Iriver P7 (16GB)

Iriver P7 (16GB) measures 4.5 inches across, 3 inches tall, and a relatively svelte 0.5 inch thick. The overall form is more pocket friendly than the chunkier design of the Cowon O2, feeling more like an Archos 5 with a shrunken screen. The majority of Iriver P7 (16GB) is operated using touch screen control, however, you'll find teeny, tiny buttons for power, menu, and volume on the top edge of the player. Iriver P7 (16GB)'s headphone jack is on the right edge, along with a hold switch, and a microSD memory slot covered by a plastic door.

While the P7's hardware looks like it takes a few cues from Apple, the touch screen interface is entirely unique. Iriver appropriately describes the main menu screen as magazine like, laying out each of the player's functions on a single screen, compartmentalized into an attractive arrangement of boxes. If you're accustomed to scrolling though menus, Iriver P7 (16GB)'s Mondrian esque layout takes a little time to grow on you.

After spending some time with it, we can't say the layout offers any practical advantages, but it's a pleasant break from the norm. Once you dial down into Iriver P7 (16GB)'s music and photo menus, the single page interface of the main menu eventually gives way to a more common list view. Unlike the iPod Touch's smooth, swift, and responsive song lists, sorting through your music on Iriver P7 (16GB) requires patience and a precise touch on a slim graphical scroll bar.

If you plan on storing a large music collection on Iriver P7 (16GB), prepare for some navigation frustration. The P7 is easy on the eyes, but the features are nothing to write home about. Despite the movie worthy 4.3 inch screen with a 480x272 resolution, video really isn't the P7's strong suit. On paper, support for formats such as AVI, MP4, WMV, MPG, FLV, XVID, H.264, and a handful of others, makes Iriver P7 (16GB)'s video capabilities seem very impressive.

In practice, however, we found that Iriver P7 (16GB) didn't offer the kind of drag and drop video format and resolution flexibility we've seen from competitors such as the Cowon O2 or Archos 605 WiFi. Just like the smaller screened Samsung P3 or Iriver SPINN, we found ourselves spending extra time converting the videos we wanted to watch on Iriver P7 (16GB) using the included software. Power users and the patient minded may be able to put up with Iriver P7 (16GB)'s particular video requirements, but people looking for drag and drop simplicity should look elsewhere.

In spite of our complaints about the sluggish, unfriendly design of Iriver P7 (16GB)'s music menu navigation, the audio capabilities of the P7 are arguably the best feature of the device. Iriver P7 (16GB) supports MP3, WMA, FLAC, WAV, and OGG file formats, along with album artwork and lyrics, but leaves out the AAC format critical for playing back music purchased from iTunes. Songs are listed in either an ID3 tag sort (Album, Artist, Genre, Playlist) or presented as the user's own custom list of folders.

Once a song is playing, you can apply custom or preset EQ (there's also some nice SRS WOW HD enhancement settings), change the playback mode (shuffle, repeat, etc.), rate the song on a five star scale, and even view song lyric information embedded within the file's ID3 tag. There are also settings for bookmarking, looping, or saving files to a custom playlist. Between Iriver P7 (16GB) and the similarly priced Cowon O2, we're a little torn when it comes to each player's audio capabilities.

Neither device shines in terms of touch screen menu navigation, but we suspect the O2's AAC support is more important than its lack of ID3 song sorting (some will surely disagree). Iriver P7 (16GB) features, such as the FM radio and text reader, are nice to have, but unexceptional. The photo viewer, like most aspects of Iriver P7 (16GB), is a little sluggish. At best, transitions between photographs take 3 seconds to complete, and the image browser uses the same tiny, tedious scroll bar found on the music player.

Canon PowerShot A590 IS

As with previous PowerShot A-cameras, Canon built Canon PowerShot A590 IS around a large, bright, flexible lens. The 35 to 140mm equivalent, f/2.6 to f/5.5 lens offers a slightly longer reach and wider aperture than the 3x, f/2.8 lenses found in most compact cameras. It incorporates Canon's Optical Image Stabilization system, which shifts lens elements to help reduce image shake.

The camera can also accept conversion lenses with an optional adapter that fits over the base of the original lens. Unfortunately, the adapter retails for about $25, and conversion lenses retail for $100 or more, so outfitting your A590 IS with wide and or telephoto conversion lenses can cost almost as much as the camera itself. Skilled photographers will appreciate the camera's myriad controls and options.

