Nokia N900 Review

Nokia is facing a tide of ferocious competitors in the lucrative high-end smartphone market, but the company is on the move: Nokia is battling on multiple fronts a the same time: OS, app store, maps and devices. With the N900, Nokia wanted to build a "handheld computer with phone functionalities". I suspect that for prospective users, if it looks like a phone, it should work like a phone. Nokia has equipped the N900 with decent hardware: it has a 600Mhz processor (the same used in the Motorola Droid) that integrates a PowerVR SGX 530 graphics processor (OpenGL 2.0). Finally, the N900 runs Maemo, a Linux-based operating system that is backed by major players like Intel. Where does the Nokia N900 fit in the current smartphone landscape?

Context

There are two things that I would like to point out before you read the whole review. First, this N900 unit is a pre-production device, and as such, the pre-installed software that is used might be different from the final product that is shipped. Secondly, the general performance (and battery life) is probably going to improve, to some extent. We are close enough to the launch so that I don't expect Nokia to ship something that is completely different, but still, you might want to check this page again for a post-launch update.
Also, I'm going to quickly describe how I use the device so that you can extrapolate how your own experience might be. I have been using the Nokia N900 as my main phone. I check my emails from 3 accounts: Exchange (work), Gmail (personal) and Hotmail (random junk account). I keep an eye on my friends' Facebook updates and email often (I reply moderately). I browse the web several times a day to check on news and the stock market but I don't call much (about 10mn a day). I have WiFi ON all the time.
 

Physical Design (Nice, but chubby)

The Nokia N900 design is clean. It has a full qwerty sliding keyboard, which is practical for typing comfortably. However, this also contributes to the thickness of the N900. The keyboard keys remind me of the HTC Touch Pro as they are small and densely packed. The sliding mechanism is solid and that's good because I feel like this device has been designed to use in landscape mode. Typing speed is on par with the Nokia N97: not optimum, but still better than a virtual keyboard. On the back, there is a 5 megapixel digital camera with dual-LED flash and a lens cover. There is a VGA front camera too.
On the top and bottom, there are two speakers. They are used in games, but also during calls in "speaker mode". The sound quality is decent, but not as good as the iPhone 3GS.
The WVGA (800x480) touch display is superb and it is surprisingly accurate (it uses resistive technology, so you can use your nails), it's practical to put the cursor wherever I want. Despite its resistive technology, it is very reactive and doesn't require a lot of pressure to operate. Unfortunately, it does not support multi-touch, which would have been nice.

Phone basics (Very good)

Searching and finding contacts to place a call is very easy with the Nokia N900. At first, I was worried that an "internet tablet" with phone functions might not cover the basic "phone stuff" well, but I'm glad to see that the N900 is an efficient voice device. If you don't want to slide the keyboard out, Nokia has implemented a quick way to find contacts: you can quickly go through an alphabetically sorted list. Once a contact is found the N900 will propose to connect via a phone call, or via a VOIP service like Skype. It is possible to place a Skype-to-Skype or a Skype-to-phone (SkypeOut) call from the handset which is awesome to save money, especially when roaming is involved. Make sure that you are not using international data roaming to call though! It is possible to place Skype calls via WiFi and via a 3G network (I'm using T-Mobile's 3G network right now).
When not using the physical keyboard, there is a virtual keyboard that will appear whenever you are in an editable field. The virtual keyboard is large an comfortable because it takes most of the screen space. Thanks to its size, the error rate is lower, but the virtual keyboard works only in landscape mode. If you want, you can de-activate the virtual keyboard completely in the settings. Personally, I find it faster to slide the physical keyboard out when I need to type something.
 

Web Browsing (Excellent)

Yay! Flash ads are working too! Err wait… hahaha
The Nokia N900 uses the Maemo web browser, which is built with technology from Mozilla, the foundation behind Firefox. You can find more information about it from Maemo or Nokia, but there are a few things that I would like to point out:

Hulu works, but not fast enough yet
Flash support: The N900's Maemo Browser is the first mobile browser that I have tried that has Flash 9.4 support. Yes, it means that you can go to Vimeo, Hulu or Youtube (for desktops) and it works... but... video playback in a window is significantly slower than on a desktop machine, so although Flash support is there, the actual experience isn't (yet). There are good news: in full-screen mode, Youtube videos run fast enough to be enjoyable. At the moment, that's not the case for Hulu or Vimeo unfortunately. Remember that the Nokia N900 has to manage a lot more pixels (800x480=384000) than an iPhone (480x320=153600). I suspect that the Flash player still needs some work and my sense is that Nokia engineers will have to write the low-level optimizations that take advantage of the hardware. It may come by launch time, but we won't know until then.
 Hover mode: Some websites (especially Flash sites) do require a mouse cursor to hover above a user interface item. That thwarts many mobile browsers, but not this one.

A hot question in forums, and the answer is YES, Google Docs works
Web apps: Google Docs and Google Wave work too, although sometimes very slowly. It is fair to assume that most web services and websites will work without any issues, in fact I have not found one site that was not fully functional, but complex sites (heavy use of Flash or Ajax) will often be too slow to use on the N900. Overall, the web experience is excellent, and it's great that most sites don't even need zooming, if you have sharp eyes.
Rating: Note that I rate the web browsing experience as "excellent" because all web functionalities work and the page rendering is... excellent. That said, I still consider the web browsing experience on the iPhone 3GS to be more pleasant because the device is more reactive to user input and the (pinch and) zoom feature is better and faster.

Email (Very good)

E-mail is pretty efficient, no complaints there
Out of the box, the Nokia N900 supports a large number of email services like .Mac, AIM, AOL, Hotmail, EarthLink, Yahoo and many more. If you use one of the available mail services, all you need is your account login information. If not, you will be asked for the mail server name, port and so on. It is possible to add several email accounts. In my case, I'm using Exchange, Gmail and Hotmail.
Creating and sending an email is done quickly and efficiently, but the Nokia N900 user interface has not been designed to be email centric: there's no homepage that tells you how many emails are waiting (and from who). Getting to the email application can require two or three taps, which is a lot if you check email frequently. Of course, that could simply be solved by an "email widget" (not available right now). Overall, it would be nice to have a faster access to email information.

Conversations (Good)

IM and SMS messages are grouped in a single thread named "Conversations". Currently, the N900 supports the following IM services: Ovi, Skype, Google Talk, Jabber and SIP. I can only assume that more will follow, but that's what I have today. I like the idea of having all my conversations in a single list, but if I start an exchange with one of my friends by SMS, then continue on Skype, this will show up as two different threads. In short: the N900 is not yet people-centric like MotoBlur or Palm's Synergy. Android 2.0 will have something like that, so I hope that Maemo will follow.

Photos/video captures (Excellent/Very good)

I’m pretty impressed by the photo quality, fulls-size photos on Flickr
Photos: The Nokia N900 is by far the best camera-phone that I've tried. Out of the box, the color balance and contrast are closer to what they should be. I'm very impressed with the photo quality.
Video: Video capture is done in 848x480 pixels (3.4Mbps, 22.3fps, AAC mono 48kHz), which is way higher than any Android phone that I know of, and superior (in resolution) to the iPhone 3GS, which records in 640x480 at 30fps. In good lighting conditions, the videos are really nice and detailed. In dim lighting, you will be able to see compression artifacts, but overall, the video recording is very good - I just wish that we had the option to trade off resolution for faster frame-rate.
You might wonder if it's possible to use the flash as a flashlight when filming videos: I have not found this function, but I'll keep an eye open.

Maemo user interface (Simple)

The user interface is reactive and fairly simple
It's the first time that I have been using Maemo extensively. I'm not going to review the OS here, but the user interface is very responsive, which is definitely a plus. It's very different from Android, Windows Mobile or the iPhone, but it doesn't take very long to get used to it. There's a "close window" icon at the upper-right of the screen just like most desktop OS. It works on app thumbnails too. On the upper-left, there's a task view icon, which is equivalent to ALT-Tab in Windows. It will show all currently opened apps as thumbnails. If you press the "Power" button, it acts like a Ctrl-Alt-Del and brings a menu that lets you kill the current app, go the phone mode, lock the screen and more...
There is a main dashboard that lists all the applications, but there's also a panoramic dashboard (up to 4x screens big) that you can customize with shortcuts and widgets. There are arguably not a lot of widgets at the moment, but Maemo has a lot of potential.
I prefer Maemo over the Symbian OS 9.4 found in the N97, partly because it is more reactive (the hardware helps too), but also because the user interface is just better in general.

Performance (Very good)

There is no real benchmark to measure absolute performance from one handset to the next, but I guess that "reactivity" is a metric that we're all sensitive to. In that sense, the N900 is much better than the N97. It reacts quickly, even when there are multiple applications running in the background. For multitasking, I found the N900 to be superior to many Android phones that I have tested so far (except the Droid).

