Sony Vaio PCG-Z1A Review

When you hear the phrase, "Curves that captivate," you probably don't think immediately of a notebook PC. But that's what Sony Electronics' Web site promises for the new Vaio Z series portables -- Sony's first built around Intel's new Centrino bundle of a battery-thrifty chipset, Pro/Wireless 2100 WiFi (11Mbps 802.11b) wireless network adapter, and Pentium M processor.

Actually, svelte-design-wise, the Vaio PCG-Z1A tested here is fractionally thicker than the long-popular Vaio 505 models with older mobile Pentium 4 CPUs. But the Z1A has a bigger 14.1- rather than 12.1-inch screen, with 1,400 by 1,050-pixel SXGA+ resolution. And it has those curves -- notches carved out on either side of a recessed keyboard and covered when the screen is closed.

The notch on the left holds microphone, headphone, i.Link (Sony's name for IEEE 1394 FireWire) and two USB 2.0 ports; the right recess holds the 56Kbps modem (Ethernet and VGA ports are at the back) and a light-up power button. Along with an elegantly thin LCD, the design follows Sony's tradition of offering the closest thing to a conversation piece or status symbol you can get in this even-school-kids-have-laptops age ... and charging a premium for it. With a 1.3GHz Pentium M chip, 512MB of DDR266 memory, a 60GB hard disk, and DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive, the sleek Z1A costs $2,400.

If you want Windows XP Professional instead of Home Edition, add $100. If you'd like to step up to the 1.5GHz Pentium M and 1GB of memory, you'll pay a hefty $3,000; a model with a 1.6GHz processor and double-capacity battery is a positively painful $4,000. (Note that the two upscale models use 512MB PC2100 modules; the Z1A comes with one fixed and one plug-in 256MB module, so its system ceiling is 768MB.)

But if you have a $2,400 budget and a busy travel schedule, the Vaio Z1A offers more than just a pretty face: It's slim and light enough to spoil you for more portly portables, at 9.7 by 12.4 by 1.5 inches and 4.7 pounds (even its AC adapter is trim at 12 ounces).

Its 1.3GHz Pentium M processor isn't the fastest in the portable class, but performs very well, thank you -- at least as fast as 1.7GHz or 1.8GHz mobile Pentium 4 systems. Battery life is a bit above average, too, if not the marathon run that Intel's Centrino advertising blitz boasts (let's remember this is a lightweight laptop with a relatively small lithium-ion pack). The 60GB Hitachi hard disk and Matsushita 8X DVD-ROM/8/4/24X CD-RW combo drive work swiftly and quietly.

Add an appealing software bundle -- with Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0, InterVideo WinDVD 4, the McAfee.com security service, Microsoft Works, and both Microsoft Money and Quicken New User Edition as well as Sony's high-quality, house-brand image, video, and audio-file managers -- and you have a capable contender. Even with some minor gripes about its keyboard, touchpad, and screen, we find the Z1A's combination of capability, style, and slimness, well, captivating.

Not only does the new Pentium M reverse Intel's recent mania for higher clock speed as the holy grail of CPU performance, but the highest-clock-speed 1.6GHz Pentium M chip bears such a high price that most vendors seem to be settling for lesser models. So we were pleasantly surprised to see the 1.3GHz Vaio post a BAPco SysMark 2002 application-suite score of 140, mixing a 153 in Internet Content Creation with 129 in Office Productivity. The latter figure, it's worth noting, is on par with at least one 2.2GHz Pentium 4-M laptop and even a couple of 2.4GHz and 2.53GHz Pentium 4 desktops we've tested over the past year.

The slimline's FutureMark PCMark 2002 scores were an equally respectable 4,270 (CPU); 4,095 (memory); and 597 (hard disk). Sony shortchanged its reputation for image and video excellence, however, by opting for an economy-model 16MB ATI Mobility Radeon graphics controller (not to be confused with the latest Mobility Radeon 7500 and 9000 chips): The Z1A puttered to a lackadaisical 1,701 in FutureMark's 3DMark 2001 SE Pro and managed only a limping 30 frames per second when playing Quake III Arena in High Quality 1,024 by 768 mode.

That said, the 14.1-inch LCD looks sharp -- especially for widescreen DVD viewing, though the stereo speakers are typically small and tinny and only the top two or three of the nine brightness settings were clear enough for our middle-aged eyes. Even then, we sometimes found ourselves squinting at tiny text and icons on the 1,400 by 1,050-pixel display -- we've enjoyed SXGA+ resolution on 15.0-inch and larger laptop screens, but frankly would have been just as happy if Sony had stuck with trusty old XGA (1,024 by 768) for the 14.1-inch viewing area.

