorder, voice command and voice dialing, text and multimedia messaging, e-mail, instant messaging, an alarm clock, a world clock, a calendar, a countdown clock, a stopwatch, a calculator, and a wireless Web browser. You can also use the M1 as a mass storage drive via USB, and as a Bluetooth modem with your laptop. Sprint also has an optional Wireless Backup feature so that you can store your contacts list on Sprints server as a backup. One of the main attractions of the M1 is its support of Sprints offering of multimedia content from its Power Vision streaming video service. Available channels on Sprint TV include CNNtoGo, ABC News, the Weather Channel, the Cartoon Network, Music Choice, Access Hollywood, Diva for beauty tips, Fox Sports, Discovery Channel, and even movies and trailer previews. You can also stream Sirius radio, Rhapsody Radio, and many more audio channels. If you want more details on Sprints multimedia offerings, please read our review of the Sprint Power Vision service. An additional feature: the M1 also supports Sprints new On-Demand service, where you can get the latest news, sports, weather, and stock market information. The highlight feature of the M1 appears to be its music player. Thanks to its 1GB of internal memory, the M1 can store up to 16 hours of music (or a combination of data, music, and images). Though we wouldve liked a microSD card slot for additional memory, the 1GB of memory should satisfy most users. You can either transfer MP3, AAC, and AAC+ files from your PC to the M1 or download tunes from Sprints music store. You can manage your playlists via the music store or create your own playlists on the phone itself. We loved that we could use our own earphones, thanks to a headset adapter. Audio quality was actually pretty good when heard through the earbuds, and even the stereo speaker sounded pretty decent. The Sanyo M1 took rather murky photos.The M1 also comes with a 2-megapixel camera with autofocus. We were impressed with the sheer array of camera settings. They include four different resolutions (1,200x1,600; 960x1,280; 480x640; 240x320), three quality settings (Fine, Normal, Economy), six different picture modes, a flash, up to 16x digital zoom, a self-timer, multiple shots, fun frames, color tones, the brightness, the white balance, sharpness, and contrast. You can also choose from three shutter sounds, plus theres a silent shutter option. Theres also a camcorder, which can record both in 320x240 or 176x144, and from 10 seconds all the way to 120 minutes.Personalization options are plenty. You can choose from an array of different wallpapers and screensavers, plus the way the date and time are displayed on the menu screen. You can also alter the greeting, the menu style, and the color the screen flashes when theres an incoming call. You can download additional ringtones and images from Sprints Web site. The M1 supports 3D games, and some of the built-in games include Pac-Man, a demo of Tetris, and Midnight Bowling. We tested the dual-band, dual-mode (CDMA 800/1900; AMPS 800; EV-DO) Sanyo M1 in San Francisco using Sprints service. We really liked the call quality, and callers reported great sound quality on their end as well. Speakerphone volume was nice and loud, probably thanks to the stereo speakers. Photo quality was a little disappointing for a 2-megapixel camera, and images looked a little too murky for our tastes. Streaming video and audio quality from Sprints Power Vision network was pretty good; we experienced fast load times, and it took us an average of 5 seconds to download a song. We managed to pair the M1 with the Plantronics Discovery 665 Bluetooth headset successfully. The Sanyo M1 impressed us with a 4 hour and 20 minute talk time. According to FCC radiation tests, the Sanyo M1 has a digital SAR rating of 0.71 watts per kilogram. ),
(842,LG LX150,Positives: The LG LX150 has a simple, attractive design, an admirable feature set with Bluetooth, and decent call quality. Negatives: The LG LX150s speakerphone has tinny call quality, and the plastic exterior feels a bit cheap. Facts: LGs LX150 for Sprint fits the bill as a quality basic cell phone. , If youre one of the many consumers who shun complicated cell phones in favor of simple cell phones that make and receive calls, the new LG LX150 from Sprint should serve you well. Sporting a minimalist yet attractive design and basic features, the LX150 concentrates on what a cell phone should do best. And in that regard, it succeeds; were pleased that LG added Bluetooth to such a functional handset. You can get it for a very reasonable $29 with service rebates, but the LX150 will cost you $179 if you pay full price.If youre bored (like we are) with basic phones in black and silver, youll be pleased to know that the LX150 comes in an attractive blue finish. Distinctive without being ostentatious, the LX150 is pleasing to the eye, not only for its color scheme but also for its curved lines. At 3.46x1.85x0.82 inches and 3.17 ounces, the compact LX150 may be too small for bigger hands, but we found it had a comfortable feel. The front and back covers are composed of a slightly cheap-feeling plastic, but the hinge mechanism was solid. Theres also no external antenna. Flip phones are pointless without an external display, but fortunately the LX150 doesnt fall into that camp. Though its no bigger than a postage stamp (96x64 pixels), the LX150s four-line external screen shows the date, time, battery life, signal strength, and caller ID. Whats more, because its monochrome, it remains visible even when the backlighting is off. You can reactivate the backlighting with a flick of the volume rocker, but you should be careful about doing this too often as it could affect the overall battery life. A small blinking LED light sits above the display, but you can turn it off. The aforementioned volume rocker sits on the left spine just above a voice dialing control, while a covered headset jack and a covered charger port sit on the right spine.The LX150s internal display measures 1.75 inches (128x160 pixels) and shows 10 lines of text. Color resolution is 262,000 hues, which is above average for a phone of this caliber. You can change the backlight time and the font size, but not the brightness. Also, we recommend the list menu style; the grid option is rather busy for our tastes. Below the display is a traditional navigation array consisting of a four-way toggle with a central OK button, two soft keys, the Talk and End/Power controls and a Back button. Theres also a dedicated speakerphone button (nice) and a unique Text key that serves as a shortcut to the messaging menu. And speaking of shortcuts, the toggle can be set to give one-touch access to four user-defined functions.We liked the LX150s keypad.The keypad buttons are raised ever so slightly above the surface of the phone, which makes for tactile dialing. We also liked that the central column of keys has a slightly darker color. All the buttons are backlit for easy dialing by feel.The LX150 includes all the essential features youve come to expect from a cell phone. The phone book holds 500 contacts with room in each entry for five phone numbers, an e-mail address, a Web address, and notes. Callers can be organized into groups, and you can assign them one of 24 (32-chord) polyphonic ringtones as well. You also can pair them with a photo, but youll need to get photos on the phone your own way since theres no camera. Other basics include a vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging, voice dialing, instant messaging and POP3 e-mail, a scheduler, an alarm clock, a voice memo, a notepad, a calculator, a world clock, and the handy LG tip calculator. The LX150 also supports Bluetooth and a full duplex speakerphone, both of which are nice to see on such a low-end model.You can personalize the LX150 with a variety of alert tones, screensavers, and color skins. If youre bored with the integrated options, you always can download more choices with the WAP 2.0 wireless Web browser. Other applications are slim; you get demo versions of four games (Midnight Pool, Pac-Man, Tetris, and Zuma) and trial versions of MobiTV and Sprint Radio.We tested the dual-band, dual-mode (CDMA 800/1900; AMPS 800) LG LX150 in San Francisco using Sprints service. Call quality was decent with clear conversations marred only occasionally by some slight scratchiness. Volume was loud enough, and though callers could tell we were using a cell phone, they reported no significant problems. With the speakerphone, calls were tinny, so we didnt want to use it too often. On the other hand, Bluetooth calls were satisfactory. The LG LX150 has a tested talk time of 3 hours and 53 minutes. According to FCC radiation tests, the LX150 has a digital 0.76 SAR rating of watts per kilogram and an analog SAR rating of 0.96 watts per kilogram. ),
(843,Apple iPhone, , \t\t\tPhotos:Apple iPhone ),
(844,LG CU400,Positives: The LG CU400 is an attractive 3G/UMTS-capable phone with a great-looking display and excellent sound quality. It also has a camera, a camcorder, push-to-talk features, quad-band capabilities, as well as access to Cingular Video, streaming music, and other 3G content. Negatives: The LG CU400s VGA camera is disappointing, and its difficult to take self-portraits. Facts: The LG CU400 is a speedy and attractive cell phone with access to high-speed 3G content such as Cingular Video plus access to cool mobile applications like XM Radio Mobile and MySpace Mobile. While we liked its push-to-talk features and its quad-band capabilities, we were ultimately disappointed with the poor quality of its VGA camera and the lack of a dedicated audio player. , The LG CU400 can be considered a low-budget successor to the LG CU500, which is one of Cingulars first HSDPA phones to support Cingular Video. Although its slightly slower with UMTS-level speeds, the CU400 offers the same access to Cingular Video, streaming music, mobile radio, and other 3G content. Not only that, the LG CU400 is also the first ever 3G-capable phone by Cingular to offer push-to-talk (PTT) capabilities. However, its VGA camera and lack of a dedicated audio player still make the CU500 the more attractive option if you are looking for a true multimedia phone. The LG CU400 is available for $229.99 at retail and for $29.99 with a two-year contract. The LG CU400 is an attractive phone. One of the first things we noticed about the LG CU400 is the attractive design. It has a sleek and curved body with a lovely matte black finish that feels quite soft to the touch. Its compact and lightweight design (3.36 inches by 1.89 inches by 0.90 inch; 3.27 ounces) makes it feel that much more comfortable in the hand and when cradled next to the face. On the front is an external screen framed in glossy black. Above the external screen is the camera lens. The screen, while monochrome, displays all the necessary information such as date and time, battery and signal strength, as well as caller ID. However, you cant use it as a self-portrait viewfinder, and there is no self-portrait mirror next to the camera, so youll have a hard time trying to take self-portraits. On the left spine are the headset jack, the volume rocker, and a dedicated PTT key, while the right spine is home to the dedicated camera button. On top of the device is the speakerphone activation key, as well as a stubby antenna. The LG CU400 comes with a VGA camera. Flip the phone open and youll note the 2-inch, 65,000-color display. The low 176x220 pixel resolution was a bit disappointing, and we wouldve preferred a 262,000-color screen. That said, it did look crisper than most other 65,000-color displays weve seen. You can adjust the screens backlight time, the size and color of the dialing fonts, plus the way the date and time are displayed. Below the display are two soft keys; a four-way navigation toggle that doubles as shortcuts to messaging, instant messaging, the contacts list, and the MyStuff menu; a middle OK key that doubles as a shortcut for the browser; a dedicated Cingular Video key; a dedicated Task Menu shortcut key; the Send and End keys; and the Clear/Back key. While all the keys, including the alphanumeric dialpad, were a little slippery, they were sufficiently raised above the surface so that we could dial by feel. Though its multimedia features are not as robust as the CU500s, the LG CU400 still has quite a lot to offer feature-wise. The CU400 comes with a 500-entry address book, and each entry is capable of holding up to five numbers, two e-mail addresses, and a memo. Each entry can also be assigned a caller group, one of 10 MP3 ring tones, and a photo for caller ID. Other basic features include a vibrate or silent mode, a flight mode, a speakerphone, a voice memo recorder, Bluetooth, text and multimedia messaging, mobile e-mail (supports Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, and AOL Mail), instant messaging (AOL, MSN, and Yahoo), a wireless Web browser (Cingular calls its Media Net), an alarm clock, a calendar, a notepad, a calculator, a tip calculator, a world clock, a tasks list, a stop watch, a unit converter, a date finder, and a \"D-day counter\" that counts down to a specific date. As was mentioned earlier, the CU400 is fully compatible with Cingulars PTT network and can hold up to 99 PTT contacts and 30 PTT groups. You can instantly speak with up to 30 people. The CU400 is also a quad-band GSM phone and can be used anywhere in the world. While its not a 3.5G phone like its MicroSD-capable CU500 cousin, the CU400 does have support for UMTS, a 3G technology that lets it stream video and music much faster than non-3G phones. Cingular is certainly pushing this with the CU400, especially with its built-in access to Cingular Video, Cingulars 3G content portal with exclusive mobile content from channels like HBO Mobile, plus short clips from networks such as Cartoon Network, CNN, and Fox. Please read our review of Cingular Video for our full run-down of the service. The CU400 video player supports MPEG-4 and RealVideo formats, and you can download video applications such as MobiTV, which lets you watch live streaming TV. Not only that, but you can download other applications such as MySpace Mobile, which lets you keep in touch with your MySpace buddies on the road. Although the CU400 does not have a digital audio player, you can still access streaming music via MobiRadio and watch streaming music videos on Music Choice. The CU400 also comes with MusicID, a song