The HTC Touch Pro2

When I took the HTC Touch Pro2 out of the box that Verizon had sent me, the first thing that struck me was its amazingly large screen. Then, while still holding it in hand, I noticed its weight. It was heavy enough to do some damage if thrown. The 3.6-inch screen, with its stunning 480×800 resolution is made possible by the ginormous size, it measures 4.57″ (H) x 2.33″ (W) x 0.68″ (D) and weighs 6.4 ounces.

Comparing the weight to the iPhone’s 4.8 ounces and the Palm Pre’s 4.76 ounces, it’s a lot heavier. You may say 1.6 ounces isn’t all that much, but when it’s a full 33 percent heavier, I say that’s a lot. The Touch Pro2 isn’t as wide as Apple’s iPhone, but it’s extra thickness and height add to its bulk. When walking around with the phone in my pocket, it felt noticeable and not every phone is. Compared to the Palm Pre, the Touch Pro2 is wider, taller, thicker and heavier.

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The BlackBerry Tour 9630 (Courtesy: Verizon Wireless)

If you’re a Verizon user and were in the market for a new smartphone, there’s a good chance you had your eye on the BlackBerry Tour 9630.  Verizon sent a review unit over and gave me unlimited use with it.  The Tour fits the BlackBerry mold quite well, pairing with the other devices in RIM’s portfolio nicely.  There are some features missing, but for those not looking for a device with everything, the Tour could be a good fit.

When comparing a BlackBerry to all of the other BlackBerry’s, it’s important to note that for the most part, they’re in the same ballpark sizewise.  The Tour measures 4.4″ x 2.4″ by 0.6″ and weighs 4.58 ounces.  Compared to the Bold (the BlackBerry with the best keyboard experience in my opinion) it’s a touch smaller and lighter (The Bold measures 4.48″ x 2.6″  x 0.59″, 4.8 ounces).  For those looking to go even smaller there’s Curve (4.29″ x 2.36″ x 0.53″, 3.87 ounces) and the Pearl (4.2″ x 1.97″ x 0.55″, 3.4 ounces).

The Tour was not uncomfortably large or small, it fit in my pocket without being uncomfortable.  More importantly, it fits in my hand (which is pretty medium).  I didn’t have any problem with the keyboard, which is in my estimation the most important aspect of a smartphone and something each person has to try out for themselves.  It’s important that your thumbs can press the keys and that you can type on the device you own.The Tour was not uncomfortably large or small, it fit in my pocket without being uncomfortable.  More importantly, it fits in my hand (which is pretty medium).  I didn’t have any problem with the keyboard, which is in my estimation the most important aspect of a smartphone and something each person has to try out for themselves.  It’s important that your thumbs can press the keys and that you can type on the device you own. (more…)

This is what sound is supposed to sound like

When you ask a company to review a pair of $130 dollar headphones, you’re expecting a lot.   The Logitech G35’s carry a price tag that my cause some people to shudder at first glance.

Would you really think about doling out more than $100 on some headgear? (It’s actually less than that right now, because of a sale at Amazon.com)  Logitech is definitely pricing the G35 headset in to the premium product segment when it comes to gaming peripherals.  But when you survey the landscape you’ll find the G35 headset is actually quite a bit cheaper than its 7.1 competition from Razer (The Megalodon headset logs in at $150).  It’s also one of the cheapest 7.1 options available when compared to speaker setups.

I’m absolutely enamored with the G35, the features and functionality are so complete I want a pair to keep forever. (more…)

The HP Mini it can do a lot (service provided byVerizon Wireless). Will someone hit that popup bubble? It's ruining the picture.

In my home, I have a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a home theater PC.  Each is connected to the internet.  At work, it’s a similar situation, with the exception of the editing computers, every computer I sit at is connected.  On the road, I have my Palm Pre, which provides excellent mobile functionality, but there are some limitations to having just a cell phone while on the go.

Enter, the netbook.  I’m convinced there’s a place for the netbook in my repertoire, even though I’m surrounded by computing devices.  The HP Mini Verizon sent me is small, compact, light and has a bevy of connection options.  There’s something about the netbook that just fits.  Having to soon send it back, I’m going to be disappointed I won’t have that “always on” option available.  I recently switched high-speed internet providers, and in the interim downtime, the only connection I had (not including neighbor’s open WiFi) was through the Verizon mobile service.

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It's a world of adventure, where you get deal damage with the words that you spell.

I have a kind of love/hate relationship with the game company Popcap.  I say this because I absolutely love the games they make, but I hate the amount of time that said games steal from my life.  The most recent offering from Popcap, Bookworm Adventures 2 continues this trend.  Plants vs. Zombies set a very high bar for “casual” games. So can a bookworm hope to leap it? In some ways yes.

