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  CELL PHONES

Apple iPhone 3G (8GB, black)

EDITORS RATING
8.3
SPECS

Microsoft Windows XP Home SP 2|Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP 2|Microsoft Windows Vista|Apple Mac OS X 10.4.10 or later, Up to 600 min

THE GOOD

The Apple iPhone 3G offers critical new features including support for high-speed 3G networks, third-party applications, and expanded e-mail. Its call quality is improved and it continues to deliver an excellent music and video experience.

THE BAD

The iPhone 3G continues to lack some basic features that are available on even the simplest cell phone. Also, we prefer the original iPhone's design.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The iPhone 3G delivers on its promises by adding critical features and sharper performance. The iTunes App Store is pretty amazing, and the 3G support is more than welcome. We still have a few gripes, but the iPhone 3G is a big improvement over the original model.

REVIEWED: 11-Jul-2008 07:13 PM PDT
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Apple iPhone 3G (16GB, black)

EDITORS RATING
8.3
SPECS

Apple MacOS X, Up to 600 min

THE GOOD

The Apple iPhone 3G offers critical new features including support for high-speed 3G networks, third-party applications, and expanded e-mail. Its call quality is improved and it continues to deliver an excellent music and video experience.

THE BAD

The iPhone 3G continues to lack some basic features that are available on even the simplest cell phone. Also, we prefer the original iPhone's design.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The iPhone 3G delivers on its promises by adding critical features and sharper performance. The iTunes App Store is pretty amazing, and the 3G support is more than welcome. We still have a few gripes, but the iPhone 3G is a big improvement over the original model.

REVIEWED: 11-Jul-2008 07:13 PM PDT
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Apple iPhone 3G (16GB, white)

EDITORS RATING
8.3
SPECS

Microsoft Windows XP Home SP 2|Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP 2|Microsoft Windows Vista|Apple Mac OS X 10.4.10 or later, Up to 600 min

THE GOOD

The Apple iPhone 3G offers critical new features including support for high-speed 3G networks, third-party applications, and expanded e-mail. Its call quality is improved and it continues to deliver an excellent music and video experience.

THE BAD

The iPhone 3G continues to lack some basic features that are available on even the simplest cell phone. Also, we prefer the original iPhone's design.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The iPhone 3G delivers on its promises by adding critical features and sharper performance. The iTunes App Store is pretty amazing, and the 3G support is more than welcome. We still have a few gripes, but the iPhone 3G is a big improvement over the original model.

REVIEWED: 11-Jul-2008 07:13 PM PDT
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LG Dare (Verizon Wireless)

EDITORS RATING
8.3
SPECS

CDMA2000 1X 1900/800, With digital camera / digital player

THE GOOD

The LG Dare has an intuitive touch-screen interface, an advanced 3.2-megapixel camera, a full HTML browser, EV-DO Rev. A, and plenty of other powerful features. It also has excellent call quality.

THE BAD

The LG Dare's touch interface has a slight learning curve, and we weren't too pleased with the handwriting interface. Also, the Web browsing experience was quite disappointing.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The LG Dare is an innovative and feature-rich handset with several surprises that sets it apart from other touch-screen phones.

REVIEWED: 27-Jun-2008 04:38 PM PDT
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Nokia E71 - white (unlocked)

EDITORS RATING
8.0
SPECS

WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM 850/900/1800/1900, Up to 270 min, With two digital cameras / digital player / FM radio / GPS receiver, 4.4 oz

THE GOOD

The Nokia E71 features a slim design, while still managing to have a full QWERTY keyboard. The Symbian smartphone is stocked with features, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and U.S. 3G support. Voice, messaging, and productivity tools are also strong.

THE BAD

The E71 is expensive, and the display is on the smaller side. The keyboard is a bit cramped as well.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Mobile professionals who need a powerful but sleek messaging-centric smartphone will be well-served by the Nokia E71; just be prepared to pay a price.

REVIEWED: 03-Jul-2008 11:47 AM PDT
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Nokia E71 - gray (unlocked)

EDITORS RATING
8.0
SPECS

WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM 850/900/1800/1900, Up to 270 min, With two digital cameras / digital player / FM radio / GPS receiver, 4.4 oz

THE GOOD

The Nokia E71 features a slim design, while still managing to have a full QWERTY keyboard. The Symbian smartphone is stocked with features, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and U.S. 3G support. Voice, messaging, and productivity tools are also strong.