3D graphics in the game Bounce Evolution
The N900 comes with OpenGL ES 2.0 support and this unit was loaded with "bounce evolution" a 3D game with simple, but relatively fast 3D graphics (somewhere in between the iPhone 3G and the iPhone 3GS). The game doesn't seem to use any GL ES 2.0 features (it's more like a GL 1.x game) but the frame rate was around 25 to 30fps. It will be interesting to see what type of games will come out for the Maemo platform. Theoretically, the iPhone 3GS uses a PowerVR graphics processor (the SGX535, versus the N900’s SGX530) that is supposed to be twice as fast at drawing polygons. Updated 12/03/2009: Take a look at the Nokia N900 WebGL demo.
As it is the case with multi-task capable smartphones, having more programs running in the background will slow things down. Fortunately, the N900 is shows you exactly what's running and makes it easy to shut things down. That's not the case with current Android phones.

Entertainment (Good, needs content)

At the moment, the best way to enjoy the N900 as an entertainment device is to copy media files to it. There's ample room (up to 32GB internally+16GB via micro-SD) and that's how you'll get the best image quality for the videos. Music is pretty easy to acquire, but videos formatted to the optimum size and bitrate is another story. I hope that Nokia will provide videos via the Ovi Store soon.

YouTube web video (plays very slowly)
Web videos: Of course, there's always online video services like YouTube or Hulu. At the moment, YouTube works "OK" in fullscreen but could be better. Hulu "technically" works, but it is definitely not fast enough to be enjoyable. Flash is supposed to bring a world of videos to the N900, and I've seen some N900 demos showing YouTube working better than what I've seen on this particular unit. Let's wait for the final release to drop a verdict.

Transformers played from the Flash memory
Videos files: The Nokia N900 is capable of playing DVD-resolution videos. The real issue is to find digital video files that have been properly sized and compressed to take advantage of the device's screen and decoding capabilities. Video playback formats: Video playback file formats: .mp4, .avi, .wmv, .3gp; codecs: H.264, MPEG-4, Xvid, WMV, H.263. Video streaming formats: H.264, MPEG-4, Xvid, WMV, H.263 in .avi, .mp4, .wmv, .asf and .3gp containers.

Music playback interface
Music player: it's easy: browse by Artist, Songs, Genres or Playlists by scrolling or by typing the first letters. There's no search function that's based in keywords. For example, you won't find the song "Magic Words" by typing "words". It should be OK if you don't have thousands of songs. The playback interface itself is pretty classic will all the options that you would expect. The sound quality (tested with Bose Quietcomfort 15 headphones) is very good.

Photo gallery
Photo gallery: it is on par with what you can find on Android, but it's definitely not as fast as the iPhone 3GS or the Zune HD.

The Nokia N900 (middle, bottom) connected to a 52–inch Samsung TV
TV-Out: The Nokia N900 connects to a TV via an analog video out (it uses the 3.5mm jack). It would probably work best with a 30" screen. I tested it on a 52" LCD TV and with the length of the cable (3 or 4 feet), I was a bit too close. Readers, what would you use the TV-Out for? (add a comment at the bottom)

Broadcast the audio output via FM
FM transmitter: The N900 can transmit all audio output on an FM channel (user selectable). That allows you to listen to music (or games) wirelessly on a better audio system, without the hassle associated to cables and Bluetooth. It works in cars of course.

Applications (Waiting for more)

As I said earlier, I'm using a pre-release Nokia N900 and the official app store is not yet open/populated, so it's hard to judge the quality of the software offering right now - there's just not enough stuff to look at. I'll highlight a few apps that I use a lot, and we'll see what will be available at launch time and shortly after. What I do know is that the Maemo community is very active.

Ovi Maps 1.0 is loaded on my pre-release unit
Mapping: This Nokia N900 is loaded with Ovi Maps 1.0, which is quite a step down from Ovi Maps 3.0 as you can imagine. I have not found a way to download maps and use maps in "offline mode" to avoid map downloads (one of the best features of Nokia Maps to save $$$ while traveling abroad). There's no Google Maps apps on the N900 (yet) so "street view" is another feature that I sometime miss. Google Maps also has much better coverage for places like Tokyo, Japan. In a pinch that might be very handy. Ovi Maps 1.0 is "ok" to get by, but I can't wait to see something more robust.

We needs social network apps. Widgets+Sites are not good enough
Facebook Widget: The Facebook widget displays status updates and tells you how many messages there are in your inbox. If you want to take action, it will send you to the Facebook website that is perfectly functional with the Maemo Browser. That is however not as convenient as having a mobile Facebook app, like the ones found on other smartphone platforms. There's too much bandwidth usage due to the web page download, where a Facebook App would only need to download the actual data (status updates or messages).
No MMS support: The Nokia N900 does not support MMS at this point. I haven't sent an MMS since I had my SE T68i, but some users do care about MMS, so I thought that it was important.

With the “To Go” series, you can read office documents
Office apps: Word to Go, Sheet to Go and Slideshow to Go are loaded on the N900. I have a trial version which it can read office files, but not edit them. There is also a PDF reader application on the N900. If you want to take notes (text only) or do quick sketches, there are a couple of apps that will do just that. There is no voice recording application on the phone right now.
Misc: Maemo is full of features, and I can't cover every aspect of it, but I recommend taking a look at this compilation of tips for the power user that includes keyboard shortcuts and all. Check the Maemo applications too.

Battery Life

Just like most phones in its class, the battery life (with WiFi ON at all times) is less than 24hrs with very moderate use (basically sit around and fetch emails/notifications). With intense use, I doubt that you could use it for a full working day. In any case, the N900 will need to be charged at least every day, or you will find a dead phone in the morning. In this video a Nokia employee says that the goal was to get a “one day” of “full usage” (3:20). This might be improved by the time it launches.

Things that could be better

Left: iPhone 3GS, Right: Nokia N900

Left: Motorola Droid, Right: Nokia N900
Form factor: The N900 is on the bulky side, and while this could be justified by how powerful this device is (I'm not so sure of that), the fact is that the form factor might simply be too big for many potential users. Secondly, equally fast devices like the Motorola Droid with full Qwerty keyboards are noticeably thinner. There are sacrifices that need to be made in order to achieve sexiness: stylus, lock button, TV out, high-end lens, dual-flash, infra-red port and front camera: many would happily trade all of that for a thinner device. Apple's strength with the iPhone is not to have every feature, it's about adding the ones that matter the most at that time, while preserving the "soul" of the phone. It's time for difficult choices.
Landscape mode bias: The N900 doesn't work at 100% in portrait mode. Depending on your own habits, it might or might not be a big issue. I'm OK with it, but anyone who wants to use it with one hand might have a problem with that.

Lock screen: it would be nice if the lock screen had more information than the time: the number of emails/SMS/social updates would be nice. Btw, it could scroll too...
Social networking apps: Even though websites work very well, an application is the most convenient way to interact with social networks and web services from a phone, simply because of the small screen surface.

Conclusion (Very good, but…)

The Nokia N900 is currently the best smartphone that Nokia has ever produced and I'll call it a smartphone even if the company brands it as an "Internet tablet with phone functions". As a voice device, the Nokia N900 does very well, and as a communication tool, it is very good too. With Maemo, Nokia's smartphone future seems a lot brighter than it is with Symbian OS, but despite the obvious potential, the number (and quality) of applications is still uncertain right now.
The Web experience is the most complete: the vast majority of sites work perfectly. All the functionalities are there, including Flash and Ajax support, but in some situations (Flash heavy sites), performance is still too low to offer a true desktop experience. I suspect that this can be mostly fixed by software updates.
The N900 faces stiff competition from the iPhone 3GS and the new Motorola Droid, just to name the obvious ones. It might have a "features" advantage, which is great, but I wonder if "technical coolness" will convert into actual sales. My personal take is that the 3GS will still be the most desired phone, with the Moto Droid fast becoming second in line.

The Nokia N900 is much better than the N97 is, I can vouch for that. However, I think that its form factor alone will be a deterrent for many potential users. If Nokia wants to create an great smartphone eco-system, it needs to have a strong user base (in that space), and to achieve that, it needs sexier phone designs, there's no way around it.

The Best Ever Nokia Cell Phones

In the Light of Entelligence Column what’s the Future of Nokia

Actually Entelligence is a column in which writer investigate where Nokia industry is and where it’s going on both micro and macro levels with the unique humor and insight only he can provide. Nokia is the major cell phone maker in the world with the major share of any smartphone seller in the world. The writer of Entelligence column said that until now I increasingly look at Nokia’s products and listen to its strategy wondering if the company can remain pertinent in a mobile world that’s changed radically over the last two years. A future of selling low-end phones in rising markets with some slight services might be profitable.

Nokia Announced Plans to Release a New Version of Ovi Maps

Nowadays Nokia has publicized plans to release a latest version of Ovi Maps for its smartphones in which walk and drive navigation is included at no additional cost and accessible for download at www.nokia.com/maps. High-end car and pedestrian navigation features are included in the latest and fresh version of Ovi Maps. The features which are supported in latest and newest version of Ovi Maps are turn-by-turn voice guidance for 74 countries, traffic information for more than 10 countries and detailed maps for more than 180 countries. The current owners of Nokia smartphones that are compatible with the latest and newest Ovi Maps can download it free of charge from www.nokia.com/maps.