identification service that lets you know the title of the song just by holding the phone up to a music source, such as a radio. Other music services include Billboard Mobile for industry news, and The Buzz, which is an array of fan communities of certain artists. You can also download XM Radio Mobile if you happen to have an XM radio account so you can listen to satellite radio on the move. Its a shame the CU400 doesnt come with a dedicated audio player, but considering its lack of a MicroSD card slot, its just as well. The VGA camera on the CU400 is a considerable step down from the CU500s 1.3-megapixel camera. Camera options include three resolutions (640x480, 320x240, 160x120), three quality settings (Superfine, Fine, Normal), six white balance settings, four color effects, a multishot setting (up to nine shots), a self-timer (up to 10 seconds), and three shutter tones, plus a silent option. Picture quality was quite grainy and blurry, which is what we expected from a VGA camera. The video recorder has two different resolutions (320x240, 176x144) and camcorder options include the same quality, white balance, and color effects settings as with the still camera. We found the video quality to be grainy, choppy, and quite poor in general, but that is pretty normal for a camera phone such as this. There are quite a few personalization options available for the LG CU400. Not only can you switch out the wallpaper and color schemes, you can also replace the graphics with those taken from the camera or download more from Cingulars Web site. Additional ring tones are also available for download from Cingular. The CU400 supports Java 2.0 games and comes with Diner Dash, World Poker Tour, Ms. Pac-Man, Platinum Sudoku, and Tetris preloaded in the phone, though you can always download more. We tested the LG CU400 quad-band (850/900/1800/1900; GPRS; UMTS) phone in San Francisco using Cingulars service. Call quality was better than we expected, even in a breezy outdoor environment. Callers did notice we were using a cell phone, but that was not a big deal. You can only activate the speakerphone during a call, and it sounded a bit tinny when activated. As far as Bluetooth pairing goes, we managed to pair it with the Technocel T50 Bluetooth headset without a hitch. Though the UMTS speed is not nearly as fast as HSDPA, we still found it impressive. It took a bit long to connect to certain Web sites, and we suffered slight buffering issues when watching certain Cingular Video clips, but it wasnt unbearable. The video quality was a bit pixilated, but thats to be expected with such a low-resolution display. It took us about eight seconds to download the MySpace Mobile application. Its certainly not broadband speeds, but its slightly better than dial-up. The LG CU400 has a rated talk time of as much as 5 hours and a tested talk time of about 4 hours and 15 minutes. It also has a standby time of as long as 12 days. According to FCC radiation tests, the CU400 has a digital SAR rating of 1.14 watts per kilogram. ),
(845,Palm Treo 750 (Cingular),Positives: The Palm Treo 750 sports a more compact design and comes with integrated Bluetooth, a 1.3-megapixel camera, and world phone capabilities. The Windows-based smart phone also works on Cingulars 3G UMTS network and has push e-mail and the new threaded chat view. Negatives: The Treo 750 will not support Cingulars HSPDA network at launch and doesnt have integrated Wi-Fi. It also has a low-resolution screen and failed to meet the rated battery talk time. Facts: The Palm Treo 750 includes some nice enhancements and offers good usability, but you can get more for your money with the Cingular 8525. , \t\t\tPhoto gallery:Palm Treo 750 (Cingular) ),
(846,Verizon Wireless PN-300,Positives: The Verizon Wireless PN-300 (Pantech PN-300) is a compact and basic phone with a user-friendly menu interface, tactile buttons, and excellent call quality. It comes with an external display, plus standard features such as text messaging and a speakerphone. Negatives: Personalization options are limited with the PN-300, as it does not come with a Web browser. The PN-300 also has a boring design. Facts: While the Verizon Wireless PN-300 wont wow anyone with its design or feature set, we really liked its simplicity and ease of use. The great sound quality makes this a good phone for those who just want a phone to make calls. , While television and newspaper ads may imply otherwise, there is still a market out there for basic, no-frills cell phones. A lot of consumers still want a simple phone that gets the most important job done: making calls. Verizon Wireless has a few such phones, the PN-210 that we reviewed a few months ago, and now the Verizon Wireless PN-300, both manufactured by Pantech. The PN-300 doesnt have a camera or a music player; nor does it have a Web browser or e-mail. However, it is also very inexpensive at only $29.99 with a two-year contract with Verizon. The Verizon Wireless PN-300 has a pretty boring design. True to its simple nature, the PN-300 has a rather boring and minimalist design. Decked out in a silver gray-and-black color scheme, the PN-300 is a pretty compact clamshell at 3.43x1.93x 0.98 inches and weighing in at only 3.32 ounces. Its smooth curves and light weight make it feel comfortable in the hand and when held up next to the ear. We were very pleased that even though the PN-300 is a basic phone, it still comes with an external screen. Despite the fact its monochrome, it still displays the date, time, and signal and battery strength, as well as caller ID. On the left spine of the phone is the volume rocker as well as a display button that toggles among different date and time display configurations on the external screen. An extendable antenna is on the top-right corner of the phone. Flip the phone open and youll note a 65,000-color, 1.75-inch internal display, which we found rather lackluster but acceptable considering the phones low price point. You can adjust the screens backlight time as well as its contrast. Though the font size cant be changed, the default font size is nice and large, and we appreciated the super-simple menu interface that made navigation a breeze. Speaking of navigation, under the display are two soft keys and a five-way navigation toggle that doubles as four user-defined shortcuts. The phone also has a dedicated speakerphone key, a dedicated messaging shortcut key, the Send and End keys, plus a Clear key that doubles as a voice-command shortcut. All keys, including the alphanumeric dialpad, were a tad slippery but still tactile and easy to press.Understandably, features are few and far between on the Verizon Wireless PN-300. It has a 500-name address book, and each entry can hold up to five numbers, two e-mail addresses, and can be assigned a caller group and a ring tone. Other features include text messaging, a speakerphone, voice-activated dialing, vibrate and silent modes, a calendar, an alarm clock, a calculator, a tip calculator, a voice memo, a world clock, a stop watch, and a notepad. Personalization options are limited because of the lack of a Web browser, but you can still choose from a few preloaded wallpapers and ring tones. We tested the dual-band (CDMA 850/1900) Verizon Wireless PN-300 in San Francisco using Verizon Wirelesss network. We were amazed by how clear calls sounded, and callers reported the same. The speakerphone sounded nice and loud, though we had to raise our voices in order for our callers to hear us while on the speakerphone.The Verizon Wireless PN-300 has a rated talk time of 3.38 hours and a rated standby time of 7.9 days. We managed to eke out a disappointing 2 hours and 40 minutes of talk time, however. According to the FCC, the PN-300 has a digital SAR rating of 1.3 watts per kilogram. (847,Cingular Music,Positives: Cingular Music is the first mobile music subscription service for GSM carriers. You can download tunes using existing subscriptions to Napster, Yahoo Music, and eMusic, and you can stream music via MobiRadio. You also get access to XM Satellite Radio, a music identifier service, and a selection of community-created content. Music selection is wide and varied, and audio quality on our test device was high. Negatives: Cingular Music does not let you download songs directly to the cell phone; you have to download the music to a PC and then transfer them via a USB cable. We also experienced buffering issues in a few of the streaming music applications. Facts: Cingular Music is certainly a viable and attractive alternative to the other mobile music services on the market, thanks to its ability to be used with existing music subscription services and access to cool applications such as MobiRadio and XM Satellite radio. However, it is unfortunate you cannot download songs over the air. , Long after Verizon and Sprint launched their music download services, Cingular finally has released its own mobile music solution, aptly titled Cingular Music. As the first mobile music solution for GSM carriers, its poised to take advantage of the carriers expanding high-speed 3G data network. On the downside, only a few cell phones support this service so far and you must buy the Cingular Music Bundle to use the service. While Cingulars partner-focused approach seems like a smart move, you still have to download the songs to your PC and transfer them to your phone via USB. In the bundle are a stereo earbud headset, a USB cable, and a software CD. The Music Bundle costs $39.99.Unlike its competitors, Cingular Music is not a music store from which you can download songs. Cingular Music instead acts as a kind of portal to different sources of music. From the main Cingular Music menu, you can select \"Shop Music,\" which leads you to a browser page listing the various music stores available. Cingular has partnered up with existing online music subscription services such as Napster To Go, Yahoo Music, and eMusic to offer the consumer an incredibly wide music selection.We cant help but applaud this model--instead of forcing the consumer to purchase exorbitantly priced songs (a track from Sprints store is $2.50, while a song from V Cast Music is around $1.99), you can simply pay a flat monthly fee to the subscription service of your choice for an all-you-can-eat music experience--the Napster To Go subscription fee is $14.96 a month, while a Yahoo Music subscription is $11.99 a month. The Napster To Go model does include a new service called Napster Mobile, which lets you preview and buy songs from your phone for $0.99, which is still far cheaper than the other stores. It does not cost extra to download the songs from Yahoo Music, however. While Napster To Go and Yahoo Music are included in all phones, the eMusic content is specialized specifically for Cingulars aforementioned Sony Ericsson phones. Consumers who buy a Sony Ericsson Walkman phone from Cingular can get a free \"in box\" offer for up to 50 songs from eMusic. Music downloaded from Napster To Go and Yahoo Music is laced with Windows Media DRM, but the music from eMusic is DRM-free.Unfortunately, there is a huge catch to this. Songs purchased or added from the phone cannot actually be downloaded over the air directly to the phone--you still have to download the song to your PC and then transfer it via a USB cable. For example, after we bought a song from Napster Mobile (you have to enter in your e-mail address and your phone number in the purchasing process), we received an e-mail that includes a URL link to download the song. So you cant even have the song waiting for you in your computer--you still have to click the URL link, which prompts the download. This is a pretty big flaw in the concept of mobile music, and we hope that Cingular Music adds over-the-air downloads in the future. If you need music immediately but don't want to go through the bother of downloading songs, you have a few streaming music options. Cingular Music provides access to MobiRadio, a streaming radio station, as well as 25 XM Satellite radio channels for $8.99 a month. You also can view streaming music videos from MTV and VH1. Though not related to the music category, you also can catch short clips from other variety shows from MTV and VH1, such as Best Week Ever and Celebreality. Other applications available on Cingular Music include MusicID, a song identification service, access to industry news thanks to Billboard Mobile, and access to music fan sites in the community section. We used Cingular Music with the Cingular Sync (Samsung SGH-A707), though it also works with the LG CU500, the Sony Ericsson W810i, the Sony Ericsson W300i, and the Cingular 3125. We experienced pretty good audio quality via the included earbuds, though we cant say the same for the speakers. We loved the wide music selection from the aforementioned stores, and the streaming music available was not too shabby either. The interface of the music player appeared rather generic, but it was intuitive enough for our purposes. You can create playlists, and have repeat and shuffle modes. We were disappointed with the lack of an equalizer though. While the Cingular Music experience has some serious flaws, overall we were very pleased with the variety of music options available. The music subscription model seems to lend itself very well to a cell phone experience, since it would no longer be so cost prohibitive to have tracks downloaded to the phone. This, combined with streaming music and XM Satellite radio, definitely make Cingular Music a viable competitor in the mobile music market. We just hope they fix the ability to download music to the phone. ),
(848,Motorola Rizr Z3 (rose),Positives: The Motorola Rizr Z3 has a striking design with a great display and navigation controls. It also offers decent call quality and a pleasing feature set. Negatives: The Motorola Rizr Z3 has shaky speakerphone quality, and the camera didnt take the best pictures. Also, the microSD card slot is in an inconvenient location. Facts: Motorola does a slim slider phone well with the attractive and well-performing GSM Rizr Z3. Note: This product is part of the Motorola Rizr series. ., Photo gallery:Motorola Rizr ),
(849,Motorola Rizr Z3 (blue),Positives: The Motorola Rizr Z3 has a striking design with a great display and navigation controls. It also offers decent call quality and a pleasing feature set. Negatives: The Motorola Rizr Z3 has shaky speakerphone quality, and the camera didnt take the best pictures. Also, the microSD card slot is in an inconvenient location. Facts: Motorola does a slim slider phone well with the attractive and well-performing GSM Rizr Z3. Note: This product is part of the Motorola Rizr series. ., Photo gallery:Motorola Rizr ),