THE BAD

The E71 is expensive, and the display is on the smaller side. The keyboard is a bit cramped as well.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Mobile professionals who need a powerful but sleek messaging-centric smartphone will be well-served by the Nokia E71; just be prepared to pay a price.

REVIEWED: 03-Jul-2008 11:47 AM PDT
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LG Chocolate 3 (Verizon Wireless)

EDITORS RATING
7.7
SPECS

CDMA 800, Up to 210 min, With digital camera / digital player / FM radio, 0.2 lbs

THE GOOD

The LG Chocolate 3 is an attractive phone with easy-to-use controls, two brilliant displays, and plenty of multimedia features. It also has a 3.5-mm headset jack, stereo Bluetooth, and a built-in FM transmitter. Call quality was excellent as well.

THE BAD

The LG Chocolate 3 suffers from a flat and slippery keypad, plus a reflective front surface that's prone to fingerprint smudges.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The LG Chocolate 3's design doesn't quite match up to its predecessors, but upgraded features like a built-in FM transmitter makes it a worthy music phone purchase.

REVIEWED: 15-Jul-2008 04:29 PM PDT
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Palm Treo 800w (Sprint)

EDITORS RATING
7.7
SPECS

Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, Up to 270 min

THE GOOD

The Palm Treo 800w brings the addition of Wi-Fi and GPS. The Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone also offers EV-DO Rev. A support; a higher resolution touch screen; a slimmer design; and a 2-megapixel camera.

THE BAD

The Treo 800w can be sluggish at times and call quality could be better. The QWERTY keyboard may also give users some problems.

THE BOTTOM LINE

With the addition of Wi-Fi and GPS, the Palm Treo 800w finally catches up to some of its competition and even offers a better design. The Windows Mobile smartphone will be a good fit for Sprint's business customers, if the battery life can keep up.

REVIEWED: 14-Jul-2008 05:30 AM PDT
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Samsung Soul SGH-U900 (unlocked)

EDITORS RATING
7.6
SPECS

GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband), Up to 210 min, With digital camera / digital player / FM radio, 3.4 oz

THE GOOD

The Samsung Soul offers an attractive, well-constructed design and a unique, intuitive navigation touchpad. Its respectable feature set includes a high-quality camera.

THE BAD

The Samsung Soul lacks important features like voice dialing and GPS. Its call quality wasn't completely reliable.

THE BOTTOM LINE

You won't mistake it for a smartphone, but the Samsung Soul is nonetheless an attractive and well-designed multimedia phone.

REVIEWED: 24-Jun-2008 02:05 PM PDT
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Motorola Rokr E8 - (T-Mobile)

EDITORS RATING
7.3
SPECS

GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband), Up to 450 min, With digital camera / digital player / FM radio, 3.5 oz

THE GOOD

The Motorola Rokr E8 has an attractive design with a brilliant display and an innovative keypad. Its music player is top-notch and it offers satisfying call quality and battery life.

THE BAD

The Motorola Rokr E8's navigation controls take acclimation and the phone is rather sluggish. It also lacks 3G, full e-mail, and wireless music downloads.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The Motorola Rokr E8 is a top choice for a T-Mobile music phone, if you can master the phone's novel, though slightly quirky, controls.

REVIEWED: 26-Jun-2008 12:21 PM PDT
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Virgin Mobile Arc

EDITORS RATING
7.0
SPECS

Up to 210 min, With digital camera, 0.2 lbs

THE GOOD

The Virgin Mobile Arc is a basic yet stylish camera phone, with decent call quality and an affordable price point. It also has Bluetooth and voice dialing.

THE BAD

The Virgin Mobile Arc has a slightly crowded keypad and bad photo quality.

THE BOTTOM LINE

If you want an attractive yet affordable basic camera phone, the Virgin Mobile Arc is one of the better options in Virgin Mobile's lineup.

REVIEWED: 22-Jul-2008 02:38 PM PDT
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Nokia 6205 - blue (Verizon Wireless)

EDITORS RATING
7.0
SPECS
THE GOOD

The Nokia 6205 is a simple phone with a music player, a megapixel camera, and EV-DO. It's quite affordable, and has excellent call quality.

THE BAD

The Nokia 6205 lacks stereo Bluetooth support, has a nonintegrated music player, and has a flat keypad.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The Nokia 6205 barely lives up to its multimedia phone promise, but it's a decent choice if you want an affordable 3G phone with good call quality.

