Things To Consider When Buying HDTV:

• Browse for TVs online using Amazon.com and NewEgg.com.
  Use the filters they offer to narrow down by price and size.
• Bigger isn’t necessarily better.
  Consider viewing distances when purchasing a TV.
• Which resolution? 720p vs 1080p?
  If it’s over 50 inches, get 1080p for sure. If under, consider 720p.
• What kind? Plasma, LCD, or LED?
  Skip to the bottom for more details!

Samsung PN42B450 Plasma HDTV 42-inch 720p

I am a student, so when I bought this TV for only $625, I was ecstatic. Now, this Samsung is once again around that price on Amazon, so I advise you to buy it! I love the quality when watching anything on this plasma. It does not have any internet connectivity such as the other two models listed below, but I can connect it to my laptop easily through either a VGA or HDMI cable and stream HD fine. If on a budget, pick up this TV!

Buy: Samsung PN42B450

Sony BRAVIA Z Series KDL-46Z5100 LCD HDTV 46-Inch 1080p (240Hz)

The quality of this Sony impressed me from the start. In addition to its great quality, this TV features several HD inputs, internet connectivity, as well as online widgets to make your entertainment experience better. You can also connect your camera, USB storage device, or a mp3 player to the TV via USB ports.

Buy: Sony BRAVIA 46Z5100

Samsung UN46B8000 LED HDTV 46-Inch 1080p (240Hz)

Although this TV comes with a hefty price tag, no one can debate its quality. At Fry’s, when I saw this LED, the picture I saw amazed me. Even though I knew that the salesmen purposely set its settings to their best, it was beautiful. It includes everything the Sony features and more. Also, the 1.2″ depth and light weight definitely impressed me.

Buy: Samsung UN46B8000

My piece of advice:
Articles from different sources concerning the differences between 720p vs. 1080p sometimes give contrasting advice. Here are my 2-cents on the issue: after going into several stores and researching online, I found that unless I sat two to three feet away from the screen, I found little to no differences between 720p and 1080p on screens smaller than 50 inches. I bought the first Samsung on the list below, and the quality, when watching HD satellite, looks almost the same when comparing it to my other 46 inch 1080p Sony Bravia back at home. But again, go into stores and see for yourself.

Watch out for salesmen being bias, they might try to mislead you! Quick story- I bought my TV at Fry’s Electronics. When I went into Fry’s, I already knew that I wanted to buy this TV, but I browsed around anyway to see other comparable TVs. I bought this TV on a budget, so I did not want to spend anymore money than what I already allocated. Anyways, as I am browsing around, I notice that my TV looked terrible when compared to the other ones in the store. I began talking to a salesman about the differences between 720p and 1080p, but he only talked about 1080p and gave me cons to 720p TVs. As I moved in closer, I noticed that my TV and the other ones in that section (all of which were 720p) looked dusty and poorly lit. In addition, unlike the other 1080p HDTVs, the ones in this section hooked up to DVD players and not Blu-ray players. I asked the clerk why they did this, to which he responded “Oh, well, uh…the building wasn’t set up properly for it.” Okay, seriously? Do you really expect me to believe that? (I did not say that, but I should have!)

When it comes to plasma versus LCD, again, check it out at a store! In the TVs I saw, plasma’s give deeper black levels and provide better viewing angles. However, LCDs can be found in larger sizes, weigh less, and do not have the “burn in” issue that some older plasma TVs have. With the newer plasmas, burn in is not really an issue. What about plasma vs. LED? LED TVs usually come with internet accessible features, a good number of HD inputs, and incredibly thin widths. LED, a relatively new technology, performs better in some respects to plasma, such as depth perception and brightness, but for the most part when comparing a 1080p plasma and 1080p LED, the difference between the quality is not worth the price paid. But then again, I am a college student, so I tend to be very frugal with my money. Don’t get me wrong- LEDs are beautiful and great for anything, whether it be movies or gaming, but I feel that the current prices are too high.

This Gift Guide is a part of our ongoing Skatter Tech Holiday Gift Guide.

Tablet
The tablet itself is incredibly thin – about the size of a number two pencil at its thickest, with beveled edges for a more comfortable wrist-rest. The four side-buttons are large, accessible, and as I later found after installing drivers, configurable to a certain extent. An LED indicator located between the buttons lights up white when the device is on and changes to a warm orange color when the stylus is within range. I found the small red tag on the side of the device to be a little obnoxious, but it’s supposed to store your pen after use. It can easily tucked away under the device if it’s too annoying.

The drawing area is very generous with an area about 3.5 times that of my Macbook’s touchpad. The Bamboo’s matte texture that feels paper and though I was nervous to test the amount of pen pressure it could handle, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it could handle quite a bit.

In terms of portability, the tablet itself couldn’t be any more perfect to stick in a bag with your laptop. It would have been even more convenient if USB cord was detachable from the device and Wacom threw in a carrying case for protection.

• Size – 5/5
• Design – 4/5
• Portability – 4/5

Software and Drivers
A CD with drivers for both Mac and PC are included in the packaging. I however opted to download the latest driver from Wacom’s website. The setup is quick, straightforward, and didn’t even require a reboot. Although pre-configured, it’s quite easy to customize the tablet. The section in the control panel has tabs for the pen, the tablet, touch speed, touch functions, and a customizable pop-up menu. The customization is however limited; you can’t make new gestures or customize buttons to launch programs or be actions in programs. Despite that, the software seems to run well under the radar, at least on both Snow Leopard and Windows 7. There are no extra icons, shortcuts, junk applications, or bloated process running. My computer runs just as fast as it did without the tablet.

• Installation – 5/5
• Customization – 4/5
• Speed – 5/5

Pen Functionality
My initial impression of the pen was that it runs on the border of feeling cheap.  It is made of plastic and is truly light weight. Plus when I shook it for the first time, the buttons and eraser jiggle. But it works well; the size is appropriate and I have yet to run into a problem with functionality. Although I’m not sure whether it’s the magic behind the pen or the tablet, the pressure sensitivity is fantastic. Even if the pen is barely set on the tablet, the LED indicator lights up with a response. Unlike the Intuos model, the Bamboo Pen and Touch doesn’t have a “pen tilt” sensor. Despite that lacking, I doubt the average consumer, who is the target audience, will need that feature anyway. The pen has two configurable buttons and an eraser on top. I have yet to find a way to configure the eraser to perform an alternative task. The programs I use don’t always have nor need an eraser. It should also be noted that the pen has been intelligently designed to be entirely battery free.

