Reviews > Devices Home > Reviews > Devices Articles Dremel, Dremel, bo-bemel, banana-fanna-fo-femel, fe-fi-fo-memel...Dremel! Computing Unplugged Magazine - March 2007 Back in December, we included a number of helpful Dremel tools in our holiday gift list articles. However, it was pointed out that we've never formally reviewed or rated the various tools we discussed in those articles. Dremel-style tools are incredibly useful around the computing shop. Here, then, is our formal review of three cool tools. Playing with my Wii Computing Unplugged Magazine - February 2007 That title sounds so bad. After having it sit in a box for five days while he worked on various publishing deadlines, Editor-in-Chief David Gewirtz finally hooked up his very own, personal Wii gaming system. This article contains his first impressions. U3 means portable software in your pocket Computing Unplugged Magazine - June 2006 Do you ever wish for the day when you can take your personal computing environment with you wherever you go, without having to physically carry your desktop or notebook computer around? Well, that day still isn't here. However, you can take your key programs and data with you wherever you go, and they'll fit in your pocket. At least you can do this if you carry a U3 smart drive. To learn how well these drive works, read this article by Contributing Editor Bill Mann. The Sprint A920 phone: should you buy it, or a PDA smartphone? Computing Unplugged Magazine - May 2006 We continue our battle of the phones with a review of a multimedia-equipped cellular phone, the Samsung A920 from Sprint. Over the past few months, we've reviewed the newest and hottest smartphones: the Palm Treo 700w, the Sprint PPC-6700, Verizon's variation on the theme, the XV6700, and compared them all to the venerable Treo 650. This month, we'll be looking at a few new devices, starting with the Samsung A920 phone profiled in this article, graciously provided to us by Sprint. Portable hard drive hit parade Computing Unplugged Magazine - April 2006 Product shootout articles are more difficult to do than a single product review. It can often take a huge amount of coordination among manufacturers, PR reps, and our editorial team to get all the devices in and compare them side-by-side. Fortunately, we've managed to assemble an interesting collection of portable drives. Among our contenders is a drive that could have been great, but's a terrible failure do to a stupid marketing decision and two drives that rate perfect 5 out of 5 scores. PDA phone wars: the Treo 700w vs. the Treo 650 vs. the PPC-6700 Computing Unplugged Magazine - March 2006 If you're in the market for a PDA smartphone, you've got a lot of great choices. Here at Computing Unplugged, we've been tracking the war between Palm and Pocket PC devices since January of 1998, so when Palm came out with their first Pocket PC smartphone, we thought this event worthy of investigation. In this article, we're letting three leading devices shoot it out. The big news, of course, is Palm's Treo 700w, their first foray into the Pocket PC world and possibly a taste of the future of Palm handhelds. Another exciting device is the PPC-6700, Sprint's version of the amazingly powerful and versatile device we reviewed previously in its Verizon incarnation. Which should you buy? You'll be surprised. The XV6700, viva la Verizon Computing Unplugged Magazine - March 2006 Senior Editor James Booth has turned to the Dark side. For years he's been searching for a device that would combine his Palm handheld and Verizon cell phone, but he hates the Treos. James is now hooked on Pocket PCs and Verizon's XV6700. Read on to find out what the XV6700 is and what's so great about it. Move over Fabio, it's the Pavio Computing Unplugged Magazine - November 2005 In this article, Senior Editor James Booth examines the Pavio from DateXX, a new entry into the portable digital theater/media player field. Find out what kind of features the Pavio brings to the table and what makes it stand out. No Fabio required. The Franklin Electronic ROLODEX, an inexpensive and very functional PDA substitute Computing Unplugged Magazine - September 2005 Can a modern technophile and user of laptops, Tablet PCs, and high-end handhelds gain any benefit from the simplicity of an ordinary digital organizer? Read on to find out as author Jason Giacchino reviews the Franklin Rolodex PDA. The OQO Model 01: an amazingly tiny Windows XP handheld Computing