REVIEWED: 18-Jul-2008 10:14 AM PDT
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Nokia 6205 Dark Knight Edition (Verizon Wireless)

EDITORS RATING
7.0
SPECS
THE GOOD

The Nokia 6205 is a simple phone with a music player, a megapixel camera, and EV-DO. It's quite affordable, and has excellent call quality.

THE BAD

The Nokia 6205 lacks stereo Bluetooth support, has a nonintegrated music player, and has a flat keypad.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The Nokia 6205 barely lives up to its multimedia phone promise, but it's a decent choice if you want an affordable 3G phone with good call quality.

REVIEWED: 18-Jul-2008 10:14 AM PDT
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HP iPAQ 910c Business Messenger

EDITORS RATING
7.0
SPECS

GSM 850/900/1800/1900, Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional, Up to 240 min, 128 MB

THE GOOD

The HP iPaq 910c Business Messenger features Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, and 3G support. The Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone also offers strong messaging capabilities with a full QWERTY keyboard, and a 3-megapixel camera.

THE BAD

The iPaq 910c is bulky and the screen size is a bit small. The smartphone is expensive and can be sluggish at times. The phone's speaker is also on the soft side.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The HP iPaq 910c offers mobile professionals a well-stocked, messaging-centric smartphone, but it faces stiff competition from the likes of HTC, Samsung, and Motorola.

REVIEWED: 08-Jul-2008 03:26 PM PDT
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Motorola W755 - purple (Verizon Wireless)

EDITORS RATING
7.0
SPECS

CDMA2000 1X 1900/800, Up to 220 min, With digital camera / digital player, 3.6 oz

THE GOOD

The sturdy Motorola W755 has a vivid display, well-designed controls, and decent feature set. The call quality is satisfying, and the photo and streaming-video quality are both excellent.

THE BAD

The Motorola W755 has a poor speakerphone, and its music player was unimpressive. Its camera offers few editing features, and its memory card slot is buried behind the battery.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The Motorola W755's design looks way too familiar, but its solid feature set, ergonomic controls, and enjoyable call and video quality make it a reliable Verizon Wireless handset.

REVIEWED: 02-Jul-2008 02:02 PM PDT
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Motorola W755 - black slate (Verizon Wireless)

EDITORS RATING
7.0
SPECS

CDMA2000 1X 1900/800, Up to 220 min, With digital camera / digital player, 3.6 oz

THE GOOD

The sturdy Motorola W755 has a vivid display, well-designed controls, and decent feature set. The call quality is satisfying, and the photo and streaming-video quality are both excellent.

THE BAD

The Motorola W755 has a poor speakerphone, and its music player was unimpressive. Its camera offers few editing features, and its memory card slot is buried behind the battery.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The Motorola W755's design looks way too familiar, but its solid feature set, ergonomic controls, and enjoyable call and video quality make it a reliable Verizon Wireless handset.

REVIEWED: 02-Jul-2008 02:02 PM PDT
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Nokia 6301 (T-Mobile)

EDITORS RATING
7.0
SPECS

EGSM 900 / GSM 1800/1900 (Tri-Band), Up to 210 min, With digital camera / digital player / FM radio, 3.3 oz

THE GOOD

The Nokia 6301 has a simple, easy-to-use design with a brilliant display and well-designed navigation controls. Its functional feature set includes Wi-Fi for VoIP calling, and its call quality is top-notch.

THE BAD

The 6301's microSD card and headset jack are in inconvenient places. It has poor photo quality as well.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The 6301 is a great choice for a T-Mobile HotSpot @Home cell phone. Just don't count on its camera.

REVIEWED: 27-Jun-2008 04:39 PM PDT
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HTC Touch Cruise

EDITORS RATING
6.7
SPECS

GSM 850/900/1800/1900 / UMTS 850/1900/2100, Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional, Up to 420 min, 128 MB

THE GOOD

The HTC Touch Cruise features integrated GPS and comes preloaded with TomTom navigation software. The Windows Mobile 6 smartphone also has Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and 3G support.

THE BAD

Though it includes TomTom software, you only get one city map for free; you'll have to pay extra for other regions. We were slightly disappointed by the multimedia performance, and the smartphone is expensive.

THE BOTTOM LINE

While the integrated GPS and TomTom navigation software makes the HTC Touch Cruise very enticing, there are some limitations, not to mention a high price tag that turned us off to the smartphone.