• Quality – 3/5
• Customization – 4/5
• Battery Free – 5/5

Touch Functionality
There are a couple sides to this model: it’s a drawing pad and a multi-touch pad. So, in addition to the pen, you can use your fingers to manipulate objects on the screen. With a single finger, it can be used like a normal touch pad to control the cursor and even select with tap. With two fingers, it can be used to perform a variety of gestures. Dragging two fingers to up and down or left and right scroll a page. Pinching or spreading two fingers zoom out and in, respectively. It even rotates content by holding one finger still and moving the other one around it. These gestures work well in most programs. The rotation feature didn’t work at all in Adobe Photoshop CS3, Adobe Illustrator CS3, and Mac Office 2008. However later tests with the tablet using Adobe Photoshop CS4 on different machine running Windows 7 worked just fine. With some practice, using the pen and multi-touch features together will truly make for an efficient and intuitive work-flow.

• Touch Sensitivity – 4/5
• Gestures – 4/5
• Efficiency – 5/5

Conclusion
I’m also sure that when I use the Bamboo Pen and Touch that I look like a hunt-and-peck typist that I would make the creators at Wacom cringe. To my credit, I was able to come up with a great configuration for drawing in Photoshop within an hour of experimenting with the tablet. I set the four buttons to the key-combinations for “Undo”, “Brushes”, “New Layer”, and “Free Transform”, and I was flying through my work. Not only that, but since I was spending less time fidgeting with the keyboard and mouse, I had fun doing tasks I would normally consider arduous and repetitive. I am not experienced with a pen tablet, but as a web and graphic designer, the Bamboo Pen and Touch made my work flow feel proficient. If you are looking to get started with a tablet, this Wacom product is a great place to start. Plus it has a lot to offer at a reasonable price of $99 MSRP; if you shop around it’s available for even less.

Buy: Bamboo Pen and Touch for $85 [via Amazon]
Links: Wacom.com Bamboo Pen + Touch

LG enV Touch VX-11000 Specifications:

• Provider: Verizon Wireless (1.9 GHz /800 MHz CDMA)
• Displays: 3-inch 800 x 480 pixels & 1,600K colors
• Camera: 3.2 Megapixel Camera w/ Autofocus, Flash & Image Editor
• Music: MP3, WMA, Unprotected AAC/AAC+
• Memory: 250Mb (internal) / 16GB microSD (external)
• Battery: 260 Minutes Talk Time & 408 Hours Standby
• Other: Bluetooth 2.1+EDR | Stereo Speakers

The Body: 3.5/5 stars
There is no doubt that the enV Touch is a large phone; 4.5 inches tall, 2 inches wide, and over a half inch thick. Despite being a tad bit too large, it actually looks a whole lot more attractive than the Voyager and the Dare. The back of the phone features a soft rubberized texture with a unique engraved pattern which offers a decent grip. The left side has the camera trigger, volume toggle, and the display lock button. A 3.5mm headphone jack and a microSD slot can be found on the right side. On the bottom you’ll find the microUSB connector which serves two purposes: charging and data transfer. The face of the phone has a large 3-inch touch screen and three “brushed metal”-looking physical buttons at the bottom: send, clear, and end. The clear key seconds as the voice command button when on the home page and initiates voice memo recordings when held down. When you flip open the phone you are introduced to another 3-inch display, stereo speakers, a full QWERTY keyboard, and a navigation D-pad. Compared to the Voyager, the keyboard now has larger keys and remains well spaced at the same time. LG has finally placed repositioned the “space bar” to the center of the keyboard instead of two “space bars” on the bottom left and right as they were on the LG Voyager, LG enV2, and LG enV. Overall, though the enV Touch isn’t the most compact phones I’ve had for what it offers, but remains functional and isn’t too large to fit into an average sized pocket or purse.

The Displays: 4/5 stars
We were quite impressed with the resolution and the colors of the displays. The enV Touch’s 800 x 480 pixel display has a higher resolution than the iPhone’s 480 x 320 pixel screen. Both photos and videos look great on both screens. The external display also uses a sensor that dims out the screen as you hold it up to your ear, but I found this to be sometimes problematic since it often didn’t turn back on if I were to try to use the interface during a call. The only way I managed to get the screen working again was to either flip open the phone or by placing my finger over the sensor for a second and then moving it away. Other than that small annoyance, the displays are bright, sharp, and even looks decent outdoors.

User Interface: 4/5
The enV Touch has a similar interface to the Voyager and like its predecessor, duplicates features on the external and internal display. However, not all features on the external work from the internal, and vice versa. For example, photo editing only functions on the external touch screen. To unlock the phone you must slide up an overlay on the screen or press the lock/unlock button on the side of the phone. The home screen has 5 permanent icons on the bottom: messaging, dialpad, menu, phonebook, and favorites. The favorites menu allows you to set 10 favorite contacts for quick access. In addition 3 “widgets” can be placed anywhere the main page; memo, calendar, and clock. The memo is very similar to a sticky note on a Macs. On the right side of the home screen there is an arrow which links to the shortcut menu, which manages all application/utility shortcuts. Mostly any tool on the phone can be placed in the shortcut menu or can also be placed as an icon on the homepage. The interface on the internal display has a more traditional interface, familiar to that most Verizon Wireless phones. The D-pad can be customized to launch various applications when on the home screen. One major problems I ran into occurred when an application on the internal display then closing the phone would exit out of the application and return to the home screen instead of moving to the outer display. Overall, the interface is very intuitive and for the most part it works seamlessly between the two displays.

Messaging: 5/5 stars
After many iterations of the enV lineup, LG has mastered the messaging feature of this phone. The physical keyboard does not need much of an explanation, it works as it should and feels great. The external display also supports messaging, with support for both a portrait and landscape virtual keyboard. The virtual portrait keyboard does the job just fine for quick responses, but is a bit impractical for typing long messages. The horizontal virtual keyboard works a whole lot better than the portrait and is a viable option. The interface enlarges the letters you hit as they are typed and provide haptic feedback as well. The size of each virtual key and spacing helps the usability experience as well, however the internal physical QWERTY keyboard is by far the best solution for messaging.