Nokia launches the Exclusive Rihanna Application

In this day and age Nokia launches the elite Rihanna Application due to which fans come closer to Rihanna. The elite and exclusive Rihanna Application deliver news, photos, music and exclusive video content which is straight to Nokia’s entertainment-affluent handsets in which Nokia N97, Nokia X6 and Nokia 5800 XpressMusic are included. With the help of this application video content is available which will include live recital from Rihanna’s album launch event. Fans can also admittance music samples, a Rihanna life history and photo library with the help of this application. The latest information on Rihanna’s forthcoming 2010 tour is also fans can get by using this application.


   

The Latest and highly featured Nokia E72

Nokia is a well-known and renowned mobile Company allover the world due to its unique and exceptional devices and phones. In these days Nokia launched a Nokia E72 which hits the store shelves in the US. The price of Nokia E72 is 469 USD. Nokia E72 is now obtainable on nokiausa.com, Best Buy and other independent retail channels in the United States. A lot of features are provided in Nokia E72. The E72 has an advanced 5 megapixel camera and 3.5mm headphone jack for added comfort. Nokia E72 comes with a QWERTY keyboard which provides extraordinary look it. For more details about Nokia E72 you must logon to Nokia websites through internet.

Telkomsel and Nokia declared their collaboration to offer the Nokia Messaging service

Nowadays Telkomsel and Nokia declared their partnership to offer the Nokia Messaging service which will be obtainable to Telkomsel subscribers commercially from 26 December 2009 onwards. In Indonesia Telkomsel is the first operator only who commercially launches this service which will permit users and consumers to enjoy simple access to mobile email on their Nokia devices such as mobile phones, smartphones, etc. Telkomsel is also the first operator only allover the world who offers Nokia Messaging for Instant Messaging to prepaid patrons. Nokia Messaging supports all foremost user email solutions in which Gmail, Windows Live Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail as well as local email service providers are also included.

A simple Nokia 6750 on Rogers

A new phone is available on Rogers; the Nokia 6750, which has snazzy aesthetics. It’s a no frills flip phone which has unique features which are easy to use. These features include a large keyboard which is easy to use when texting. The external display has a colored LED screen with such lovely colors as blue, orange, pink, green, red and purple. It also has a 2.0 mega pixel camera and a GPS onboard application which has Ovi Maps. Stereo Bluetooth and a headphone jack which has a micro SD memory card with an expansion capacity of up to 32GB which will ensure you enjoy all your multimedia requirements.

Nokia’s First Netbook

The world’s biggest mobile phone maker is known as Nokia. It said that the Best Buy will sell its first laptop for the U.S. and the price of that laptop is $300 with a two-year AT&T wireless plan when it goes on sale next week. A Finland Company named as Espoo said that the small laptops is known as netbooks and the cost of such netbooks would be $600 for customers who opt out of the AT&T contract. Nokia’s first laptop has Intel’s Atom processor, run Microsoft’s Windows software and 10-inch screen. The weight of this Nokia’s first laptop is 2.8 pounds.

Nokia X6 and X3

In the fourth quarter of 2009 Nokia introduces its two new handsets. These two handsets of Nokia are smooth and shiny. In other words we can say that one is smartphone and one is dumpphone. The look of X3 is so much inspiring because it is an impressive looking phone. Nokia X3 is a quad -band slider phone with a 3.5mm connector and Bluetooth. In Nokia X3 3.2 megapixel camera is provided. Nokia X6 is the next advancement of 5800 XpressMusic. Nokia X6 phone has touch-screen and 434 mhz processor. This Nokia X6 phone has 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss and dual-LED flash. The internal memory of Nokia X6 is match with the Nokia N97’s 32 gigabytes.

Posted on October 14th, 2009 by admin

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Nokia 7705 Twist Square Messaging Phone Going to Verizon Wireless

The messaging phone which is known as Nokia 7705 Twist is introduce by Verizon Wireless and Nokia. Nokia 7705 Twist has unique square shape which has twist open to divulge a full QWERTY keypad. The shortcut buttons of Nokia 7705 Twist provides the quick and speedy access to messaging. This twist square messaging phone has 3.0 megapixel camera and camcorder with flash and autofocus. Online purchasing of Nokia Twist is starting from September 13 and in the stores of Verizon Wireless is from September 21. There are many features provided in Nokia Twist such as web browsing, voice commands, speakerphone options, V CAST Music with Rhapsody, etc. the weight of Nokia Twist is 3.44 ounces. Nokia Twist Square phone has 262k TFT QVGA screen and 2.4 mm headset jack..

Sony Bloggie MHS-CM5 (purple)

Price range:

$192.18 - $199.99
So far, Sony hasn't done too well in the fast-growing cheap pocket camcorder space dominated by Flip Video, characterized by candy bar vertical camcorder designs and prices ranging from about $150-$250. After an initial flop with the poorly named NSC-GC1 Net-sharing cam a few years back, it redubbed its pocket camcorder line to the also poorly named "Webbie." That move fell flat, and now it's now moved on to the marginally less poorly named "Bloggie" and returned one of the models to the pistol-grip design of yesteryear, which remains popular with small, zooming camcorders from companies like Sanyo and Aiptek. Though redesigned from its predecessor, the Webbie HD MHS-CM1, the Bloggie HD MHS-CM5 offers a similar feature set: 1080p video capture, a 5x optical zoom lens, a large 2.5-inch swiveling LCD, and a rechargeable lithium ion battery that's removable. It adds a mini HDMI connector and the capability to charge via the attached USB connector.
Weighing 6.9 ounces and measuring 4 inches high by 2.8 inches wide by 1.6 inches deep, this Sony will fit in big, loose pockets like a cargo pant pocket, but it's more bag-friendly than pocket-friendly. Sony also makes the smaller MHS-PM5, which updates the PM1 we reviewed last year.
Both Bloggie camcorders record real 1,920x1,080-pixel resolution HD recorded as H.264-compressed MPEG-4, support SDHC and Memory Stick Duo cards, add a new 60fps 720p mode, and now can run the Picture Motion Browser Portable software on Macs.
Overall, we prefer the smaller designs of the Flip-style camcorders, but going bigger does have its advantages. First, there's a significant difference between the digital zoom found in the Flip models and the 5x optical zoom found here. Digital zoom is basically useless because the picture degrades as you zoom. And while the CM5's optical zoom isn't stellar and the autofocus can be a little slow when you zoom, the image is relatively sharp. You must keep your hand ultrasteady at the higher zoom levels, however, or your video will appear very shaky.
This model can do one thing much better than the Flip Video camcorders: it can focus on objects as close as about 2 inches. Even the Kodak Zi8 can only get as close as about 6 inches in its macro mode. You can really get tight, almost macro-like shots of objects, which can be important for those who want to show close-up details of products--or people.
Interestingly, in the 1080 or 60 frames-per-second 720 capture settings you can't engage Sony's Steady Shot electronic image stabilization. It only becomes an option when shooting at 720p 30 frames per second or the lower resolution 640 x 480 mode. The video looked better without the EIS, though, less jittery and with fewer artifacts. For a rock solid image it obviously helps to use a monopod or tripod, and if you're so inclined to use one, there is a threaded tripod mount on the bottom of the device.
Overall, we found the image quality to be decent, faring well compared to the "standard" set by the Flip Mino and Ultra HD. The color is extremely warm and oversaturated, but the video is sharp and the camcorder adjusts for exposure reasonably fast; the autofocus responds more slowly, though. Like most models, it chronically underexposes backlit subjects. There's some noise and softness when you're shooting in low light, and it looks like the CM5 occasionally drops the shutter speed until it adjusts, resulting in brief bouts of slow motion. But the video looks solid.
Navigating the CM5 is fairly straightforward, though novice shooters will have to read the brief start-up handout to get a full handle on the settings; Flip camcorders are easier to use, but they have almost no settings to fiddle with, which some people will prefer. To turn the camcorder on, you simply open the LCD. Pressing a menu button brings up options such as resolution, image stabilization, and face detection (which tells the camcorder to look for faces and focus on them). Switch to still-image capture (5 megapixels), and opt whether to turn on such features as face detection.

