RIM Blackberry 8830 Smartphone Review
RIM BlackBerry 8830 World Edition Smartphone Our rating: 
The Blackberry 8830, although it looks to be a basic, and even to some a boring and bulky PDA/Smartphone compared to others of its kind and even its Blackberry siblings such as the popular and snazzy Pearl, Storm and Curve, the 8830 is set apart from the others by being both a CDMA and GSM phone. This phone is marketed for International businessmen and world-travelers, for the most part. For those Sprint/Nextel and Verizon users who grit their teeth when they want to keep their phone when they change networks and wish they could just switch out the simcard or use their phone in a GSM network overseas because the country only has a GSM network, the 8830 comes to the rescue. With both a CDMA function and a GSM sim-card slot, you get the best of both worlds. For the world-traveler who uses a CDMA network Smartphone, this Blackberry is a lifesaver and relieves a lot of hassle they may have had in the past when it comes to mobile networks and phones. In order to use your phone overseas, simply activate Sprint/Verizon World Service or (by calling Sprint or Verizon, it is free) and it will work in both CDMA and GSM countries (although the roaming fees are pretty hefty). For those who want to use a local sim-card, like me, just switch out the Sprint or Verizon card for a local network’s card.
The Sprint version of the 8830 lacks a camera, which is a downside and a disappointment since Blackberry tends to stay on the cutting edge, but I suppose most world-traveling businessmen (who this phone is marketed for) don’t need a camera-phone to snap pictures while on their trip to Beijing for meetings. With the memory-card option, and SDHC capability, you can put a lot of media on the 8830, though. The audio isn’t the loudest, but pretty good for a phone, and the video quality is exceptional, and since the screen is 2.5 inches, you won’t be squinting your eyes as much as with other, smaller phones. Of course the 8830 comes with the mobile internet option and blackberry email, which is outstanding and quite simple to use if you have a data package.
Although the blackberry takes a bit of getting used to after using another phone, Smartphone or PDA, since its menu can be a bit difficult to navigate at first, the helpful “help” function and online guides will make it clear to even the least tech-savvy folks. For those already familiar with blackberries, the 8830 features the trademark trackball as well as blackberry maps, gps, browser, email, mms, sms, wireless e-mail, organizer, and corporate data access. The price is quite fair when you buy it with a new plan, or if you want to upgrade. Otherwise it runs about 400-600$, but since this is a one of a kind PDA, it’s quite a fair price.
iPod Touch Review
Apple iPod Touch Our Rating:
The iPod Touch is Apple’s offering for those who want all the features of the iPhone sans phone. The Touch is by far the most feature-packed iPod Apple has to offer, offering all the functionality of a PDA or Blackberry in a sleek design and full touch screen. The current generation Touch has four external buttons: The Home button below the touch screen, the hold button at the top, and volume control on the left side. Next/previous track buttons may have been more useful but it is still better than the original touch which did not feature the volume control buttons. On the bottom is the jack for connecting the Touch to a PC or Mac via USB, and the audio input.
By default the touch comes with a standard set of apps, similar to that of the iPhone: Calendar, Photos, Videos, YouTube, Stocks, Maps, Weather, Clock, Calculator, Notes, Mail, Safari, and of course Music, iTunes, and the App Store. Within the App Store one will find hundreds of additional free and premium apps to install, from Google Earth to Quake. The presence of a built-in YouTube player and the largest screen out of any iPod make it the best choice for watching video. The Touch comes in 8GB, 16GB and 32GB sizes, so there is bound to be one for everyone.
The Touch does have its downsides. The lack of more external buttons could make it a hassle to have to skip through songs. A much-needed App is a built-in instant messenger. There are several choices from third parties in the App store, but this is such a popular feature that it should definitely be added. However these are small problems when compared to how much the Touch has to offer.
Apple’s iPod Touch is definitely one of the best portable media devices available today, and short of owning an iPhone it’d be hard to find a device to beat it.
LG VX5500 Cell Phone
LG VX5500 Cell Phone Our Rating:
The LG VX5500 is by far the best cell phone I’ve tested so far. First I’ll just say that I have personally always used whatever phones Verizon will give for free when a contract is renewed, so naturally, this phone as well was a free phone from Verizon. This was the best out of the 3 others I could choose from the last time I renewed.
Since I really use no other functions than the simple phone function, and this does a great job of it, I would highly recommend it for anyone who is looking for a phone to be just that. It’s durable as I dropped it more than once and it’s still going strong. At first I noticed the battery life did not seem a reliable as my previous phone, but after 2 charge cycles it is right up where I would expect it to be. The camera on it is what you would expect from a basic camera phone, VGA quality. No technical issues whatsoever, and Verizon service is always great. The design is sleek and fits well in my pocket.
One downfall of this phone is that it does not have a simultaneous “ring and vibrate” feature, but that is a minor issue compared to the otherwise very high quality of the phone.
Overall, I was very pleased with the LG VX5500 and would recommend it to anyone looking for a basic but reliable phone.
Logitech X-230 Speakers
Logitech X-230 Speakers Our Rating:
Another excellent product from Logitech comes the X-230 speakers. These have several features which make them top of the line. The product itself is two speakers and a subwoofer. The subwoofer has individual volume control so the bass can be cranked up to the max when nobody’s home or turned down when necessary. On one of the speakers is an overall volume control and power button as well as a headphone jack which is very convenient. The speakers also have the cabability of being wall mounted which gives them nice versatility. They are very easy to set up and can be used with any PC or MP3 player. And of course the most important part, the sound quality, is excellent – which has come to be expected of any Logitech product.
LAN Adapter for Nintendo Wii by Datel
LAN Adapter for Nintendo Wii by Datel Our Rating:
This third-party adapter for Nintendo’s Wii console is a convenient solution to the lack of ethernet port on the Wii. It creates a high speed LAN connection via USB. For most people, this product will probably work exactly as it should. It is definitely more convenient to find than Nintendo’s official LAN adapter which can only be purchased online at Nintendo’s official website. However compared to their first-party solution, this offering from Datel does have some problems.
First off, the first unit tested was defective. That is not to say that Nintendo’s adapter is infallible, but it does not say a lot for this product. After finding a replacement, there are still a few shortcomings for this product. If you are on a secured network in which all devices’ MAC address must be allowed by your router, it is much more difficult to obtain the MAC address of this product. The address is not printed anywhere on the device, and because it is not officially made by Nintendo, the address does not appear when the Wii’s system settings are accessed. To find the MAC address of this device, it has to be connected to a PC, have drivers downloaded for it, and then have an ipconfig run. More than an inconvenience.
Overall this product should work fine for most people, but it may cause problems and frustrations if the network is configured a certain way. The official Nintendo Wii LAN Adapter is a more recommended solution.
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