In fact, there is a Vaio Z1A1 model with just such a screen, priced at $2,200, but it also skimps with a 40GB rather than 60GB hard disk and 256MB rather than 512MB of standard memory -- one compromise too many, we think, for its $200 savings over our Z1A. Naturally, you can use Windows' Control Panel or ATI's taskbar-tray utility to set the system's screen resolution to 1,024 by 768 instead of its native mode, but the results look too pixilated to please the eye.

As long as we're grumbling, the Z1A's keyboard offers a flat but reasonable typing feel and full-sized arrangement of alphanumerics, but gets a little cramped around the edges -- the right Shift key is small, and Home, End, PgUp, and PgDn get doubled up on the cursor arrows via a Fn key, as with many downsized laptops. The color-coordinated touchpad is attractive, but felt slightly more scratchy or prone to occasional skips than most we've tried.

Handy switches at the top right let you turn the WiFi radio on or off (the latter helps save battery life) and use two buttons that can be customized from a limited range of functions (the defaults are audio mute and maximum screen brightness). In addition to the abovementioned USB 2.0, FireWire, audio, Ethernet, VGA, and modem ports, you'll find slots for a single Type II PC Card and one of Sony's Memory Stick flash modules. An external USB floppy drive is an $80 option.

You'll also find fairly impressive battery life for a lightweight: While we never came close to Sony's "up to 6.5 hours" claim, our test unit lasted two and a half hours in the PCMark 2002 (CPU, hard disk, memory, and video playback) test loop and averaged an even three hours in our real-world work sessions, even those skewed toward battery-draining software installation and multimedia play rather than idle word processing. If you don't mind adding some extra weight, a double-capacity (8,800 versus 4,400 mAh) lithium-ion pack is a $500 option; a spare regular battery is $300, and a high-speed 802.11a wireless networking PC Card is $160.

All told, the Vaio Z1A lives up to both Intel's Centrino hype and Sony's slimline-chic heritage; it's a great-looking, good-performing, slightly pricey portable for upscale business users. Next time your coworker shows off her new Tablet PC, you can strike back for old-school notebook style.

HP Compaq nc8000 series

The retro styling of HP Compaq's business-oriented nc8000 notebooks may not appeal to everyone, but the speed, endurance, and sturdiness of these laptops certainly will. The nc8000 series also adds firmware security to keep out the bad guys and keep prying eyes away from your data. If you can get by the less-than-stellar pointer controls, you'll love the keyboard and the overall experience. We think the nc8000 is on a par with our other Editors' Choice, the Dell Latitude D800.With a slightly retro, art-deco look and rather ponderous, 12.8-by10.8-by-1.6-inch (W/D/H) dimensions, the HP Compaq nc8000 desktop may strike some as chunky--but only before they sit down to use one. The impression of stubbiness will quickly morph into an appreciation for this solid-feeling notebook. The deck area supporting the keyboard, which exhibits too much flex on many notebooks, feels firm on the nc8000. In turn, this makes typing on the full-size, nicely laid-out keyboard feel just like you're sitting in front of a desktop PC. But as solid as it feels, the nc8000 still weighs only about 7.5 pounds with the optical drive and the AC adapter.Perhaps after spending so much time creating a superior typing experience, HP Compaq's designers ran out of time. Whatever the reason, the unit's pointer controls are a disappointment. The touchpad is slugglish, and the eraser head requires too much pressure; the top pair of selection buttons feels flimsy; and the bottom pair of selection buttons is stiff.On the plus side, the nc8000 ran nearly cool to the touch in our hands, with only a little heat emanating from the middle of the bottom panel during our full-on graphics testing on AC power. The nc8000 also has above-average sound, with the front-edge-mounted speakers producing a surprising amount of volume and lower midrange. It's no boombox, but it's better than average for a notebook, and it's loud enough for tabletop presentations.

The standard array of connectors lines the edges of the nc8000: on the front, audio mute and volume controls; on the right, audio in/out jacks, dual Type II PC Card slots, an SD memory slot, and a modem port; on the left, a modular drive bay; and on the back, Gigabit Ethernet, VGA, parallel, PS/2, serial, AC jack, mini-FireWire, and USB 2.0 ports.

The nc8000 is currently sold in four preconfigured models, ranging from $2,049 to $2,849; however, you may season to taste with a variety of options: an Intel Pentium M processor from 1.4GHz to 1.7GHz; 256MB to 2,048MB of 333MHz DDR memory; 40GB or 60GB 5,400rpm hard drives; and a 15-inch screen with your choice of native resolution: 1,024x768 XGA; 1,400x1,050 SXGA+; or 1,600x1,200 UXGA (the latter two displays offer wide viewing angles). An ATI Radeon 9600 Mobility, with your choice of 64MB or 128MB of graphics memory, packs enough punch for all but the most avid gamers.