GuideKodak Zi8 Pocket Video Camera (black)

Price range:

$179.00 - $259.99
Over the last few years, as the pocket camcorder market has taken off, pioneer Flip Video has narrowly hung onto the lead it built by offering models with arguably superior designs and slightly better video quality. A few companies, including Creative, Sony, and RCA, have been nipping at its heels for a while, but none has been able to overtake Flip's offerings. Until now. While Kodak's Zi8 may not be perfect, it has a lot of the little extras we've been asking for--including electronic image stabilization and external mic support--and delivers very respectable video for a mini camcorder well under $200.
For starters, Kodak improved upon the design of last year's Zi6 and this year's ruggedized Zx1, both of which we thought decent, but not great. The Zi8 looks slicker than the Zi6, and while it's far from the smallest or lightest pocket camcorder we've tested, it is fairly compact, measuring 2.4 inches by 4.5 inches by 0.9 inch and weighing 4.8 ounces.
This model comes in three colors Kodak dubs black, aqua, and raspberry, and it has a sharp and generously sized 2.5-inch LCD on the back. The only noteworthy drawback is that all three models are fingerprint magnets and you'll find yourself constantly wiping down the camcorder. The plastic finish is also susceptible to scratches, so you'll probably want to keep the unit in a protective cover, particularly if you've got keys in your pocket. Unfortunately, Kodak doesn't ship the Zi8 with any sort of case, though it does sell one, as well as a remote control.
To trim down the chassis, Kodak has gone with a slimmer lithium ion rechargeable battery instead of the AA NiMH rechargeables that ship with the Zi6. That's a good move, but you don't have the luxury of swapping in a standard pair of alkaline batteries should you run out of juice on the road. Like most competitors, you can charge the Zi8 directly from your computer via the flip-out cable, but the camcorder also ships with an AC adapter to connect it to a wall outlet.
As we say about all these pocket camcorders: while they may be billed as HD models, they really can't be compared with true HD camcorders that cost hundreds of dollars more and have superior lenses and sensors. However, the image quality is getting better and the Zi8 is the first pocket camcorder on the market to boast 1080p 30fps video capture and 5-megapixel still-image capture, thanks to its integration of a 1/2.5-inch 5-megapixel CMOS sensor. Like the Zi6, this model also records video in 720p resolution at up to 60fps, which Kodak says is "best for sports and action," as well as 720p/30fps ("best for sharing on YouTube or Facebook") and WVGA ("best for conserving memory card space").
Like the Zi6 and Zx1, this model comes with a trivial amount of internal memory and Kodak doesn't include an SD card in the box. We still wish Kodak would throw in a 1GB SD card, but the margins on these products are tight, so we can understand that Kodak needs to cut some corners to hit an attractive price point. Anyway, the long and short of it is, you have to supply your own SD card (the Zi8 accepts SDHC cards up to 32GB, so it can store a ton of video and still images). We calculated that when you record video at the highest level (1080p), you eat up anywhere from around 110 to 150MB per minute, depending upon video content, or about 14 to 18 minutes of video on a typical 2GB card. (Kodak quotes 20 minutes per gigabyte, but that's for 720p.) Similar to most competitors, videos are encoded as generally compatible QuickTime MPEG-4 MOV files, using H.264 compression.
As with all these mini camcorders, the Zi8 is designed to be easy to use. Kodak has made some improvements to the interface, and the inclusion of a four-way rocker control makes navigating the device's menus that much simpler. That said, it's a good idea to consult the manual to figure out exactly what the icons stand for in the settings menu and to make sure you have everything set correctly.
We like its four speeds of fast-forwarding and rewinding, and you can advance or rewind your footage frame by frame, if you want. The 2.5-inch LCD looks sharp and the sound plays back loud enough through the Zi8's little speaker as long as you crank up the volume. The mic seems sensitive enough as long as the subject is only a few feet away. But if you want to improve your recordings, you should opt for an external stereo mic, which will do a better job at picking up sound. (External mics range in price from about $16 to well over $100). For the moment, anyway, the external mic option is one of the Zi8's key differentiating features and will appeal to everyone from journalists to amateur documentarians.

Canon Vixia HV30

Price range:

$649.00 - $1,499.95
Don't look for any great advances here: the Canon Vixia HV30 is a very minor upgrade from the admittedly top-notch HV20. It has a sleeker-looking black body, introduces 30p progressive mode, and supports the high-capacity BP-2L24H lithium-ion battery, but otherwise remains the same as its 2007 predecessor.
Of course, that makes it a well-designed prosumer camcorder with a useful feature set, good overall performance, and excellent video quality. It's relatively big, weighing 1 pound, 5.4 ounces, though it fits into a large, loose jacket pocket. I like the black chassis more than the silver, but the tape housing feels a little flimsier than I remember; when gripped for shooting, the cover moves a bit. In all other ways the build quality seems solid, though, with tethered covers over the Advanced Accessory Shoe, HDMI/FireWire ports, and mic/headphone/component out jacks.

On the left side of the body sit a few, slightly difficult to feel, controls: backlight compensation, display, and video light, plus a manual focus toggle and somewhat loose focus dial.

The 2.7-inch wide-screen LCD is kind of small and at 211,000-pixels not very high resolution, but it's sufficient for manually focusing. The eye-level viewfinder is relatively large, but doesn't pull out or up, and I wish it had a softer eye cup. In addition, I just had to laugh at the Catch-22 diopter control. Since it's right on the viewfinder, you have to move your head away to get your finger on the switch, which means you can't set it for your eye pressed close. The HV30 supplies both a video light and a flash for shooting stills. As always, I really like the built-in electronic lens cover.

All the frequently used shooting controls--except for manual focus and zoom--fall comfortably under your right thumb.

The HV30's zoom switch has quite a bit of play. You can set it for variable speed or one of three fixed-speed zoom options.

Panasonic HDC-TM300 (Black)

Price range:

$1,089.00 - $1,149.00

Photos: Panasonic HDC-TM300

Panasonic's trio of top-of-the-prosumer-line HD camcorders--the flash-based HDC-TM300, and hard-drive-based HDC-HS300 and HDC-HS250--in many ways vastly improve over older models like the HS100 and SD100. Panasonic jettisoned most of what I disliked about those models, including the too-low-resolution CMOS sensors, connector placement, and how the manual controls function, and retained everything I liked, notably the breadth of manual controls and eye-level viewfinder, at least on the two highest-end models. While the company replaced the awkward ring-based manual operation with an equally awkward touch screen, the improvement in video quality and performance make these a far better bet.
The three models incorporate the same 12x zoom f1.8-2.8 lens--the same lens as the HS100/SD100--as well as the same trio of 1/4.1-inch 3-megapixel 3MOS sensors, with an effective resolution of 2.07-megapixels each for 16:9 video. The real 3-megapixels for the predownsampled AVCHD video finally breaks the resolution barrier; normally, 3-chip systems use lower-than-HD resolution sensors, which don't seem to produce terribly sharp HD video. Because of the different media, the camcorders have slightly different designs, but the same feature sets and should have identical video quality. (As such, for the purposes of this review, we ran our standard video tests on only the TM300.) The highest video quality they offer is 1,920x1,080-pixel resolution at 30 frames per second at 17 megabits per second, and can record about 8 minutes of video per gigabyte of storage space, or approximately 4 hours of video in the internal memory. The next level down, 13Mbps, gets about 10 minutes per gigabyte.
The TM300 and HS300 share the same higher-end features as the HS100--manual focus ring, EVF, accessory shoe, and microphone input--while the HS250 trades those for a more compact design. Both the HS250 and HS300 have a 120GB hard disk. As the name indicates, the TM300 is analogous to the HS300, but records to SD cards or the built-in 32GB memory. They all include the optical image stabilization and Intelligent Automatic features of the older versions.
Weighing just less than a pound, with dimensions of 2.8 inches wide by 2.8 inches high by 5.5 inches long, the TM300 is the lightest, though not the smallest, of the three and is larger than competitors like the Canon Vixia HF S10. It's comfortable to hold, especially with the slight upward curve toward the back that makes the zoom switch and photo button easier to reach. The earlier models had a toggle to switch between the LCD and EVF; with this one, you pull out the EVF to enable it, which is a nicer and more utilitarian design.
In contrast to the older models, only the optical image stabilizer button lives inside the LCD recess, and most of the controls have been replaced by a hybrid button/touch-screen interface. Within the recess, under hard covers, are all but one connector--AV, component video out, mini HDMI, and USB--and the SD card slot. (Panasonic recommends a Class 4 card.) In an interesting design move, Panasonic added an accessory shoe to the TM300, but put it in the side rather than the top--a more practical location given how far your hand covers the top. Mic and headphone jacks are on the front right side, beneath the flash and adjacent to the shoe.
Under your right thumb lies a traditional mode dial for choosing among power, video and still recording, and playback. Above the LCD on the body are the Intelligent Auto and 3-second prerecord button; on the LCD's bezel are zoom and record controls, a delete button, and Q(uick) Menu and Menu buttons. Through the Quick Menu you choose video quality, time lapse, picture size, onscreen display options, LCD brightness, and guidelines. Via Menu you select options such as where to record (built-in memory or SD card), choose from a handful of scene modes, Digital Cinema (24p) mode, mic options (surround, zoom or focus; bass settings; and levels), and display options like Zebra and histogram. To the left of the lens are two buttons for invoking manual controls. Pressing manual focus switches the lens ring operation between zooming and focusing. The Function button brings up three options on the touch screen: white balance, shutter, and iris.
Primary operation occurs through the touch-screen menus, which fly out from a small icon in the lower-left corner. In auto mode, there's spot AE and AF, backlight compensation, intelligent contrast, fade, soft skin mode, telemacro, and MagicPix night mode. In manual mode, you select via a scrolling menu on the left.
White balance offers the typical options, and shutter speed and iris are as broad and flexible as you'll get on an entry-level pro model. For instance, the iris opens as wide as 18dB in 3dB increments and closes to F16 in half stops. Although the shutter speeds start at a rather high 1/60 sec (in auto modes they'll drop lower and 24p mode drops to 1/48 sec), they go as high as 1/8,000.
At 2.7 inches, the LCD is a typical size for this class of camcorder; overall, it's fairly good. However, it's not very effective as a touch screen. There's visible feedback when you press one of the virtual buttons--it turns yellow--which helps when you're frustrated and pressing them repeatedly, attempting to get them to register your touch. I found the system in the HS100/SD100 awkward, but at least you could use it with the EVF. Since this model uses a touch screen, you can't change any of the manual settings while using it, which is a major drawback.
It performs relatively well, including booting quickly from a cold start. The EVF, while coarse and not particularly color accurate, is far better than nothing, which is what you get on most competitors. The zoom feels relatively precise and easy to control, and the camcorder focuses reasonably quickly in all but the lowest light. The audio sounds a tad thin, but acceptable. And Panasonic's optical stabilization works solidly out to the end of the zoom range.
The video quality is quite good, showing none of the artifacts that plagued the older models. Video looks sharp, though a tad softer than competing models from Canon and Sony, but color and exposure live up to what you'd expect for a camcorder in its price range. Low-light video looks a bit soft, though not nearly as soft as we've seen in previous models, and remains quite noise-free. The audio sounds the same, however, a bit thin but with adequate volume and microphone coverage. And while the stills look quite nice zoomed out and printed as large as 11 inches by 16 inches, you can see all the interpolation artifacts when viewed at 100 percent on screen--though Panasonic claims 10.6-megapixel resolution, the real resolution is only as high as any individual sensor.
The annoying touch-screen interface holds back a solid prosumer HD camcorder that otherwise effectively competes with models like the Canon Vixia HF S10. If you don't need the EVF, accessory shoe, or mic input, and you don't do a lot of manual focusing, the HS250 is the best value of the lot, and you should probably save yourself the $300 or so price difference. Between the TM300 and HS300, I favor the TM300; it's cheaper and most people don't really need the overwhelming storage capacity on the HS300's hard drive.

