The Smart Gift Guide to Smartphones
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Apple Inc.'s iPhone has shaken up the "smartphone" business and set other manufacturers scrambling to add features and make it easier to get e-mail, surf the Web and enjoy music and movies on a cell phone.
Prices also have come down to the point where some of these feature-packed models cost little more than "dumb" phones.
Sizes have come down too — gone are the days when carrying a smartphone was a workout.
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Remember, though, that you need a data plan to get the most out of a smartphone, which usually adds about $20 to the monthly cost. (Prices below are with two-year carrier contracts unless noted.)
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The top contenders of this holiday season (and a few to avoid):
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Apple iPhone (AT&T Wireless)
This is the star of the field, despite a number of shortcomings.
Remarkably, Apple's very first phone succeeds at combining a phone with an iPod and a great Web browser. Its large, crisp screen, touch-screen user interface and multimedia abilities are unmatched.
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But good luck using it with any headphones but the ones that come with (unless you shell out more for an adapter), or getting work e-mail. The on-screen keyboard takes getting used to.
The AT&T Inc. data network it uses is slow, and there's no real third-party software available yet.
All the same, a fantastic phone. ($399)
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Palm Centro (Sprint Nextel)
The Centro does everything Palm's larger, more expensive Treo does, but in a cuter package.
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It has a small but sharp touch screen and a teeny hardware alphabetic keyboard. You need fingernails to type on it.
It's not great as a music or video player, but it's good for e-mail, contacts and calendar management.
Palm's software is the closest thing to the iPhone's in terms of ease of use and versatility, and there are tons of third-party applications. Comes with a neat Sudoku game. ($99.99)
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Motorola Moto Q Music 9m (Verizon Wireless)
This update to the Q has a good, wide keyboard but no touch screen. It runs Windows Mobile 6 and uses a fast data network, which helps if you want to get work e-mail.
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But the overall experience is slow and clunky. The music-oriented interface that's been grafted on Windows is as cheerful and useful as a party hat on a bank clerk.
The lack of a touch screen limits the usefulness of the Web browser. AT&T has a similar model without the music interface. ($199.99)
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Nokia N95 (unlocked, works with GSM carriers such as AT&T and T-Mobile)
This European luxury phone has a big 2.8-inch screen, a nice 5-megapixel camera, a real GPS receiver and a large number of buttons, yet lacks both a full keyboard and a touch screen. The latest model works on AT&T's fast data network.
Best for photo buffs and possibly hikers — doesn't excel at e-mail or multimedia. (About $550 in stores, no contract)
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Touch by HTC (Sprint)
Like the iPhone, this is a touch-screen phone, with no hardware keypad or keyboard.
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Unlike the iPhone, the Touch is a hassle to use. It runs Windows Mobile software designed for use with a stylus, and the features that have been bolted on in an attempt to make it useable without a stylus are a disaster.
Thankfully, it does include a stylus, so it's not a complete waste, but this is still a phone to avoid. ($249.99)
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The big screen slides away to reveal a 20-key keyboard, with most letters sharing a key with another. It's got a relatively friendly interface, but sometimes sluggish performance from Windows Mobile software.
It does an OK job of e-mail and personal information management, but the lack of a touch screen limits the usefulness of the Web browser.
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Using the limited keyboard can be a chore. The software guesses what you're trying to type, which works for common words but is no help for Web or e-mail addresses.
No headphone jack — the included headphones use the charger port. ($149.99)
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LG Voyager (Verizon)
The layout of the icons on the touch screen makes this look like a chubbier copy of the iPhone, but — lo and behold! — the phone folds apart to reveal a full keyboard and a second screen.
Just the thing for those who can't imagine typing on the iPhone's touch screen? Not quite. It's good for text messaging, but the e-mail application is weak and hidden in the menus.
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And having one really good screen that does everything, as on the iPhone, is better than two smaller screens that don't.
The flip-open design and extendable antenna make the Voyager a great way to watch Verizon's Mobile TV. Available Nov. 21. ($299.99)
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BlackBerry Pearl (Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile)
BlackBerry e-mail pagers used to be very businesslike affairs. The slim Pearl aims for the consumer, with a built-in camera and media player. Remarkably for such a small phone, it has a full-size headphone jack.
The interface is still heavily e-mail-oriented, and like any BlackBerry, comes into its own if your company uses a BlackBerry server.
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As with the Shadow, typing e-mail and Web addresses on 20 keys can be frustrating. ($149.99-$199.99)