Ringing in the Spring.

This section evaluates several models of cellular phones and laptops. Sprint has a whole line of Sanyo phones which are basically the same unit with different feature levels. The most expensive of them is the SPC-5500, with its built in 310k still/video camera. Meanwhile, the 7300 is designed for an active lifestyle. That means it is drop tested to the standard 4 ft. on concrete that so many of my devices wind up suffering sooner or later. It does not have a camera and is a bit bulkier than others in the line, but it was comfortable to carry on an external clip. The only problem is that there are a lot of buttons on the outside which at first tended to be pressed when taking it out of the holster. The unit is rugged, but comfortable and easy to flip open Kirk-communicator-style. The speakerphone works nicely, and quickly becomes indispensable. Sprint requires all their phone manufacturers to use a standard 2.5 mm earpiece jack which makes things a lot easier for users. The Sony Vaio Z1 packs a lot into a lightweight laptop. Thin and sleek, with a signature curve along the sides that protect the ports and strengthens the magnesium case. The full featured Z1 features a 1.7 GHz Centrino processor, 512 MB of memory, and a 60 GB hard drive. The real strengths of this laptop are its ergonomics. Ironically, desktop systems keyboards are slowed down by the long travel people expect from them. While the Z1 has a full sized key layout, the key travel is only 2mm. The display, driven by a ATI Mobility Radeon chipset should make anyone happy, even the occasional gamer. If you do want the full sized keyboard but do not care about having an optical drive built in, you might want to try Sony X505. It is reasonably priced considering its carbon fiber/nickel case, 1.7 pound weight. It is the only Sony not to have a memory stick port, though they put one on the mouse that comes with it.