Canon Vixia HF200

Price range:

$449.99 - $749.99

Photo gallery:
Canon Vixia HF20

Canon's acquitted itself quite well with a nearly identical trio of flash-based AVCHD camcorders, the HF10/HF11/HF100, and follow-up models HF20 and HF200 manage to improve upon their legacy. The only difference between the two models is color and memory configuration: the HF20 has 32GB built in, while the HF200 has none. We tested the HF20.
Smaller and slightly less powerful than their twin brothers, the HF S10 and the HF S100, these models offer a physically smaller but longer 15x zoom lens and smaller, lower resolution 4-megapixel sensor. And though they retain much of the same feature set as those models, they don't supply more enthusiast-oriented niceties like a manual control dial, zebra stripes, and color bars, or a pop-up flash. Still they're a definite upgrade from the older versions. And while they're both more expensive than competitors like the Sony Handycam HDR-CX100 and Panasonic's HDC-TM20/SD20, those camcorders lack features some users consider essential regardless of camcorder size, including an accessory shoe, microphone input, and headphone jack, which the Canons provide. Like most all new models, however, the HF20 and HF200 lack an eye-level EVF.
You wouldn't call it a featherweight, but the HF20/HF200's 13.9 ounces is relatively light for a midrange camcorder, and its 2.8-inch-by-2.4-inch-by-4.9-inch dimensions mean it fits comfortably into a jacket pocket, albeit with some bulging. It's very comfortable to grip and use, with the photo button and zoom rocker on a slight rise to fall naturally under your forefinger. Most of the shooting controls live on the LCD bezel. The function button pulls up both the frequently used settings as well as the full menu system another level down. In addition to the usual--white balance, image effects, digital effects, video quality, and still-photo size, program, and a handful of scene modes--the camcorders offer real shutter- and aperture-priority shooting modes with a shutter speed range of 1/8 to 1/2,000 second and aperture options ranging from f1.8 to f8, giving you more control over depth of field than you generally see in a consumer model, especially a compact one. It also offers Canon's Cine mode for adjusting color and gamma to go with its 24F progressive modes, though it and 30F get recorded as 60i. In still mode you can select metering and drive modes as well. Other high-end features accessible via the menus include three fixed or variable zoom speed and x.v.Color mode.
Navigating down on the joystick while shooting triggers a fly-up menu to turn on the video light, digital effects, 3-second prerecord, backlight and exposure compensation, manual focus, mic level, and face detection. In still mode you gain flash and lose the prerecord. The menu system itself has been updated for a smoother feel and the ability to choose font size. Since the 2.7-inch display is the typical low-resolution model, the small fonts look pixelated and would be hard for some to read. It does stand up pretty well in direct sunlight, however. As we've seen with lots of camcorders, however, the recordings on the LCD look far more contrasty and blown out than the actual video, which means you can't trust it for making exposure or white balance adjustments
Like the HF S models, the HF20 and HF200 incorporate this year's features, which include Video Snapshots, 4-second clips used to create a "highlights reel" effect (the camcorders ship with a music CD). I like the idea, but the implementation can be annoying. You enter Video Snapshot mode by pressing a hard-to-feel button on the left side of the camcorder in the LCD recess. A blue outline appears on the display. When you press record, a highlight travels around the blue outline counting down your 4 seconds. It stays in Video Snapshot mode until you switch to playback or press the button again. While I like the way the display feedback works, I think I might have preferred a separate record button, or a choice on the mode dial rather than the have the isolated button. (For a complete accounting of the HF20/200's features, you can download the PDF manual.)
Performance and quality are top notch at both its maximum 24Mbps bit rate and at 17Mbps. (Recording capacities are about 5.5 minutes per gigabyte and 7.8 min/GB, respectively. Canon recommends a Class 4 or better SDHC card.) The camcorder focuses quickly and accurately, even in low light. Battery life is pretty good--about 1.5 hours--and Canon sells higher-capacity batteries to double or quadruple that. Unlike the HF S models, these don't offer quick charging. The optical stabilizer, as usual, works well out to the end of the zoom range. I did run into a problem with it failing to recognize my SD card (a normally bulletproof SanDisk Extreme III 30MB/sec edition) after initializing it and using it for a couple clips, but I was unable to reproduce the problem. Having internal memory "just in case" may be worth the price tradeoff for some users.
The video looks great, especially considering the small lens: surprisingly sharp, with saturated colors, and excellent exposures with relatively few blown-out highlights. The DigicDV 3 processing does a solid job maximizing the dynamic range. Living-room light-level recordings look quite good as well. There's a bit of noise and softness, but that's to be expected. The audio records crisp and clear, too, though the microphone placement tends to pick up wind noise. There are some flaws, however. While they lack the fringing I saw on the higher-end models, outdoor shots do show a bit of haze over light, brightly exposed objects, and I think there's a bit more ghosting than usual on fast moving subjects. Still-photos looked good and even a bit better than the HF S models, though they're lower resolution.
The Canon Vixia HF20 and HF200 are excellent camcorders, but do cost a lot more than the competition. Of course, you could also look at it reversed: they're smaller and less expensive than high-end models like the HF S10/S100, while offering a lot of the same features.

