Droid X review by PC Magazine

The Motorola Droid X has gotten the PC Magazine "Editors' Choice" award. The Droid X is a very large (but very slim) smartphone running Android. If you want a smartphone that has a large screen, then this is the one to get.  The Droid X does NOT have a slide-out QWERTY keyboard like the original Motorola Droid. As a result, the Droid X is very thin (except where the camera and flash protrude from the body).

I think I'd prefer the HTC Incredible just because I don't need a device that has a 4.3" screen. Then again, the large screen is nice if you're watching movies or playing games, but who has time for that?

If you're on the Verizon Wireless network, you probably won't go wrong if you choose the Motorola Droid X or the HTC Incredible.

To read the PC Magazine review, click here.

Droid Incredible by HTC earns Editors' Choice from PC Magazine

PC Magazine has given the HTC Droid Incredible the Editors' Choice stamp of approval. In fact, they remark that the HTC Droid Incredible is one of the highest-rated phones in the past year.

Let's jump right to the conclusion:

The Incredible is the best smartphone on Verizon, and the second-best smartphone in America; it would outpace the iPhone if it weren't for all of those great iPhone apps. The Incredible renders the upcoming Nexus One for Verizon's network totally irrelevant, although it may yet be outmatched by Sprint's upcoming, WiMAX-based Evo 4G.

Click here to read the review on PC Magazine.

BlackBerry Storm 2 reviewed

Have you read all the reviews for the BlackBerry Storm 2?

CNET, CrackBerry, Brighthand, Gizmodo, and PC Magazine seem to come to the top of the Google list. I like the review by Gizmodo because it's actually a summary of multiple reviews (although it seems like they have a typo regarding the CNET review which is 3.5 out of 5 stars or "very good")

So, what do you think about the new BlackBerry Storm 2? Are you impressed? Was it worth the upgrade? If I were a health care professional using the older Storm, I would upgrade mainly because you really need more internal RAM for all those medical apps. If you're a pure business user, then 128 MB of RAM for apps is plenty. The same isn't true for medical students and physicians.

Google Android and Star Wars

I'm a big Star Wars fan. I plan to build a real R2-D2 when I retire. There's an amusing article on PC Magazine titled, "10 Star Wars Features for the Motorola Droid." If you're a Star Wars fan, you need to read this article (even if you don't ever plan to use an Android-powered smartphone)

Click here for the article.

PC Magazine smartphone survey

Have you seen the PC Magazine smartphone survey? It's titled the "Cell Phones Service and Reliability Survey 2009." It's no surprise, but the Apple iPhone is the reader's choice. BlackBerry devices were also rated quite well. The inherent bias in this survey is that there were very few responses for many of the other phone manufacturers. Hence, the survey must be interpreted carefully. It's also a shame that we can't really examine HTC devices since they often get rebranded as Verizon phones or AT&T phones.

Click here to access the summary article.

Review of the HTC Touch Pro2 (by PC Magazine)

PC Magazine has reviewed the HTC Touch Pro2 for Sprint. They rate it 4 (out of 5) stars as a "very good" phone. It even got the PC Magazine "Editor's Choice" recognition. Now I'm really tempted. Here's a summary of their review (with my commentary included):

Bottom Line:

The HTC Touch Pro2 is the Cadillac Escalade of smartphones: huge, with almost every feature you can think of. Even better, Sprint's version fixes many of the T-Mobile version's flaws. (I wonder how Verizon's version will compare to Sprint's version)

Pros:

• Roomy keyboard (nice).
• Great screen (much larger than standard Windows Mobile smartphones).
• World phone (don't need that, but that's nice).
• Very good media player.
• Lots of included software.
• Gorgeous new address book, calendar, dialer, and home screen applications.

Cons:

• Windows Mobile 6.1 is still pretty old (upgrading to 6.5 coming soon).
  
• GPS had trouble locking in (hmm, not entirely sure about this one).
  
• Push e-mail kills the battery (well, I don't use push e-mail, but what if I do a lot of browsing? I'm concerned that might drain the battery).

Since this phone will receive the Windows Mobile 6.5 upgrade, I suppose that first "con" really isn't an issue. Plus, you can find some custom ROMs out there that already run Windows Mobile 6.5, so you don't even have to wait until Microsoft officially releases it out there. To read the entire review on PC Magazine, click here.