PDA Mobile Phones

The latest in Verizon’s overwhelming line up of smart phones, the Palm Pre Plus offers great usage options both for the on the go business user and the casual media fan, allowing a lot of impressive work and play crossover. With a slightly updated design making easier overall usage, the Palm Pre Plus is now more accessible than smart phones have ever been. An eye-catching 3.1 inch multitouch screen makes your fingers itch to play, and the inclusion of a slider design and full QWERTY keyboard means that messaging fans can enjoy this smart phone, too.

As an operating platform, Palm WebOS 1.3.5.1 still remains an intuitive and easy to use aspect of this phone that’s a big draw for customers who don’t like messing with every tiny detail of their phone. With an included 16 GB of Flash memory, a customer can easily use this product for just about any need they might have. Thanks to increased RAM, games and surfing on the web are faster than ever, leading to some rather addictive distractions. Continue reading →

Although a significant improvement over its predecessors, the LG Shine II isn’t quite as standout as the name would have you believe.

While the physical appearance of the phone is all smooth silver that catches the eye and the high-resolution screen is sure to attract attention, the actual usage of the phone is still a bit clunkier than many Mobile Phones in a similar price range.

The most major design problem are the tricky to use buttons scattered throughout the phone’s design. Two soft buttons below the Menu screen are easy to feel, but entirely too thin to easily press.

The keypad buttons are flat and dialing by feel is difficult to do. A stiff four way toggle makes scrolling difficult, even if it is sizable enough to easily maneuver. Overall, the use of this phone is just clunky and awkward, which directly opposes the sleek modern style of the clean slider design. Match this with a somewhat subpar performance and the Shine just fails to match up to the competition.

LG Shine II Quick Stats:

• Dimensions: 4.2″ x 2″ x .53″
• Weight: 4.4 oz
• Resolution: 320 x 240 pixels
• Camera: 2 MP

If you can get around the awkward usage issues, though, there are plenty of higher end features that can attract users. Beyond the basic personal management features like a calendar, speaker phone and large phone book, the Shine II offers some interesting high tech features.

The voice dialing option makes the problematic keyboard less of an issue, and Bluetooth features and PC syncing are sure to draw interested techies attention. A customizable camera and generous in phone and expandable memory are all definite reasons to overlook the clunky physical interface in favor of the phones many other attractions. Do the features turn your head? Leave a comment below and let me know.

The HP iPaq Glisten offers all of the features that smartphone users could possibly want – in theory, anyway. In practice, the device is somewhat subpar, with several features that should be standouts actually becoming detractions from the overall usage experience. What’s more, at a fairly high price tag, it seems unarguable that there are better options for the discerning business user.

A passing glance at the Glisten is promising, as the sleek black and chrome design and wide, easy to push buttons of the full QWERTY keyboard are undeniably attractive. The 2.5 inch AMOLED touch screen should be a design triumph here, but low resolution makes for an underwhelming practical experience. Colors and text appear fine, but not with the “glisten” promised in the phone’s name. Touchy and somewhat dated menu screens take what could have been a huge draw and leave no impression at all.

HP iPaq Glisten Quick Stats:

• Dimensions: 4.45″ x 2.48″ x .52″
• Weight: 5.3 oz
• Resolution: 240 x 320 pixels
• Camera: 3.1 MP

As far as features go, the Glisten offers exactly what you would expect in smart phone – and nothing else. This phone, which should have been designed to go above and beyond, seems to expect star credit for everyday options. There are plenty of wireless options, as well as email capabilities and personal management features like a calendar and alarm clock.

The media options are all halfhearted attempts at including them without putting any extra energy into making them stand out. The camera is included, but has disappointing photo quality, and the media player included is very basic and unexciting. Match this all with a sometimes sluggish performance and you have a whole host of reasons to dismiss the HP Glisten as little more than disappointing eye candy.