(850,Pantech C3 (black), , Quick take: The Pantech C3 is similar to the tiny Pantech C3 except it features changeable faceplates for great customization. Its available in silver and black versions with Cingular Wireless for $40 with service. Read our review of the C300 for a full assessment. ),
(851,Pantech C3 (silver), , Quick take: The Pantech C3 is similar to the tiny Pantech C3 except it features changeable faceplates for great customization. Its available in silver and black versions with Cingular Wireless for $40 with service. Read our review of the C300 for a full assessment. ),
(852,Motorola ic402, , Quick take: The Motorola ic402 is similar to the Motorola ic502 except it does not have an external display. It does, however, use Sprints CDMA network for voice calls and Nextels iDEN network for push-to-talk calls. Read our review of the ic502 for more information. ),
(853,Motorola Krzr K1m (Sprint),Positives: The Motorola Krzr K1m for Sprint has an attractive, trendy design with an admirable feature set including 3G EV-DO support, Bluetooth, and a megapixel camera. It makes good calls too. Negatives: The Motorola Krzr K1m for Sprint suffers from unimpressive music quality and sluggish performance. Also, it offers a lower-resolution camera than on the GSM Krzr K1, and the MicroSD card slot is inconveniently located. Facts: Sprints pretty Motorola Krzr K1m is similar to its Verizon counterpart. Though its EV-DO offerings are slightly better, its performance was a tad diminished. Note: This product is part of the Motorola Krzr K1 series. ., Photo gallery:Motorola Krzr K1m ),
(854,AskMeNow, , After a slow start in the United States, text messaging finally has taken off as a popular form of communication. As its use has grown, several companies (besides the carriers) have jumped in to make money from the technology. One such company is AskMeNow, which offers a convenient and surprisingly accurate service that should please trivia nuts and information hogs. AskMeNow promises to answer a variety of queries through text messages. Simply send the service a text with your question (see below for the range of possibilities) and AskMeNow will respond right away. Each question costs 25 cents each plus your carriers text messaging fee, and the charges will show up on your normal carrier bill. Thats a bit overpriced in our opinion--particular since Google Mobile doesnt charge for its competing service--and because some answers can arrive in multiple messages, your charges can shoot up quickly if you carrier charges for each message received. Using a pool of information specialists in the Philippines, AskMeNow says it can answer just about any question for which there is an answer on the Internet. And in that respect, it delivered. Within just a few minutes, it correctly identified the capital of Paraguay, when the Battle of Gettysburg occurred, the chemical symbol for potassium, and when All in the Family appeared on television. It also told us how many meters are in a mile, the distance between San Francisco and Sydney (both in miles and nautical miles), the French word for \"highway,\" and which musical artist sang \"Hung Up\" (Madonna and Paul Weller).In short, it handled just about any question we asked and answers usually were quite in-depth. It even answered a trick question by telling us where Sri Lanka is, when we asked the location of Ceylon (the countrys former name). It couldnt tell us, however, how many 747s Boeing built (we know thats random but the answer--1,375--is on the Internet), and it wouldnt tell us the number of McDonalds restaurants in Maryland because the question \"conflicted with our question and answer policies,\" which limit the system from answering \"in-depth research questions\" or anything that doesnt meet its \"family-friendly\" editorial standards. To be fair though, we couldnt find a quick answer either. AskMeNow also was successful in providing 411 listings, movie theater locations and show times, stock quotes, a three-day weather forecast by zip code, sports scores, and flight arrival and departure times for major airlines. It could look up reverse directory listings when we provided the phone number and got the address in return. Inspirational quotes, horoscopes, and a joke of the day are more amusing distractions.You also can get news headlines organized by keyword (such as \"business\" or \"entertainment), but the results we got were a bit scattered and often confusing. For example, when we asked for the top headlines of the day for Dec. 8, it listed Rebecca Romijn joining the cast of Ugly Betty as the second most important story of the day. Also, a story on the injuries to Chicago Bears defensive tackle Tommie Harris had the cryptic headline, \"D-line hamstrung: Harris may even miss postseason.\" ),
(855,LG VX8500 Chocolate (mint),Positives: The LG Chocolate has a sharp design; satisfying overall performance; and a multimedia-rich feature set that includes Bluetooth, a digital music player, and a megapixel camera with admirable photo quality. Negatives: The LG Chocolates unique touch pad and controls entail a steep learning curve, and the phone suffers from poor streaming video quality and low talk-time battery life. The lack of a speakerphone is disappointing. Facts: Though the LG Chocolate is beautifully designed and offers a respectable mix of features and performance, it doesnt quite live up to the hype. Note: This product is part of the LG Chocolate series. ., Editors note: As of September 27, 2006, LG has released a firmware update to the LG Chocolate that adds speakerphone functionality to the phone. It was not available at the time of this review.Its not uncommon for the introduction of a new cell phone to be preceded by a ton of hype. Take for instance, the LG VX85000. Otherwise known as the Chocolate, the VX8500 became the talk of the mobile world after its stateside debut last April at the annual CTIA show. Rumors flew back and forth regarding when wed see it with a U.S. carrier, and finally this week, after being available in Europe and Asia for several months, the Chocolate has landed at Verizon Wireless. After so much speculation, we were eager to find out just what type of chocolate the Chocolate really is. Is it Hersheys or Godiva? The answer seems to lie somewhere in between. By all means, its beautiful and offers decent call quality, but the keys and controls take some getting used to. And though it has stereo Bluetooth, a megapixel camera, a digital music player, and support for Verizons 3G video and music services, it doesnt do much that other cell phones don't do already. And more to the point, it lacks a speakerphone, something even the most basic cell phones offer. On the upside, the Chocolate is fairly priced at $149 with service. From what we can tell the \"Chocolate\" in the LG VX8500s name comes from its basic shape. Sporting a sharply rectangular form factor, the all-black phone does somewhat resemble a dark-chocolate candy bar, but thats all the resemblance we could find. However, it is very sleek and sexy, and we love the cool slider form factor. The dimensions with the slider closed are average (3.8 by 1.58 by 0.69 inches; 3.5 ounces), but it will fit in almost any pocket and wont add significant weight to a bag. Also, while its hardly as thin as the Motorola Razr, it nonetheless has a trim profile that will catch attention. The slider mechanism slips up and down with a solid click, and the phone seems well constructed overall. Though you can make calls with the slider closed, we found it more comfortable to talk in the open position. The LG Chocolates touch pad is unique on a cell phone. The gorgeous display measures two inches diagonally (320x240 pixels) and supports 11 lines of text. With support for 262,000 colors, its one of the most attractive displays weve seen on a cell phone and arguably the best on an LG handset. Graphics and animation were sharp, and colors popped. Our only gripes, and these are small, is that the display has a reflective quality and attracts smudges and fingerprints easily. Also, its hard to see in direct light and nearly impossible to see when the backlighting is off. You can change the clock style, the backlighting time, and the font size but no other options are customizable. Below the display are the navigation controls, which are unlike anything weve seen on a cell phone thus far. Well say off the bat that while theyre intriguing and pretty, they have some big trade-offs. Not only is their overall design and placement on the phone somewhat baffling, it takes practice to understand how to use the controls. The most prominent feature is a round iPod-like touch pad that sits just below the display. Much like a navigation toggle on a more traditional cell phone, the touch pad is divided into four quadrants for each direction (up, down, left, and right) with an OK button in the middle that also open the main menu. The four directional buttons can be set as shortcuts to four user-defined functions, while the left and right keys also serve as back and forward controls when using the music player. The other navigation keys consist of two soft keys that double as shortcuts to the messaging menu and the phone book, a talk button and a dedicated (but oddly marked) back key. Wheres the end/power key you ask? Thats been moved to the Chocolates left spine, which is an odd and unintuitive location for such an oft-used key. Before we grew accustomed to the arrangement, our finger kept pressing the back button by mistake when we wanted to hang up a call. Like the touch pad, all the navigation buttons are touch keys, which means they are extremely sensitive. You can change the sensitivity, but even in the lowest setting, we would activate a button by simply brushing our finger across the phones face. Moreover, you don't get the tactile feel of pressing down on a button when using the controls, and when the backlighting is off, the navigation buttons outside of the circular touch pad disappear completely. Another consequence of the touch-pad controls is that the navigation array locks immediately when the phone is closed and when youre on a call. Though the lock mechanism is necessary to avoid any misdials, it also means you have to press the voice-dialing button on the left spine in order to unlock the controls. The keys also lock when the phone is open, but a quick press of any spine-mounted control will activate them again. Above the voice-dialing button is a volume rocker, while a covered headset jack sits just below it. On the right spine are camera shutter control and music player shortcut buttons, the aforementioned end/power key (also used to stop the media player), and the Micro SD card slot. The camera lens is located behind the slider mechanism, so you must have the phone open to take pictures.The numeric keypad is well designed, with large buttons that are brightly backlit. Theyre also set far enough below the bottom off the slider so that your finger doesnt bump up against it. Though the alphanumeric keys can be slippery are not separated into individual buttons, they do have a tactile feel and move downward when you press them, while giving off an audible click. Fortunately, the Chocolate offers menu themes beyond the standard Verizon design that is now commonplace on the carriers phone. The default \"Rock n Roll\" option uses a Flash-based design where the menu options are arranged in a circle. With this arrangement, our initial instinct was to use the touch pad much like an iPod scrollwheel in order to get to the choice we wanted. Yet we learned quickly that our instincts were wrong, and we had to use the left and right keys to turn the circle instead. Options in the secondary menus are arranged in a simple list format, which is scrollable using the up and down directional buttons but not the volume rocker. We like that you can navigate sideways through secondary menu options. The LG Chocolate comes loaded with multimedia options, but well get the basics out of the way first. The phone book holds 500 contacts, which was below our expectation, but each entry holds five phone numbers and two e-mail addresses. You can organize callers into groups, assign them a picture, or pair them with one of 13 polyphonic ring tones. Other essentials include a vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging, voice command and dialing, a calculator, a calendar, an alarm clock, a world clock, a notepad, a tip calculator, and support for e-mail and instant messaging. Bluetooth is onboard as well and, though in typical Verizon style most object exchange profiles arent supported, you can use the Bluetooth to make calls, send a wireless business card to another Bluetooth device, sync your contacts and calendar with your PC, or connect to a PC for modem calls. And even better, the Chocolate does have a stereo Bluetooth profile, which is still too rare on most phones today. Yet for all that hands-free functionality we were extremely disappointed to learn that the Chocolate does not have a speakerphone. Since even the most basic handsets on the market today, such as the LG C1500, have a speakerphone, its omission on the Chocolate is perplexing and frustrating. Verizon is pushing music as one of the core components of the Chocolate. Like all Verizon phones compatible with the carriers V Cast Music service, you can download tunes directly to the phone. Most of the same restrictions and costs apply here as well: songs downloaded to a PC are 99 cents, while simultaneous downloads to a PC and the phone are $1.99 each. Also, while the integrated digital music player supports both WMA and MP3 formats, any files transferred from a PC must be converted to WMA format first. The music player interface is similar to those on other V Cast Music phones, and we like that you can activate and turn off the player via the spine-mounted shortcut buttons. Navigation through the round touch pad was easy enough, but the other keys proved tricky for the reasons we mentioned earlier. Features on the player include shuffle and repeat modes and an airplane mode. And as previously mentioned, the stereo Bluetooth support is a great touch.Besides downloading music wirelessly, you can transfer it from a PC using a USB cable and Verizons software, or you