The Best Ever Camcorders

Canon XH A1

Giving independent videographers something to choose from besides its popular but long-in-the-tooth GL2, Canon offers up two HDV models designed to appeal to the prosumer and entry-level pro markets. Derived from the same technology that the professional-level XL H1 uses, the XH A1 and the XH G1 HDV models trade the XL H1's interchangeable lens system to lower the cost by one-half to two-thirds the price of the higher-end model. The two XH models share a single body, but the G1 includes the equivalent of the XL H1's JackPack--HD-SDI output with embedded audio and time code, Genlock synchronization, and Timecode In/Out--a group of connectors critical for anyone trying to mix multiple video input sources. In addition, the SDI output is the only way to get 4:2:2 output. We tested the lower-end XH A1.
All things considered it feels comfortable shooting with the XH A1; though it weighs almost five pounds, it's still considerably lighter than most. All the buttons and controls sit in logical locations, grouped roughly by function and generally in the same locations as they appear on competing models. They're good sizes, and various bumps and divots in the buttons provide enough tactile feedback to operate without looking. A large chunk of the camcorder's architecture lets you determine the speed and subtlety with which shifts occur during shooting, including focus, zoom and exposure changes, and white-balance adjustments. (For a complete discussion of the controls, click through the slide show.)
On the lens barrel, rings of different sizes and textures operate focus, zoom, and iris. In response to complaints about the mushiness of servo-controlled focus, Canon offers a Slow speed option; that option, plus a distance readout help to maintain a finer control over focus response, but you'll probably still want to try it and compare to others if you're picky about the feel. I think it feels about the same as the Panasonic AG-HVX200's.
The same three 1/3-inch CCDs with 1080i (1,440x1,080) native resolution that drive the XL H1 sit at the center of the XH series' imaging system, and like the H1, both models can record in 1080i at 30F or 24F frame rates. The latter comes in two versions, one which records to tape at 24 frames per second, and one which downconverts from 24fps to 30fps/60i using 2:3:3:2 pull-down before recording for greater editing compatibility. Their feature sets share many of the H1's technologies, including a Digic DV II processor, Super-Range Optical Image Stabilization, and the H1's customization architecture. The XH cameras have fixed 20x zoom lenses rather than the interchangeable lenses on the XL, but they offer a wider-angle view: 32.5mm-to-650mm equivalent.
The lens and focusing system perform very well. The lens displays very good edge-to-edge sharpness, albeit with a tendency to display a bit of magenta chromatic aberration on the sides, and the center focus looks great, especially when zoomed in tight. As usual, Canon's optical stabilizer works exceptionally well, even all the way out to 20x.
With Instant AF enabled, the autofocus works quickly, and the Push AF, which activates an Instant AF override in manual-focus mode, speeds manual focus considerably. As noted in the XH series' documentation, there's a bit of an autofocus lag in 24F and 30F modes; it's perceptible, but if you shoot a lot in those modes and use AF, your shooting rhythm should adapt after a while. Canon moved the Peaking and Magnify focusing aids out to the body of the camera--they were in the menu system in the XL H1--and you'll rely on them pretty heavily; the tiny, low-resolution LCD is pretty difficult to work with.
Canon provides seven gain levels: 36dB, 18dB, 12dB, 6dB, 3dB, 0dB, and -3dB (although, irritatingly, you can only program three on the L/M/H switch. At its lowest gain, video looks incredibly smooth, and even as high as 3dB you can shoot in low light with relatively little noise. At 12dB there's quite a bit of (mostly) luminance noise, but it doesn't really obscure much detail and you can shoot in near darkness. The quiet on-camera mic works pretty well in basic up-close-and-personal shooting, but you've got plenty of add-on options should your needs be more complex.
As you'd expect from camcorders in their class, the XH's produce excellent HD and SD video: sharp, saturated and smooth. The controversy that began with the XL H1 over the relative quality of Canon's 24F versus Panasonic's 24P--implemented by models such as the Panasonic AG-HVX200--continues, and applies equally to the XH series. To summarize: Panasonic's 24P is a full 720-line frame of video captured roughly every 1/24 second. Canon's 24F "fakes" progressive scan by slightly offsetting the vertical readout of the green CCD from those of the blue and red, generating a frame with 1.5x the lines of the 540-line field, or 810 lines, albeit ones using spatial rather than temporal interlace. As a result, the quality question arises: Do Canon's pseudo-progressive frames look the same as a true progressive frame or does one see artifacts?
I didn't see any; footage I shot specifically to test for 24F artifacts looked correct to me. (I played it back directly on our reference HDTV, the 50-inch Pioneer Pro-FHD1, to bypass the myriad software issues surrounding 24fps editing and playback.) However, if you want to see a bevy of test results, you can find them in the Texas Shootout on DV.com.
At their aggressive prices, the Canon XH A1 and XH G1 look mighty attractive compared to their respective competitors in the indie filmmaker and entry-level studio markets.

Price Range: Canon XH A1: $3,999.00 - $4,999.95

Nintendo DS Lite (polar white)

Editors' Note: As of April 2009, this product has been superseded by the Nintendo DSi, which adds slightly larger screens, two built-in cameras, an SD slot, and access to the online DSi Store for downloadable applications and games. The rating on this product has been adjusted accordingly.
Our original review of the Nintendo DS listed only one "bad" characteristic: "Somewhat bulky." Whether it was because of early fan discord or because Nintendo has a propensity to redesign its systems--only the Nintendo 64 seemed to escape the extreme makeover treatment--the aforementioned complaint was addressed with a signature Nintendo remodeling. The Nintendo DS has been slimmed down and brightened up, and it's received a serious shot of vitamin style. Rechristened, the DS Lite attempts to make the same fashion statement for video game systems that the iPod did for MP3 players. The DS Lite is available for $130 in a variety of colors, including Polar White, Onyx (black), Coral Pink, Crimson (red and black), and Cobalt (blue and black). Keeping in step with Nintendo tradition, new colors pop up every few months, as do occasional limited edition color schemes and bundles.

The Nintendo DS Lite, like the original Nintendo DS, is a portable gaming system with two vertically tiered screens. On the bottom is a touch screen that allows you to use a stylus or a finger for anything from selecting options to moving characters. There's also a normal face-button layout that allows a more standard method of control. The system plays its own proprietary cartridges (which are somewhere between SD and CompactFlash cards in size), in addition to its near-full backward compatibility with Game Boy Advance (GBA) titles--the system will not play multiplayer modes of GBA games, unfortunately. While DS cartridges are much smaller in capacity than the PSP's UMDs, they play without the often unbearable load times of Sony's proprietary format.

As its name suggests, the Nintendo DS Lite is a much more compactly designed system; at 0.83 by 2.83 by 5.25 inches when closed and weighing in at 7.66 ounces, it's 39 percent smaller and 21 percent lighter than its predecessor. The rounded corners are more finely tapered, and the top and bottom sides are symmetrical, avoiding the underbite-like look of the original's oversize bottom half. It's a much more pocket-friendly system than the original DS. Despite the smaller overall size, though, the trademark twin screens have the same dimensions.

The layout of the DS Lite is largely similar to that of the Nintendo DS, with some slight, beneficial changes. The top half of the clamshell still houses the stereo speakers; they're centered on either side of the upper screen, and despite being smaller than those on the original DS, they're just as loud. The bottom screen is a little more conducive to touch, but it feels flimsier--almost as if you've kept the protective thin-film screen that overlays many LCDs when they ship from the factory. To the left of the touch screen is the D-pad, which is about three-quarters the size of the original but just as efficient. The four face buttons (X, Y, A, and B) are essentially the same but feel a little more pronounced than those of the original DS. No longer half-ovals on top, the start and select buttons are now tiny circles on the bottom. The power button has moved from just above the D-pad to the right side of the system. It's a welcome change, as the original looked exactly like the select and start buttons and was situated in the same area on the opposite side--which led to the occasional "turn off instead of pause" blunder.

The front of the system is basically unchanged; from left to right, the volume control, the GBA game slot, and the in-line-enabled headphone port are in the same spots. Formerly slightly above the front of the system, the microphone has been moved to the hinge between screens. In instances where you need to look at the bottom screen while using the mic, you may need to retrain yourself.

The back end of the system is basically the same. The only thing that's moved is the stylus holder, which is on the back of the system, to the left of the power switch. It looks a little more discreet, and the stylus fits a bit nicer. The left and right triggers are slightly smaller, but like the face buttons, they're more pronounced and easier to press. The DS cartridge slot is centered at the top, and the AC power port is off to the left. The system includes an AC adapter, two styli that match the Lite's color, and a smaller wrist strap that--annoyingly--does not include the thumbpad of the original.

The GBA slot has undergone some slight changes. In place of an empty cartridge slot, Nintendo includes a plastic cover that looks like a half-size GBA game. While it seems like it'll often be lost (think battery covers), it looks pretty sleek and serves to obscure one of the few design flaws of the DS Lite: GBA games stick out of the cartridge slot about a half an inch, whereas the original DS fit the cartridges perfectly. But it doesn't impede gameplay in the slightest, and it's not the ugliest-looking setup. And considering that the DS is backward compatible with hundreds of GBA games, it's a small price to pay. A bigger beef with the DS Lite is that its high-gloss finish is a magnet for fingerprints, especially the darker-colored models. Our import navy blue DS Lite was constantly smudged, so Nintendo's failure to include even a rudimentary cleaning cloth or carrying case is notable. On the plus side, the clamshell design means the DS Lite travels well, limiting the scratches and marks to the exterior while the two screens remain fully protected.

The DS Lite has four brightness settings, up from two on the original DS. At the darkest setting, the DS Lite is just as bright as the original DS; at its max, it's almost as brilliant as the new Game Boy Advance SP. Playing a GBA game on both systems, we noticed that the DS Lite's colors were slightly washed out in comparison. The DS Lite's backlighting makes the graphics stand out in DS games, though. The colorful Tetris DS, for example, is significantly enhanced by the brightness of the newer system.

We tested the DS Lite's battery against the original DS's. Playing the exact same game (Super Mario 64) at each system's brightest setting and maximum volume, the DS Lite lasted for roughly 5 hours, while the DS conked out after 6 hours, 45 minutes. Recharging the system back to full power took 3 hours. Like the original, the DS Lite goes into sleep mode when the system is closed.

Introduced about a year after the system launched, Wi-Fi compatibility on the DS is surprisingly solid for a free service hosted by a company known for its aversion to online gaming. Whether on the original DS or the DS Lite, the Wi-Fi setup is simple, as the system can spot most wireless connections. If there are none nearby, you can create one from a broadband-connected PC by attaching the Nintendo USB Wi-Fi Connector to it. Without an external online network such as Xbox Live, finding friends is a bit unwieldy--you have to enter 12-digit "friend codes" for each game for which you wish to create a buddy list. Playing against nonfriends is hit-or-miss; you won't find a pickup game as fast as you will on a console, but as long as you're on a popular game during a reasonable hour, you should be able to locate competition. Over the course of an early evening, we were able to find several opponents in Tetris DS. The microphone lends itself to voice chat, but as of right now, only Metroid Prime: Hunters employs between-match chatter. Local wireless is, of course, a lot more reliable, with the added benefit of allowing multiplayer via a single cartridge. GBA multiplayer games won't play head-to-head over the wireless connection, and the lack of a link cable port means you can't have a wired bond to older GBAs or Nintendo's GameCube unless Nintendo releases yet another adapter that interfaces with the DS Lite's proprietary power port.

