Reviews

There's something about maintaining a complete and up-to-date copy of your entire operating system and software installation that brings you peace of mind. In that regard, CMS's BounceBack Essentials 9.1 calms your soul, and does so flawlessly with as little user intervention as possible.

Note that the software I tested bore the name BounceBack Essentials, but you'll also see BounceBack CDP or Instant PC Recovery depending on where you look (the company has a penchant for multiple labels). BounceBack Essentials is a $29 subset of the company's BounceBack Ultimate software. The Ultimate package--which offers additional features such as encryption, multiple destinations, and point-in-time recovery--costs $69. Essentials keeps only the current version of any file in one location--in effect, mirroring your main system, much like a RAID setup. Essentials requires a dedicated drive with enough room for all your data to perform its magic.

The General Mobile DSTL1 ($450, unlocked; price as of November 16, 2009) has some nice features, like dual-SIM card support, but I found that the device's awkward design and unresponsive touchscreen dulled the sense of feature-richness and the ease of use that the Android OS can give a mobile device.

The biggest selling point of the DSTL1 phone is that it can support two separate wireless phone numbers. You simply insert two SIM cards into the two slots below the battery. There's also a slot to accommodate a microSD storage card with a capacity of up to 16GB. The phone itself has 4GB of internal memory.

Unlike flashy frames overloaded with razzle-dazzle multimedia (like the cool but exceedingly ornate Transcend PF7207 and HP DreamScreen), the Vizit frame by Isabella ($280 with additional recurring service plan charges) aims for simplicity. Some digital photo frames offer so much functionality that photo sharing becomes an ordeal for the computer-nonsavvy, but the Vizit minimizes the frills.

The frame's viewable area is 10 inches diagonally--about 8.25 inches wide by 6.25 inches high. The responsive 800-by-600-pixel SVGA LCD touchscreen has a matte surface, and the frame itself is made of matte black or silver plastic. The Vizit is extremely lightweight, with a thin, plasticky feeling, articulating support that folds down in back. The support's faux-wood paneling surprised us--is Isabella aiming for a retro look retro rather than a high-tech one? Not entirely: Unlike the classic-looking Kodak frames, the Vizit has no mat. In any event, the unit's ‘70s wood paneling style doesn't look particularly classy or sturdy.

Dell's gamer-friendly Alienware brand is extending its reach to include monitors, and the 21.5-inch widescreen 1080p OptX AW2210 ($300 as of November 11, 2009) serves up a lot to like: solid image quality, accessible and comprehensive built-in menus, and an exterior design that stands out from the generally conservative competition.

On the other hand, $300 is a lot to pay these days for a 21.5-inch monitor, especially when you consider that Dell itself offers LCDs that rival the AW2210 in quality and cost less. The Dell SX2210, for example, has a panel that's identical to the Alienware 2210's, but trades in the design and the touch-sensitive menu controls for a Webcam, face-recognition software, and a retail price of $220. (Then again, the Dell SX2210t monitor restores the multitouch and face-recognition features but jacks the price up to $469.)

It isn't pocketable, but the relatively compact Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35 ($400 as of 11/12/09) is quite simply one of the best fixed-lens cameras out there for both stills and HD video. If you can deal with slightly grainy, non-1080p video footage (the FZ35's video resolution maxes out at 720p), it may be the ideal hybrid model to serve double-duty as a camera and camcorder.

It's hard to know where to start, as this is such a versatile megazoom camera. The DMC-FZ35 excels in manual controls and low-light video footage, and it offers near-perfect automatic settings, unique scene modes, and a slew of imaging options (RAW, RAW+JPEG, JPEG, AVCHD video, and MPEG video).

It may not be a DSLR, but the FinePix S200EXR ($600 as of 11/13/09) is the sort of advanced point-and-shoot camera that's an enthusiast's dream. With a layout that mimics a typical SLR's design, it offers superb handling, megazoom reach, advanced exposure control, and only a few minor disappointments.

The impressive credentials start with a 14.3X, optically stabilized zoom lens (30.5mm to 436mm). A handful of other megazoom cameras offer more reach and wider-angle capabilities, so that isn't the S200EXR's star feature. Instead, direct your attention to the 12-megapixel EXR sensor, first found in the pocketable Fujifilm FinePix F200EXR.

The HP LaserJet Enterprise P3015d is a midpriced ($649 as of 11/12/09) monochrome laser printer that doesn't realize its full potential. Though the company touts it as an enterprise model, it's expensive to operate and it has limited connectivity options.

The LaserJet Enterprise P3015d performed speedily in our tests. It managed a top pace of 36.5 pages per minute printing plain text--shy of HP's claim of 42 ppm, but still faster than the results from two of its like-priced competitors, the Ricoh Aficio SP 4210N and the Xerox Phaser 3600/N. Its graphics speeds also largely exceeded the average. As with most monochrome lasers, however, print quality beyond text was disappointing: The LaserJet Enterprise P3015d's images showed grainy textures and visible banding.

Saying that the Dell 2230d monochrome laser printer is the best $199 (as of 11/12/09) unit we've tested isn't saying much; none of the models we've seen at this price point (including the Samsung ML-1630 and the HP LaserJet P1505) have made our Top 10 chart. Within its class, however, the 2230d offers better speed and paper handling. On the downside, its design can be unfriendly, and its toner costs are high.

The 2230d offers a few more features than its low-cost competitors do. It lacks ethernet, but Dell bundles a Wi-Fi adapter to supplement the built-in USB and parallel ports. It's the only low-cost model we've tested that offers automatic duplexing (two-sided printing). The main paper tray holds 250 sheets of legal-size paper; a second 250-sheet tray costs $100. A flip-out tray lets you feed single envelopes or other irregular-size media, with a rear exit slot for thicker pieces like cardstock.

The HP Photosmart A646 Compact Photo Printer offers a few surprising features for its midrange price ($150 as of 11/11/09). Compared with the Epson PictureMate Charm, which costs the same, the Photosmart A646 offers more versatility, but it falls slightly short in speed, print quality, and ink costs.

The Photosmart A646 has some impressive features. Most snapshot printers take only one size of media, but the Photosmart A646 accepts three: 4 by 6 inches (the size of our test photos), 4 by 12 inches (panoramic), and 5 by 7 inches. On the inside front panel are two media slots for Memory Stick, SD Card, and XD-Picture Card. The unit also has a PictBridge port and built-in Bluetooth support. Interestingly, the printer chassis is made from more than 30 percent recycled plastic; the carrying case is constructed entirely from recycled plastic bottles. However, while the case design implies portability, HP doesn't offer an optional battery pack.

The aptly named Epson PictureMate Charm snapshot printer gets by on just that: It does what it does nicely--though not very quickly. Priced at a midrange $150 (as of 11/3/09), it costs the same as the HP Photosmart A646 Compact Photo Printer but is somewhat less versatile. On the other hand, it offers better print quality for a cheaper cost of consumables.

The PictureMate Charm required anywhere from 54 to 70 seconds to print each of our 4-by-6-inch test prints, but they were worth the wait. It produced flesh tones that looked healthy and normal, it handled both fast-motion and landscape shots with aplomb, and it balanced lights and darks evenly in monochrome images. The on-board editing options are limited to a few layouts, borders, and automated corrections based on image type (such as a night scene or a landscape). If you install the printer on a PC, you can do more using the bundled Easy PhotoPrint application, which offers a wealth of editing, customizing, and printing options.