can load tracks on the phone from a Micro SD card. None of these items comes with the phone, however, so youll need to shell out an additional $30 for the Music Essentials Kit, which includes the software, a USB cable, and a stereo headset for making calls and listening to music. Unfortunately, the only in-box accessory with the Chocolate is an adapter for using your own 2.5mm wired headset (the Chocolate uses a proprietary plug). A Micro SD memory card is also a good investment, since the phones internal memory caps out at 62MB for music and 66MB shared for other applications. The Chocolates camera lacks a flash. As part of its 3G, EV-DO support, the Chocolate is also compatible with Verizons V Cast streaming video service with the full range of content offerings. Also on the visual side is the 1.3-megapixel camera. You can take pictures in five resolutions: 1,280x960, 640x480, 320x240, 176x144, and 160x120. Camera options include a self-timer, brightness and white balance controls, a night mode, five color effects, and three shutter sounds (plus a silent option). Theres no flash, but there is a self-portrait mirror and a 2X zoom for use at the lower resolutions. The camcorder takes 3G2 videos in one resolution (176x144) with sound; editing options are similar to the still camera. Clips meant for multimedia messages are capped at 15 seconds; otherwise you can record up to an hour depending on the available memory. Photo quality was quite good in our tests, with sharp colors and distinct object outlines. In bright conditions, the lighting was a bit washed out. Videos were decent but nothing special as they tended to be grainy and pixelated. We love the Chocolates photo quality. You can personalize the LG Chocolate with a variety of wallpapers, alert sounds, and display themes. If you want more options or more ring tones, polyphonic or MP3, you can download them via the WAP 2.0 wireless browser. No games or special applications are included on the phone, but a variety of options are available for purchase from Verizons Get It Now service. Be advised that gameplay through the touch pad is a bit difficult. We tested the dual-band, dual-mode (CDMA 800/1900; EV-DO) LG VX8500 Chocolate in San Francisco using Verizons service. Call quality was decent overall, and we had no problem getting a signal. There was little static or interference, but at times, callers sounded a bit harsh and robotic. Callers could tell we were using a cell, but they had little trouble hearing or understanding us in most conditions. We were able to pair the Chocolate with the Plantronics Explorer 320 Bluetooth headset and enjoyed reasonable call quality.EV-DO coverage was admirable, and connection speeds were sufficiently speedy. Game downloads took less than a minute, and browsing was hassle-free. On the other hand, streaming video quality on the Chocolate wasnt very sharp. There was heavy choppiness and pixelation, and the sound didnt match the action. Whats more, clips paused for rebuffering on more than a few occasions and at times even froze completely. We were impressed with the music quality overall and found it to be Verizons best-sounding music phone to date, surpassing the LG VX8300 and on a par with Sony Ericssons Walkman phones. You can listen to music without the headphones, but your tunes will sound much better with them. Yet we didnt like the phones proprietary connection, which didnt fit very securely. Keep in mind, the music player wont provide the full range of bass and equalizer options as youll find on a stand-alone MP3 player, but it will do the trick for short to moderate stints. V Cast Music takes a few seconds to access, and song downloads take just over a minute. Check back soon for a full report on Verizons Music Essentials software.The Chocolate has a rated talk time of 3.5 hours and a promised standby time of 10 days. However, our talk-time tests came up short at just 2.5 hours. According to FCC radiation tests, the LG VX8500 Chocolate has a digital SAR rating of 1.13 watts per kilogram. ),
(856,LG VX8500 Chocolate (cherry),Positives: The LG Chocolate has a sharp design; satisfying overall performance; and a multimedia-rich feature set that includes Bluetooth, a digital music player, and a megapixel camera with admirable photo quality. Negatives: The LG Chocolates unique touch pad and controls entail a steep learning curve, and the phone suffers from poor streaming video quality and low talk-time battery life. The lack of a speakerphone is disappointing. Facts: Though the LG Chocolate is beautifully designed and offers a respectable mix of features and performance, it doesnt quite live up to the hype. Note: This product is part of the LG Chocolate series. ., Editors note: As of September 27, 2006, LG has released a firmware update to the LG Chocolate that adds speakerphone functionality to the phone. It was not available at the time of this review.Its not uncommon for the introduction of a new cell phone to be preceded by a ton of hype. Take for instance, the LG VX85000. Otherwise known as the Chocolate, the VX8500 became the talk of the mobile world after its stateside debut last April at the annual CTIA show. Rumors flew back and forth regarding when wed see it with a U.S. carrier, and finally this week, after being available in Europe and Asia for several months, the Chocolate has landed at Verizon Wireless. After so much speculation, we were eager to find out just what type of chocolate the Chocolate really is. Is it Hersheys or Godiva? The answer seems to lie somewhere in between. By all means, its beautiful and offers decent call quality, but the keys and controls take some getting used to. And though it has stereo Bluetooth, a megapixel camera, a digital music player, and support for Verizons 3G video and music services, it doesnt do much that other cell phones don't do already. And more to the point, it lacks a speakerphone, something even the most basic cell phones offer. On the upside, the Chocolate is fairly priced at $149 with service. From what we can tell the \"Chocolate\" in the LG VX8500s name comes from its basic shape. Sporting a sharply rectangular form factor, the all-black phone does somewhat resemble a dark-chocolate candy bar, but thats all the resemblance we could find. However, it is very sleek and sexy, and we love the cool slider form factor. The dimensions with the slider closed are average (3.8 by 1.58 by 0.69 inches; 3.5 ounces), but it will fit in almost any pocket and wont add significant weight to a bag. Also, while its hardly as thin as the Motorola Razr, it nonetheless has a trim profile that will catch attention. The slider mechanism slips up and down with a solid click, and the phone seems well constructed overall. Though you can make calls with the slider closed, we found it more comfortable to talk in the open position. The LG Chocolates touch pad is unique on a cell phone. The gorgeous display measures two inches diagonally (320x240 pixels) and supports 11 lines of text. With support for 262,000 colors, its one of the most attractive displays weve seen on a cell phone and arguably the best on an LG handset. Graphics and animation were sharp, and colors popped. Our only gripes, and these are small, is that the display has a reflective quality and attracts smudges and fingerprints easily. Also, its hard to see in direct light and nearly impossible to see when the backlighting is off. You can change the clock style, the backlighting time, and the font size but no other options are customizable. Below the display are the navigation controls, which are unlike anything weve seen on a cell phone thus far. Well say off the bat that while theyre intriguing and pretty, they have some big trade-offs. Not only is their overall design and placement on the phone somewhat baffling, it takes practice to understand how to use the controls. The most prominent feature is a round iPod-like touch pad that sits just below the display. Much like a navigation toggle on a more traditional cell phone, the touch pad is divided into four quadrants for each direction (up, down, left, and right) with an OK button in the middle that also open the main menu. The four directional buttons can be set as shortcuts to four user-defined functions, while the left and right keys also serve as back and forward controls when using the music player. The other navigation keys consist of two soft keys that double as shortcuts to the messaging menu and the phone book, a talk button and a dedicated (but oddly marked) back key. Wheres the end/power key you ask? Thats been moved to the Chocolates left spine, which is an odd and unintuitive location for such an oft-used key. Before we grew accustomed to the arrangement, our finger kept pressing the back button by mistake when we wanted to hang up a call. Like the touch pad, all the navigation buttons are touch keys, which means they are extremely sensitive. You can change the sensitivity, but even in the lowest setting, we would activate a button by simply brushing our finger across the phones face. Moreover, you don't get the tactile feel of pressing down on a button when using the controls, and when the backlighting is off, the navigation buttons outside of the circular touch pad disappear completely. Another consequence of the touch-pad controls is that the navigation array locks immediately when the phone is closed and when youre on a call. Though the lock mechanism is necessary to avoid any misdials, it also means you have to press the voice-dialing button on the left spine in order to unlock the controls. The keys also lock when the phone is open, but a quick press of any spine-mounted control will activate them again. Above the voice-dialing button is a volume rocker, while a covered headset jack sits just below it. On the right spine are camera shutter control and music player shortcut buttons, the aforementioned end/power key (also used to stop the media player), and the Micro SD card slot. The camera lens is located behind the slider mechanism, so you must have the phone open to take pictures.The numeric keypad is well designed, with large buttons that are brightly backlit. Theyre also set far enough below the bottom off the slider so that your finger doesnt bump up against it. Though the alphanumeric keys can be slippery are not separated into individual buttons, they do have a tactile feel and move downward when you press them, while giving off an audible click. Fortunately, the Chocolate offers menu themes beyond the standard Verizon design that is now commonplace on the carriers phone. The default \"Rock n Roll\" option uses a Flash-based design where the menu options are arranged in a circle. With this arrangement, our initial instinct was to use the touch pad much like an iPod scrollwheel in order to get to the choice we wanted. Yet we learned quickly that our instincts were wrong, and we had to use the left and right keys to turn the circle instead. Options in the secondary menus are arranged in a simple list format, which is scrollable using the up and down directional buttons but not the volume rocker. We like that you can navigate sideways through secondary menu options. The LG Chocolate comes loaded with multimedia options, but well get the basics out of the way first. The phone book holds 500 contacts, which was below our expectation, but each entry holds five phone numbers and two e-mail addresses. You can organize callers into groups, assign them a picture, or pair them with one of 13 polyphonic ring tones. Other essentials include a vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging, voice command and dialing, a calculator, a calendar, an alarm clock, a world clock, a notepad, a tip calculator, and support for e-mail and instant messaging. Bluetooth is onboard as well and, though in typical Verizon style most object exchange profiles arent supported, you can use the Bluetooth to make calls, send a wireless business card to another Bluetooth device, sync your contacts and calendar with your PC, or connect to a PC for modem calls. And even better, the Chocolate does have a stereo Bluetooth profile, which is still too rare on most phones today. Yet for all that hands-free functionality we were extremely disappointed to learn that the Chocolate does not have a speakerphone. Since even the most basic handsets on the market today, such as the LG C1500, have a speakerphone, its omission on the Chocolate is perplexing and frustrating. Verizon is pushing music as one of the core components of the Chocolate. Like all Verizon phones compatible with the carriers V Cast Music service, you can download tunes directly to the phone. Most of the same restrictions and costs apply here as well: songs downloaded to a PC are 99 cents, while simultaneous downloads to a PC and the phone are $1.99 each. Also, while the integrated digital music player supports both WMA and MP3 formats, any files transferred from a PC must be converted to WMA format first. The music player interface is similar to those on other V Cast Music phones, and we like that you can activate and turn off the player via the spine-mounted shortcut buttons. Navigation through the round touch pad was easy enough, but the other keys proved tricky for the reasons we mentioned earlier. Features on the player include shuffle and repeat modes and an airplane mode. And as previously mentioned, the stereo Bluetooth support is a great touch.Besides downloading music wirelessly, you can transfer it from a PC using a USB cable and Verizons software, or you can load tracks on the phone from a Micro SD card. None of these items comes with the phone, however, so youll need to shell out an additional $30 for the Music Essentials Kit, which includes the software, a USB cable, and a stereo headset for making calls and listening to music. Unfortunately, the only in-box accessory with the Chocolate is an adapter for using your own 2.5mm wired headset (the Chocolate uses a proprietary plug). A Micro SD memory card is also a good investment, since the phones internal memory caps out at 62MB for music and 66MB shared for other applications. The Chocolates camera lacks a flash. As part of its 3G, EV-DO support, the Chocolate is also compatible with Verizons V Cast streaming video service with the full range of content offerings. Also on the visual side is the 1.3-megapixel camera. You can take pictures in five resolutions: 1,280x960, 640x480, 320x240, 176x144, and 160x120. Camera options include a self-timer, brightness