Like other PowerShot A-series cameras, it offers program, aperture priority, shutter priority, and full manual exposure control modes. Of course, if you don't want to use any of those features, you can still shoot in the automatic mode, or with the camera's several scene presets. Finally, the camera adds a new "Easy" mode, which further simplifies and automates the interface. Slow shot to shot speed hindered Canon PowerShot A590 IS's otherwise very quick performance.

After a 1.8 second wait from power on to first shot, the camera could capture a new picture once every 2.3 seconds with the flash disabled. With the flash turned on, that wait more than doubled to an anguishing 5.2 seconds. Burst mode further disappointed, capturing 9 full resolution shots in 11.2 seconds for a rate of 0.8 frames per second. On the other hand, its shutter performed admirably, lagging a scant 0.45 seconds with our high contrast target and an even more impressive 0.7 seconds with our low contrast target.

Whether you shoot in low light or outside on a sunny day, you can expect the camera to grab the shot quickly, and then leave you waiting a few seconds before you can shoot again. Last year, the Sony Cyber shot DSC-T100 wowed us with its remarkably crisp picture quality. Though the A590 IS retails for far less than that camera, it manages to produce photos that are nearly on a par with those from the T100.

While the A590 IS's automatic white balance does a great job for a camera in its price range, it's not quite as good as the automatic white balance in the T100. The A590 IS does a good job of neutralizing colors shot under incandescent light, but leaves a hint of warmth. It also leaves more of a green cast than we'd like to see on a camera like this when shooting under fluorescent lighting.

Its tungsten setting did a wonderful job of neutralizing our very yellow tungsten hot lights. While noise remains extremely low from ISO 80 to 200, we did see some noise even at the camera's lowest sensitivity setting. Still, at these lower ISOs pictures look very good for a camera of this price, and fine textures such as fabric and fur appear consistently crisp. Noise becomes prominent at ISO 400, though details still come through clearly.

Like most compact cameras, Canon PowerShot A590 IS produces significant grain at ISO 800 and its maximum of ISO 1,600, covering the picture and damaging details with a fuzzy sheen. Overall, Canon PowerShot A590 IS produces very nice images and can even yield usable small prints at ISO 800, which is impressive for a camera of its class.

LG Xenon

LG Xenon appears to be just another touch screen phone. Measuring 4.16 inches long by 2.11 inches wide by 0.62 inch thick, the Xenon has smooth, sleek lines all around, with a touch of chrome around the border. It's a little smaller than the LG Vu and a little thicker as well. The Xenon is fairly lightweight at 3.81 ounces, and it's slim enough to fit in a front pocket. LG Xenon looks like a touch screen phone from the front.

Dominating its entire front surface is a large 2.8 inch touch screen display. It's smaller than the 3 inch displays on the LG Dare and the LG Vu, but it still looks good. It supports 262.000 colors and 240x400 pixels, which result in great looking graphics and colorful images. You can view the date, time, battery life, signal strength, and photo caller ID. Even when the screen is locked, you can see the date and time in a screen overlay.

You can set the brightness, the backlight timer, and the font size. For dialing fonts, you can set the color as well. Along the top of the screen are three icons, each of which corresponds to one of three customizable standby screens. You get one just for your favorite contacts, one for the home screen, and one for your favorite application shortcuts.

All standby screens have four shortcut icons along the bottom, which correspond to the phone dialer, the contacts list, the messaging menu, and the main menu. The main menu interface is similar to the one on the Vu, with four tabs along the right to differentiate applications. You get one tab for Phone related apps, one for Multimedia, one for My Stuff (which includes the media gallery plus productivity tools), and another for Settings.

For the favorite contacts screen, just follow the instructions to add a contact from your phone book. The contacts will then appear as small icons with the person's name, phone number, and photo. You can have up to three pages of favorite contacts, and you can arrange them on the screen however you wish by dragging and dropping the icons, or you can align them with the grid.

You can also fix the icons so they don't change position with the screen orientation. As for the shortcuts screen, you can add up to nine shortcuts. To add and remove shortcuts, simply press and hold down on a shortcut icon. The home screen is also customizable with a variety of widgets, similar to the TouchWiz interface on some Samsung phones. On the bottom left of the Xenon's home screen is a little right arrow that opens up to reveal a tray of widgets.

