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Smartphone Buyer's Guide: Back to School 2009

By Ed Hardy, Brighthand.com Editor |

Most people going off to college these days take a laptop, but for many of them a smartphone would be at least as useful.

Back to school

College students are perpetually on the go, and there's nothing more portable than a phone. And a smartphone takes the basic features of a phone and adds email, instant messaging, a web browser, navigation software, games, and a whole lot more. With the right smartphone, a laptop can almost be relegated to just a word processor.

If you decide to get a smartphone for school, there's a wide variety to choose from, at a range of prices.

Under $100 | $100-$300 | Over $300

Under $100

	Apple iPhone 3G The iPhone is probably at the top of most students' wish lists, as it's both cool and useful. It offers everything most people are looking for in a smartphone. When AT&T launched the iPhone 3G S in June, it decided to hold on to last year's model as a more budget-friendly option. This version lacks some of the new features of the latest model, like the video recorder, but otherwise does everything the latest iPhone does for $100 less.
	BlackBerry Storm BlackBerrys are generally considered business tools, but in the last few years they have acquired all the features students want, too -- not just email software, but also music and video players and more. And if you think of college as getting you ready for a job, getting a professional smartphone now could be good practice. There are quite a few BlackBerrys under $100, but the Storm might catch the eye of many. It's the first with a touchscreen, and this is large enough to make it a decent video player.
	HTC Ozone The Ozone is a new, very affordable messaging-oriented model from Verizon. It's feature set is fairly average, but it does what it does very well. This Windows phone has a built-in QWERTY keyboard to make typing faster and easier, and it also has Wi-Fi, 3G, and GPS.

$100-$300

	Palm Pre Palm's newest smartphone debuted from Sprint this summer, and it's a very impressive device, easy to use and powerful. The Pre puts information from a variety of sources -- Gmail, Facebook, and more -- at users' fingertips. It's a bit weak when it comes to games, but parents might welcome one less distraction from studying.
	Apple iPhone 3G S The latest iPhone brings a few new features to this line, like a video recorder and voice control. It also offers more storage than the less expensive version mentioned earlier: 16 GB or 32 GB. Those who want an Apple smartphone and consider the extra features worth an additional $100 or $200 should have their eye on the iPhone 3G S.
	Samsung Alias 2 While it's not the most advanced phone on this list, the Alias 2 has a very cool, and useful, feature. It has a dual-hinge design, and thanks to the magic of electronic ink, the keys on its keyboard can switch on the fly between letters and numbers.
	T-Mobile myTouch 3G A darkhorse candidate in this competition is the myTouch 3G. It will be this carrier's second device running Google's Android OS, and have a good feature set: a slim design, strong ties to Google's online services, GPS, Wi-Fi, and 3G (duh!). Problem is, the myTouch isn't out yet, so it's a bit early to say whether it will live up to expectations.

Over $300

	Nokia N97 Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that any U.S. carrier is going to pick up the Nokia N97, this company's new flagship model. Still, it's available unlocked -- albeit at a high price -- so anyone on a GSM carrier like AT&T or T-Mobile can get one, put in their SIM card, and be ready to go. This new smartphone has a clamshell design, with a touchscreen and QWERTY keyboard. It offers an impressive array of features, and is basically a laptop that fits in a pocket.
	HTC Touch HD This The Touch HD is another model that wasn't picked up by any U.S. carrier, and so comes at a high pricetag. Still, many people think it's worth it. This Windows phone has one very outstanding feature: a large WVGA display. That's more than twice the resolution of many of its competitors. And at 3.8-inches, it's big enough to handle almost any job, including easily showing movies. On top of that is a laundry list of other features.

Looking for more?

Whether you're shopping for your student or just looking to land a great deal, back to school season is a great time to check out what's next in tech. Let the editors of the TechnologyGuide.com network help you pick the right camera, smartphone, printer, desktop, or notebook, with our Back to School Buyer's Guide.

To see our top tech picks in all categories visit our main buyer's guide page on TechnologyGuide.com.

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Categorized as: Android, Apple, Google, HTC, iPhone, Microsoft, Nokia, Palm, S60, Samsung, Smartphone, Sprint, Symbian, T-Mobile, Verizon, webOS, Windows Phone

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Smartphone Buyer's Guide: Back to School 2009

By Ed Hardy, Brighthand.com Editor |

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Over $300

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