and white balance controls, a night mode, five color effects, and three shutter sounds (plus a silent option). Theres no flash, but there is a self-portrait mirror and a 2X zoom for use at the lower resolutions. The camcorder takes 3G2 videos in one resolution (176x144) with sound; editing options are similar to the still camera. Clips meant for multimedia messages are capped at 15 seconds; otherwise you can record up to an hour depending on the available memory. Photo quality was quite good in our tests, with sharp colors and distinct object outlines. In bright conditions, the lighting was a bit washed out. Videos were decent but nothing special as they tended to be grainy and pixelated. We love the Chocolates photo quality. You can personalize the LG Chocolate with a variety of wallpapers, alert sounds, and display themes. If you want more options or more ring tones, polyphonic or MP3, you can download them via the WAP 2.0 wireless browser. No games or special applications are included on the phone, but a variety of options are available for purchase from Verizons Get It Now service. Be advised that gameplay through the touch pad is a bit difficult. We tested the dual-band, dual-mode (CDMA 800/1900; EV-DO) LG VX8500 Chocolate in San Francisco using Verizons service. Call quality was decent overall, and we had no problem getting a signal. There was little static or interference, but at times, callers sounded a bit harsh and robotic. Callers could tell we were using a cell, but they had little trouble hearing or understanding us in most conditions. We were able to pair the Chocolate with the Plantronics Explorer 320 Bluetooth headset and enjoyed reasonable call quality.EV-DO coverage was admirable, and connection speeds were sufficiently speedy. Game downloads took less than a minute, and browsing was hassle-free. On the other hand, streaming video quality on the Chocolate wasnt very sharp. There was heavy choppiness and pixelation, and the sound didnt match the action. Whats more, clips paused for rebuffering on more than a few occasions and at times even froze completely. We were impressed with the music quality overall and found it to be Verizons best-sounding music phone to date, surpassing the LG VX8300 and on a par with Sony Ericssons Walkman phones. You can listen to music without the headphones, but your tunes will sound much better with them. Yet we didnt like the phones proprietary connection, which didnt fit very securely. Keep in mind, the music player wont provide the full range of bass and equalizer options as youll find on a stand-alone MP3 player, but it will do the trick for short to moderate stints. V Cast Music takes a few seconds to access, and song downloads take just over a minute. Check back soon for a full report on Verizons Music Essentials software.The Chocolate has a rated talk time of 3.5 hours and a promised standby time of 10 days. However, our talk-time tests came up short at just 2.5 hours. According to FCC radiation tests, the LG VX8500 Chocolate has a digital SAR rating of 1.13 watts per kilogram. ),
(857,RIM BlackBerry Pearl (Cingular), Note: This product is part of the RIM BlackBerry Pearl series. ., Quick take: Its no secret that Cingular would get its own version of the RIM BlackBerry Pearl, since it was announced at the fall CTIA 2006 show. Now, its officially available through the carrier for $199.99 with a two-year contract and after rebates. If you want e-mail, youll need to tack on some kind of data plan. The Pearl is the first BlackBerry device to incorporate a camera, music, video playback, and expandable media. The Cingular-branded Pearl is largely like the T-Mobile version with the addition of push-to-talk capabilities and support for Cingulars location-based service, TeleNav GPS Navigator. For more information about the smart phone, please read our review of the RIM BlackBerry Pearl for T-Mobile. ),
(858,Sony Ericsson W950i, , The Sony Ericsson W950i is a Walkman phone for the European market. The candy bar handset has all the normal Walkman phone features including a high-end digital music player for MP3 and AAC files, an FM radio, and a melody composer. Other offerings include Bluetooth with a stereo profile, a speakerphone, an infrared port, e-mail, text and multimedia messaging, PC syncing, modem capability, support for 3G UMTS networks, a voice recorder, and basic organizer applications. Its available unlocked for around $700 in the United States. ),
(859,Nokia 6265i, , This Nokia 6265i is a high-end, slim slider phone for MetroPCS. Features include a 2-megapixel camera, an MP3 player, a speakerphone, an FM radio, Bluetooth, a Mini SD card slot, text and multimedia messaging, voice commands, basic organizer applications, and a voice recorder. Its $269 with service. ),
(860,Samsung Jitterbug OneTouch (SPH-A110),Positives: The Jitterbug OneTouch is very easy to use. Its display has large fonts, its buttons are big and easy to press, and contacts can be pre-installed into the phone. It comes with an operator service that guides users through the calling process. It rests comfortably against the ear and the sound quality is great. Negatives: The Jitterbug OneTouch is a little on the bulky side. The volume rocker is in an awkward position. It also doesnt have a numerical keypad, so this may not be the right choice for seniors who want more flexibility in their phones. Facts: The Jitterbug OneTouch is a simple, easy-to-use phone thats ideal for senior citizens who want to stay in touch with loved ones. , Usually when we are asked about the right phone for senior citizens, we say that the easier the phone is to use, the better. It needs to have large, easy-to-read buttons, a bright display, and pared-down features to keep things easy. Well, the Jitterbug OneTouch is certainly one of the easiest phones weve ever used--it doesnt even have a numerical keypad. It is the simpler cousin of the Jitterbug Dial, and both phones were released by a new Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) called GreatCall, which specializes in serving elderly people who want to keep in touch with their relatives. The OneTouch is perfect for our senior citizens who do not want any complications whatsoever when using a phone. OneTouch phones are available now for $147 each.The Jitterbug OneTouch is bulky.The Jitterbug OneTouch looks and feels a lot like the Jitterbug Dial. In fact, it is identical when viewed from the exterior. A bit rounded and bulky, it measures 4x2x1 inches and weighs about 4.4 ounces. It has the same monochrome external screen, as well as the volume rocker underneath it. Just like the Dial, the phone feels great in the hand, especially when cradled next to the ear thanks to soft gray rubber surrounding the speaker. As with the Jitterbug Dial, the first thing youre greeted with when you open the phone is the sound of an actual dial tone. This lets you know that the phone is activated and ready to go, similar to a landline phone. It has the same 1.8-inch, 65,000-color display found on the Dial, complete with large fonts and simple Yes or No questions through its navigation system. As with the Dial, you can scroll through Contacts and Call History pretty easily.The Jitterbug OneTouch has three large buttons.The primary difference between the Dial and the OneTouch is reflected with the keypad. While they both have the On/Off button, large Yes and No buttons, and two arrow keys in the middle for scrolling through lists, the OneTouch does not have an alphanumeric keypad. Instead, the phone simply has three large one-touch buttons--Operator, Home, and 911. The Operator button connects you directly to a GreatCall operator, who can make a call for you, make changes to your Contacts list, or simply answer your questions on how to use the phone. The Home button, of course, connects you directly to your programmed home number, and the 911 button is self-explanatory. The buttons all are very tactile and easy to press. The features on the OneTouch are the same as the Jitterbug Dial: The OneTouch holds up to 50 numbers in its contact list, and allows up to 15 pre-installed numbers. However, since the OneTouch does not have a numerical keypad, you can only edit the numbers via the Operator, the GreatCall Web site, or mail or fax. You also can arrange for your trusted friends or relatives to have access to the list so that they can edit the list for you. For other features of the phone, please read our review of the Jitterbug Dial, as those are the same too. We tested the tri-mode Jitterbug OneTouch (850/1900 CDMA; AMPS) in San Francisco using GreatCalls network. The call quality was great; similar to that of a landline phone. Callers on both ends reported crisp and clear audio quality. The speakerphone sounded very loud, and since it only has one volume setting, it sometimes got a little too loud. However, this is good if you are hard of hearing.The Jitterbug OneTouch has a rated talk time of 3 hours and a rated standby time of 8.3 days. According to FCC radiation tests, it has an SAR rating of 0.5 watts per kilogram. ),
(861,Motorola Razr V3m (pink),Positives: The Motorola Razr V3m adds an integrated music player, VZ Navigator (Verizons GPS navigation service), and a Micro SD card slot. Like the V3c, it has a 1.3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, a speakerphone, EV-DO support, and access to Verizons 3G service. Negatives: The Motorola Razr V3m suffers from poor speakerphone quality, a low-resolution display, and no analog roaming. You also have to remove the battery to access the Micro SD card, which is a bit of a pain. Facts: The Motorola Razr V3m is the same as the Razr V3c in many ways, except for the addition of the music player, the Micro SD card slot, and support for VZ Navigator. Note: This product is part of the Motorola Razr series. ., The Motorola Razr V3m is the successor to the Razr V3c, featuring upgrades such as an integrated music player and a Micro SD card slot.The Motorola Razr V3m is the successor to the Razr V3c, both of which are exclusive to Verizon Wireless. The most notable improvement is the addition of an integrated music player, a Micro SD card slot, and support for VZ Navigator, Verizons GPS navigation service. Otherwise, the Razr V3m looks and feels exactly the same, and it has many of the same features as its sibling. The Razr V3m retails for much cheaper than the V3c--about $119.99 for a two-year contract and $169.99 for a one-year contract--but unless you want an integrated music player on your phone, you shouldnt feel compelled to upgrade. The Motorola Razr V3m looks exactly like the previous Razr V3c. As we mentioned, the Motorola Razr V3m is identical in look and feel to the V3c. It boasts the same sleek profile (3.9 by 2.1 by 0.6 inches) and shares the same gray coloring, external display, controls, flip mechanism, and so forth. The Razr V3m also has the dedicated camera and video recorder key next to the navigation controls. While theres nothing wrong with keeping the design elements, we were a little disappointed that Motorola didnt increase the screens 65,000-color output or add a camera flash. Another complaint we had was with the Verizon menu system (also found on the V3c), still a little confusing to us. For example, the music player and camera functions are hidden in the Get It Now submenu rather than having dedicated icons in the menu. The Motorola Razr V3m has a 1.3-megapixel camera. Now, we hate to sound like a broken record, but the Motorola Razr V3m is very similar to the V3c, even in terms of features. It has a 1,000-contact phone book, caller groups, picture caller ID, and ring-tone caller ID; 25 polyphonic (72-chord) tones are included with the phone. Other features include text and multimedia messaging, a calendar, Bluetooth, voice dialing and commands, a voice recorder, a vibrate mode, an alarm clock, a calculator, a note pad, and a world clock. The 1.3-megapixel camera on the V3m also mirrors that of the V3c, with many of the same settings and options. The only new item we noticed with the V3m was the addition of a self-timer function. Like the Razr V3c, the Razr V3m took pretty decent shots but nothing great. You can read about all the other camera options in our review of the Razr V3c. The Motorola Razr V3m took good but not great shots. The primary attraction of the Motorola Razr V3m is the addition of the MP3 player. To access the music player, navigate to the aforementioned Get It Now submenu, select \"Get tunes & tones,\" then My Music. It supports both MP3 and AAC formats, and you can upload music to the phone or download tunes via Verizons V Cast Music store. We liked that you can create a personalized playlist of songs. With this multimedia functionality, were also glad to see the addition of a Micro SD card slot, giving the V3m more storage options for photos, videos, and music files. Unfortunately, you have to remove the battery in order to access it, which we found annoying.Also new is the addition of Verizons GPS service called VZ Navigator. For a modest fee of $9.99 a month or $2.99 per day, you get a decent GPS service and fewer reasons for getting lost. Along with EV-DO, the V3m also supports V Cast, Verizons high-speed content service. V Cast offers a wide variety of content such as video games, TV show clips, movie previews, and application downloads, while V Cast Music is Verizons online music store that offers speedy downloads of the latest music hits. However, the V Cast service costs $15 per month, and V Cast Music store charges $1.99 per song download.As with the previous Razrs, you can personalize the V3m with a variety of wallpaper, screensavers, and ring tones, along with the option to download more. As for games, Tetris and Pac-Man are included, and you can download more if you want. We tested the dual-band (CDMA 800/1900; EV-DO) Motorola Razr V3m in San Francisco using Verizon Wireless. Call quality was great, and callers had no problem hearing us and vice versa. Speakerphone quality was acceptable. As for the audio quality of the music when heard through the speakers, it was decent but a little one-dimensional, tinny, and nothing too impressive. The Razr V3m supports stereo headsets, but since the V3m doesnt have a regular headset jack, youll have to purchase Motorolas stereo headset ($29.99) separately. V Cast reception was pretty good, and we liked how fast songs and stream video clips downloaded to the phone. The Motorola Razr V3m has a rated talk time of 3 hours and a standby time of 13 days; we managed to eke out a talk time of 3 hours, 58 minutes in our tests. For standby time, we managed 10 days. According to FCC radiation tests, the Razr V3m has a digital SAR rating of 1.14 watts per kilogram. ),