Unplugged Magazine - July 2005 The OQO is a piece of hardware that in many senses defies the current classification structure that is used to identify mobile computing systems. Technically, the unit actually falls into a sub-ultra portable notebook class as it is physically more compact than any ultra portable notebook on the market today. Is it for you? You'll need to read Jason Giacchino's review to know for sure. The Dell Axim X50: The small unit with the big heart Computing Unplugged Magazine - June 2005 Author Jason Giacchino recently made a carefully researched purchase of a Dell Axim X50 Pocket PC. Is he ready to trade in his Tablet PC for a handheld? Read on to find out. Is there room for Roomba? Computing Unplugged Magazine - June 2005 Do you love having clean floors, but hate vacuuming? Well so does Contributing Editor Heather Wardell, and she's found the answer. Roomba, iRobot Corporation's vacuuming robot is ready, willing, and able to help you not only keep your floors clean, but recapture your spare time, and entertain you as well. A first look at the LifeDrive Computing Unplugged Magazine - May 2005 There are two things you need to know about palmOne's newly announced LifeDrive handheld PDA. One, it's got a 4GB hard drive (3.85GB is useable by you), and two, it's $499. Although we haven't yet gotten our hands on one of these beasties for an in-depth review, we did get a special pre-announcement briefing this week, which gave us enough information to form first impressions. To be honest, my strongest first impression is that I wish they didn't play it so safe. The Planon DocuPen, not your plain old pen Computing Unplugged Magazine - March 2005 Document portability is one of the foundations of mobile computing, but who wants to carry around five pounds of paper in addition to a laptop? That's where the DocuPen R700 from Planon comes in. The DocuPen is a portable handheld scanner specifically designed to scan a full-width sheet of paper, yet remain portable enough to fit in your pocket. Read on to see what Senior Editor James Booth thinks of this pocket-sized page scanner. Six months later with the Tapwave Zodiac Computing Unplugged Magazine - January 2005 Everybody runs reviews of the latest and greatest product to hit the market, but rarely does anyone ever do a follow-up on how the product continues to perform. Because we believe in providing full-service reviews at Computing Unplugged Magazine, Senior Editor James Booth brings you his "six months later" report on the Tapwave Zodiac. Duplicate DVDs and CDs with the Addonics DVD DigiCopier Computing Unplugged Magazine - December 2004 The Addonics DVD DigiCopier is a standalone box that contains a DVD player and a DVD burner. Priced at about $350, this machine makes duplicating DVDs or CDs a snap. To learn whether this device will be useful for you, read this article. Six months later with the palmOne Tungsten T3 Computing Unplugged Magazine - August 2004 Product reviews often talk about new products but don't let you know how these gleaming goodies stand up to the test of time. Our Six Months Later series does. In this series, we look at products after they've been used in real-world situations for at least six months. This month, we look at the palmOne Tungsten T3 to see if how well it withstood the test of time. Computing Unplugged reviews the Tapwave Zodiac Computing Unplugged Magazine - August 2004 Although Tapwave likes to think of the Zodiac as a mobile entertainment system, we think that's selling it short. It's so much more. Not only is the Zodiac a portable game machine, a portable video and MP3 player, it's also a powerful Palm-based handheld computer. With the appropriate exposure and marketing, the Zodiac could really make a name for itself. The Dell Axim X30 vs. palmOne's Zire 72, Tungsten E, and Tungsten C Computing Unplugged Magazine - July 2004 While die-hards fans will always choose their favorite OS, we decided to pit the brand new Dell Axim X30 line against palmOne's line of handhelds. The results were not nearly as clear-cut as we expected. The Navman PiN Pocket PC with built-in GPS Computing Unplugged Magazine - June 2004 Navman, one of the best known makers of GPS technology, just announced a brand-new device: the Navman PiN, a Pocket PC handheld with a built-in GPS. We've had ours here at Computing Unplugged for a few days, so we've got some early impressions. Read this article to learn what we think. Spring forward