HP Compaq also markets an nw8000 as part of this line, with the main difference being the GPU. The nw8000 features ATI's Fire GL T2 OpenGL-certified graphics processor with 128MB of dedicated graphics memory.

Modules for the nc8000's left-mounted HP MultiBay (also found on the smaller nc6000) include a DVD+RW drive, a 24X/10X/24X+8X CD-RW/DVD combo drive, a 24X CD-RW drive, a 8X DVD-ROM drive, a 24X CD-ROM drive, a second battery ($169), a second hard drive, and a floppy drive. Wireless options include 802.11b/a/g and Bluetooth.

The nc8000 also features HP Protect Tools Embedded Security, a rather lengthy moniker for a security solution that includes firmware, software, and smart-card components. Advanced user verification and file encryption are its two main features.

The nc8000 comes preloaded with Microsoft Windows XP Professional or Windows 2000 for its operating system. The software utility bundle includes HP Compaq's Insight Management Agents, Intelligent Manageability Diagnostics for Windows, a plethora of user documentation, and Adobe's Acrobat Reader for displaying the system documentation.

The HP nc8000 came in second place in mobile performance in our latest roundup of mainstream systems. Hot on its heels was the Toshiba Tecra T1, which came in just two points lower than the HP nc8000. The IBM ThinkPad T41 was the winner, scoring nine points higher than the HP nc8000. In real-world terms, however, this is a very small difference that wouldn't translate to any noticeable performance gap between the two, since they both scored high. The HP nc8000 definitely has what it takes to run office and content-creation apps at a fast clip.

System configurations:

HP Compaq nc8000
Windows XP Professional; 1.6GHz Intel Pentium M; 512MB DDR SDRAM 333MHz; ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 32MB; Toshiba MK6022GAX 60GB 5,400rpm

IBM ThinkPad T41
Windows XP Professional; 1.6GHz Intel Pentium M; 512MB DDR SDRAM 266MHz; ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 32MB; IBM Travelstar 40GN 40GB 5,400rpm

Toshiba Tecra M1
Windows XP Professional; 1.6GHz Intel Pentium M; 512MB DDR SDRAM 266MHz; Trident Video Accelerator Cyber-X P4 32MB; Toshiba MK6022GAX 60GB 5,400rpm

The HP Compaq nc8000 is a top performer in battery life. Thanks to its 14.4V, 4,400mAh (63WHr) battery, the system lasted much more than five hours, delivering one of the best single battery scores from a mainstream system we've seen. Neither the IBM ThinkPad T41, with its 10.8V, 4.400mAh (48WHr) battery, nor the Toshiba Tecra M1 could stand up to the power of the HP Compaq nc8000's cell. For a mainstream notebook--or any notebook for that matter--this great battery life is something most users will appreciate.

Sony PCG-X505/SP

Introduction

Since we deal with high-end consumer electronics on a daily basis, it usually takes a revolutionary product to really get our attention here in the office. Every once in a while a product comes across the proverbial review desk that catches us by surprise.

Throughout 2003, we saw notebook computers gain in power and shrink in size; from the large 6lb Gateway MC675S workstation notebook with the 17” display to the tiny and elegant JVC 7310 Interlink sub-notebook that is striking in many respects.

Nothing we've seen in the last year could have prepared us for what Sony had in store for us. Weighing in at just around 800 grams (around 2 lbs), The Sony PCG-X505 series laptops are most likely the thinnest and lightest laptops in the world. Featuring Nickel Carbon and Carbon Fiber construction and packing a 1GHz Centrino processor with 512MB of memory, these little notebooks set a new benchmark in sub-notebook design. Of course with innovation comes a price but those willing to pay for cutting edge electronics will be handsomely rewarded by the Sony X505. The Nickel Carbon model has a price of $3,499 while the Carbon Fiber costs more at $3,999.

Design and Features

Earlier this year, we made the decision to review laptops designed for the Japanese market and imported here in the US. There are a couple importers such as iCube here in the US that will take a Japanese model and slightly convert it over for the US market. This includes installing an English version of Microsoft's Windows operating system, remapping some of the keys and adding English characters to the keys. This gives computer and electronics enthusiasts a slight technology edge over the average consumer that buys his or her products in the U.S. market.

Demand for these Japanese products has increased in America and we set out to provide reviews for these products. The first thing we noticed in regards to the Japanese notebook systems is that there is a much stronger emphasis on design and size, and less of an emphasis on price than in the U.S. We saw the first flip open CD/DVD ROM drive in the Panasonic W2 and a piano black paint finish on the JVC 7310 Interlink. Sony's TR1A notebook gave us performance and features in a system smaller than anything we had every seen at the time. Well this time around, Sony has gone over the top by developing the PCG-X505 notebook computer.

LG Chocolate VX8550

Revamped controls, well-designed software, and the ability to do more with music playing in the background make this the best music phone for the price.