(862,Motorola V365,Positives: The Motorola V365 offers satisfying call quality and a midrange feature set that includes Bluetooth and push-to-talk support. Negatives: The Motorola V365 is bulky, and its camera options and external display are disappointing. Also, its speakerphone and MP3 player sound quality is unimpressive. Facts: The Motorola V365 is a decent Cingular push-to-talk phone, but it isnt very exciting. , Youd be forgiven if you expected Cingulars new Motorola to look like the Motorola V360 for T-Mobile. Though theyre siblings, the V365 barely resembles the V360, and thats a good thing since we never thought the V360 was too pretty. Instead, the V365 flip phone takes its design cues from the Motorola V557. Yes, its overall form factor is bulkier, but it has the same silver face bordered by a dark, rubberized ring with a camera lens perched in the top-left corner. The feature set also is comparable, with offerings such as a VGA camera, Bluetooth, and a speakerphone, but the V365 adds an MP3 player, push-to-talk support (PTT) and a memory-card slot. Performance is satisfactory, too, but we prefer the Sony Ericsson Z525a for a Cingular PTT handset. The V365 is a reasonable $99 with service. The Motorola V365s design is a bit deceiving. It may not look like much when viewed straight on, but when you turn the phone on its side, youll notice immediately that its a whopper. At 3.54 x 1.65 x 0.95 inches, its thicker then some smart phones and almost twice as thick as Motos celebrated Razr. Were not sure why Motorola gave it such girth, as it makes the V365 a bit clunky and heavy (3.9 ounces), but we have to admit its a change from the current thin-phone mania. The V365 fits only in bigger pockets, but it did benefit from a solid construction and a comfortable feel in the hand. Also, it does without the external antenna of similar Moto phones. The Motorola V365 has a stocky profile. The 1-inch-square external display is bigger than the screen on the V360, but sadly, it remains monochrome so theres no support for photo caller ID. It shows the date, the time, battery life, signal strength, and the phone number called ID, but no display options are customizable. Above the display is the camera lens, but the V365 lacks a flash and a self-portrait mirror. The Motorola V365s speaker is on its rear face. A small speaker sits on the rear face of the V365. Its not an ideal location, but were more displeased that Moto stuck the MicroSD card slot behind the battery cover. Surely on such a beefy phone Motorola could have found a better place for it. The voice-command button sits on the right spine just above the mini USB/charger port, while the PTT button and a small volume rocker rest on the left spine above the headset jack. Thankfully, the V365 doesnt use a proprietary connection. The 1.8-inch internal display (176x220 pixels) is typical Motorola. It supports 65,000 colors, which is quite adequate for most uses, but we wish Motorola would embrace 262,000-color resolutions on more of its midrange handsets. You can change the displays brightness and the backlight time, but the font size is fixed. Also, we hope Motorola updates its stodgy menu interface soon. The navigation array is set a good distance from the display due to the oversized hinge, but its tactile and easy to use. A five-way toggle is your primary tool, and you also get two soft keys, a dedicated menu button, and the Talk and End/power controls. Both the toggle and the soft keys can be set as shortcuts to user-defined functions. Finishing the array are shortcut keys for the camera and Cingulars Internet service. The only thing missing is a dedicated back/clear key, but were used to that omission on Moto phones. The keypad buttons are large and well spaced, and we like that theyre raised above the surface of the phone. They also have a bright backlighting for dialing in the dark. The Motorola V360s feature set is soundly midrange. Though it adds some goodies not available on the V557 or the V360, it contains few surprises. The phone book holds a hefty 1,000 contacts, with room in each entry for six phone numbers, a street address, a birth date, and a nickname (the SIM card holds an additional 250 contacts). You can organize callers into groups and assign them any of 14 polyphonic (24-chord) ring tones for caller ID. You can pair them with a photo as well, but remember the images wont appear on the external display. Basic features include a vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging, a calculator, a datebook, and an alarm clock. Beyond the essentials, the V365 also offers full Bluetooth, support for Cingulars PTT network, a speakerphone (usable after you place the call), e-mail, and instant messaging, as well as voice commands and dialing. The Motorola V365s camera is lacking a flash as well as a self-portrait mirror. The VGA camera takes pictures in 640x480, 320x240, and 160x120 resolutions. As on most Motorola camera phones, a handy meter keeps track of how much storage space is left, but photo-editing features were slim. You get a choice of just six lighting conditions, an adjustable brightness control, a 4x zoom, an autotimer, and a selection of five shutter sounds as well as a silent option. The MPEG-4 video recorder takes clips with sound in two resolutions (176x144 and 128x96), and you can choose a lighting setting here as well. Video length is limited to 45 seconds on clips meant for multimedia messages, but you can record longer videos depending on how much memory is available. Internal storage is a tiny 5MB of shared space, so we suggest you invest in a memory card. Photo quality was pretty decent for a VGA camera; the lighting was dark, but colors were distinct and objects werent blurry. The Motorola V365 takes decent photos for a VGA camera. You can personalize the V365 with a variety of wallpaper, screen savers, color themes, and sounds. As always, more choices and ring tones are available from Cingular with the AP 2.0 wireless Web browser. Gaming choices are limited--just one title, Skipping Stones, and a demo version of Bejewled--so youll have to buy more options for extended play. The V365 also comes with a rudimentary MP3 player, but the spartan interface and mediocre sound quality is a turn-off. We tested the Motorola V365 in San Francisco using Cingulars service. We enjoyed respectable call quality for the most part; voices sounded natural, and the volume was loud. We also never had a problem getting a signal and had no interference from other electronic devices. Callers said we sounded fine, though we had to speak close to the mouthpiece in order to be heard. There was a slight echoey effect to some calls, which was exacerbated by the speakerphone. Whats more, the speakerphone wasnt loud enough, and the rear-facing speaker didnt help the situation. The Motorola V365 has a rated battery life of 3.45 hours of talk time and 8.8 days of standby time. Our tests showed a talk time of 3.33 hours. According to FCC radiation tests, the V365 has a digital SAR rating of 1.51 watts per kilogram. ),
(863,Motorola Razr V3m (Sprint),Positives: The Sprint Motorola Razr V3m offers a trendy design, decent call quality, and a notable list of features including Bluetooth, a speakerphone, and support for EV-DO networks. Its menu design and EV-DO offerings are superior to Verizons Razr V3m. Negatives: The Sprint Motorola Razr V3m suffers from poor speakerphone quality, a low-resolution display, and no analog roaming. The location of the memory card slot is poor, and the phones interface was rather sluggish. Facts: The Sprint Motorola Razr V3m offers a few differences from the Verizon Wireless Razr V3m but overall, its roughly the same as its competitor. Note: This product is part of the Motorola Razr series. ., After the Motorola Razr made its debut and found fame in almost every carriers lineup, Sprint remained the lone holdout. As competitors capitalized on the Razr mania, Sprint struck its own path by introducing Razr alternatives such as the equally slim (and better) Samsung MM-A900. But now it appears Sprints Samsung loyalty hasnt been great for business; analysts recently attributed a bad 2006 to the carriers Razr phobia. So a full two years after Moto launched its trendsetting handset, Sprint now offers the Motorola Razr in gray and in a special-edition red version. Sprints V3m is largely similar to its Verizon Wireless counterpart, save for a few look-and-feel differences. At full price, its a wallet-stretching $289, but you should be able to get it for as low as $89 with service. From the exterior, the Sprint Razr V3m is nearly identical to Verizons Razr V3m and to previous incarnations of the phone. It has the thin profile that sparked a cell phone design revolution but also the same boxy appearance when viewed from the front. Of course, Razr devotees will know that at 3.9x2.1x0.6 inches and 3.5 ounces it shares the same dimensions as the Razr V3c, which makes it marginally larger and heavier than the original Razr V3. The other exterior features are unchanged form the Verizon model as well. You get the same 65,000-color external display with the camera lens just above. The camera shortcut sits on the right spine, while the voice recording button and the volume rocker sit on the right spine. Were still not in love with the placement of these controls on the front flap instead of the rear, but were used to it by now.Inside the phone is the familiar 2.25-inch internal display. We still cant understand why the Razr V3m and the Razr V3c use a 65,000-color display (the Razr V3s screen shows 262,000 colors), but its perfectly serviceable for viewing most features. In a welcome move, Sprint ditched Motos stodgy menu interface in favor on its own design that is becoming somewhat standard on most of its handsets. The animated icons are much more appealing than Motos menu design and light years beyond Verizons tedious interface. And in another change, the Sprint yellow is all over the phone. On the downside, only the screens backlighting time is changeable. We don't like the location of the Razr V3ms memory card slot Unfortunately, Sprints Razr V3m inherits the Verizon phones awkward placement of the Micro SD card slot. You have to remove both the battery cover and the battery to pry it out, and even then, youd better ready your fingernails. We realize there arent a lot of places you can stash a memory card slot on a thin phone like the Razr, but surely Moto could have done better.The navigation array shows a few changes from the Verizon Razr V3m. Instead of a dedicated camera shutter control on the left side of the four-way toggle, Sprint chose to feature a dedicated speakerphone button instead. Its a nice change, as you can still use the spine-mounted camera button when the phone is open. Also, the button to the right of the toggle is labeled Back rather than Clear. Both controls do just about the same thing. Otherwise, the overall design and functionality of the toggle, soft keys, and keypad buttons is unchanged. Its worth saying again that we like the increased texture the V3m has between the individual rows of buttons.The Sprint V3ms feature set is slightly different. Theres a 1,000-contact phone book with room in each entry for five phone numbers, an e-mail address, a Web address, and notes. You can save contacts to groups and pair them with a photo and one of 20 (73-chord) polyphonic ring tones. Other features include a vibrate mode, voice dialing and commands, text and multimedia messaging, a voice recorder, a calendar, an alarm clock, a calculator, and a world clock. Theres no notepad (at least on our review phone), but thats not a huge deal. As for high-end offerings, theres the aforementioned speakerphone, e-mail, PC syncing, and USB cable support. The camera on the Sprint Razr V3m doesnt offer a flash. The 1.3-megapixel camera lets you take pictures in three resolutions (Verizons Razr V3m had five choices); you also can choose from three color effects, a digital zoom, three quality settings, brightness and white balance controls, a self-timer, three fun frames, and six shutter sounds (plus a silent option). The camcorder records 30-second videos with sound while offering a similar set of editing options. You can save your work to the phones 23MBof shared memory but we suggest using a Micro SD card (our review phone came with a 64MB card). Like the Verizon model, the Sprint Razr V3m took decent photos. Colors and object outlines were clear, though images overall were slightly washed out The Sprint Razr V3m took acceptable photos. As an EV-DO phone, the Sprint Razr V3m is compatible with the carriers Power Vision streaming video service and its Sprint Music store for music downloads to the onboard digital music player. Further, you get Sprints On Demand service for access to a host of information such as news headlines, sports scores, and weather updates personalized for your zip code. Generally, were more partial to Sprints EV-DO offerings than to Verizons, and this phone is no exception.You can personalize the Sprint Razr V3m with a variety of screensavers, color themes, and sounds. You can always buy more options and more ring tones from Sprint with the WAP 2 wireless Web browser. The phone comes with demo versions only of four Java (J2ME) games (Zuma, Midnight Bowling, Pac-Man, and Tetris). Youll have to buy the full versions for extended play.We tested the dual-band (CDMA 800/1900; EV-DO) Razr V3m in San Francisco using Sprints service. Call quality was satisfactory and comparable to the Verizon Razr V3m. There was a trace more static in the background, but it wasnt enough to lose the phone points. As with most members of the Razr family, the sound could be louder, but the volume level is improved over the Razr V3. On their end, callers said we sounded natural and that they could hear us plainly without any interference. The Razr speakerphones arent the greatest in our opinion, and the Razr V3m suffers from the same scratchy quality. We had to speak close to the phone in order to be heard, but we enjoyed decent volume on our end.Sprint coverage in our area was quite good, and we never had a problem getting a signal. EV-DO coverage also was strong, even in buildings, but it diminished when we tested to the fringes of the urban area. Overall, the streaming video quality was decent, and the videos looked good on the phones display. There was a fair amount of pixelation during quick fades and fast onscreen movement, but we had a better experience than on the Samsung SPH-M500 and the Sanyo SCP-8300, two of Sprints most recent EV-DO handsets. On the other hand, sound quality wasnt spectacular. Though voices matched the speakers mouths, the audio was somewhat harsh. Music quality was about the same, though it seemed a bit louder and is perfectly serviceable for such stints. Yet its worth noting that instead of stereo sound, the Sprint Razr V3m uses a single speaker on the back of the phone. A stereo headset was an improvement, but keep in mind that like all Razrs, Sprints phone uses a proprietary jack.Due to the EV-DO capability, we enjoyed fast downloads and Web browsing. But the phone itself was somewhat sluggish when opening and closing between applications. It was common to have to wait a few seconds when opening and navigating through the menusThe Motorola Razr V3m for Sprint has a rated talk time of 3.2 hours and a rated standby time of 8.3 days. According to FCC radiation tests, the Sprint Razr V3m has a digital SAR rating of 1.41 watts per kilogram. ),