Camera & Camcorder: 5/5 stars
The enV Touch has an extremely feature packed camera and camcorder interface not found on other phones. The 3.2 megapixel camera can take photos up in various resolutions up to 2048×1536. It features an unusually bright LED flash, which can automatically turn on in low-light situations. The camera uses the auto-focus setting by default, but can be switched to macro for close-up images as well as a manual focus option. The camera has white balance, brightness, color effects, and self timer settings. In addition to these settings the camera has a couple of “goodies” that you will not see in the typical phone camera. One would be the panorama mode, where the phone will actually guide you through the process of snapping a panoramic photo with on screen instructions and then stitching them together. Another would be the smile detection, where the camera will only snap the photo only once the subject smiles to get the best picture. My favorite by far was the NameCard reader, which lets you snap an image of a physical business card and it uses OCR to extract the name, email, and phone number into your contacts. A built in image editor allows cropping, draw on the image, and adjusting the brightness of the photo.

The camcorder can record clips with a max resolution of 640×480 and offers custom white balance, brightness, and color effects. Most phone’s camcorder functions are rendered useless in the dark, but not the enV Touch. The camcorder can switch on the LED flash during a recording which turned out to help a lot. Finally, the enV Touch does a great job with video editing. One of the much hyped feature on iPhone 3GS was video trimming and this plus much more can be done on the enV Touch. The trim feature allows a simple crop, after choosing a start and end point. But say you wanted to cut together multiple parts of a video, that’s where the multi-trim feature comes in. You can cut together up to 3 different parts of a video (3 different start and end points) and the phone will merge these different parts together into one video. The camera in the enV Touch really stands out because of the depth of options presented and puts it clearly ahead of many other phones in the U.S. Market.

Music: 3.5/5 stars
The enV Touch was designed to work as a full time mp3 player with a set of  internal stereo speakers and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The music player is organized by Artists, Genres, and Albums. It can also display album artwork which looks good in its sincere imitation of “cover flow”. The player can create on-the-go playlists and manage music storage between the microSD card and internal memory. Music playback supports shuffle and repeat modes. For listening options, the Dolby settings allows you to toggle between preset equalizers, such as bass booster and classical. Audio playback on the speakers was clear with no crackle, even when turned up all the way. One of the features I liked the most was that music application can run in the background. Performing other tasks such as look up a contact or texting is possible without having to exit the music player. I decided to use my enV Touch when I went for a jog. I found it extremely difficult to use the external display to navigate through songs. In addition to the poor visibility due  to sunlight, it was difficult to even manage to click the next button or pause my music. Some external controls for music would have gone a long way. Overall the music player felt solid, keeps getting better, and usable but not polished, it needs to be put back in the oven for a bit longer.

Syncing: 4.5/5 stars
The enV Touch uses a standard microUSB port to connect to a computer. It can be used in data mode, which shows up as an USB Mass Storage Device on a computer and allows you to manually transfer photos, documents, and music to the microSD card. The other option is to use the phone in music mode, in which it can be synced with the Verizon V Cast Music with Rhapsody program or with Windows Media Player as an MP3 player. The charger is also modular, the AC adapter is actually a USB charger. The same cable needs to be disconnected and is used to sync with your computer. One small quirk I noticed was the fact that the phone significantly heated up while charging. It wasn’t too hot that I’d be concerned about the phone getting damaged, however constant heat isn’t good for batteries, meaning a reduced lifespan.

Document Viewer and Other Features: 4.5/5 stars
The phone offers many other features including the now standard world clock, tip calculator, and alarm clock. The one feature that stood out the most was the document viewer, an application not usually found on a non-smartphone. The viewer can read, .doc, .docx, .xls, .xslx, .ppt, .pptx, .pdf, and .txt files. The documents loaded fairly quickly and were fairly readable once zoomed in. I found using the Document Viewer more pleasurable than the iPhone. Mainly since I could simply copy them straight over to the phone’s storage or microSD, rather than having to email them to myself as you have to do on the iPhone.

Conclusion:
After using the enV touch for a few weeks, it has left us with a very good impression. I would say as of now, it is the best non-smartphone on the Verizon Wireless network. It has an amazing display, two displays to be correct,  and excellent media features. It supports a full HTML web-browser, VZ Navigator, V-Cast videos, voice commands, and text to speech. If you are looking for a new phone and just can’t justify paying those required high rates for data plans associated with smartphones, the enV Touch is a no brainier. It has a solid set of features that just about everyone from a casual consumer to a tech-junkie can appreciate. It is available online and in Verizon Wireless stores now for $150 for new customers. Existing customers eligible for upgrade should be able to knock off about $50 to $100 based of the type of calling plan they currently have.

Buy: $99 for LG enV Touch
Links: Verizon Wireless

Andrea BT-200 Specs:

• Wireless: Bluetooth v2.0 hands-free
• Battery Life: 8-10 hours talk | 150 hours idle
• Special: Noise Cancellation + Boom Microphone
• Multi-device Pairing: Yes
• Notifications: LED Indicator
• Charger: USB

The headset fits snugly and securely onto your ear. Once it’s in, there’s no need to worry about it falling out unlike many headsets I’ve come across. However, as stated before, the microphone is an annoyance at times since I had to keep adjusting it so the person on the other end could hear me. Also, Andrea Electronics needs to keep up with the times. It’s not exactly fashionable any more to be walking around in public with a long wire extending from your ear lobe to your mouth. I personally wouldn’t mind using it in an office setting, at home, or possibly even in the car. The button configuration is fairly standard and simple to use. There is one button for answering and calling, another for control volume. The volume control buttons were a little stiff, but other than there, there were no issues.

Andrea advertises that the headset operates within a 10 meter range; it operated at even further distances from my testing while retaining clear call quality. Just like the Jabra BT2050, the BT-200 supports auto paring, multi-point connections, muting calls, voice dialing, redialing, call rejecting, and call waiting. Also, depending on the color and interval of flashing, the blue and red LEDs let you know when the headset is either on an active call, in standby, when the battery is low, or if it isn’t paired. The bottom line for usability is a gizmo that’s easy to setup and is friendly to use.

The Andrea BT-200 is an excellent headset and the most important aspect, call quality, meets the bar. However in a day and age where simplicity is an important aspect of style, the Andrea BT-200 falls short. And the price-point is a bit on the high end for the average consumer. If you have the cash and don’t mind the looks, I would definitely recommend this headset.