The second time’s a charm. Sporting improved controls and good multitasking capabilities, LG's latest Chocolate, the VX8550 ($99 with a two-year contract and rebate), is much better than its predecessor, especially for buyers looking for a value-priced iPhone alternative. Verizon Wireless still charges too much for over-the-air song downloads ($1.99), but otherwise this musically inclined sequel satisfies.

Having a choice of colors is nice--Black, Black Cherry, and Blue Mint--but the star of this glossy slider's design is the new metal navigation wheel, a big improvement over the original Chocolate's finicky touch controls. You can press down on this wheel in any direction or scroll using your thumb. We prefer the former method, despite the slightly slippery feel, but scrolling comes in handy when attempting to zip through song or artist lists. In case you want to show off, Trace Motion lights glow red on the edge of the wheel as it moves. (You can turn this effect off if you want.) You can also use the nav wheel to zoom in with the 1.3-megapixel camera.

The Right Touch

LG hasn't abandoned touch altogether; the two soft keys are touch-sensitive, as are the Speaker and Clear keys. The good news is that these buttons provide haptic feedback, so you feel little vibrations when you've made a selection. The bad news is that we sometimes had to press these keys a couple of times before the Chocolate registered our command. Our recommendation: Play around with the four sensitivity settings until you get the right feel. We also noticed that the backlit touch buttons were sometimes tough to read in direct sunlight.

We like that the latest Chocolate weighs a bit less (3.2 ounces versus 3.5 ounces) and is a hair thinner than its predecessor, but we appreciate having dedicated Send and End keys on the bottom half of the slider even more. On the VX8500 these were touch-sensitive buttons on the top half of the phone. We had no problems using the new dialpad, and we appreciate having the camera launch key positioned between the Send and End keys.

Another welcome enhancement is the 2.5mm audio jack on the left side of the VX8550, which makes the new Chocolate compatible with a wide range of stereo headsets, as opposed to being locked into whatever proprietary headset Verizon sells. You can also go the stereo Bluetooth route, which we did using the Plantronics Pulsar 260, enabling you to control the volume and change tracks even when the Chocolate is stuffed in your pocket. Don't worry about accidentally skipping songs or pausing playback on this slider; a handy lock switch on the right side prevents unintended button presses.

MP3 Player in a Phone's Body

The button you'll likely press most often--at least when you're not making calls--is the Music launch key (also located on the right side). It brings you right to your song list, and from there you can start playing tunes right away or toggle over to the Album, Artist, or Playlist views by pressing left or right on the nav wheel. Our favorite feature is the ability to search within these menus by entering the first few letters of what you're looking for. The smart software on the latest Chocolate narrows the results with each click.

Getting tracks on the VX8550 is pretty painless. It took 40 seconds to download "Hey There Delilah" from Plain White T's and 33 seconds to download "Libertad" from Velvet Revolver over the air from the V CAST Music store. However, at $1.99 each, Verizon Wireless continues to charge a buck more per track for downloads from your phone than Sprint, although you can buy tracks from your PC for 99 cents and then sync them to the phone. You'll likely sideload most of your own MP3s and WMAs from your PC using a memory card reader or Verizon's Music Essentials Kit 4.0 ($199), which includes a 4GB microSD Card, USB cable, and LG Bluetooth stereo headset. You can also pick up the same kit with a 2GB card for $79.99.

Sound quality was crisp and loud using both our 2.5mm and stereo Bluetooth headsets, and you can customize the output with your choice of 12 sound effects. We got the best results with the R&B and Rock settings. The speaker on the back of the Chocolate delivered plenty of volume for its size, and without distortion.

Where the LG VX8550 really excels is multitasking. With music playing in the background, we could browse the mobile Web, send text messages, and even take pictures. Phones like the LG Muziq from Sprint, for instance, can text message--but not browse or snap pics--when music's playing. However, you can't do everything on this Chocolate while rocking out; games and IM are out. Another bummer: When surfing, you can use the volume controls only for paging up and down mobile sites. Why not just use the nav wheel for that?

So-So Video, Smooth Talker

In most other respects the Chocolate VX8550 is a solid if unspectacular V CAST phone. Streamed videos started playing within about ten seconds, but the quality was only decent. We watched a couple of YouTube clips and a CNN news update, and there were noticeable artifacts, especially in full-screen mode. The 1.3-MP camera still lacks a flash, and some of our pics in daylight appeared washed out, but the results are okay for e-mailing or sharing via MMS. The 176 x 144-pixel videos, on the other hand, are too tiny for YouTube or for enjoying on your PC.