When I was first explaining the concept of Bookworm Adventures Volume 2 to a coworker, they got a little confused.  Like any adversarial game, there are adversaries to conquer, in Bookworm you do damage with words.  My coworker thought that meant you were supposed to use hurtful words to vanquish the enemy.  While that may be an excellent idea, it’s not exactly on target.  In Bookworm, you deal damage in the same way you score points in Scrabble (sans the double and triple word scores).  Just like in Scrabble, you have a tile set to spell your words from.  In Bookworm, you get 16 letters and the longer the word you spell, the more damage you will do.  For instance, a word like pretentiously, is going to do a lot of damage.  Some letters deal more damage than others, just like some letters score more points in Scrabble. (more…)

I just wanted to write a quick post because we got a note into the newsroom today about the tech blog.  This is it.  I do not have a dedicated link, like you may find for Bill’s blog on the top of the main homepage, but an undaunted reader should know there are other ways to find the tech posts.

The easiest is to go here: My Posts (http://blogs.woodtv.com/author/mattschuler). You can also go to the entertainment section of the woodtv.com blogs (http://blogs.woodtv.com/category/entertainment/).  There you’ll find a chronological list of the postings, which you’ll notice Aaron Lafferty frequents more than I.  You can also find the five most recent posts on the homepage, but my posts reside there for only a short time usually.

My most recent reviews were for the BlackBerry Curve 8900 and the Palm Pre (which actually came in one, two, three parts).

I also do peripheral reviews for gaming companies, I really liked the Razer Sphex (a very economical gaming-grade mousing surface that has an adhesive on the bottom of it to stick to your desk), and I found the Logitech G19 gaming keyboard stunning, if impractical. My favorite mouse right now is the Razer Mamba, though I use a Razer Lachesis myself.

I’ve built a PC for the blog and listed out components. I saw the future of the home phone.  My ears have been blasted by a nice set of cans, and I’m working on getting another pair of headphones for review.  I’ve also met an android, even though it was encapsulated within a phone (the T-Mobile G1).  I’ve also been caught in a storm (which would have been a better name for my BlackBerry Storm review in hindsight).  I also told people not to buy a Blu-Ray player, though I am wavering on that declaration (I still need cheaper movies).  I’m in love with DVR’s.

When it comes to games, I’ve been Left 4 Dead, Soiled My Plants and gotten stuck in a World of Goo.  I’ve done battle with Demigod, seen the Fallout and witnessed the Dawn of War, but never delivered the multiplayer review on it (which could change seeing as they just released a rather massive patch for the game adding much depth).

You can also follow me on Twitter, where I post immensely more than I do here (probably because it’s limited to 140 characters).

I’m working on a review right now for Bookworm Adventures Volume 2 (a great game for wordsmiths or their apprentices), and just today opened up a HP Mini (a netbook provided for review by Verizon).  I also recently was able to sign up for a Google Voice account and will be posting my thoughts (so far I love it).

As for my original introduction post, you can find it here. I hope this was helpful.

I was recently sent a review unit of the BlackBerry Curve 8900, which is an update to a very popular line.  To me, it’s the “in-between” BlackBerry when compared to its larger (Bold) and smaller (Pearl) brethren.

Overall, I’m still impressed by what BlackBerry does with its phones.  The Curve is another great example of a process that BlackBerry has refined.  If you want a great QWERTY keyboard, the place you’re going to find it is on the blackberry.

So let’s get to the review.

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The Palm Pre, yes it can get smudge-tastic. (click to enlarge)

“This is a day I’ve been looking forward to for two and a half years,” said Steve Jobs back in 2007 when the original iPhone. “Today we’re introducing three revolutionary products… a widescreen iPod with touch controls… a revolutionary mobile phone… and a breakthrough internet communications device… and we’re calling it the iPhone.”

Ever since, the rest of the mobile phone industry has been playing catchup.

The Palm Pre is not the iPhone. It’s not the iPhone 3G. It’s not the iPhone 3GS. The Palm Pre wasn’t made in Cupertino. It doesn’t shoot magical fairy dust that heals the sick.

I’m glad we got that out of the way, because while the Pre may not do any of those things, it’s still the best phone I’ve ever reviewed. (Note: I have never been given an opportunity to review any iPhone model).

For Better and worse, the Pre does a lot of things fantasically, but there is some improvement to be had. Sprint and Palm are married to the Pre’s success. Both have a lot riding on the Pre’s success. I would say that things look a bit more rosy for Palm, because WebOS (a Palm property) has tremendous potential, while the exclusivity window for Sprint and the Pre is closing (it’s rumored to only last until January).

The Pre is not without its flaws and but it excels in almost every aspect and where its faults are glaring there is hope on the horizon. This review is coming from me as actual consumer. I’ve owned the Pre since launch day, more than three weeks now. I wasn’t given any special access or service. I’ve experienced exactly what you would if you were to go pick one up right now. I think after reading this review, you might be more inclined to do just that.

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Part one of my Palm Pre review can be found here.

What really sets the Pre apart isn’t the construction of the phone, the QWERTY keyboard, the Touchstone or anything like that. It’s WebOS. A marvel of an operating system that allows for multitasking and provides the most computer-like experience I’ve ever seen on a phone.

It’s in the cards…

The Palm Pre's card system...

slide to the one you want...

or just throw them away.

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Because the Palm Pre review was getting so large, I broke it into parts.  If you missed part one or two, they’re available.  Part three is more about

Making noise…

Launching the music player.

You can see a tracklist.

But there's no Cover Flow here.

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