Links: Andrea Electronics BT-200

Acer Aspire One Specification:

• Processor: Intel Atom N270 1.60 GHz
• Memory: 1GB DDR2 (533MHz)
• Chipset: Intel Mobile 82801 GBM
• Video: Intel GMA 950
• Storage: 2.5 inch 120GB HDD
• Card Readers: SD Card (1) & Multi-Card (2)
• OS: Windows XP Home Edition
• Display: LED 8.9 inch 1024×600 (WSVGA)
• Webcam: 0.3 megapixel camera
• Wireless: Acer 802.11b/g
• Ports: 3 USB, LAN 10/100 Mbps, VGA, & Audio in/out
• Battery: 24W 2200mAh 3-cell Li-Ion (3 hours)
• Input: 84-key Keyboard & Touchpad
• Weight: 2.19 lbs with 3-cell & 2.78 lbs with 6-cell
• Size: 9.8″ (W) x 6.7″ (D) x 1.14″ (H) inches

The Body: 3.5/5 stars
With the lid closed, the Acer Aspire One has a stylish glossy finish over its blue body. The bottom of the notebook is made of one piece of plastic except for perforations for air flow and a small cutout for access to the RAM. The external build is elegant, robust, and has a tiny footprint. The inside looks fairly good with a black keyboard and a blue surrounding, however there’s a large gap that appears between the lower and upper portion of the notebook which just looks unusual. There are two shinny orange pieces on the hinges, which stand out too much and takes away from the look in my opinion. The screen is surrounded by a highly glossy black frame which provides a nice contrast in some situations, however can become irritation when light reflects back at you. Most of the components are in the right places and are easy to access. Overall, the durability, feel, and looks of this notebook won’t be an issue.

The Screen: 4/5 stars
Like most sub-notebooks, the Acer Aspire One has an 8.9 inch display with a screen resolution of 1024×600. This resolution is just large enough to be able to view and use most standard-sized websites. I ran into occasional issues with some windows for certain applications being too large so the bottom or top wasn’t visible, but it wasn’t too bad. The LED backlit display is quite bright, sharp, and the colors produced are pretty vibrant. The viewing angles were fairly good. The colors faded much faster with slight change in either vertical direction; however horizontal angles remained intact for longer. The screen looks great for watching movies or viewing photos.

Operating System: 5/5 stars
The Aspire One is running Windows XP Home edition which is probably the most widely used operating system today. So there shouldn’t be any complains there. The machine boots up and is ready to go in about 55 seconds. Launching applications such as Mozilla Firefox takes just a second or two. With 1GB of RAM you can have plenty of applications running at once without any issues. Just about all the applications I use on a regular basis are available for download, but if you have any programs that come on a CD or DVD, you’ll need to find an external USB drive to install them. I was also excited to see that Acer had already upgraded XP to Service Pack 3, which will save everyone the time and hassle of having to install too many updates. Having run XP on a machine with a 900 MHz processor and 256 MB of RAM, I can testify that XP is a very flexible OS and will run without any issues on this laptop.

Keyboard and Mouse: 3.5/5 stars
The keyboard is large enough to use comfortably. With a bit of getting used to, you can begin to type pretty fast without any issue. I was also glad to see that the keyboard didn’t have any weirdly sized or misplaced keys as I have seen on many other sub-notebooks. The main issue I had with the usability of the notebook was the awkwardly placed left/right click buttons. The left/right click buttons have been moved to the left and right sides of the touchpad, instead of placing them below. It was quite awkward to use and I often found myself clicking in the wrong spot only to realize that there weren’t any buttons there. Most people will begin to tap the touchpad to initiate a left-click, but will have no choice but to reach over to input a right-click. If Acer had moved the keyboard up just enough to allow room for normally positioned left/right click buttons, the Aspire One would have been much easier to use.

Speakers & Headphones: 4/5 stars
The speaker is located on the bottom-side of the Aspire One. It can get loud enough and remain fairly clear, but are nothing to brag about. The main issue would have to be that everything sounds quite muffled. Everything sounds different based of whether it is being held in your hands, on your lap, or on a flat desk. As for use with a headphone jack, the audio quality is excellent and will offer exactly what you would expect out of a laptop with a built in sound card.

Microphone & Web Cam: 3/5 stars
The Aspire One has a built in microphone and webcam making it a great little VoIP device. I made a few test calls using Skype over a WiFi network and the results were good. The microphone didn’t pick up to much background noise and the web cam was just clear enough to make out faces. The webcam performs quite poorly under poor lighting conditions. Both components are low quality pieces of hardware, but will do the job for communicating when away from something better.

Ports and Expansion: 4/5 stars
The Aspire one has a fairly good selection of ports. It unusually has two memory card readers, one just for SD and the other is a 5-in-1 reader. The reason for two was originally intended for the model with the 8GB SSD model since it allowed expanding the storage onto the SD card using the Linux OS. However they carried it on over the HDD version running XP, which happens to be quite unnecessary. On the front of the notebook you’ll find a switch to toggle WiFi on or off. The right side has the audio input/output, two USB ports, and the multi-card reader. The left side has the power port, VGA port, fan exhaust, ethernet port, another USB port, and a SD card reader.

Performance: 5/5 stars
The Aspire One is a fairly fast notebook. It actually has better specifications in just about every category than the 14 inch Sony Vaio I had been using up until just about two years ago. The HD Tune benchmark tool displayed an average of 49 MB/s data transfer rate, which is excellent. The wPrime 32 CPU test took about 124 seconds to complete which is better than most other sub-notebooks with other processors. The Aspire One is fast enough to do just about all the basic things you would need to do on your laptop on a daily basis. It obviously shouldn’t be used for video editing or gaming, but is great for multimedia playback, internet apps, email, chatting, note taking, and much more.

Battery Life: 4/5 stars
The Aspire One I reviewed only had a 3 cell battery; however 6 cells are also available. Unfortunately a 6-cell will protrude from the notebook. Benchmarks always vary, so I put it to the test in a real-life situation. With WiFi enabled and the screen at half-brightness, I was able to get about 2 hours and 40 minutes of juice out of it on average. I was mainly writing articles, browsing the web, or streaming media the majority of the time. The hours I got might not be entirely similar to what others may receive based of whether they are using hardware intensive applications or not. The battery life was around what other notebooks such as the Lenovo S10 receive, however I do wish it could fit a 6-cell without sticking out like the Asus EEE 900 does. Despite that, it’s fairly good amount considering that it’s got a standard HDD.

Conclusion
After having a chance to play with a couple of other main stream sub-notebooks such as the EEE 900, the Acer Aspire One is currently my favorite. Especially impressive since due to the fairly powerful hardware specs while it’s MSRP is now just $350 for the model in this review. And as I mentioned before the notebook doesn’t lack on looks either. However, my opinion might soon change as Dell and other companies are beginning to roll out more sub-notebooks with competitive specifications and pricing. Just about everything from the operating system, the hard drive space, and speed was satisfactory. The main downsides are probably the awkward positioning of the mouse buttons and the battery life. Overall, most of you folks who are looking for a cheap portable laptop will get exactly what you are looking for and won’t be disappointed with Acer’s Aspire One.