REVIEWED: 15-Jul-2008 04:02 PM PDT
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Samsung SGH-T339 (T-Mobile)

EDITORS RATING
6.7
SPECS

GSM 850/1800/1900 (Tri-Band), Up to 390 min, With digital camera, 3.3 oz

THE GOOD

The Samsung SGH-T339 has a compact, easy-to-use design and respectable call clarity. Its feature set offers Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and a well-stocked camera.

THE BAD

The Samsung SGH-T339's display is overly bright and its call volume was rather low. Also, photo and music quality was unimpressive.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The Samsung SGH-T339 isn't a bad T-Mobile HotSpot @Home phone but there are better options available.

REVIEWED: 03-Jul-2008 10:07 AM PDT
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HTC Touch Diamond

EDITORS RATING
6.7
SPECS

W-CDMA 900/2100 / GSM 900/1800/1900, Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, Up to 330 min, 192 MB

THE GOOD

The HTC Touch Diamond has a cool 3D interface and a beautiful touch screen. The Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone also offers Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and a 3.2-megapixel camera.

THE BAD

The Touch Diamond is sluggish and call quality is subpar. The TouchFLO interface has a bit of a learning curve, and there's no expansion slot.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The HTC Touch Diamond offers much in the way of sex appeal and flash, and it's certainly got a formidable feature set. However, we hope HTC resolves some of the performance issues we experienced before the smartphone is released in the States.

REVIEWED: 27-Jun-2008 12:01 PM PDT
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Firefly FlyPhone (blue)

EDITORS RATING
6.3
SPECS

Up to 360 min, With digital camera / digital player

THE GOOD

The Firefly FlyPhone has acceptable call quality, a cool morphing keypad, and parental controls. Its features are solid for a youth-friendly cell phone.

THE BAD

Some of the FlyPhone's controls are cramped and its microSD card slot is inconveniently located. You don't get a wall charger in the box and the photo quality is poor.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The Firefly FlyPhone is a solid youth-friendly cell phone that should satisfy the needs of both parents and children.

REVIEWED: 23-Jul-2008 12:41 PM PDT
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Firefly GlowPhone (black)

EDITORS RATING
5.6
SPECS

GSM 800/1900, Up to 300 min

THE GOOD

The Firefly GlowPhone is easy to use and comes with a set of parental controls. It also offers voice mail and an improved display.

THE BAD

The Firefly GlowPhone can only read text messages. Also, call quality wasn't reliable.

THE BOTTOM LINE

If you can find a child willing to use it, the Firefly GlowPhone is a decent cell phone for keeping in touch with your brood.

REVIEWED: 24-Jul-2008 03:02 PM PDT
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Firefly GlowPhone (pink)

EDITORS RATING
5.6
SPECS

GSM 800/1900, Up to 300 min

THE GOOD

The Firefly GlowPhone is easy to use and comes with a set of parental controls. It also offers voice mail and an improved display.

THE BAD

The Firefly GlowPhone can only read text messages. Also, call quality wasn't reliable.

THE BOTTOM LINE

If you can find a child willing to use it, the Firefly GlowPhone is a decent cell phone for keeping in touch with your brood.

REVIEWED: 24-Jul-2008 03:02 PM PDT
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Samsung SGH-A227 (AT&T)

EDITORS RATING
5.6
SPECS

GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband), Up to 240 min, 3.4 oz

THE GOOD

The Samsung SGH-A227 has a simple, easy-to-use design and functional features.

THE BAD

The Samsung SGH-A227's call quality was a bit scratchy. Also, its navigation array was cramped.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Though its call quality could be improved, the Samsung SGH-A227 is a respectable phone for occasional callers.

REVIEWED: 21-Jul-2008 11:51 AM PDT
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Nokia 2760 - blue (T-Mobile)

EDITORS RATING
5.6
SPECS

GSM 850/1900 (Dual Band), Up to 420 min, With digital camera / FM radio, 2.8 oz

THE GOOD

The Nokia 2760 has user-friendly controls and its feature set includes Bluetooth. Call quality was satisfying and the photo quality is respectable.

THE BAD

The Nokia 2760's plastic skin feels rather cheap, and the display is washed out. Speakerphone quality is poor, the menus are sluggish, and the 2760 supports just two GSM bands.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The Nokia 2760 is far from perfect but it's fine for occasional callers, and it has a decent camera to boot.

REVIEWED: 15-Jul-2008 03:15 PM PDT
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