New Gadget 2011

In my lab tests, the T100 wasn't flawless, but it produced solid results. There was a little noise in the daylight shot, but much more in my flash shot. Overall, though, the image was very good. Color was vibrant, if just a tad warm. In many realworld test shots, the T100 produced very good exposures. It also has excellent flash for such a tiny device.

Resolution averaged 1,900 lines, superb for an 8.1MP camera, and boot up time was 2.3 seconds, also excellent. The 3.6-second recycle time was decent, but not exceptional. There was very little shutter lag. It's nice to see that Sony includes mechanical image stabilization in the T100, too. In both low light and bright light, Sony's Super SteadyShot IS worked reasonably well.

Sadly, at a steep $400, the Sony DSC-T100 costs $100 more than competing ultracompact cameras, including the excellent Canon PowerShot SD1000. The T100 gives you more optical zoom power, but most users will find the SD1000 a better buy.
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T100: $399.99

The Palm OS is still tremendously easy to use, and Palm's HotSync system still reliably syncs with Microsoft Outlook and the free Palm Desktop application on both PCs and Macs. The Blazer Web Browser and the VersaMail e-mail program are starting to look a little old, though, and the built-in camera produces dim, unsaturated shots. The 755p will attract folks looking to use Palm's thousands of niche freeware applications- or just to have a flexible and easy-to-use smartphone.

Even so, a new crop of smartphones, including the BlackBerry Curve for Cingular, equal the Treo on ease of use and outmatch it on some aspects of media savvy. Also, Windows Mobile handhelds outclass the Treo in terms of sheer power.
Palm Treo 755P: $429.99

A 7.1-megapixel point-and-shoot camera, the Stylus 770 SW comes equipped with a 2.5-inch LCD and 3X optical-zoom lens. Overall, I was impressed by its performance. My still-life test shots displayed good exposures, although they were just a tad overexposed and showed some colored noise.

When I tested the camera's performance in the lab, I found that it had 1,650 lines of resolution, a boot up time of 2.4 seconds, and a recycle time of 3.8 seconds. That's not bad but not outstanding, and I did notice some shutter lag. Unfortunately, burst mode was sluggish and images on land were just passable. Underwater photos were not bad overall but were a little dark because the lighting of my indoor pool wasn't as bright as daylight.

The Stylus 770SW is pretty steeply priced, but in its specialty niche it's got little competition.
Olympus Stylus 770SW: $375

One of the FinePix's features that I really like is relatively new to Fuji: face detection. With this function enabled, the camera will make people's faces the focus of each shot, rather than simply focusing on the center of the frame. I found this ability to be pretty accurate.

In the labs, there was a slight veil of grain throughout my test shots, although color saturation and accuracy were superb. Overall, however, images were well exposed and pretty sharp. Flash coverage was fairly decent and even. Video quality was quite good as well, with rich and vibrant colors and smooth playback.

The F40fd performed well on my lab tests, achieving an average resolution of 1,800 lines, which is on target for an 8MP camera. I was very happy to see that there was absolutely no shutter lag either.

Though the Finepix F40fd is a "fine" camera, and the company's adoption of the SD memory card formats adds to its appeal, there are better models available for the same price.
Fuji Finepix F40FD: $299

The phone works in more than 100 countries (including all of Europe) by combining CDMA and GSM calling capabilities. You can use it as a PC modem as well. In the U.S., that means speeds of about 600 Kbps on Verizon's network. You get to keep your phone number, and you can continue to get your e-mail if you subscribe to Verizon's new international BlackBerry data plan. Of course, you'll pay high roaming rates outside the U.S., but Verizon softens the blow by providing 24-hour, global tech support.

Like all BlackBerry handhelds, the 8830's greatest strengths are stability and ease of use. The platform could use a wider software selection, though- especially the affordable Microsoft Office document editors. Still, the 8830 is the easiest, smoothest way to get your work done with Verizon Wireless.
Blackberry 8830: $199.99