Although my notebook of choice (and primary computer) is my MacBook Air, I sometimes prefer something smaller and cheaper to hit the road with… Enter the netbook!

I’ve owned (and hacked) several over the years, from the original Asus 701 (Eee) to the Toshiba NB205 (Mini), which I just retired. This time around I wanted something with better performance and a larger screen. Based on my past experience using (and modding) the Acer Aspire One, I decided to purchase a sapphire blue Acer Aspire 1410-2801 with an Intel Celeron SU2300 dual-core CULV processor and an 11.6″ screen.

It’s just semantics, but while being thin, light, and affordable, the Aspire 1410 is not marketed as a netbook. That’s fine by me, because I think current netbooks are too big and bloated – 11.6″ screens and full keyboards are great but how about smaller packaging? To me, older netbooks with 9″ screens are still the ideal in terms of system size and weight.

The Aspire 1410 is missing Bluetooth, but I’ve picked up the appropriate module, which I’ll install soon. In the meantime, check out my unboxing pictures :)

Talk about déjà vu… Sure, the HTC Hero features a 5 megapixel camera, but compared to the 3 megapixel camera on other HTC devices, it’s just more of the same!

But I’m not complaining – “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” :)

Like the T-Mobile G1, the Magic, and the Touch Pro, the resulting pictures (slide show) are quite nice. Low-light performance is decent, and so is exposure, but colors are a bit muted, and I was expecting more detail from the increased resolution.

Like the Touch Pro2 and the iPhone 3GS, the Hero camera supports touch-to-focus, but I’d still prefer a dedicated two-stage camera button. The macro is very good, requiring no user intervention, but there is no flash.

Video recording is extremely disappointing for a modern 5 megapixel camera. Resolution is limited to 352×288 pixels (CIF), and frame rate to about 15 fps. This is particularly unfortunate since the Hero provides initial auto-focus like the iPhone 3GS and Nokia N900.

Here’s a sample video (download original):

It’s time for another podcast (25 min) with Matthew Bennett:
- Audio version
- Video version

This week was all about Android – the T-Mobile G1, the HTC Magic, the HTC Hero, the Motorola CLIQ, and of course the Motorola Droid.

We also discussed the Nokia N900, the Nokia N86, the Samsung Memoir, the Palm Pre, BlackBerry 9630 (Tour), the Sony Ericsson C905a and a few other things.

As a bonus, enjoy the lovely view from Bernal Heights :)

Click here to subscribe to this podcast.

Every once in a while I run into an interesting device that I have not used yet, and I always take a few pictures.

During my hands on with the Nokia Booklet 3G, I came across the Nokia E72, successor to the E71. Check out the pictures above…

Also, at Mobilize, Jason Harris pulled out a Nokia 5530, the hotter but 3G-less version of the 5800. Enjoy the pictures below!

The Samsung Reclaim reminds me of the Samsung Instinct s30 – it’s not particularly compelling, but then again, I’m not the target audience!

Is it green? To quote Jemery Clarkson: “Yes, very.” Some of the plastic parts are actually made of corn, but I don’t think this phone is any more biodegradable, considering all the electronics…

The Reclaim drops the Instinct s30’s poor touchscreen interface in favor of a traditional D-pad and a QWERTY keyboard, which is an improvement. It also features a standard micro-USB connector for data & power (instead of a proprietary connector), and a sightly better 2 megapixel camera (still without auto-focus or flash).

Device pictures and video:

Pros:
- Nice, bright screen
- Decent QWERTY keyboard
- 3G (EVDO Rev. 0) and GPS
- Good battery life
- Standard 3.5 mm audio connector
- Standard micro USB connector (data & power)
- Bluetooth ObEx (file transfer/sync), and A2DP (stereo audio)
- USB 2.0 mass storage support
- Easily accessible micro-SD slot
- Configurable messaging client (POP3/IMAP/Exchange support)
- Included bundle of services (Turn-by-turn navigation, TV, music store)

Cons:
- So-so 2 megapixel camera (no auto-focus, macro, or flash)
- No other colors than green or blue
- No WiFi
- No multitasking other than music
- No gapless music playback
- No configurable IM client (no Jabber support)
- Hit & miss Java support
- No iSync support (but vCard support)
- No Bluetooth DUN (tethering)
- No data cable or earphones supplied with device
- Small 512 MB micro-SD card supplied with phone

Camera samples (slide show):

Quickie is a new column wherein I’ll provide quick reviews of devices I’ve used for a few days, complete with pictures & video, pros & cons, and camera samples.

The HTC Touch Pro2 (Sprint version) is a lot like the HTC Touch Pro, but bigger & heavier…

It features a larger & higher resolution screen (800×480 pixels), a tilting keyboard, a CDMA+GSM radio (unlocked, but the GSM firmware is crippled not to connect to US networks), a standard 3.5 mm audio connector (missing on the GSM-only model), and the same 3 megapixel auto-focus camera (albeit without flash).

