PC Magazine's wireless issue
The most recent issue of PC Magazine, May 21, has a cover story on wireless, including smart phones, e-mail devices, modems and wireless LANs. The "Editors' Choice" awards for wireless WAN products went to the Motorola V200 Personal Communicator in the "smart phone" category, the RIM BlackBerry 957 in the e-mail device category and the Sierra Wireless AirCard 550/555 in the PDA modem category.
Smart phones
I am somewhat familiar with the Motorola V200 and, frankly, I think all so-called smart phones leave many things to be desired. Whether its the size, resolution or color (or lack thereof) of the screen, the size or feel of the keypad and/or keyboard, the weight, battery life, bundled software, etc., etc., etc., smart phones still have a long way to go as good wireless data devices.
As for the RIM BlackBerry line (950 and 957), I think it's probably the best wireless e-mail product (within its niche) on the planet, if you want it almost entirely for e-mail, not for PIM functionality. The 957 is the PDA-shaped version. As an e-mail device, it's easy to use and efficient.
However, the PIM functionality is bare bones, to say the least. It's kind of laughable, actually, and RIM really gets bad marks in my book for not improving the functionality. The OS is closed and there are virtually no add-ons. Yes, RIM is now offering Java in some of its products, but I'm still waiting to see anything especially interesting.
The keyboard on the 957 has tiny keys that aren't raised (or raised much). It's usable, but barely. The monochrome screen is larger than a typical pager and the type is sharp. However, the type has only two sizes -- tiny and small. Given the size of the screen, it's ridiculous that the type size isn't more variable and you can't change the font.
If you want the larger screen, the 957 is a good choice. But for actual text entry, the RIM 950 -- the pager-shaped device -- is superior. Larger, raised keys. It's much easier, for me at least, to enter text on the 950. The text size also is larger on the 950 than the 957. However, the screen is smaller and it's much darker. The 950 weighs a bit more and is thicker than the 957, which is longer and wider.
Both devices are good, both devices could be improved significantly.
There are several manufacturers of wireless modems, but Sierra Wireless stands out for its quality. Given a choice of Sierra Wireless or another vendor, I would typically pick Sierra Wireless. The 550/555 is designed for CDMA 1xRTT networks and offers not just data capabilities but also voice capabilities with a headset. You certainly wouldn't want this as your primary voice phone, though.
802.11 products
PC Magazine also has a long article about wireless LANs. The "Editors' Choice awards for access points were given to the Cisco Aironet 350 Series in the enterprise category, the Agere Orinoco AP-500 in the midrange category and the Linksys WAP11 in the SOHO category. I have the Linksys access point/router and it seems to be good enough for my purposes.
PC Magazine liked the features of the Aironet, but said it wasn't easy enough to set up. The article said the Agere unit was well priced, easy to use and offered decent performance. The Linksys access point was the only unit in the SOHO category that was easier enough for home users to set up, the article said.
8:56:17 AM 
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