Buy Now: Best Buy $350 | Amazon $400 | Circuit City $330 (SSD Model)
Links: Acer Aspire One | Wiki Page

The Navigation System will sport a new display with a higher resolution and will be LED backlit for sharper colors. It will support playback of DVD movies, but only when the car is parked. Like more cars today it has full support to allow hands free access to Bluetooth enabled phones. But as a bonus it will allow dictating numbers to dial or even saying names in your phonebook without having to program your voice for ever possible combination. The upcoming cars featuring this new system will have a 40GB HDD and two SD card readers built-in. Unfortunately the car doesn’t allow ripping tracks from inserted CDs due to copyright restrictions, however it will allow copying downloaded music from those SD cards. (MP3, WMA, & AAC supported!) Additional options for a USB port to allow use of flash drives will also be an option. The MMI system also supports adding support for Apple iPod devices or AUX analog inputs, which will probably also cost extra.

The main reason Audi was at Nvision was because their new MMI systems will be sporting Nvidia graphics chips inside the dashboards. The chips will be used to generate good looking 3D graphics rapidly. Many city centers will have 3D building models and topographical terrain maps. It looks quite similar to what is currently available in Google Earth. All the 3D content will be generated in real-time while providing turn-by-turn directions. According to the Audi rep, the graphics chip has been specially designed to withstand high and low temperatures while being able to absorb large amounts of shock, which would be important since it’s part of a vehicle. The GPS data with those 3D maps and voice prompts will apparently takes up around 25GB of data. When it comes time to upgrade to the latest sets of maps, dealers will apparently be able to simply install the updated content pack onto the Audi’s HDD.

Update (08/29/08): I previously had stated that the Audi will be using a Nvidia graphics card, however it turns out it’s just a Nvidia graphics chip. Sigmund, thanks for the correction.

Earlier this month, Lenovo rolled out the IdeaPad S10, an entry-level ultra-portable laptop. The IdeaPad S10 sub-notebook is primarily intended for those getting into computing for the first time and for those seeking a secondary portable laptop. The laptop will allow performing simple tasks such as browsing the web, accessing emails, listening to music, and running basic applications. For college students, this S10 is a great tool to take notes in class and have WiFi internet access when away from their desk especially since it is just an inch thick and weighs approximately 2 pounds.

The IdeaPad’s keyboard is about 85% the size of a standard keyboard, so typing won’t be too difficult. The 10 inch display has a 1024×600 pixel resolution making it large enough to view most web pages and since it’s LED backlit, battery life will also be conserved. The laptop has the standard WiFi b/g networks built in, however it also supports use of Mobile Broadband through the Express Card slot. The laptop also features the standard tools such as a microphone, a webcam, a speaker, audio in/out, two USB ports, a 4-in-1 card reader, and a VGA display output.

The S10 comes with Windows XP, which is still the most popular OS, so there shouldn’t be any complains. The performance won’t be too slow for basic apps, considering that it is running a 1.6Ghz Intel Atom processor with 512MB of RAM. (Upgradeable to 1GB+) The notebook doesn’t sport a Solid State Drive (SSD), but rather a standard 80GB 5400RPM HDD. Laptop Mag has a video of it booting up in about 35 seconds. The only downside might be battery life. A 3 cell battery apparently provides only 2.5 hours worth of juice. The unit comes in White, Black, and Red with more choices down the road.

The laptop has current MSRP of $400 for the current configuration option. Customization will become available later on. Units are expected to reach customers by early to mid-September. As implied in the title, Lenovo is now taking in pre-orders on their website for this notebook. We’ll be trying to get a hold of a unit for review soon, so keep checking back! Dell’s mini-Insprion (aka Inspirion 910) launch seems to be imminent and rumors indicate a $300 starting price point!

Links: Lenovo.com

Early this morning, Dell announced over seven new models to their Latitude lineup during their press event. Although each of the models has some amazing new features such as their 14-inch laptop with 19 hours of battery life, I’ll be focusing on their 12-inch Latitude E4200 which weighs just 2.2 pounds. Dell has taken a whole new approach to everything from battery life, hardware, security, software, and style before building these machines and it is all looking pretty good.

Starting with the tech specs, this laptop has got just about all the latest circuitry. The Latitude E4200 uses the Intel Core 2 Duo Ultra Low Voltage Processor running at 1.4 GHz which is the first aspect to conserving battery life. Next, the 12.1 inch WXGA LED backlit display and the 128GB Solid State Drive, which supposedly performs better than a standard 7200RPM HDD, also demand less power than their traditional counterparts. Since this laptop comes with a flavor of Vista, most consumers will demand a good amount of RAM. With the new chipset, the E4200 Latitude has 1GB built-in onboard and supports up to 4GB in the extra slot. In addition to the standard goodies that come with most laptops the notebook also has USB port with “PowerShare” which allows charge devices even when the laptop is turned off and an eSATA port for high speed data access to external storage. The laptop is completely networked with Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/g/n, Mobile Broadband & GPS, and Bluetooth 2.1. Every Latitude series is also compatible with a set of newly designed docking stations. You definitely won’t be left in the dark with lack of ports, however one thing this laptop does lack is a built in optical drive.

Even with all these features packed in, the laptop weighs around just 2.2 pounds with the standard battery pack making it the lightest consumer laptop Dell has ever produced. If you are aiming for 16 hours of battery life, you’ll need to attach an extended battery and a new “battery slab” which attaches to the bottom of the laptop, meaning it won’t be so “lightweight” anymore. Also, for the first time, customers will have the opportunity to customize their Latitude with their choice of color: Regatta Blue, Regal Red and Quartz Pink. The ultra portable Latitude also comes with optional features such as a backlit keyboard with ambient light sensors, a contact-less Smart Card reader, a Trusted Platform Module for encryption, and a fingerprint reader. Since such a large number of laptops are stolen, another item Dell focused on was protecting data. They do that by offering hardware-based encryption to prevent data from being viewed by those without proper access. In addition they include services which will help track & locate a stolen laptops and offer the ability to remotely command a wipe all data if it were stolen.