The games for the DS Lite are of decent graphical quality--a bit better than the PS1/N64 but nowhere near Xbox/PS2/GameCube standards. It also pales in comparison to PSP games. Where the DS Lite really earns its stripes is the innovative quality of its titles. Whereas PSP games feel much like their console cousins, the DS Lite's dual- and touch-screen setup allows for some truly unique gameplay, whether it's drawing your own Pac-Man in Namco's Pac Pix or performing surgery via stylus in Atlus's Trauma Center: Under the Knife. That said, not many of the other third-party software developers are up to the challenge of taking full advantage of the DS's capabilities. For every Nintendo-produced hit such as Nintendogs or Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, there are several barely updated GBA ports or slightly downgraded PSP ports--neither of which make much use of the touch- and dual-screen technology.

The DS systems lack the video and audio playback and Web-surfing functions of the PSP, at least in the United States. Nintendo-supported solutions for both--the Play-Yan media player and Opera Web browser respectively--have or will soon appear in Japan, though the U.S. release status of both products are currently unknown. We will update this review accordingly when and if the products hit Stateside.

Until the release of the Nintendo Wii, the company seems intent on focusing its creative juices on the DS rather than the near-dead GameCube. If you still haven't picked a portable gaming system, the DS Lite is definitely worth picking up if you like its growing list of quirky, original titles. If you've already purchased the original, the improvements aren't significant enough to warrant shelling out another $130 unless you're truly put off by the bulkiness of the original. If you're in the market for a portable system with more mature--albeit less original--titles and decent media playback capabilities, then the PSP may be worth picking up for just $40 to $70 more.

Price Range: $29.99 - $162.99

Sony PSP 3000 (Black)

Editor's note (June 2, 2009): Sony has announced a new, smaller PSP model called the PSP Go. However, the PSP 3000 reviewed here will continue to be sold alongside the more expensive PSP Go once it becomes available in October 2009.
While some still consider it a second banana to Nintendo's nearly ubiquitous DS Lite, the Sony PSP has sold more than 50 million units since it appeared on the scene in 2005. Sony released a second-generation version--the PSP 2000--in 2007, giving it a slimmer and lighter chassis, some speed tweaks, and the ability to output straight to a TV screen.
For 2008, the PSP got another minor makeover: the PSP 3000 boasts a built-in microphone (to increase the usability of its onboard Skype functionality) and better video output support (you can now play games on non-HD TV hookups). It also has an "improved" screen that's said to reduce glare, offer better color reproduction, and diminished ghosting. However, these "improvements" actually resulted in visible artifacts on the handheld's screen. The flaws aren't visible in most circumstances, and it's not a dealbreaker--but the fact that it's a step backwards is annoying nonetheless.
Versions
The PSP 3000 is currently available in several configurations:
Sony PSP 3000 Ratchet and Clank Entertainment Pack (silver): This limited-edition $200 bundle includes a silver PSP 3000, Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters UMD game, National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets UMD movie, 1GB Memory Stick Duo card, and a voucher for Echochrome (a downloadable game available at the online PlayStation Store).
Sony PSP 3000 Ratchet and Clank Entertainment Pack (black): This is the same as above, but in black instead of silver.
Sony PSP 3000 Rock Band Unplugged Bundle (black): This limited-edition $200 bundle includes a black PSP 3000, Rock Band Unplugged UMD game, 4GB Memory Stick Duo card, and a voucher for "School of Rock" (a downloadable movie available at the online PlayStation Store).
Sony PSP 3000 Hannah Montana Bundle (lilac): This limited-edition $200 bundle includes a lilac (purple) PSP 3000, Hannah Montana: Rock Out the Show UMD game, 2GB Memory Stick Duo card, an episode of the Hannah Montana TV series on UMD, and some Hannah Montana stickers.
Sony PSP 3000 Assassin's Creed Pack (black): This limited-edition $200 bundle includes a black PSP 3000 and the game Assassin's Creed Bloodlines (available November 1, 2009).
Sony PSP 3000 Gran Turismo Pack (silver): This limited-edition $200 bundle includes a silver PSP 3000; the game Gran Turismo on UMD; a voucher for a white Chervolet Corvette ZR1 (a downloadable add-on to the Gran Turismo game); a voucher for a downloadable movie from the PlayStation Store; a Sony MusicPass voucher good for 10 downloadable songs from Sony Music; and a 2GB Memory Stick Duo card (available mid-October 2009).
Sony PSP 3000 Core Pack: This "no frills" version includes just a black PSP 3000 for $169.
Note that additional colors and bundles will likely be offered on a periodic basis.
With only a $30 premium, the bundles are a good choice for users who don't already have a Memory Stick Duo card on hand. You'll also want to be sure to pick up a case to protect the PSP's large, exposed screen. (Check out CNET's full list of recommended PSP accessories.)
Design
The PSP 3000 has the same slim dimensions (2.81 inches high by 6.63 inches wide by 0.63 inch deep) and lighter weight (just over 7 ounces--or 200 grams--with the battery, game disc, and Memory Stick on board) as its predecessor.
The 4.3-inch LCD wide screen remains, and it's been tweaked. Sony says the new screen now delivers better color reproduction, reduced glare, and reduced "ghosting" on high-motion scenes. When compared with the 2000, the PSP 3000 does, indeed, deliver better color vibrancy (you can toggle between "wide" and "standard" color in the options to see the difference). As for glare reduction: we didn't find there to be a huge difference. Don't expect to play in direct sunlight, for instance. But you might have better luck with fewer distractions from indoor light sources.
But in its effort to deal with the ghosting issue, Sony's cure may have been worse than the disease. By increasing the screen's refresh rate, the new PSP seems to introduce a variety of video artifacts onto the screen. They appear as scanlines or jaggies, as if the image is interlaced. They're more apparent in high-motion scenes in games and videos--but that's most of the content on the PSP. (A good illustration of the differences in the screen can be seen at Kotaku.)

There are few physical differences between the PSP 2000 (top) and the PSP 3000 (bottom).

The silver version of the PSP 3000 has a matte finish, as compared with the shiny piano black finish of the black one. As a result, the silver body is immune to fingerprints and smudges that so easily show up on the black one. Unfortunately, the screen is identical on both--smooth and shiny--and it remains a magnet for fingerprints. As mentioned above, the lack of a clamshell design (as seen on the Nintendo DS and DSi) makes investing in a case as much a necessity for the PSP as it is for an iPod or iPhone.
Aside from a few very minor cosmetic differences, button layout on the PSP 3000 is basically identical to the previous PSP as well. The screen is bordered by controls on its left, right, and bottom side, plus two shoulder buttons along the top edge. The button layout is based on the classic PlayStation controller layout--the four-way directional pad on the left, square, triangle, cross, and circle keys on the right--so anyone who's used a Sony console over the last decade should be able to pick up and play. The bottom left of the front face also houses an analog thumbstick, for more precise movement. (A second thumbstick on the right, mimicking the design of the PlayStation controller, would've been a welcome addition.) More mundane media controls line the bottom of the screen: select, start, volume, brightness, and a "home" button. (Some of them are shaped a bit differently than the previous model, and the "home" button now brandishes the PlayStation emblem.)
New to the PSP 3000 is the built-in microphone, located just below the screen. It can be used for online communication, be it within a game or for the PSP's built-in Skype application. The advantage of having the mic integrated into the body is that you can use it with any standard pair of headphones. By contrast, the PSP 2000 required a special headset for communicating online.
The PSP is designed to play games and movies off something called UMDs--Universal Media Discs. We're not sure where Sony got the "universal" part of the name, because the PSP is the only device that plays them. They're sort of a cross between a mini-CD and an old MiniDisc, and they only hold about 2.2GB of data. They load into a snap-open door on the PSP's backside. Sony seems to be moving the PSP to more of a downloadable model for games and video (see the PlayStation Store section, below), so we wouldn't be surprised to see the UMD become more of a legacy medium for the PSP.

The PSP 3000 lacks built-in storage, so you'll need a Memory Stick Duo.

