Big screen PDA-phone

The Acer neoTouch S200

The 3.8-inch screen has 480 x 800-pixel resolution. With resolution this high for a mobile phone, you can easily read Web pages without the need for a lot of scrolling.

Because of its large screen, the phone itself may look quite large. But at 118.6 x 63 x 12 mm, it fits comfortably into a man's hand and its weight is acceptable at 130 grams.

I was also impresed with its speed. During the test, I found that it rendered Web pages very rapidly, especially when I was browsing Web pages using the Wi-Fi connection on my home ADSL router. Its fast speed is credited to its Qualcomm 8250 1GHz processor.

The neoTouch is a quad band GSM phone. I tested it on the EDGE network of TrueMove and had no problem connecting to my Hotmail account and my Facebook page.

The neoTouch comes with Windows Live Mobile and setting up the e-mail and Windows Live Messenger accounts was a breeze. I found it easy to go online to chat to my Windows Live Messenger contacts. Windows Live Mobile is part of Windows Mobile 6.5, which is the phone's operating system.

Windows Mobile 6.5 is easy to use. I especially liked an SMS feature that presents an SMS message your have just received from a particular number as a thread of conversation with that number. The new SMS is shown under the old messages you have sent to and received from the same person.

The menu screen of Windows Mobile 6.5 presents icons for accessing all applications. Users can scroll down and move their most-used applications to the top of the screen.

For social networkers, the neoTouch provides applications to link to FlickR, Blogger, Facebook and MySpace.

The neoTouch is also equipped with a GPS chip and is preloaded with Google Maps for easy navigation to your destinations.

Apart from the menu screen, the neoTouch also has a "Today" or home screen which looks simple but is a very intuitive interface. It has no graphics or pictures, but simply lines of menu text. You can use your finger to move a transparent highlight bar over the menu to use or activate it. For example, when you move the highlight bar over the "text" menu, the phone will inform you whether you have new SMS messages. Give the highlight a tap with your finger and you can start using the SMS function.

The virtual on-screen keyboard is a full Qwerty one that you can type with your thumbs in horizontal view, which is very convenient. Alternatively, you can type with a provided stylus or use Windows Mobile's hand-writing recognition feature.

The Acer neoTouch also supports 3G connection. It retails for Bt23,900, VAT included.

Key specs: Acer neoTouch S200

Band: GSM/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900MHz

3G: HSDPA 900, 1900, 2100MHz (7.2 Mbps)

CPU: Qualcomm 8250 1GHz

ROM / RAM: 512 / 256MB

Camera: 5-megapixel autofocus with LED flash

Display: 3.8-inch WVGA LCD

Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth Class 2.1 with EDR, GPS

Expandable memory: Micro-SD up to 32GB

Battery: Lithium-Ion 1350 mAh

Dimensions: 118.6 x 63 x 12 mm

Weight: 130 g