BACK-TO-SCHOOL 2006

RoverTv Widescreen Personal Media Player

posted Wednesday, August 30th, 2006, by Andy Gore
RoverTv plays and records video, music, has a photo album, FM radio and can connect to a TV.

When I first heard about Doghouse Electronics Inc.’s personal media player (PMP), I couldn’t believe it. Not because I thought it was impossible to build a lightweight, full-featured audio/video player that’s literally all screen; but because I couldn’t believe a company no one had ever heard of would be the first to do it. (more…)

Linksys CIT200 Cordless Internet Telephony Kit

posted Wednesday, August 30th, 2006, by Victoria Fung
The Linksys CIT200 offers hands-free Skype phone calls.

Users of Skype, the global Internet telephony company owned by eBay, can finally cut the cord – that is, the USB cord to their computers.

A variety of wireless Skype phones are hitting the market and getting noticed, especially since eBay’s recent announcement that it has hired Google to sell advertising. That partnership will enable customers to contact sellers and advertisers using Skype and Google Talk. And it’s bound to drive demand for gear that makes talking over the Internet smoother and easier. (more…)

T-Mobile Sidekick 3 Wireless Communicator

posted Tuesday, August 29th, 2006, by Andy Gore
The Sidekick 3 offers some nice refinements on an already top-of-its-class design.

The granddaddy of Internet-enabled cell phones, the T-Mobile Sidekick 3 combines a full-fledged web browser with POP e-mail, instant messaging and a variety of more mundane phone and PIM functions into a well-integrated package about the size of a bar of soap. With each new generation the Sidekick’s creator, Palo Alto-based Danger Inc., continues to hone it device’s capabilities, which may explain why Generation Three continues to be the best wireless communicator on the market. (more…)

eMachines T6534 Desktop Computer

posted Tuesday, August 29th, 2006, by Andy Gore
The eMachines T6534 offers buyers on a budget bang for the buck.

If you’re in the market for a barebones computer, you probably won’t be interested in the eMachines T6534 desktop computer. Yes, its $449.99 sticker (after $50 mail-in rebate) makes the T6534 about as cheap as it gets. But with an AMD Athlon 64-bit processor, 200GB hard drive and 16x Dual-Layer DVD-RW drive, it can hardly be considered barebones. (more…)

Sony VAIO VGN-FE570G Notebook

posted Sunday, August 27th, 2006, by Victoria Fung
Sony's so-called budget VAIO still sports one of the company's bright and beautiful LCD screens.

Open the matte silver lid of the VAIO VGN-FE570G, and the best thing about this mid-range notebook hits you right in the retinas: a brilliantly clear, 15.4-inch widescreen LCD display with those rich, saturated hues that have lured a legion of diehard Sony fans. Beyond that, you’re looking at a very nice – and on some levels, rather ordinary – laptop computer at a premium price. (more…)