There are only six to choose from, though there's an analog clock, a world clock, the calendar, sticky notes, the image gallery, and the music player. To add a widget to the home screen, just drag and drop it on the page. You can then close the tray by pressing the little left arrow. LG Xenon also has a drop down shortcuts menu it calls the "Annunciator."

Simply tap the top part of any screen, and a list of shortcuts will appear. You can go directly to the music player, toggle the Bluetooth connection on and off, set your ring and vibration profile, send a new text message, send a new mobile email, check your voice mail, start the instant messenger for either Yahoo, AOL, or Windows Live, set your alarm clock, or view the calendar.

Vizio VF550XVT

This big screen LCD looks unassuming for the most part, with the standard glossy black frame surrounding the picture area. But the nondetachable speaker bar along the bottom, with its silver coloring, reflective supports, bulbous shape, and see through panel exposing the wall behind the TV, assumes a bit too much, and we predict you'll either love it or hate it. We fall into the latter camp.

Vizio VF550XVT
We're not fans of the TV's big, nondetachable speaker bar, which brings silver and reflective chrome coloring to the aesthetic party. Vizio VF550XVT 55 inch VF550XVT measures 51.5 inches wide by 36 inches tall by 13.5 inches deep and weighs a svelte 86 pounds with stand attached. Remove the nonswiveling stand and its dimensions become 51.5 by 33.9 by 5 inches and its weight just 73.8 pounds.

We liked Vizio VF550XVT's large remote, with its oversize chrome colored cursor pad surrounded by well spaced, easily differentiated, yellow backlit keys. Highlights include a section that offers direct access to different input types, "A, B, C, and D" keys for other devices, such as cable boxes, that double as picture in picture controls, and the capability to command three other devices.

Many of the keys double up, but the remote handles these well we appreciate that the oft used key to control aspect ratio shares the bright red "record" key, for example. Vizio VF550XVT's main menu system, arranged along the left side of the screen, is a bit awkward to use. The company has revamped its menu system for the XVT models, squeezing it onto the left side of the screen and improving the graphics. The menus' usability has taken a step backward, however. We found ourselves annoyed at the fact that you can only see one parameter at a time and that too much scrolling is required to access all of the settings.

Samsung Propel Pro (AT&T)

Samsung Propel Pro (AT&T) captures your attention for a couple of reasons, the first of which is its shiny exterior. The smoky mirrored chassis is definitely eye catching and tones down the Samsung Propel's playful image with a classic and corporate appropriate look. However, the shiny surface gets dirty pretty quickly, as it holds many fingerprints and smudges we had to constantly wipe the screen. Also, the back of the handset can feel slick, almost greasy.

All these issues sap the smartphone of some of its initial allure. Samsung Propel Pro (AT&T) is slightly bulky. The second reason you take notice of the Propel Pro is because of the slider phone's squat, squarish shape. Though we've seen more handsets come in this shape, including the LG Lotus and Verizon Wireless Blitz, it's still uncommon and to our recollection, it's the first smartphone we've seen with this design.

That's not necessarily a bad thing, however it's just different. In all, Samsung Propel Pro (AT&T) measures 3.9 inches tall by 2.4 inches wide by 0.6 inch thick, and weighs 4.8 ounces, so it's quite a bulky handset. The smartphone feels wide when held in the hand and you might want to put this into your coat pocket, since it's not going to easily slip into the pocket of your pants. On front, there is a 2.5 inch, 65.000 colors TFT nontouch display with a 320x320 pixel resolution.

It could stand to be a little bigger and there's certainly room, but overall, we found it sharp and easy to read. Like most cell phone screens, Samsung Propel Pro (AT&T)'s tends to wash out a bit in bright sunlight. You can customize the Home screen with various layouts, color schemes, and background images. We particularly like the sliding panel layout since it provides easy access to your information and applications right from the Home screen.

Without a touch screen, the controls beneath the display will be your main way to navigate the phone. You get two soft keys, Talk and End buttons, a Home shortcut, a back button, and a navigation joystick. The controls are fairly easy to use, with the exception of the joystick. It doesn't provide the most precise method for scrolling and selecting menu items. For example, on several occasions, we inadvertently moved the joystick when we were simply trying to press down to select something.

It gets easier with more time, but still, it doesn't offer you complete control like a traditional directional keypad or trackball. Below the display, you'll find some navigation controls. We weren't huge fans of the joystick since it wasn't very precise. To access the full QWERTY keyboard, simply push the screen up. The sliding motion is smooth and the screen securely locks into place. The Propel Pro's keyboard is slightly different from the regular Samsung Propel.