(864,Samsung Jitterbug Dial (SPH-A120),Positives: The Jitterbug Dial is very user-friendly, with a bright display, large and tactile keypad, and many of the same characteristics as a landline cordless phone. You can have the phone pre-installed with contacts, and if you want, you can use the operator to place a call. The phone also has a speakerphone. Negatives: The Jitterbug Dial is rather bulky. The volume rocker is in an awkward position. Voice dialing sometimes takes a few tries before it works. Facts: The Jitterbug Dial is the perfect phone for the elderly or those with poor eyesight. , One of the most overlooked demographics in the cell phone industry is that of our senior citizens. Most cell phones on the market these days are tiny and laden with complicated multimedia features, which may be difficult for the elderly to use. When asked about the right cell phone for the elderly, we usually recommend a phone with large, easy-to-read buttons, a display with large fonts, and one that is devoid of multimedia features, to keep things simple. Such phones can be hard to find, which is why were glad to see a company like GreatCall take the lead in giving us cell phones like the Jitterbug Dial, which matches our description above. GreatCall is a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) that works with Sprint, and specializes in phones and services for baby boomers to keep in touch with their parents. Combined with the GreatCall service, the Jitterbug Dial is perfect for seniors with basic telephone skills. It is available now for $147 each.The Jitterbug Dial is bulky.A far cry from most skinny cell phones, the Jitterbug Dial is big, measuring 4x2x1 inches and weighing 4.4 ounces, with a rounded and curved body. Styled in white with slight beige and gray accents, the Dial is not a looker by any means. On the front is a small 0.8-inch monochrome external screen that displays the time and date as well as caller ID. Below the screen is the volume rocker. When the phone is open, we found it a little awkward to change the volume since we had to reach behind the device to access the volume rocker. But that is a minor quibble. The phone feels comfortable in the hand, and even more comfortable when held against the ear, thanks to a soft rubber cushion surrounding the speaker. This cushion is built to accommodate hearing aids as well. Open the phone and youll notice the first thing that makes this phone so great for seniors: An actual dial tone. With this simple innovation, you immediately know that the phone is active and ready to go, similar to a landline phone. The 1.8-inch, 65,000-color display is bright, with large fonts immediately greeting you with a message asking whether you want to place a call. There is essentially no real menu to navigate -- all you have are simple Yes or No questions that will guide you on your Call History, Contacts list, and so forth. You can scroll through your Contacts or Call History, but thats about it.The Jitterbug Dial has large keypad buttons.The usability of the keypad is where this phone really shines. There is a dedicated On/Off button, as well as large Yes and No buttons, along with two simple arrow keys in the middle to scroll through lists. The number keys are similarly large and amazingly tactile, making it very easy to dial by feel if you so choose. Using this phone couldnt be easier. Features of the phone are fairly basic, which is understandable considering its target demographic. The phones contacts list holds up to 50 numbers, and you can even have up to 15 numbers pre-programmed by GreatCall when ordering the phone. You have a few ways to add or remove numbers from your contacts list -- you can either do it manually through the phones simple interface, or you can dial zero for the operator to do it for you. Alternatively, you can mail or fax your desired changes to GreatCall. Another great option is to change your contacts list via the GreatCall Web site. You can arrange for your friends or relatives to have access to this list, so they can help edit your contacts list for you.Other basic features include voicemail, voice dialing, a speakerphone, a battery management alert that tells you when the phone needs charging, and the ability to create lists. You can create and update the lists via operator or a secure Web page on GreatCall. Activating the speakerphone is a little tricky. You can only turn it on during a call, and you do so by increasing the volume repeatedly until it turns into Speakerphone mode. We also found that voice dialing sometimes takes a few tries before it understands what youre saying. However, GreatCall provides operator services to hold your hand at every step of the way in case you have any questions -- you can even make calls through the operator for an additional fee. We tested the tri-mode Jitterbug Dial (850/1900 CDMA; AMPS) in San Francisco using GreatCalls network. Call quality was excellent, and callers could not tell we were on a cell phone. The speakerphone was very loud, and since we could not change its volume, it was sometimes a little too loud for us. The Jitterbug Dial has a rated talk time of 3 hours and a rated standby time of 8.3 days. According to FCC radiation tests, it has an SAR rating of 0.5 watts per kilogram. ),
(865,Pantech C120,Positives: The simple Pantech C120 is easy to use and offers decent performance for its size. It also comes with a VGA camera. Negatives: The Pantech C120s volume could be louder and the speakerphone quality was poor. The camera does not record video. Facts: The Pantech C120 is a decent choice for anyone seeking an easy-to-use phone for making calls. Frequent users should look elsewhere, however. , Pantechs last handset for Cingular service was the diminutive C300. Though it offered respectable features and performance, it was so tiny that it would be easy to confuse it with a toy--certainly not the best way to appeal to a mass audience. With its new C120, however, Pantech aims to cast a wider net of users. Though the C120 is still small, its simple candy bar shape casts a bigger shadow. The feature set doesnt go beyond a VGA camera and a low-quality speakerphone, but its a decent handset for anyone who wants an uncomplicated phone for occasional--but not frequent--use. Its available for $89 with a monthly service plan or with the carriers Go phone prepaid service.In the cell phone fashion show, the Pantech C120 doesnt even get invited. Its basic candy bar shape is about as minimalist as you can get, and its ordinary silver color scheme makes no effort to stand out. Thats not a bad thing by any means, and its almost welcome after seeing so many design-centric models this year, but its clear the C120 is not meant for anyone hoping to stand out on the street. At 4.06x1.67x0.53 inches, its a hair taller than many flip phones but small enough to slip into a pants pocket. At 2.65 ounces, its slightly heavier than its predecessor, but this time Pantech built an internal antenna. The phone feels mostly comfortable in the hand--though usually we prefer a bit more girth--and it had a solid construction.The display measure 1.5 inches diagonally (128x128 pixels) and supports 65,000 colors. It wont knock your socks off, but it does its job quite well considering the phones size and price. Colors were vivid, though the display had a slight washed-out effect. You cant change the brightness but you can alter the contrast and the backlight time. The menu interface is simple and easy to master.The navigation controls are on the small side, but theyre user-friendly and Pantech did the best it could on a compact handset such as the C120. A five-way joystick and two soft keys are your primary navigation tools, while the talk and end/power buttons and a clear key sit just below. In standby mode the joystick acts as a shortcut to the messaging menu, the instant messenger, the phone book, and the \"My stuff\" menu. Pressing the joystick down opens the Web browser, while the soft keys give one-touch access to the main menu and the camera. The keypad buttons are tactile, and we like that theyre raised above the surface of the phone. Theyre brightly backlit as well.The camera sits on the back of the phone just below a self-portrait mirror and next to a small speaker. Unfortunately, theres no flash. A volume rocker sits on the left spine, while a covered headset jack and a camera shortcut sit on the right spine. The C120 has an 800-contact phone book with room in each entry for 3 phone numbers, 2 e-mail addresses, and notes. You can pair contacts with a photo or one of 10 polyphonic ring tones. Other features include a vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging, an alarm clock, a calendar, a memo pad, a voice recorder, a world clock, a stopwatch, and a unit converter. Beyond the basics, the C120 also offers a speakerphone and instant messaging for AOL, MSN, and Yahoo. The C120 took acceptable photos for a VGA camera. The VGA camera is limited so shutterbugs should stay clear. It takes pictures in two resolutions (6,140x480 and 128x128) and you get just eight color effects, a self-timer, and three shutter sounds (plus a silent option). Theres also a 4x zoom but you can use it only at the 4x zoom, where it doesnt have much effect at all. The C120 offers only 2.8MB of usable shared memory so don't get too snap happy. Picture quality was pretty decent--colors were mostly sharp and objects distinct. Unfortunately, the C120s camera does not record video.You can personalize the C120 with a selection of wallpaper and sounds, and you can compose your own greeting. You can download additional customization options and ring tones from Cingular with the WAP 2.0 wireless Web browser. Only one Java J2ME game is included (AquaPangPang) but you can buy more titles if gaming is your thing. Just be warned that the C120s small display isnt conducive for extended play.We tested the C120 in San Francisco using Cingulars service. Call quality was comparable to the C300--decent overall but with a slight hollow sound. And again, the volume wasnt very loud. Callers reported a similar experience; in particular they had trouble hearing us in noisy environments. Unfortunately, the speakerphone wasnt improved over the C300s. You had to speak close to the phone and in any case we avoided using it.The C120 has a rated battery life of 3 hours talk time and 10 days standby time. It has a tested talk time of 2 hours and 57 minutes. According to FCC radiation tests, the C120 has a digital SAR rating of 1.13 watts per kilogram. ),
(866,Motorola Razr V3m (Sprint),Positives: The Sprint Motorola Razr V3m offers a trendy design, decent call quality, and a notable list of features including Bluetooth, a speakerphone, and support for EV-DO networks. Its menu design and EV-DO offerings are superior to Verizons Razr V3m. Negatives: The Sprint Motorola Razr V3m suffers from poor speakerphone quality, a low-resolution display, and no analog roaming. The location of the memory card slot is poor, and the phones interface was rather sluggish. Facts: The Sprint Motorola Razr V3m offers a few differences from the Verizon Wireless Razr V3m but overall, its roughly the same as its competitor. Note: This product is part of the Motorola Razr series. ., After the Motorola Razr made its debut and found fame in almost every carriers lineup, Sprint remained the lone holdout. As competitors capitalized on the Razr mania, Sprint struck its own path by introducing Razr alternatives such as the equally slim (and better) Samsung MM-A900. But now it appears Sprints Samsung loyalty hasnt been great for business; analysts recently attributed a bad 2006 to the carriers Razr phobia. So a full two years after Moto launched its trendsetting handset, Sprint now offers the Motorola Razr in gray and in a special-edition red version. Sprints V3m is largely similar to its Verizon Wireless counterpart, save for a few look-and-feel differences. At full price, its a wallet-stretching $289, but you should be able to get it for as low as $89 with service. From the exterior, the Sprint Razr V3m is nearly identical to Verizons Razr V3m and to previous incarnations of the phone. It has the thin profile that sparked a cell phone design revolution but also the same boxy appearance when viewed from the front. Of course, Razr devotees will know that at 3.9x2.1x0.6 inches and 3.5 ounces it shares the same dimensions as the Razr V3c, which makes it marginally larger and heavier than the original Razr V3. The other exterior features are unchanged form the Verizon model as well. You get the same 65,000-color external display with the camera lens just above. The camera shortcut sits on the right spine, while the voice recording button and the volume rocker sit on the right spine. Were still not in love with the placement of these controls on the front flap instead of the rear, but were used to it by now.Inside the phone is the familiar 2.25-inch internal display. We still cant understand why the Razr V3m and the Razr V3c use a 65,000-color display (the Razr V3s screen shows 262,000 colors), but its perfectly serviceable for viewing most features. In a welcome move, Sprint ditched Motos stodgy menu interface