Voice quality and voice and data coverage were excellent on our tests in New York City and New Jersey. Callers could tell we were on a cell phone, but we didn't experience a single dropped call. Nor did we have to put up with the annoying delay between dialing and hearing the line ring, which plagues many other carriers' handsets. Verizon Wireless claims the VX8550 offers just over four hours of straight talk time and about 14.6 days of standby time. On our mixed tests, which included phone calls, media playback, and Web surfing, we got through two days of use before needing to recharge.

On the surface, the LG VX8550 seems like a minor cosmetic upgrade to the original Chocolate. But there's a lot more to this slider than the new navigation wheel. The music player is fast; searching for songs is easy; and you can do a lot with tunes playing in the background. Some may prefer the similarly priced LG Muziq because of its clamshell design, FM transmitter, and Sprint's cheaper 99-cent over-the-air downloads, but we think the Chocolate's tactile controls and smarter software make it much easier to use.

Apple iPhone

The iPhone is the ultimate iPod and delivers an amazing Internet experience, but it’s not the best smart phone.

It's better than you think. The near-seamless slab of glass and metal that is Apple's iPhone has more preconceived-notion-shattering surprises than any piece of technology since, well, the iPod. A mind-blowing touchscreen experience, the best browser on any smart phone, blazing performance that puts Windows Mobile devices to shame. It's all here. So why are we left wanting more?

Designed to Delight

First things first: The iPhone is flat-out fun to use. True, several convergence devices have similar functions--phone, browser, email mapping, and media player. And at 4.8 ounces, the iPhone is noticeably heavier than the Samsung BlackJack (3.5 ounces) and BlackBerry Curve (3.9 ounces). But the appeal doesn't come from what the iPhone does as much as how Apple put it all together. Even the most pedantic functions are performed with verve and flair that's not superfluous or showy. And we guarantee you've never used such a responsive touchscreen. After a minute, the flicking, tapping, sliding, and pinching control movements you've seen on TV feel perfectly natural. Icons move and respond under your fingertips as though you're actually touching them.

Of course, the 3.5-inch screen smudges. But it wipes clear with a shirt sleeve or the included cloth, without activating any functions--just one example of the screen's intelligence. At times the iPhone seems psychic. When you swing it up to your ear, for instance, sensors inside turn off the touch sensitivity. When you turn it horizontally, pictures, video, and Web pages also turn and automatically fill the now-wide screen--although we noted an annoying delay at times.

Minimalist, unlabeled buttons grace the rounded edges: a ringer-off switch and a voice toggle on the left, up top an on/off button, the SIM card tray, and the 3.5mm earphone jack, which is slightly recessed, prohibiting earphone jacks from sliding in all the way. You're forced to use either the included stick earphones with a built-in in-line mic or spring for an iPhone-compatible 3.5mm adapter for your own headphones. You can use a Bluetooth headset for calls, but the iPhone doesn't support stereo Bluetooth, a disappointing and head-scratching omission for a media-centric device.

Apple has tried to compensate for the inherently flawed onscreen keypad with the best predictive typing software we've used, but it's still not as fast or accurate as typing on a physical thumb pad. Plus, numbers and commonly used symbols are on a second screen, which is annoying. We suggest typing in landscape mode, which means a larger layout and (slightly) fewer typos.

MVP Media Player

For video clips and movies, the iPhone is the best iPod yet. Video on the 3.5-inch screen is crystalline and quite an improvement over the 2.5-inch video iPod experience. An episode of 30 Rock looked sharp and clear, and we could watch The Italian Job downloaded from iTunes, in full frame mode or further letterboxed in its original aspect ratio. The iPhone had no problem handling the frenetic boat chase scene.

Flick navigating through the music choices and functions is even more fun and intuitive than using iPod's scroll wheel, thanks to features like Cover Flow. This approximates flipping through a stack of CDs or using album art. Click on a cover and you'll immediately see a song list ready to launch with a single tap. The internal speakers aren't impressive, but they're loud and clear enough for private listening.

YouTube integration is pretty much flawless on the iPhone, with easy access to Featured and Most Viewed Videos and near-instant playback (at least over Wi-Fi). Playing videos over Cingular's slower EDGE network results in blurry footage that you can barely follow. Google Maps is the other highlight, complete with photo-realistic satellite views and turn-by-turn directions (though not spoken).

Pictures taken with the pedestrian and unadorned two-megapixel camera looked good and automatically zoomed to wide frame when we turned the iPhone horizontally. There's no zoom and no flash, and you won't find any settings for exposure or anything else. Viewing pictures is a pleasure on the high-res display, made sweeter by the ability to swipe through a slideshow, complete with music. Unfortunately, you can't start playing tunes from within the Photo application; you have to fire up a track or playlist in the iPod app first. (We'd like to see music playback begin automatically when you start a slideshow, à la Apple TV.)

Sharing pictures is a snap. Touch the button on the left corner of the display, and you'll be presented with three options: Use as Wallpaper, E-mail Photo, and Assign to Contact. We're not sure why you can't send picture messages to other phones, but we hope MMS support is coming soon.