with palmOne's new color handhelds Computing Unplugged Magazine - April 2004 PalmOne today announced their latest introductions to their line of handheld computers, the Zire 31 and the Zire 72. The Zire 31 is a color PalmOS handheld coming in at an aggressive price of $149, while the Zire 72 is the company's replacement for their quite popular Zire 71, introduced in April of last year. While we haven't yet had time to put these little jewels through their paces, this article will give you an overview of what's new -- and whether you should care. Palm's triple play Computing Unplugged Magazine - October 2003 In this article, we review three new Palm handheld and go into detail about each model. Each model is quite nice, and we were most pleasantly surprised by the pricing, which is in tune with the rest of the handheld industry and provides good value for the money spent. Kyocera 7135 smartphone beats the competition Computing Unplugged Magazine - May 2003 If you carry a phone and a Palm OS organizer but never considered combining them, it could be time. The latest hybrids have shed weight, added bright color screens, and found better ways to integrate telephone and PDA functionality. Of all the new smartphones hitting the market, Barton Gellman believes the Kyocera 7135 is the best of the bunch. In this review he'll tell you why. Palm gets up to date with new Tungsten family of handhelds PalmPower Magazine - November 2002 On October 28, 2002, Palm unveiled two brand new handheld devices, the Palm Tungsten T and the Palm Tungsten W. Steve Niles has a first look at this brand new family of Palm OS handhelds and introduces you to Palm OS 5. Palm gets back to basics with Zire handheld PalmPower Magazine - October 2002 Palm's product designers were challenged to design a new handheld model that could be priced below $100 in order to appeal to budget-conscious consumers. The result of this labor was the new Zire handheld. Steve Niles has a first look at this very simplified Palm handheld. Treo 270 has great screen, disappointing connectivity PalmPower Magazine - October 2002 Chris Guella follows up his review of the Treo 180 with a look at the Treo 270. He also offers some additional thoughts on the slow adoption of Short Message Service in the United States. Treo 90, a very different breed of Palm OS handheld PalmPower Magazine - September 2002 Despite being a die-hard fan of Graffiti, Vladimir Campos still found a lot to love about the Treo 90 in this review. If you're as much a fan of Graffiti as he is, check out his valuable tip for bringing the handwriting recognition system to your Treo device. Treo 90, a very different breed of Palm OS handheld PalmPower Magazine Enterprise Edition - September 2002 Despite being a die-hard fan of Graffiti, Vladimir Campos still found a lot to love about the Treo 90 in this review. If you're as much a fan of Graffiti as he is, check out his valuable tip for bringing the handwriting recognition system to your Treo device. A Blackberry loyalist's three months with the Treo 180 PalmPower Magazine - August 2002 Chris Guella has been a long-time Blackberry user, but he recently switched to the Treo 180. How does Handspring's "communicator" stack up to the Blackberry? Find out in this detailed and objective comparison. New AlphaSmart Dana to mobilize students PalmPower Magazine - July 2002 When David Nagel told educators to expect broader choices in mobile products for education, one of the new choices he was speaking of is a fascinating new device called Dana. Steve Niles gives you the details on this exciting Palm OS-based alternative to the laptop from AlphaSmart, an education technology company. The Palm i705 Wireless Messaging Solution satisfies the needs of today's business world PalmPower Magazine Enterprise Edition - April 2002 As business computing goes increasingly mobile, the transition is having a profound effect on enterprises, developers, and software vendors alike. Each group has its own concerns as it attempts to stay current in this new environment. Fulfilling these needs and addressing these concerns is the goal of the Palm i705 Wireless Messaging Solution. Contributing Editor Steve Niles takes a detailed look at the various components of this vital enterprise solution. New and improved: the Palm m515 and m130 PalmPower Magazine Enterprise Edition - April 2002 On March 4, Palm announced two new handhelds, the Palm m130 and the Palm m515, simultaneously servicin