Finally, Dell also included new instant Operating System entitled “Dell Latitude On,” which may or not be a hit. But according to Dell, it boots within seconds and offers access to email, calendars, contacts, files, and the web without having to load your full Vista operating system. This instant OS is much faster and demands much less power for performing most simple tasks such as watching a movie or listening to music. Dell claims that by using this technology along with the new low-voltage processors and new batteries their laptops can offer “multi-day battery life.” This laptop isn’t yet available for purchase, but should appear on their online store within a couple of weeks. We are also trying to get a unit for review, so check back for more updates!

Links: Dell.com – Latitude E4200

The main reason for the existence of this product is the way keys have been designed. The first time you use this keyboard you will immediately love the way it provides tactile feedback with the press of each key. I personally found the “clicking” sounds that comes with the press of each key quite irritating in the beginning, but came to like it after some time. It might be a problem in some situations, say if you are working around others or if someone in the room is asleep. If you don’t like the idea your keyboard sounding like a type writer, this is not the right keyboard for you. I can guaranty that most people who use it will find it extremely comfortable for brief or extended periods of use.

For those of you who are gamers, you might be interested in the Das Keyboard’s “n-key” rollover feature which accepts up to 12 simultaneous key presses without any jamming. I put this feature to the test by pressing all the keys in the “QWERTY” row down at once. It did indeed succeed to input them all into my text editor instantly. My $10 Logitech keyboard on the other hand constantly failed to accept over four simultaneous key presses while my laptop keyboard would jam after six. So not only does the keyboard feel and sound good, but the designers kept technology in mind making it a very accurate keyboard.

As for the visual aspect, the keyboard is pretty darn minimalistic. The Keyboard has the standard QWERTY layout and a numeric keypad with a total of 105 keys. There are no special programmable buttons or other features of any sort. There are blue LEDs to indicate the status of Caps Lock, Scr Lk, and Num Lock. The Das Professional is actually one of the heaviest keyboards I have seen to date, which may be a good thing for desktop users since it will remain steady on your desk. There are also two pop-up feet on the bottom to create an angle for typing if desired.

The Das Keyboard Professional is compatible with Linux, Mac OS, and Windows. All you need is a functional USB or a PS/2 (adapter not included) port to plug it into. The Keyboard has a high quality 6.6 foot long cable which is useful for plugging into machines far away. The two USB 2.0 ports can be used to connect flash drives, mice, or even charge gadgets. If the overall power demand is too high, the hardware automatically shuts down one of the ports to prevent full failure. Although I found it interesting to see a USB hub on such a simply designed keyboard it is none the less a neat aspect.

The Das Keyboard Professional is now available for purchase for a retail price of $129 on the company’s website. This device is definitely much pricier than most keyboards on the market. There are plenty of decent keyboards available for a much more affordable price. However if you are looking for something which truly feels comfortable for long durations of typing and is extremely accurate, this is the way to go. I have gone through many keyboards over the years and this is probably the most comfortable one I have used to date. If you know of or use a more affordable or better keyboard, please point it out.

Links: Das Keyboard

The Battery Pack – 5/5 stars
The Proporta Rechargeable Battery Back seems to be an excellent idea all around. The unit is fairly small (about the size of a iPod Classic), quite robust, lightweight (4.2 oz) and fairly good looking. There is only one button on the device which also contains an LED indicator inside. The indicator turns red while charging and goes green when complete. You’ll have to click the button to begin charging a connected device and the light remains green until it completes charging. The front side has a mini-USB input to charge the battery pack and a standard USB port to output power to your gadgets. The battery contained inside has 3400 mAH of storage and can output energy at 5v (700mA). I was able to fully recharge a completely depleted Creative Zen and a Apple iPod Nano without having to recharge.

Charging The Battery Pack – 5/5 stars
I was quite impressed to see that Proporta had provided many useful ways to recharge the Rechargeable Battery Pack. First method would be to use the included AC Adapter which has a USB port on the bottom. Just connect the battery to it using the included USB cable and it begins charging. Proporta provides pins for four major countries for the AC adapter, so you should be covered in some regard. The second method to charge the battery would be to use the cigarette car charger. You’ll have to use that standard cable in this situation as well. And if you have not already guessed the third method, it would be to just plug that USB cable into a computer.

Charging Gadgets With The Battery – 5/5 stars
Proporta outdid themselves in this category as well. I was able to charge just about every gadget I owned with this battery pack. For example I was able to use the USB cable that came with my iPod Nano to make the connection between the two. I used the included mini-USB cable to charge the Creative Zen and Motorola RAZR. I was also able to charge the LG Dare and LG Chocolate 3 (review units) with the USB cables that came with those phones. The best part about this being a USB interface might be the fact that when the device has received enough power, it sends a signal to the battery pack to shutdown, which saves battery for other devices. Proporta also includes a set of adapters for major brands of devices, these include: Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Apple iPod, Samsung, Mini USB, Micro USB, and a 4.0 DC. Proporta even sells additional adapters for other gadgets online, if needed. In my situation the included accessories for the battery was able to cover just about all the devices I had. In addition as a bonus, since one end of all the adapters is a USB head, you can charge any of the devices you would have been able to charging using the battery pack with either the AC Adapter or Car Charger.

Conclusion
I would have to say that this is probably one of my favorite accessories I have used or reviewed. The entire product was well thought out and just works. It is quite practical and thanks to the widespread use of USB this has become possible. As long as the lifespan of the battery pack last at least a couple of years, this should be an excellent accessory for long trips or commutes. Proporta even includes a designer Ted Baker soft case to hold all the components of the kit together, so you’ll never have to worry about loosing them. I will definitely packing this with me on the next trip I take. The Ted Baker Charging Kit is available for purchase on Proporta.com for $49, however since you are a Skatter Tech reader you are welcome to use the coupon code ’skattertech’ (no quotes) to receive a 10% discount.

Links: Ted Baker Rechargeable Battery Pack
Coupon Code: skattertech
Related: Proporta.com/Power

“In creating the new Jawbone we focused on improving our audio performance beyond the marketing leading noise solution that we already had, and elevating the design to a point where it would appeal to a broad range of consumers who would love to wear it,” – Hosain Rahman (CEO)

In numbers, the new Jawbone weighs just 10 grams, offers 4 hours of talk time, can last on standby for 8 days, retain a connection up to 10 meters from a bluetooth device, takes 1 hour for a full charge, and runs on the Bluetooth 2.0 protocol. The headset comes with different sized ear buds and ear loops to ensure a sung fit for your ear. From personal experience I can testify that the original Jawbone was quite impressive and if what Aliph claims is true regarding the new model, this might just be one of the best headsets on the market. If you are interested in purchasing the new Jawbone, it is available in AT&T retail stores and online at Jawbone.com for a price of $129.99.