The Memory Stick Duo slot remains on the left edge. Like the UMD bay, it's a pry-open cover that slides on rubbery plastic rails. If you're not buying a PSP bundle that includes an MS Duo card (or don't have a spare one from a Sony camera), you'll want to invest in a decently sized one (2GB or better). They're widely available for less than $30 or so, but it's annoying--again--that Sony's gone with its own proprietary format instead of the more widely used (and cheaper) SD standard.
Rounding out the connections: the headphone/AV jack is on the bottom edge. It'll take any standard 3.5mm headphones, as well as special PSP-only AV-out cables for connecting to a TV (see "video output," below). The USB port remains centered on the top edge of the PSP. Sony doesn't include a cable, but it's a standard mini-USB connector, so it's likely that you already have one lying around. The USB connector is flanked by two screw holes that allow for accessories to be firmly attached to its frame. But most people will use the USB port for quick connections to the PC to transfer digital media--photos, music, and video, as well as games and demos available through the online PlayStation Store.
The PSP's interface is known as the Cross Media Bar, or XMB. The original PSP was the first Sony product to use it, and it's since been incorporated into the PlayStation 3 and many other Sony TVs and AV receivers. It's a pretty slick menu system that's generally pretty easy to maneuver through using the D-pad and control buttons. As you get into some of the applications, however, that simplicity can get lost. We wished the Web browser, for instance, was as well-designed as the overall XMB menu system.
If you don't want to use headphones, the PSP has external stereo speakers. They produce decent volume for games and UMD movies, but we've always found the volume on videos that we copy over to the Memory Stick to be a bit less potent.
The PSP includes a 5-volt AC power adapter. It can also be charged via USB, albeit at a slower "trickle" rate. Those interested in USB charging (from a spare iPod adapter or their PC, for instance) would be better advised to get something like the Mad Catz USB Data/Charge Cable, which is readily available for less than $10.
Multimedia and online features
The PSP is primarily a gaming device, but it's got some notable media functionality as well.
Wi-Fi: The PSP has built-in Wi-Fi capability, allowing it to connect to any wireless Internet service, including those with WEP and WPA encryption (but not WPA2). One annoyance: the 3000 continues to use the slowest 802.11b version of Wi-Fi. An upgrade to 11g or even 11n is overdue.
Video playback: The PSP can play videos from a variety of sources. The easiest--and most ill-advised--is to buy prerecorded UMD video discs. (With an extremely limited selection, and the fact that the PSP is the only place you can watch them, UMD videos are--not surprisingly--pretty hard to find.) A better option is to copy your own videos from a computer onto a Memory Stick Duo card, and pop it in to the PSP. A variety of freeware and commercial software products can readily convert files to PSP-friendly formats and resolutions (MPEG4 or H.264-AVC, up to 720x480).
LocationFree TV: Built into the PSP is the ability to stream live TV from a Sony LocationFree TV device, which is Sony's take on the Slingbox. As long as the PSP is in a Wi-Fi hot spot, it can stream the video and change the channels on a LocationFree box, even if it's halfway around the world.
Audio playback: The PSP doubles as a decent music player, with the ability to play DRM-free MP3, WMA, WAV, AAC, and ATRAC3 files, along with support for album art. Shuffle and repeat modes are supported, along with a visualizer function.
Photo display: The PSP can display JPEG, GIF, and TIFF photos stored on the MS Duo card--individually, or as a slide show. However, larger photos may need to be compressed before viewing.
Skype: As mentioned above, the PSP 3000 has a built-in Skype client, which can be used for free Skype-to-Skype calls as well as calls to and from regular phones (if you invest in paid Skype add-ons). While it's not going to be offering any serious competition to the iPhone (or any other dedicated cell phone), the ability to have full Skype access--without the need for a special headset--could definitely be useful for quick calls home during, say, an overseas trip.
PS3 "Remote Play": The PSP can log into a PlayStation 3 on a home network or via the Web, and stream any video, audio, or photos stored on the PS3.
Web browsing: The PSP has a built-in Web browser, but it's the one place--more than games--where you'll really lament the device's lack of a touch screen (or even a numeric keypad). A lot of graphically rich pages will be cramped or broken on the screen, and the limited Flash support isn't particularly robust (no Flash-based video, for instance). That said, using the analog stick to control the cursor is nice. And for a lot of people, it will be a better mobile Internet experience than they're getting on a phone.
RSS reader: Separate from the Web browser is an RSS reader, but it could use an overhaul to make it easier to use and add your own feeds.
Internet radio: The PSP has a dedicated Shoutcast client that offers free streaming Internet radio. It's just a plug-in that works through the browser. It's overdesigned and not as straightforward or easy to use as it should be, but it works.
Search: There's also a dedicated icon for doing a Google search.
Network update: The PSP has upgradeable firmware, and Sony has been diligent about adding additional features, fixes, and updates every few months. The upgrade is as simple as choosing the option from the system menu.
Video output
Invest in an add-on cable (about $16 for the composite or component version), and you can output the PSP's audio and video to a TV. The PSP 3000 corrects an annoying limitation of the 2000 model: now, video playback and gameplay will work on pretty much any TV. With the 2000, gameplay was limited to progressive-scan only via component video--pretty much limiting you to HDTV hookups.

The PSP 3000 can be connected to nearly any TV--if you invest in a compatible video cable.

One annoyance remains: video content from UMD discs (prerecorded movies) and Memory Stick (home-ripped videos) can be displayed at DVD-level 720x480 resolutions--though quality will vary depending upon how the compression of the video in question. That will fill the screen on a widescreen HDTV. But games are locked into the PSP's native 480x272 display. So, if your TV doesn't have a robust zoom function, you're stuck with a window-boxed experience for some games.
Accessories and add-ons
The PSP's top-mounted USB port is designed with at least two specific accessories in mind: the PSP camera and the GPS attachment. There are also rumors of a keyboard attachment in the pipeline. Although the camera and GPS add-ons are available internationally, neither one has been officially released in North America.
Gaming
While its robust media and online functionality are impressive, for most buyers, they'll be decidedly secondary to the PSP's raison d'etre: gaming on the go. Yes, Nintendo's DS remains king of the portable gaming scene in terms of units sold, but plenty of people are looking for more sophisticated (read: less kiddie-oriented) games than the DS offers. And for those who can't abide the oh-so-cute antics of a Pokemon,Cooking Mama, Zelda, Mario, or Animal Crossing title, the PSP will be a welcome breath of fresh air. The graphics on the PSP are noticeably better than those on the DS as well--games are essentially at the level you'd expect on the PlayStation 2.

PSP games are more graphically rich--and often less kid-oriented--than many titles on the Nintendo DS.

Early on, the PSP was knocked for being little more than the "PS2 portable," because so many of its titles were simply ports of PlayStation 2 games. And, indeed, its hit list is dominated by many PlayStation franchise standbys, including Grand Theft Auto, SOCOM, Tekken, and God of War (pictured). But many of these are phenomenal titles that have been designed for the PSP from the ground up. Genre strong suits include sports, racing, action, and shooter titles, but it's not all sweat and blood, either--plenty of quirky puzzle games (Lumines, Puzzle Quest, and LocoRoco) are available, as well as a host of family-friendly favorites as well (Daxter, and Ratchet and Clank).
It's also worth noting that many of the PSP games include an online multiplayer component. Some games offer ad hoc multiplayer (peer to peer, for playing against other PSPers in the same room), others offer Internet play, or both. Online gameplay is free, and--while the experience varies from title to title and is dependent on network speed--it can be just as fun and fulfilling as playing on a home console.
PlayStation Network and PlayStation Store
Currently, UMD is still the primary vehicle for delivering games and media to the PSP. But Sony has been expanding the options available on the online PlayStation Store as well. The Store allows users to rent and buy movies and TV shows, and it also allows users to buy downloadable games. (All downloadable content is stored on the Memory Stick Duo.)
Prior to the 5.0 firmware update that coincided with the release of the PSP 3000, getting content from the Store to the PSP was an arduous task--you had to first download your choices to the PC or PS3, then transfer them to the handheld. But that's now a thing of the past: the Store is directly accessible from the PSP's main menu, and everything can be downloaded straight to the PSP at the click of a button.
A single PlayStation Network account can be used for accessing the PlayStation Store, and you can have both a PS3 and PSP on a single account. Indeed, the Store is closely tied to the PS3: movies purchased on that system can be offloaded for viewing on the PSP, for instance.
The fact that the Store is now accessible directly through the PSP puts Sony in a better position to compete with Apple's App Store (which has a growing number of games for the Apple iPhone/iPod Touch) and Nintendo's DSi (which can access the online "DSi Shop" for game downloads). While the online store originally hosted just demos and ports of PlayStation One classics, Sony is now offering games that are no longer published on UMD as well as original download-only games that won't be coming to the UMD format at all. Clearly, the company wants to usher PSP users to a download model. And if you've got a large enough Memory Stick, it's a lot more convenient to have several games available at once on your PSP, instead of carrying around a bunch of clumsy UMD discs.
Battery life
The PSP 3000 has the same 1,200mAh lithium ion battery as the 2000. (It's removeable and replaceable.) We ran a UMD movie on a fully charged PSP 3000 set at full screen brightness and half volume with the Wi-Fi turned on, and got 4.5 hours of playback time before the battery died. That's within Sony's rated times of 4-5 hours for UMD videos and 4-6 hours for games, and we suspect we'd squeeze a bit more life out of it if we ratcheted down the screen brightness or turned off the Wi-Fi.

Price Range: $129.00 - $169.99