TECH TIPS
Solar charger small but handy
Advertiser Staff
The iSun portable solar charger is a pocket-sized device that opens like a clamshell to reveal two solar panels ready to soak up light from just about any source and convert it into electricity. The adapters that are included will let you charge or run any small electronic device requiring less than 2 watts such as a cellular phone, videogame, PDA, small radio or digital camera.
The iSun units are designed so they link with each other to effectively double the power. And if there's no room for the iSun, it comes with suction cups that let you mount it to a window pane.
The iSun Sport is yellow and the standard iSun is silver. $79. www.isunpower.com
Motorola V200 offers versatility
The Motorola V200 is one of the tech industry's most recent attempts at jamming multiple functions into a single device.
Want a two-way pager with a full keyboard, cell phone and personal digital assistant rolled into one? The V200 is it.
Want all that in a convenient, compact device that has a bright, large screen with easy-to-press keys? This is not quite it.
The V200, which retails for $299 without a service plan and $219 with a one-year contract with Verizon Wireless, has a lot of promise.
The thumb-operated keyboard is much easier to use than a telephone keypad for writing messages. But Motorola squanders this advantage by giving you small, pudgy keys.
The screen is bigger than average cell-phone screens, but not by much. The phone side of V200 works well with the built-in speakerphone or with a headset.
See www.verizonwireless.com or www.motorola.com or call Verizon at (800) 868-2700.
Look overseas for cell preview
Nokia's 5510 cell phone, available now in Europe, is an MP3 player and FM radio. It looks like a Game Boy Advance, but with a full QWERTY keyboard. It comes with five games.
Nokia's 7650, available this spring in Europe, Africa and Asia, has an integrated color digital camera and memory to store dozens of photos. Users can send photos from their phones.
In Korea, Samsung offers a phone that includes a 1.8-inch high-resolution LCD TV.
