RCA CC9381 MiniDV Digital Camcorder with 3" LCD and 16MB MMC Card

RCA CC9381 MiniDV Digital Camcorder with 3" LCD and 16MB MMC Card
Manufacturer: RCA
Product Type: Photography

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com Product Description
Built around a 10x optical (400x digital) zoom with image stabilization, the CC9381 is a nifty digital camcorder. In addition to the optics system, the camcorder relies on a high-resolution CCD to record its 520 lines of resolution--the miniDV standard. The camera comes with a 3-inch LCD for framing your shots, or you can choose to use the EVF. Additionally, you can capture 1.3-megapixel digital stills onto the included 16 MB MultiMediaCard.

The CC9381 comes with IEEE 1394 ports, as well as a USB memory card reader for transferring stills. The IEEE 1394 port is built to transfer video to a computer. Software for manipulating still photos is included.

The camera also comes with both a 5x zoom microphone to help with sound recording, and a lithium-ion battery. Additionally, the CC9381 is fully compatible with RCA universal remotes.

Average customer rating:

Kyocera QCP6035 Smartphone (Sprint) Manufacturer: Kyocera Product Group: Wireless Binding: Wireless Phone ASIN: B00005B41P

Amazon.com

Recalling the original Qualcomm pDQ Smartphone--not-so-affectionately referred to as "the brick"--we were pleased to find the Smartphone's size to be quite manageable. Measuring 5.6 by 2.5 by 0.8 inches, it's only about an inch taller and less than a half-inch thicker than the new Palm m500 series handhelds. And at 7 ounces, it didn't weigh us down so much.

As a handheld, the Smartphone has the same basic features as the Palm Vx. It runs Palm OS 3.5, comes with 8 MB of RAM, includes Graffiti-recognition software, and features standard Palm applications such as Address, Date Book, Memo Pad, and To Do. Kyocera's also added a nifty voice-recording option, something we've always wanted to add to Palm's feature set.

But it's the cell-phone features that really grease the Palm functionality of the Smartphone. You've got several options for making a call, the most obvious being opening up the Address application and tapping the number that appears in the list. This requires that you open the Smartphone's flip keypad. To dial a number stored in the Palm's Address app with the keypad closed, you can quickly search for a name with the Find Name key. Even better, you can use the convenient shuttle option located on the left side of the Smartphone to scroll through the Contact list (which is copied from Address Book).

As we expected, the Smartphone has all the basic elements we look for in a cell phone. It features 15 ringers (including vibrating alert), different environment settings, secret memory locations, 99-number call logs, scratch-pad memory, and text-messaging support, among other goodies. Furthermore, it supports all the normal carrier-dependent features, including caller ID, call forwarding, and multiparty calling.

The Smartphone comes with the Eudora e-mail application, which can connect to POP3 e-mail accounts, and EudoraWeb for accessing Internet information. You can also add Palm Web-clipping applications that allow you to see online content optimized for the Palm OS. Unfortunately, no Web-clipping apps come with the Smartphone--you'll have to download apps from www.palm.net and load them onto the Smartphone when you synchronize.

While the Palm functions and connectivity were pretty seamless, we did have a few quibbles. Overall, we found the Palm operating system ran a bit sluggishly. The screen size is also a bit small--about the size of the Palm m100 series. And there aren't many Palm hardware add-ons compatible with the Smartphone, though you will find some third-party add-ons (such as the Ibiz KeySync keyboard, which connects via the Smartphone's serial HotSync cradle).

Also, if you're a Mac user, you'll need to download the Palm Desktop software for the Mac from Palm's Web site, as well as purchase the PalmConnect USB kit, which offers a serial-to-USB adapter.

On the battery front, the Smartphone is rated for up to 300 minutes' digital talk time and 180 hours' digital standby time. Our sample easily held a call for over five hours (quite remarkable, when you think about it), and lasted more than a week in standby mode.

Overall, the Kyocera Smartphone isn't the perfect convergence device, but it's a pretty complete communications center for our increasingly wireless world. --Agen Schmitz

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