The hardware is top-notch, but the software falls short – HTC’s TouchFlo 3D interface is excellent, but underneath, Windows Mobile 6.1 is still a mess!

Device pictures and video:

Pros:
- Large & high-resolution screen
- Great keyboard
- CDMA+GSM radio
- Standard 3.5 mm audio connector
- Decent camera
- TouchFlo 3D interface

Cons:
- Big & heavy
- Resistive touchscreen
- Crippled GSM firmware
- Windows Mobile 6.1

Camera samples (slide show):

Another day, another unboxing :)

I was recently offered to test the second subsidized 8-megapixel cameraphone in the US, the Sony Ericsson C905a – the first being the Samsung T929 (Memoir), one of my favorite devices this year.

Of course, being slightly obsessed with mobile photography and rather fond of those quirky Nordic devices, I accepted!

The C905a is the successor to the wonderful Sony Ericsson K850i, which was my primary phone for some time.

It ditches the K850i’s candybar design in favor of a slider layout, uses a larger screen (2.4″ instead of 2.2″), looses the dual-format card slot (now only M2, not also micro-SD), and adds GPS & WiFi.

Unfortunately, WiFi is disabled in AT&T’s firmware and can only be enabled by debranding the phone…

Although feature-wise, the C905a is similar to the Nokia N86 8MP, it is not a smartphone. It trumps the N86 with a Xenon flash, but lacks the OLED display and the standard ports (mini-USB & 3.5 mm audio).

Stay tuned as I compare the C905a camera to the Memoir and the N86 – in the meantime, here are my unboxing pictures and unboxing video.

With all the brouhaha caused by the Motorola Droid, I’ve been neglecting some of the other recent arrivals. Last week at the Sprint Open Developer Conference, in addition to getting a free HTC Hero, I also scored a free BlackBerry 9630 (Tour)!

In the past, I’ve enjoyed the BlackBerry 8320 (Curve) and, although the BlackBerry 9530 (Storm) was a total disaster, I was impressed with its CDMA+GSM radio and its excellent camera. The Tour is the best of both worlds – a traditional BlackBerry like the Curve with the same trick radio and camera as the Storm…

The only major sticking point about the Tour is the lack of WiFi. How can any manufacturer/carrier consider making/selling a phone without WiFi these days?

The Gobi radio from Qualcomm works on CDMA/EVDO networks (US 800/1900 MHz) as well as GSM/EDGE (worldwide quad-band) and UMTS/HSDPA (Euro/Asia 2100 MHz) networks. This particular Tour came factory unlocked, which is rather strange – but I’m not complaining :)

Anyway, take a look at my unboxing, complete with pictures and video.

I’ve been using the Motorola Droid for a week now, and while the device is quite impressive overall, the camera is a mess…

“But wait,” you protest, “those shots look fine.” Sure, the Droid can take pretty decent pictures (slide show). But I’m a camera buff, and do you know how much effort I put into these?

It usually takes 3 to 5 attempts for the auto-focus to actually work, the camera must often be tricked into using the right exposure, color balance is all over the map, and don’t even get me started about low-light performance – that small sensor is noisy!

The Motorola ZN5 (ZINE) camera is truly remarkable, so I hope Motorola can fix most of these problems in a future update.

When it comes to stills, the Droid camera is no match for the Nokia N900 or N97. Andy Ihnatko claims that the iPhone 3GS beats the Droid, but based on my time using both phones, I don’t think he put much effort into his pictures :)

I agree that normobs will get better results with the iPhone 3GS, but photographers will do better with the Droid, especially once Motorola tweaks the firmware.

The Droid supports video recording with a resolution of 720×480 pixels at 24 fps, matching the excellent Nokia N900 and Samsung Memoir. There’s no initial auto-focus, however.

Here is a sample video (download original):

The Nokia N900 camera is really quite good. In fact, even with pre-release firmware, it walks all over the competition!

It’s no surprise. The N900 comes from a long lineage of great 5 megapixel phones from Nokia, such as the N95 and the N82. It features Carl Zeiss optics (with auto-focus and macro), a dual LED flash, and a sliding lens cover – as such, it’s virtually identical to the N97 camera…

The UI is especially polished. Of course there’s geo-tagging and auto-rotation, but it’s easy to tag and share pictures via Flickr, Facebook, or Pixelpipe. Contrary to other smartphones (and like cameraphones), the N900 camera is an integral part of the device, not an afterthought.

The N900 takes very nice pictures (slide show), with excellent color balance, exposure, and level of detail. But there’s room for improvement, especially in low light. The sensor is a little too noisy at times (shades of N96) – hopefully this can be fixed in a future update.

And then there’s video recording. With a resolution of 848×480 pixels at 25 fps, the N900 is in the same league as the Motorola Droid and the Samsung Memoir. It also features initial auto-focus like the iPhone 3GS :)

Here is a sample video (download original):