The buttons are rectangular instead of oval shaped and there's no spacing between the keys, making it slightly cramped and troublesome for users with larger thumbs. The spacebar was particularly problematic, since it's so short we'd have preferred it slightly longer (and it looks like there was space to do so). On the positive side, the buttons weren't stiff to press as they were on the Samung BlackJack II, so that reduced some typing errors.

The Propel Pro's full QWERTY keyboard features good size buttons that are easy to press. However, the layout is a bit cramped. On the left side, there's a power button, a volume rocker, and a microSD expansion slot and on the right spine, you'll find a camera activation or capture button and Samsung's pesky proprietary power or headset jack.

We really hope Samsung considers switching to a more standard Mini or Micro-USB port and a 3.5mm headphone jack in the future, since having to use Samsung specific accessories is quite annoying and restricting. Finally, the camera is built into the back of the front cover, so you need to slide open the phone in order to use it.

Nikon CoolPix S630

Nikon CoolPix S630 is a little thicker than usual for Nikon's S-series cameras. That extra depth is for the 7x zoom lens out front, but it doesn't stop this camera from easily fitting in a pocket or small handbag. Available in five colors black, blue, purple, silver, and red it looks more stylish head on than from the back where things get more functional. The right side swoops out a bit leaving a large thumb rest that was appreciated more and more while using the zoom ring around the shutter button on top of the camera.

Below that are the Mode and Play buttons followed by a scroll wheel or directional pad and two more buttons for the settings menu and deleting photos while shooting or in playback. Controls are very straightforward and even if the menus aren't much to look at, they're easy to navigate and a simple tug to the right on the zoom pulls up the Help system. Plus, you can get through them as fast or slow as you want with either the scroll wheel or directional pad.

General shooting options Nikon Coolpix S630

• ISO sensitivity (full resolution) Auto, Fixed-range auto (ISO 64-200, 64-400); 64; 100; 200; 400; 800; 1,600
• White balance Auto, Daylight, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Cloudy, Flash, Manual
• Recording modes Auto, Scene, Scene auto, Sport continuous, High sensitivity, Smile, Movie
• Focus Face priority AF, Auto AF, Manual AF, Center AF
• Metering Matrix, Center weighted
• Color effects Standard, Vivid, Black & White, Sepia, Cyanotype, Pastel
• Burst mode shot limit (full resolution) 4 photos
  

When it comes to shooting controls and options, Nikon CoolPix S630's feature set is not terribly deep, making it inadequate for anyone wanting to experiment. It has taking simple snapshots down cold, however. Recording modes are kept pretty lean with Auto giving you the most shooting control, including the ability to limit the ISO range the camera uses.

There are three specialized shot modes, too. Smile mode, which snaps a picture whenever it picks up on a smiling face, includes a Blink Proof setting that'll fire off a second shot in case it detects the subject blinking (and it works, but the person has to be fully facing the camera). A Sport Continuous mode works well for capturing action, but does lower the resolution to 3 megapixels and increase the sensitivity to a minimum of ISO 640.

This not only creates some extra image noise, but it'll also cause outdoor or well-lit photos to overexpose. Lastly, there's a High Sensitivity mode for low light shooting, but it too drops photos to a 3 megapixel resolution and sets the ISO range from 640 to 3,200. (To be fair, the thorough instruction manual warns about these things and explains how and when best to use the special settings.)

JVC Everio GZ-MS100

JVC Everio GZ-MS100 (part of the Everio S series) is smaller at 2.2 inches wide by 2.7 inches high by 4.4 inches deep. Its traditional horizontal body design is atypical of the fashionable YouTube camcorders, which tend toward the shape and size of a deck of cards. This does mean JVC Everio GZ-MS100 is bigger and heavier (though it weighs only 9.6 ounces), but it allows for a debatably useful 35x zoom lens and a higher resolution 680,000-pixel CMOS sensor (340.000 effective) compared with VGA resolution (307.200 pixels) on most of those models.

The MS100 is also around twice the price. For these reasons size, chassis, components, and price the MS100 shouldn't be judged against the VGA camcorders, but against models like the Canon FS100. By that those standards, the JVC looks considerably less impressive. Even as small as JVC Everio GZ-MS100 is, it's very comfortable to use and does look and feel nice, despite being entirely plastic.