Split-Personality Surfer

The iPhone's main advantage over other mobile devices is that it runs full Mac OS X and Safari. The Web and full HTML e-mail are just like you get on your desktop, only smaller, although the Safari browser lacks Flash support. You can manually access your POP3 and IMAP e-mail as well as AOL, Gmail, and Yahoo push e-mail. The iPhone lets you view Word, Excel, and PDF attachments, as well as images, but not PowerPoints.

AT&T souped up its sluggish EDGE network just prior to the iPhone's release, but you're still going to need patience when you're not surfing in a hotspot. For instance, NYTimes.com took only 12 seconds to fill completely but was readable in about five. On EDGE, the same page was readable in about 20 seconds and took nearly a minute to load completely. Then we tried CNN.com. Over Wi-Fi, the homepage was readable in 7 seconds but took 30 seconds to download everything. Our wait increased to 23 and 57 seconds, respectively, over EDGE.

In most respects, this browser is so good compared to what you'll find on other smart phones--especially in terms of resolution and formatting--that the EDGE latency is almost worth it. But in general we prefer the BlackBerry Curve's browser because you can grab the information you need and move onto the next site in the time it takes the mobile version of Safari to get in gear.

If you work and play mostly in areas with Wi-Fi coverage, you'll have no complaints. We found the 802.11b/g connection very quick for Web browsing and trolling YouTube. We especially like that the phone automatically switches between Wi-Fi and EDGE for data. On our tests, this worked seamlessly when moving from Wi-Fi to EDGE and back with our home network.

Because iTunes can sync with Outlook, it's a cinch to keep track of your contacts and calendar on the iPhone. However, we'd like to see the ability to search for contacts by typing a few letters of the person's name. The flicking can get tiresome if you have a huge address book. The Calendar app is intuitive, with your choice of Day and Month views. Note to Apple: Add a little icon to tell users whether there's a note attached to a given appointment.

Phoning It In?

As a phone, the iPhone is adequate. We found the earpiece a bit weak (although the bundled earphones provide plenty of volume), and calls were a bit fuzzy on our end of the line. During one call from New Jersey to Boston, the other caller said we sounded clear but artificial and asked us to repeat ourselves twice. Ringers are loud, but you can't use songs as ringtones. The iPhone's most innovative communications feature is Visual Voicemail. Instead of slogging through all your messages before you get to the most important ones, you can simply tap on the message you want to hear.

Another plus is the large touch-sensitive dialpad; unlike the QWERTY keyboard, it fills the whole screen and is easy to use. Too bad there aren't dedicated Send and End keys for making calls. On most smart phones you can just start dialing by pressing physical number keys; on the iPhone you have to press the Main Menu button, then the Phone button, and then launch the keypad. Battery life is a solid eight hours for talk time and more than ten days for standby.

The iPhone has a few other flaws. First, you'll fill that 8GB of storage quickly, and there's no external memory card slot. Second, because the GSM radio interferes with speakers, the iPhone cell radio shuts off when you plug it into a dock. You have to unplug the iPhone to answer a call. Rumor has it that future iPhone-compatible auxiliary speakers will be shielded. Finally, the iPhone's unswappable battery is designed to retain up to 80 percent of its original capacity after 400 full charge and discharge cycles, after which time you'll likely want to replace your battery. With shipping this will cost you $85.95, and the repair process takes about three business days.

Of course, no smart phone is perfect, but the iPhone does a lot of things better than the competition, especially multimedia and Web browsing (at least over Wi-Fi). In general, the iPhone's interface is what makes it unique, much like the Click Wheel that sets iPods apart. Well, the interface and iTunes integration, which has advanced to the point where it handles everything including AT&T activation.

As to whether this device is worth $600 ($500 for the 4GB model)? Let's put it this way: It's the best portable multimedia player we've ever used. Safari is awesome. YouTube lovers will be in heaven. And you'll certainly look cool carrying it. If responding to e-mail and fielding calls is your number-one priority, with music and entertainment second, you'd be better off with a device like the BlackBerry Curve. But if your priorities are reversed, you’ll be more than happy with the iPhone.

Nokia N76

Nokia inspires with a flashy but slightly underpowered unlocked phone for the commitment-phobic technostylist.

On the surface, the N76 seems tailor-made for image-conscious and tech-savvy consumers who wouldn't be caught dead with a run-of-the-mill RAZR. This flashy unlocked phone comes packed with multimedia, blogging, and search features, but the smudge-retentive exterior and lack of domestic 3G support may alienate snobs and squares alike (view photo gallery).

