Danger Sidekick Color 32 MB (T-Mobile)

For those people who would like luxury of having a Sidekick, but don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on it, this is the phone for them. It has all the basic functions you would expect from a Sidekick like web browsing, a keyboard that's great for texting, and AOL Instant Messenger, without the hassles of paying $100's of dollars.

Although it might not be as advanced as the Sidekick 2 and the Sidekick 3, it's still a great phone.

From a design perspective, the phone's most innovative feature is its rotating screen, which swivels 180 degrees to reveal what is arguably one of the most tactile and roomy minikeyboard on the market. Four main controls, one of which is a transparent scrollwheel that flashes a different color based on the type of alert, are well placed around the screen and within easy reach of your thumbs.

The Sidekick is loaded with tons of features. It comes with its own e-mail address, and you can add up to three accounts. But, since it's geared toward consumers rather than corporate users, you can't get your company e-mail just yet. The monochrome Sidekick lacked support for AOL Mail, but this version includes a quick link to a Web-based solution.

This Sidekick is equipped with double the memory og the original: 32MB of RAM and 4MB of flash-upgradable ROM (2,000 contacts and 50 notes). That should satisfy most users, but there's still no expansion slot, so you'll have to closely manage the e-mail attachments you receive. As with the original, you can open and read Word, PDF, and JPEG files, and you now can play MIDI and WAV attachments and cut and paste from messages.

The Sidekick has an improved Web browser and AOL Instant Messenger. Using the browser, you can navigate forward and backward through pages, while all AOL Instant Messenger conversations are saved if you get disconnected. You also get the standard phone features; a call log; two-way SMS messaging; a decent game (the Asteroids-like Rock & Rocket); and such organizer features as a contact list, a calendar, a to-do list, and notes. There's support for MIDI ring tones (12 songs and 7 chimes are included), and through a partnership with Sony Music, you can download HiFi music tracks as ring tones. You can import contacts from a SIM card and dial their numbers directly from your address book with the click of a button.

One nice thing about the Sidekick is that its Internet access is always on--as long as you aren't using the phone. If you do make or receive a call while surfing, you'll be disconnected from the Internet. After the call, the Sidekick automatically logs back on to the Web, a process that can take up to 30 seconds. You also can use the Catalog feature to download more ring tones, games, and applications, and you can access data on your Sidekick from any computer via T-Mobile's Web site.

It also has an optional camera attachment which takes 320x240 pixel-shots. It might not be of superb quality, but it's great for those who want to take pictures with the device.

All in all, It has everything a busy person or somebody with a massive amount of friends needs. I loved the AIM and Internet connection and used it daily.

The phone experience exceeded what I thought it would. With the volume up its pretty loud and clear for being on T-mobile service. Speakerphone would have made a nice addition but I have noticed in semi quite environments you can put the volume on full and hear some louder callers quite well without holding it to your face.