The battery takes up most of the back there's just enough room for the record start or stop button to the right of it. On top are the zoom rocker and a snapshot button. You cannot take stills while shooting video, but instead need to flip a tiny switch on the left side of the body. (Photos are 640x480 and are typical quality for SD camcorders good enough for the Web at small sizes, barely.)

Above that switch sits a button to flip between play and record, and below it is one for changing out of Auto mode to Manual. Then there is the ballyhooed one touch Upload button and its partner Direct DVD button. This one button YouTube upload, though, really just connects, transcodes, and uploads via the bundled Cyberlink software (Windows only). It certainly doesn't relieve you of having to be in front of your computer to keep the process moving start to finish.

This is not really any different than the MS100's competitors, except in that some of them have the software built into the camcorder so you don't have to worry about where the software's installed. Then there are the Laser Touch controls. Down the left side of the flip out 2.7 inch LCD is a touch sensitive strip that sort of takes the place of a joystick or directional pad. However, those generally have five directions used for selecting things. The strip, while responsive and pretty it lights up a brilliant blue when stroked only handles scrolling up and down, or for adjusting focus, exposure, and shutter speed in Manual mode.

Samsung NC20

Samsung NC20's 12 inch size, which blurs the line between typical Netbooks (and we're even hesitant to use the term in reference to a 12 inch display) and more full featured ultraportable laptops. The key to Netbook satisfaction is keeping one's expectations realistic, and with a larger screen and keyboard, the NC20 looks and feels more like a traditional laptop, but still struggles, as all Netbooks do, with multitasking and video streaming.

Our test unit was an imported Korean version of Samsung NC20, but when it's available in the U.S., we expect it to sell for between $500 and $600, based on prices in other markets and current exchange rates. We'll update this review when we get our hands on the American version of Samsung NC20.

As most 12 inch laptops are high end ultraportables built around expensive ultralow voltage processors, you may be expecting a slim, highly designed system along the lines of Lenovo's U110 and Toshiba's Portege R600. But at about a third of the price, you instead get a thicker, heavier system with a plastic chassis that looks and feels like a grown up version of Samsung NC10.

The no frills chassis contains a reasonably comfortable keyboard with slightly tapered keys and a shortened space bar. The large touch pad is a big improvement over the ones we've seen on smaller 10 inch Netbooks, but the single wide rocker switch that takes the place of left and right mouse buttons feels cheap. There are no media control or quick launch buttons, which, while we wouldn't expect them on a Netbook, are common on more traditional 12 inch laptops.

The 12.1 inch wide screen LCD display offers a 1,280x800 native resolution, which is the same as you'd typically find on a 13 or 15 inch laptop. That lets you view more of a Web page than the 1.024x600 resolution we've seen on most 10 inch Netbooks. Even though it's the right resolution for watching 720p HD video, the system showed typical Netbook style stuttering when trying to stream HD content. Via's integrated graphics chip also includes an app called Screen Toys for monitor management, screen rotation, and other option tweaks.

HP Mini 2140

HP Mini 2140 shares the same basic silhouette as the earlier Mini 1000 and Mini Note 2133 systems from HP. Because it has an aluminum case, like the 2133, it's a half pound heavier than the plastic Mini 1000 it's a trade off that may be worth it, however, as the metallic Mini 2140 feels as if it'll stand up to the rigors of the road better than a plastic Netbook. The biggest selling point for HP's Netbooks has always been the fantastic keyboard, which HP claims is 92 percent of the size of a full size laptop keyboard.

Other Netbooks have been plagued by tiny Chiclet like keys, which make typing a pain and typos plentiful. By expanding the keyboard right to the edges of the system, HP is able to fit bigger keys into the tray than other Netbooks (and even ultraportable laptops). The result is a comfortable typing experience that takes a tiny bit of adjustment (as the keys are very close together), but one that is, thus far, our favorite on a sub 12 inch notebook.

The touch pad has an unusual shape, stretched into a letterbox like wide rectangle and the mouse buttons have been moved to the left and right sides of the touch pad. This permits the system to have a minimal amount of wasted wrist rest space, but it's a somewhat awkward compromise, especially if you do a lot of vertical scrolling or right clicking. The 10.1 inch wide screen LED display has an unusual 1.024x576 native resolution, which is a few pixels shy of the 1,024x600 we typically see in Netbooks.