The N76's black-and-silver casing (which is also available in red) looks sleek and sophisticated, but after handling the phone for five minutes, all the fingerprints nearly convinced us that a two-year-old had been playing with it. The N76's mirror-like external display proved difficult to read in bright settings but is perfect for touching up makeup and signaling low-flying aircraft.

Below the shiny display is a set of three buttons for music playback. A microSD Card slot sits along the left edge, and volume controls and mode and camera buttons are on the right. A standard 3.5mm headphone jack and a mini-USB 2.0 port grace the N76's neck and shoulders. Opening the clamshell reveals a bright and spacious 2.4-inch QVGA screen. The glossy keypad sports tons of tactile and responsive buttons--soft touch, menu and D-pad--ensuring fluid navigation no matter what SIM card you use. On the back of the phone you'll notice the two-megapixel camera and flash, along with a reflective strip perfect for snapping MySpace pics.

For this review, we popped in a Cingular SIM card with nary a hiccup. Surfing Cingular's EDGE data network was relatively quick, with simple Web pages downloading in eight to ten seconds. For more complex pages, however, Nokia's included browser was abysmal. CNN.com took more than 40 seconds to load completely, and we experienced repeated crashes. Stability is most definitely not the N76's forte.

Multimedia is this clamshell's biggest strength. Music playback from the external stereo speakers was impressive, and we like the addition of a normal headphone jack. The N76 supports virtually every audio format under the sun, including AAC, MP3, and WMA files (including DRM-protected tracks). We did encounter a problem with the design: The 3.5mm jack is located on the top of the phone, so it's impossible to completely open this clamshell while the headset is plugged in. (Same thing goes for the USB charging port.)

The N76's 2-MP camera delivered very good details in our tests with a bit of color degradation. Videos are recorded at 320 x 240 pixels and 15 frames per second. The footage we captured was good enough to post to YouTube.

A handful of mobile apps come standard, including Yahoo Search and Lifeblog. Lifeblog allows users to upload pictures and video to blogging services like Vox and Flickr. We had difficulty using this feature with our Blogger and Flickr accounts, since Lifeblog requires its own password and server settings. Yahoo Search, on the other hand, was powerful and accurate, helping us search eBay auctions and local pizza joints, despite the instability of Nokia's browser.

Call quality on the N76 was adequate during our tests using Cingular's network. Some callers reported that we sounded distant and low, but the overall performance was fine. The 2.8 hours of rated talk time underestimates this phone's endurance. The N76 provided more than four hours of straight talk time, and it lasted through three days of periodic data and voice usage.

There's a lot be said about the N76's freedom and versatility. However, if style is your game--and $499 is your price ceiling--you'd look cooler with an iPhone. If the sky's the limit, consider the $749 Nokia N95, which sports GPS and an even sharper 5-MP camera.

Helio Ocean

This powerful and easy-to-use messaging phone crams a tidal wave of features into a groundbreaking dual-slider design.

More than just a gadget you want to be seen carrying, the Helio Ocean is a device hipsters--and aspiring ones--will covet for its innovative dual-slider design, robust instant-messaging and e-mail capabilities, MySpace integration, and music and video playback. Being able to search contacts and conduct a Web search right from the phone's idle screen is yet another reason to dive in. It has some issues, but the Ocean makes T-Mobile's slow and blocky SideKick 3 look like the smart phone equivalent of a kiddy pool.

The 5.6-ounce, 0.9-inch thick Ocean isn't exactly supermodel thin, but we dig the soft-touch finish and oval design. Sliding up the brilliant 2.4-inch display in landscape mode reveals a slightly cramped but perfectly usable QWERTY keyboard. The layout seemed a bit too wide at first, but we were typing quickly in no time. Sliding the screen up when you hold the phone vertically reveals a traditional dialpad, making the Ocean more comfortable for use when making calls than the Sidekick. Too bad the dialpad is so big and slippery; we constantly entered the wrong digits.

A 2.5mm audio jack, volume buttons, and media playback buttons line the left side of the Ocean (in phone mode), and a speakerphone button, camera button, and microSD Card slot are on the right. The back side houses the camera lens and flash. The front of the phone is where the action's at; a circular D-pad and four soft keys make moving around menus a breeze. The main menu presents nine easy-to-understand icons, including Surf (Web browsing), Snap (camera), and Plan (calendar and other tools).

Messaging & Search Champ
Messaging is the Ocean's biggest strength. From one screen you can send and view picture and text messages, as well as access AOL, Windows Live, and Yahoo for e-mail and instant messaging. Earthlink, Gmail, and Helio Mail are e-mail-only, however. We especially like the Ocean's integration with e-mail and IM clients. Within Yahoo, for instance, we could easily toggle between IM conversations and our Inbox by pressing right on the D-pad. The Ocean is also smart enough to tell you which buddies are online by using presence technology, which means you don't have to be in the messaging app to see who's online. A little icon next to your IM buddies tips you off from within the contact list.