Links: Jawbone.com | Aliph Technology Demo

P.S. I’ll try to get a hold of a unit soon, so check back soon for an in-depth review.

After reviewing the Belkin USB Plus 7-port Hub earlier this month, I thought it would only be appropriate if I also reviewed it’s smaller sibling the 4-port USB Plus Hub. The Belkin 4-port hub retains the same style and theme as the larger one. It accepts power from an AC Adapter so too much stress won’t be placed on your machine’s bus. And since it’s self powered, as a bonus, USB powered devices can be charged if connected to the hub even when your computer is off. A neat little rubber clamp on the right side acts as a holster to keep cables neatly organized and from running loose.

The Belkin 4-port USB Plus Hub worked without any issues with just about any USB gizmo. Two of the USB ports along with the input and power supply are found on the back. For easy access, the remaining two ports have been placed on top of the unit for flash drives. There are LED indicators embedded into the casing, which indicate which ports are connected and when the power supply status. The hub was able to retain a full data throughput that the USB can support, which is all that we can ask for. It will slow down if too many data intensive devices such as external Hard Drives are being used.

The hub is available in two color schemes: brown/white or white/blue. As seen in the pictures, I went with the brown/white configuration to match my other gizmos; however people who own Apple gizmos might want to go with the white/blue. I tested this unit with both Windows Vista and Mac OS X Leopard without any issues whatsoever. Overall the hub is well designed and works smoothly. It is now available online (amazon, newegg, etc.) and in most retail stores for around $29.99.

Links: Belkin.com USB Plus 4-Port Hub
Buy: Belkin 4-Port Hub (Brown) (amazon, no tax + ships free)

I was in the market to buy a new laptop earlier this year and I came down to comparing to machines: the Dell XPS M1530 and the Apple MacBook Pro. I compared both of them to every aspect I could possibly come up with. Anyways both machines recently have received some upgrades so I thought I should update both comparison lists for those of you who might be looking for a new 15-inch notebook.

Update 4/20/08: Dell is now offering a 1440×900 LED and 1920×1080 Full HD displays.

I gave Apple a point for the Screen since they offer a non-glossy option which I truly prefer due to glare. Dell was expected to push out a LED screen over a month ago, however it hasn’t happened yet. The body of the MacBook Pro is cleaner, simpler, and lighter compared to the XPS 1530. In terms of Operating Systems, if you want OS X Leopard, chances are you won’t be able to get it working on a XPS; however it should a breeze to install Vista/XP on a MacBook Pro with Boot Camp. Leopard can use 4GB of RAM; however you’ll need 64-bit editions of Vista or XP to utilize all of it. Dell offers many more options for HDDs including a 64GB SSD which would be unusual for a 15-inch laptop. Dell also lets you turn your XPS into a Blu-ray player with an optional Blu-ray read/write drive which is great for watching high definition movies. I was irritated to find out that the XPS didn’t have gigabit Ethernet, which is great for transferring large files on a local network, especially when most new laptops have it. Apple won the keyboard war with its beautiful backlit keyboard with an ambient light sensor. However the XPS makes up with a Finger Print Sensor, which is great for bypassing typing passwords when people are around, and a better Web Camera. The XPS comes with a media remote control which tucks away into the express card slot while Apple now charges an additional $20 for their Front Row remote. The XPS M1530 can also be configured with a Sprint or Verizon mobile broadband card which will utilize the laptop’s antennas for better signal gain. I choose the 6-cell battery for the XPS since it was the best one which didn’t stick out. It offered only 2.5 hours of work time while the MacBook Pro gets about 3 hours.

If you didn’t already notice, there’s one major factor I left out on the chart: price. This part is what made me make my final decision which was to go with the Dell M1530. Dell offered a pretty good student discount in addition to their constant promotions. Apple also offers such discounts, but are incomparable to what Dell offers. With both configured to the highest similar specifications, the MacBook Pro was getting very close to $3000 while the Dell XPS was about $500 cheaper costing about $2500. In addition for those of you on a strict budget like I was, there’s more flexibility to remove unneeded components with the Dell to bring the price down. Anyways, that’s my two cents so please feel free to make comments.

Links: Apple MacBook Pro | Dell XPS M1530

I purchased a Belkin 7-port USB Plus Hub about a month ago to go along with my Dell m1530 Laptop and it works perfectly. The USB 2.0 hub replicates USB ports for additional accessories. The hub is powered with an AC adapter as an additional energy source under the circumstances that you are using too many devices that require charging. As a bonus, since the hub has its own power supply, devices such as iPods, Zunes, ZENs, and other USB-powered gizmos can be recharged without having to leave your machine running. The only problem I ran into was the fact that it took up more desk space than an average hub due to the ports being arranged horizontally on the back. However Belkin makes up for it by adding a cable holder on the side to reduce clutter and by simply making a product that works flawlessly.

The overall design of the Belkin Hub is simple and it works as advertised. There are five USB ports on the back along with the power cord and cable that connects to your computer. For easy access, the remaining 2 ports are located on top for use with flash drives. The hub is entirely stackable, so if you demand more ports you can place another Belkin 7-port or 4-port USB Plus Hub on top. You won’t lose access to the ports onto when stacking two 7-port hubs since the ports are still accessible through the hole. The hub also has discrete LED indicators embedded inside the encasement to display which ports are in use. Although we didn’t test the hub with too many data transfer intensive devices such as external hard drives, but rather with small peripherals, Belkin claims a 480Mbps transfer rate.

The hub is available in two color schemes: brown/white or white/blue. As seen in the pictures, I went with the brown/white configuration to match my other gizmos; however people who own Apple gizmos might want to go with the white/blue. So far the USB Plus Hub has been functioning perfectly, no hiccups what so ever. The only times the hub has slowed down is when we hit the USB 2.0 protocol transfer rate limit. The hub is well built and is available for a very reasonable price of $29.99 with no tax and free shipping from Amazon and other stores. But be aware that some stores such as Circuit City are charging as high as $50-60 for the same item, so shop around before buying.

