Danger Hiptop II / T-Mobile Sidekick II

Now all this sounds a bit negative, but it does make clear some of the reasons I don’t like the Sidekick II. Let’s look at the other side of the coin, and see what is good about it.

Swivel design makes this fun to use Keyoard is comfortable for typing

Phone component seems poorly designed

The Sidekick II is pricey, at $300 (as of April 7, 2006, with a two-year contract). Though I liked the text input capability, I would wait for the price to drop before seriously considering adopting this model as my mobile messaging sidekick

Excellent screen, keyboard, and software for e-mail and instant messaging. Very easy to use.

Lousy camera. No direct connection to PC. Bulky.

Excellent screen, keyboard, and software for e-mail and instant messaging. Very easy to use

Lousy camera. No direct connection to PC. Bulky

The T-Mobile Sidekick II is great for personal e-mail, IM, and phone calls—as long as you don't mind the device's bulk.

If you can forgive its few flaws, we're sure you'll be at least mildly satisfied

Inserting the SIM card is a little fiddly and we found it prone to popping out - something that wasn't terribly easy to sort out as the thick rubber cover was hard to remove. Otherwise, if you don't need corporate email access and can get by with...

It all adds up to an interesting device. As far as it goes the Sidekick II performs its task well, unless you want to make voice calls or synchronise with a desktop computer, in which case it is only slightly less ergonomic to use than a chocolate...

You can also make calls by selecting a number from your call history or selecting a number in your address book. Once you've dialed, you can activate the speakerphone

This is a neat device for carrying the internet around in your pocket, like a consumer version of corporate favourite the Blackberry.