in favor on its own design that is becoming somewhat standard on most of its handsets. The animated icons are much more appealing than Motos menu design and light years beyond Verizons tedious interface. And in another change, the Sprint yellow is all over the phone. On the downside, only the screens backlighting time is changeable. We don't like the location of the Razr V3ms memory card slot Unfortunately, Sprints Razr V3m inherits the Verizon phones awkward placement of the Micro SD card slot. You have to remove both the battery cover and the battery to pry it out, and even then, youd better ready your fingernails. We realize there arent a lot of places you can stash a memory card slot on a thin phone like the Razr, but surely Moto could have done better.The navigation array shows a few changes from the Verizon Razr V3m. Instead of a dedicated camera shutter control on the left side of the four-way toggle, Sprint chose to feature a dedicated speakerphone button instead. Its a nice change, as you can still use the spine-mounted camera button when the phone is open. Also, the button to the right of the toggle is labeled Back rather than Clear. Both controls do just about the same thing. Otherwise, the overall design and functionality of the toggle, soft keys, and keypad buttons is unchanged. Its worth saying again that we like the increased texture the V3m has between the individual rows of buttons.The Sprint V3ms feature set is slightly different. Theres a 1,000-contact phone book with room in each entry for five phone numbers, an e-mail address, a Web address, and notes. You can save contacts to groups and pair them with a photo and one of 20 (73-chord) polyphonic ring tones. Other features include a vibrate mode, voice dialing and commands, text and multimedia messaging, a voice recorder, a calendar, an alarm clock, a calculator, and a world clock. Theres no notepad (at least on our review phone), but thats not a huge deal. As for high-end offerings, theres the aforementioned speakerphone, e-mail, PC syncing, and USB cable support. The camera on the Sprint Razr V3m doesnt offer a flash. The 1.3-megapixel camera lets you take pictures in three resolutions (Verizons Razr V3m had five choices); you also can choose from three color effects, a digital zoom, three quality settings, brightness and white balance controls, a self-timer, three fun frames, and six shutter sounds (plus a silent option). The camcorder records 30-second videos with sound while offering a similar set of editing options. You can save your work to the phones 23MBof shared memory but we suggest using a Micro SD card (our review phone came with a 64MB card). Like the Verizon model, the Sprint Razr V3m took decent photos. Colors and object outlines were clear, though images overall were slightly washed out The Sprint Razr V3m took acceptable photos. As an EV-DO phone, the Sprint Razr V3m is compatible with the carriers Power Vision streaming video service and its Sprint Music store for music downloads to the onboard digital music player. Further, you get Sprints On Demand service for access to a host of information such as news headlines, sports scores, and weather updates personalized for your zip code. Generally, were more partial to Sprints EV-DO offerings than to Verizons, and this phone is no exception.You can personalize the Sprint Razr V3m with a variety of screensavers, color themes, and sounds. You can always buy more options and more ring tones from Sprint with the WAP 2 wireless Web browser. The phone comes with demo versions only of four Java (J2ME) games (Zuma, Midnight Bowling, Pac-Man, and Tetris). Youll have to buy the full versions for extended play.We tested the dual-band (CDMA 800/1900; EV-DO) Razr V3m in San Francisco using Sprints service. Call quality was satisfactory and comparable to the Verizon Razr V3m. There was a trace more static in the background, but it wasnt enough to lose the phone points. As with most members of the Razr family, the sound could be louder, but the volume level is improved over the Razr V3. On their end, callers said we sounded natural and that they could hear us plainly without any interference. The Razr speakerphones arent the greatest in our opinion, and the Razr V3m suffers from the same scratchy quality. We had to speak close to the phone in order to be heard, but we enjoyed decent volume on our end.Sprint coverage in our area was quite good, and we never had a problem getting a signal. EV-DO coverage also was strong, even in buildings, but it diminished when we tested to the fringes of the urban area. Overall, the streaming video quality was decent, and the videos looked good on the phones display. There was a fair amount of pixelation during quick fades and fast onscreen movement, but we had a better experience than on the Samsung SPH-M500 and the Sanyo SCP-8300, two of Sprints most recent EV-DO handsets. On the other hand, sound quality wasnt spectacular. Though voices matched the speakers mouths, the audio was somewhat harsh. Music quality was about the same, though it seemed a bit louder and is perfectly serviceable for such stints. Yet its worth noting that instead of stereo sound, the Sprint Razr V3m uses a single speaker on the back of the phone. A stereo headset was an improvement, but keep in mind that like all Razrs, Sprints phone uses a proprietary jack.Due to the EV-DO capability, we enjoyed fast downloads and Web browsing. But the phone itself was somewhat sluggish when opening and closing between applications. It was common to have to wait a few seconds when opening and navigating through the menusThe Motorola Razr V3m for Sprint has a rated talk time of 3.2 hours and a rated standby time of 8.3 days. We tested it and our results were a talk time of 3 hours and 11 minutes. According to FCC radiation tests, the Sprint Razr V3m has a digital SAR rating of 1.41 watts per kilogram. ),
(867,Bang & Olufsen Serene,Positives: The Bang & Olufsen Serene is a beautiful and elegant phone with a truly unique design. It even has a built-in motor to assist you in opening and closing the phone. Negatives: The Bang & Olufsen Serene is not built for practicality. It requires a special screwdriver to access the battery and the SIM card, and its circular keypad takes some getting used to. The phones camera lens is positioned on the side of the device, making it difficult to align snapshots via the viewfinder on the display. Also, the Serene is extremely cost-prohibitive. Facts: The Bang & Olufsen Serene is a showpiece of a cell phone with a design unlike any other. Unfortunately, form does not meet function, and the Serene is more suited to be showcased in a museum rather than carried around in your pocket. , Photo gallery:Bang & Olufsen Serene ),
(868,Motorola Silver RAZR V3m (US Cellular), Note: This product is part of the Motorola Razr series. ., Quick take: The Motorola Razr V3m US Cellular is an alternate version of the Razr V3m for Verizon. Though the feature set is comparable, US Cellulars Razr V3m comes in both silver and fire red. You can get it for $109 with service. For a thorough analysis of the Verizon model, please see our review. ),
(869,LG enV (VX9900),Positives: The LG enV offers an impressive feature set, an easy-to-use QWERTY keyboard, and decent call quality. Negatives: The enVs streaming video quality could be better, and the boxy design has its quirks. Also, its external display is small and not very useful. Facts: The design still isnt perfect, but the LG enV is a high-quality messaging and multimedia cell phone. , The new LG enV for Verizon Wireless has been one of the most anticipated cell phones of the autumn season. As the successor to the popular LG VX9800, the enV (or VX9900) inherits its predecessors QWERTY keyboard, high-end feature set, and admirable performance while offering a number of refinements that make it both new and improved. Again, we have some design complaints, but for messaging and multimedia addicts whove outgrown a T-Mobile Sidekick, the enV is a solid choice. For now its priced quite fairly at $150 with service.DesignLG must have learned from its previous mistakes when it designed the enV. Yes, the phone is still boxy like the VX9800, but smoother lines give it a sleeker and more professional look. At 4.64x2.08x0.78 inches, its thinner and narrower than its predecessor (4.57x1.97x1.0 inches) even if it is a tad taller. And though its still hefty at 4.6 ounces, it is noticeably lighter than the VX9800 (5.19 ounces) and feels more comfortable in the hand. As with the VX9800, you can talk on the enV while it is open, but its rather awkward to do so.The 65,000-color external display has the same color resolution as on the VX9800, but at 1.25 inches diagonally, its actually smaller. Though we get that a smaller phone means a smaller screen, we suggest that users with visual impairments should test the phone first. You can use it to navigate through the phones menus, but the small screen size means we had to do a lot of scrolling to find the feature we wanted. Also, since not all menu options are available, we had to open the phone repeatedly just to access certain applications. In standby mode, it shows the date, time battery life, signal strength, and photo caller ID. You can change the backlight time and the dialing font size.The camera lens and flash sit on the back of the phone, and this time LG added a lens cover--nice. As with the VX9800, the phones ergonomics are like that of a real camera--particularly when you hold it horizontally. Again, theres a dedicated camera shutter control on the left spine, and were glad to see the volume rocker adjusts the zoom instead of changing the orientation, as it did on the VX9800. The former arrangement was just awkward. The external display is your camera viewfinder, but its worth noting that unlike those of most cell phones, the display has a landscape orientation. That means you must flip the phone on its side to take portrait shots instead of the other way around. The navigation array and keypad buttons show improvements as well. Besides having a more spacious overall layout, theyre also bigger and more tactile. The four-way toggle doubles as a shortcut to four user-defined functions, while an OK button sits in the center. There are also two soft keys, the Talk and End/Power controls, and a Clear key. The latter also functions as the voice-dialing button, which is a bit strange. A side-mounted voice-dialing control would be much more intuitive. The text on the keypad buttons is a tad small, but the buttons are brightly backlit. Fortunately, theyre also raised above the surface of the phone, and its easy to dial by feel. Completing the exterior of the enV are a volume rocker and a camera-shutter control on the left spine. Both controls were tactile and easy to find by feel. The memory card slot--now Micro SD instead of Mini SD--hasnt been moved from the right spine nor has the headset jack just above it. The covered charger port is on the bottom of the enV.The hinge mechanism has a solid construction, and we like that it opens a full 180 degrees. Yet due to the bulge of the camera lens and the new way the hinge opens (the front flap now wraps behind the rear flap), you cant rest the phone on a table evenly. That is annoying. Whats more, its difficult to use the left spine controls unless the phone is completely open.The enVs 2.25-inch, 62,000-color internal screen is on a par with its predecessor. Its bright and vivid with readable text, and its great for viewing graphics and taking photos. You can change the backlighting time, and we were glad to see LG add several choices for the font, size, and color. In an unexpected twist, the main menu page uses icons instead of the tabs found on Verizons standard interface. Its a nice change, considering that weve never warmed to the tabs, although once youre inside a submenu, the dreaded tabs appear again. Stereo speakers sit on both sides of the display.The internal navigation array is again set just to the left of the QWERTY keyboard. Its almost unchanged except that its now black instead of silver. The toggle and central OK button are large and easy to use, and the toggle can be set as a shortcut to four user-defined functions. You also get another set of Talk and End/Power buttons, while in a smart move, LG separated the Clear button and the speakerphone control into two separate keys. The thin soft keys just below the display still are a bit small, but due to the new placement of the hinge, theyre no longer scrunched up next to the display. The extra room makes them more tactile and comfortable to use. Though the placement of the aforementioned OK button way to the left of the display was a bit disconcerting on the VX9800, were used to it by now. The enVs keyboard is slightly refined. LG did a minor overhaul of the QWERTY keypad with satisfying results. The keys felt more tactile, and we liked that they are square rather than oval. Here again, there are dedicated Shift, symbol, and Enter keys, but LG ditched the VX9800s menu shortcuts control in favor of a new E-mail button that gives one-touch access to the wireless sync feature. LG also added a second space bar to the left of the Z button, but wed prefer it to be in the middle as it is on the Sidekick. FeaturesThe enVs feature set is impressive and offers some goodies not available on the VX9800. But first, well address the basics. The 1,000-contact phone book (double the capacity of the VX9800) has room in each entry for six phone numbers, two e-mail addresses, and notes. You can save contacts to groups and pair them with a photo and one of 18 polyphonic ring tones. Other essentials include a vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging, voice commands and dialing, instant messaging, a calendar, an alarm clock, a world clock, a notepad, a tip calculator, and a voice memo. For more demanding users, the enV also comes with e-mail, wireless syncing, a speakerphone, and text-to-speech dictation. Bluetooth 1.2 is onboard as well with profiles for headsets, dial-up networking, file transfer, object push, and A2DP stereo sound.As an EV-DO phone, the enV supports the full range of Verizons 3G services including the V Cast video service and the V Cast music store. The music players interface is identical to those on other Verizon phones, but its worth noting that you cant access the V Cast or music downloading menus from the external display.
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