Buy: Belkin 7-port USB Plus Hub – $29.99 (no tax + ships free)
Links: Belkin.com (Hubs Section | Belkin 7-port Hub (White Version)

After a week’s worth of speculation of the big announcement, Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs presented us with a ultra-portable notebook entitled the MacBook Air. We were on the show floor and had a chance to mess with the tiny laptop. We got a few pictures of the MacBook Air, its SuperDrive (aka CD/DVD reader+writer), and a few comparison shots with the Dell 15-inch m1530. The first thing you’ll notice when you hold the MacBook Air is that it doesn’t have any easily visible ports. The device only has a MagSafe power cord connector on the left and a USB port, headphone jack, and a proprietary connector on the right. The notebook weights just 3 pounds since it even lacks a CD/DVD drive. Keep reading for more pictures and to find out what it offers. P.S. The price tag won’t be as exciting.

“We’ve built the world’s thinnest notebook—without sacrificing a full-size keyboard or a full-size 13-inch display,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “When you first see MacBook Air, it’s hard to believe it’s a high-performance notebook with a full-size keyboard and display. But it is.”

MacBook Air Specifications:

• Intel Core 2 Duo 1.6GHz or 1.8GHz
• 13.3 inch Glossy LED Backlit (1280×800)
• 2GB 667MHz DDR2 RAM
• 80GB 4200RPM HDD or 64GB SSD
• Optional External SuperDrive
• Large Multi-Touch trackpad
• Intel GMA X3100 144MB
• 1 USB 2.0, Audio Line Out, micro-DVI
• WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1
• iSight webcam and omni directional mic
• Backlit Keyboard and Optional Remote
• Over 5-hours of Expected Battery Life
• Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard

The specifications look great, but the price is a bit ridiculous. Apple is going to charge $1,799 for the cheapest model, while the SSD configuration starts at $3,089. Although the tiny size of the notebook is the main reason for the high price, more powerful notebooks, which of course are a bit larger, from other manufacturers such as Dell are available for a fraction of the price. Portability is definitely something the MacBook Air offers, but there’s also other issues. For example you’ll need to carry adapters to connect the machine to a external display, there’s no microphone line in, and you’ll have to also carry an external DVD/CD burner. the worst part may just be the fact that the battery isn’t removable. Similar to iPods, the MacBook Air has a embedded battery. For a on-the-go laptop, Apple should have offered battery packs which anyone could just pop in when they run out of juice.

We took some comparison shots of the Apple MacBook Air versus the Dell’s 15-inch m1530. It isn’t exactly a great comparison in terms of specifications, but it does show how small this “ultra-portable” notebook is compared to a standard laptop on the market.

Overall the notebook is great for those willing to spend the cash, but might be overdoing for average consumers. In my opinion most people wouldn’t mind carrying a slightly heavier load if they can save a few hundred bucks. The laptop seems strong, durable, and is designed quite neatly. The encasing doesn’t seem like it leaves any weak spots for anything to get damaged. The only ports on the side all tuck away neatly into the notebook creating a smooth rounded body.

So what do you guys think? Anyone planning on buying one of these? Also if you guys have any further questions, please feel free to ask by replying in the comments!

Links: Apple.com/macbookair | Apple Store

We’re at the Keynote and here’s what is happening:

9:15 am – Leopard sales reach 5 million. (20% of Mac users have upgraded!)

9:20 am – Time Capsul announced for backing up computer via Time Machine. The device is a new AirPort Extreme with a HDD. Available in 500GB and 1TB for $299 and $499, respectively.

9:30 am – iPhone SDK in February. iPhone with GPS location. Custom main menu.

9:45 am – iTunes Movie Rentals. Works on Mac/Win and iPhone/iPods. $3.99 for New Movies and $2.99 for Older Movies. 30-day Retention on Movie, but 24-hour limit once playback begins.

9:50 am – High Definition movies for $4.99 via iTunes Movie Rentals. (5.1 Surround Sound!)

Note: Sorry for the delay, we are experiencing difficulty with our servers.

- iPod Touch gets iPhone apps such as Maps, Mail, Notes, Stocks, and Weather.

- Apple TV price reduced to just $229.

Around 10:00 am – Steve Jobs announces the MacBook Air! 13″ LED backlit display. “World’s Thinnest Laptop,” which is .16-inches to .76-inches thick. Huge Multi-Touch touch pad. Magnetic MagSafe charger. Monitor output via microDVI adapter. WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR. 80GB HDD or 64GB SSD. 5 hour long battery life! 2GB RAM Standard. Looks like one USB port and external CD/DVD reader+writer. We’ll get pictures of the unit posted ASAP.

Update: Watch the full Steve Jobs Keynote Here

Every bluetooth headset hitting the market today seems to be getting new wild features, for example an LCD display for Caller ID. All the average consumer honestly needs is the ability to talk. foneGear has taken this approach with their Mini Blue (fG876) lightweight headset with no unnecessary extras. The Mini Blue isn’t exactly the most innovative feature-packed unit, but it’s simple and it works!

foneGear Mini Blu (fG976) Specs:

• Battery: 4 hrs talk | 75 hrs idle
• Range: 30 foot wireless range
• Wireless: Bluetooth 2.0 EDR+
• Weight: 0.4 oz (11g)
• Charger: AC Adapter

The layout of the Mini Blu is as simple as it can get. It’s got a multi-function button on the front which acts as the talk/end button as well as turns on/off the unit. On the side, you’ll find a plus and minus button to control the volume level. The volume down key doubles as the redial button as well as the mute control. Even after testing the headset with multiple phones, we still had issues getting the redial and mute functions to work properly. An LED indicator can be found on the front, which lights up red while charging and flashes blue while it’s on. The audio quality was decent, but not too great. The audio would crackle and the listener would also have a hard time hearing us if we turned up the volume too high. Despite this, the quality of voice calls on the Mini Blu is more than enough for most consumers.

The headset can be worn on either ear and was quite comfortable. The actual speaker portion is surrounded by a soft rubber, therefore will be easy on the ear even after hours of use. The headset is fastened to your ear with a thin plastic around-the-ear hook. With this hook, it is close to impossible for the headset to fall off even if you are actively moving. This can not be said for other headsets we’ve reviewed such as the Samsung WEP200, which is quite hard to keep in place.

In the package, you’ll find that foneGear includes the Mini Blu headset, a ear hook, and the charger. This isn’t exactly a high-end headset, but is a solid performer and is great budget headset. The fG976 Mini Blu is available on foneGear’s website for just $20! At that price, there shouldn’t be any complains for what this does offer. This is a great headset for teens and first time buyers. (Even works with the PS3!) And as we mentioned previously it does exactly what its suppose to do, allow making voice calls. If you are looking for a better headset, we suggest checking out our review of the Jabra BT5020. As for the Mini Blu it is available for purchase online.

Links: foneGear Mini Blu
Related: Jabra BT5020 Review