The end result is largely unnoticeable, but a Windows XP pop-up window expressed concern that we weren't running at a standard resolution. Besides its big keyboard, HP Mini 2140 has one major selling point that no other Netbook currently offers a full ExpressCard 54 slot. Lenovo's S10 has a half size ExpressCard 34 slot, but there are fewer options for add on peripherals in that size. We rarely find that we actually need an ExpressCard slot for anything, but some rely on them for mobile broadband modems, memory card readers, or even TV tuners.

HP offers a handful of fixed configuration versions of the 2140, but we're perfectly happy with the basic $499 model, which has an Intel Atom CPU, 1GB of RAM, and a 160GB hard drive. For $50 more, a smart upgrade might be an identical version with 2GB of RAM, but that comes with Windows Vista Basic. Adding an XP "downgrade" to that model adds another $80 onto that (but also includes a faster 7,200rpm hard drive).

HTC S743

HTC is all about offering different styles of handsets to meet individual needs, and as we mentioned earlier the HTC S743 falls somewhere between the Touch Diamond and the Touch Pro. The handset is smaller than the Touch Pro, measuring 4.5 inches tall by 1.7 inches wide and 0.6 inch deep and weighing 4.9 ounces, yet still manages to pack in a full QWERTY keyboard using a slider design, so it's a good device for the mobile professional who needs to keep on top of email, appointments, and such.

The HTC S743 (pictured next to the T-Mobile G1) keeps a slim design while packing in a full QWERTY keyboard. The thinner profile makes it feel more like a regular candy bar style cell phone in the hand and when on calls, but the S743 is still on the thicker, longer side so it might make for a tight fit in a pants pocket. It's a solidly constructed handset, however, and has a pretty sleek look with its classic black chassis and mirrored face.

The smartphone also has a similar geometric design on the back like the unlocked GSM version of the HTC Touch Diamond, but it now features a soft touch finish so it's not as slippery or smudge-prone as the Touch Diamond. On front, you'll find the 2.4-inch QVGA non touch display with a 65.000 colors output and 240x320 pixel resolution. The S743 isn't part of the Touch series, so you don't get a touch screen or HTC's TouchFlo interface.

Instead, you get the more traditional Windows Mobile UI. It's not as flashy as TouchFlo, but at least with Windows Mobile 6.1 the Home screen offers more of your information right at a glance. For example, you can preview new email, scroll through bookmarked Web sites, launch your media player, and more. You can also choose from other Home Screen options under the Settings menu.

Below the display, you get a standard navigation array of two soft keys, Talk and End buttons, a Home shortcut, a back button, and a four way toggle with a center select button. Overall, the controls are pretty easy to use, though we're not huge fans of the tiny Talk and End keys. Fortunately, the alphanumeric keypad features large buttons, so we didn't have many misdials or errors when composing simple text messages. Overall, the S743's full QWERTY keyboard is easy to use, but we wish the spacebar were bigger.

For longer emails, you'll probably want to use the four row QWERTY keyboard, which you can access by pushing the face of the phone to the right. The sliding mechanism is smooth and securely locks into place, and the screen orientation also automatically switches from portrait to landscape mode. For such a compact phone, the keyboard features good size buttons so we think most users won't have too many problems. The one thing we do wish for is a bigger spacebar.

Though we appreciate the inclusion of extra SMS or MMS shortcut key on the bottom row, we'd much prefer that was taken out to make the spacebar larger since we had to stretch to reach it as is. That said, the smaller size and lighter weight of the S743 over the Touch Pro also makes it more comfortable to hold while typing messages, since it doesn't feel quite as top heavy from the slide up screen. We found the location of the microSD expansion slot to be inconvenient, since you have to remove the SIM card to get access to it.

On the left side, there's a volume rocker and a camera activation or capture button on the right. The power button is located on top, and on the bottom of the unit you'll find a Mini-USB port and headset jack. We're once again disappointed by the lack of a 3.5mm standard headphone jack, though you can get an audio adapter so you can use your own headphones. Another annoyance is the location of the microSD expansion slot.

It, along with the SIM card slot, are located behind the front cover, so the phone needs to be in an open state to access it. Our gripe isn't its location but rather the fact that the microSD slot is located under the SIM card so you have to remove the SIM card every time you want swap a memory card. Granted, you probably won't do this often, but it's still an annoyance. Last but not least, the camera is located on the back.