Instant-messaging performance was generally fast, and we like that the Ocean alerts you to new messages even after you exit the Message application. We were generally pleased with the e-mail experience. Messages downloaded quickly, although you have to select More to read messages longer than a few paragraphs. We also appreciated the ability to download image attachments and read Word and PDF attachments as text. Hardcore business users will want to wait for Helio to provide full Microsoft Exchange support (which will wirelessly sync e-mail, calendar, and contacts), but Helio does support push e-mail from AOL, MSN, and Yahoo.

After we synchronized our Yahoo address book wirelessly, we could easily look up contacts by pecking just a few letters of the person's name from the Ocean's idle screen. Even better is the Direct Search feature, which delivers results from Amazon, Google, Wikipedia, Yahoo, and Yelp using an elegant tabbed interface. We typed "ny yankees," hit search, and within ten seconds the Ocean brought us to the Yahoo Search results page showing the team's logo and official homepage. Loading the Google results tab took an additional six seconds and gave us the Yanks' up-to-the-minute box score versus the Blue Jays. If Helio has content that relates to your search, it will present that front and center. For example, searching for Linkin Park returned links to ringtones, music downloads, and videos.

Good Entertainer, So-So Surfer
While it's not exactly a multitasking maestro, the Ocean has some serious entertainment chops. You can side-load AAC, MP3, and WMA audio files (including DRM files from Yahoo and Napster) or download songs over the air for a hefty $1.99 apiece, which takes about 40 to 60 seconds. Our Linkin Park and The White Stripes tracks sounded very good when played through the loud stereo speakers. Tunes also sounded decent through the included stereo headset and the Kyocera Bluetooth earbuds we tried. Unfortunately, the only things you can do while listening to music are shop for more music and surf the Web. Playback stuttered when we tried to download a song while listening. Worse, you can't adjust the volume or change tracks while surfing using the media controls.

On the video front, the Ocean impressed us with its streaming capabilities. We enjoyed smooth, full-screen playback when we streamed an episode of the hilarious Ask a Ninja, and we noticed only a minor amount of blur. Helio offers lots of other free content (well, free with your monthly subscription, which starts at $65 per month), ranging from The Onion and Fox Sports to tons of viral videos. The TV Set, a premium service that includes clips from the likes of Adult Swim, Comedy Central, and MTV, costs an additional $5.99 per month. You should also be able to transfer both video and music files from your PC to the Helio using the included USB cable, but the required Media Mover software wasn't yet available for this device during testing.

Web surfing was a mixed bag. Pages like the New York Times and ESPN popped up within ten seconds, but the browser by default loads only about a quarter of the page. You can choose to view in full HTML mode to eliminate having to click Next Page repeatedly, but we wish the Ocean let you switch to HTML mode permanently. On the plus side, bookmarking favorites and RSS feeds is easy, and several Web sites optimized for mobile like AccuWeather, Google News, MySpace, and Slate worked perfectly. The only other nitpick we have is the five to ten seconds the browser takes to shut down-a bit annoying when you want to make a call right away.

Ready for Your Close-ups?
So long as there’s a fair amount of ambient light, the Ocean's two-megapixel camera takes decent pictures, but they're not good enough to print. We noticed a fair amount of graininess. Indoors, the LED flash helps, but only a little. On the plus side, it's dead simple to share photos, whether you want to do it via e-mail or upload images directly online using the Helio Up service. Once you do that, adding photos to your MySpace page from the device is a snap. Videos recorded with the camcorder function looked jerky and were littered with artifacts, but they're not any worse than what most camera phones capture.

Lest we forget, the Ocean is a phone, too. Calls generally sounded clear if a bit low in volume, and we didn't experience any dropped calls during our testing in Manhattan and New Jersey, just the occasional garbling resulting from weak reception. Helio rides on Sprint's network, so you get the same wide 3G data coverage. Battery life was what we expected given the Ocean's horsepower; the phone lasted about two days on a charge with moderate usage. Rated talk time is up to 5.1 hours.

The Ocean was a bit buggy at times. We encountered a few HTTP errors while Web surfing, and on two occasions the phone froze with the browser open; we had to remove the battery and reboot, which was more difficult than it should have been. Also, we noticed a delay between typing and the letters showing up on the device's screen. We're hoping that Helio can address some of these issues and that the service provider continues to enhance the phone with promised features like local contact and calendar synchronization via USB and more third-party applications.

Nevertheless, right now the Ocean is a best-in-class messaging phone. Mobile professionals might prefer the slimmer and cheaper BlackBerry Curve, but this do-it-all device is worth the extra dough for frequent instant messagers and MySpace users. Convenient features like contact presence and Direct Search seal the deal. This is the first Helio phone that's worth switching carriers for. Image Gallery