6. Apple IPhone

After all the hype, the huge lines of early adopters at the Apple and AT&T stores, and all the news coverage the iPhone has generated, what can we tell you about it that you don't already know? Probably not much, except to observe that the average student would probably kill to call one his or her own. For those buyers ready to shell out $500 for a 4 GB model, or $600 for an 8 GB model, this is one sure-fire way to garner some kudos from the otherwise hard-to-please student set.

The iPhone uses its big, colorful touch screen to awesome advantage on this pricey but powerful cellphone.

Even though the picture of the iPhone here is nice, you have to see and play with one to really appreciate what this device can do. The iPhone completely eschews buttons in favor of nicely designed, easy to read, fun to use touch screen controls, and makes working with the phone itself a real treat. It is also a great media player for music and video, and offers reasonably functional Internet access, primarily through a Web browser and e-mail interface. The combination of Internet, iPod, phone functions, maps, and e-mail is nothing short of amazing, and actually comes close to realizing the "insanely great" user experience depicted in the ubiquitous advertisements for this must-have gadget.

At present, AT&T is the only provider that delivers calling services to the iPhone, though you can buy an iPhone from Apple or many other outlets as well. Phone reception on the iPhone can be a little spotty, and it does take some trial and error to learn how to dial the device, but once you snap to how easy it is to switch between the number pad and the alpha character pad, you'll be amazed at how quickly you learn to type on the interface. That's probably because the iPhone's 3.5" 480x320 pixel LCD is the crispest, clearest, and most colorful we've ever seen on the face of a phone - or PDA for that matter. It also offers a dense 160 dpi for great video and image viewing as well.

The built-in speaker is primarily intended for phone use, and doesn't really do justice to music or video soundtracks. For the latter, you'll want to take advantage of the headphone jack and stereo headset included with the unit to get the best audio experience. (A word of warning: the deep recess on the iPhone's headphone jack means that a made-for-iPhone adapter is required to use third-party headsets or headphones with this device.) Best of all, the iPhone delivers a solid multi-media experience, in the sense that you can listen to music at the same time you surf the Web without experiencing hitches or drags on either activity.

At $500 for a 4 GB iPhone, and $600 for an 8 GB iPhone, putting one of these babies into somebody's hands is going to cost you. But any back-to-schooler who takes possession of an iPhone will also accrue enormous status and envy among his or her peers. For more information on the iPhone, or to take a nifty online tour, please visit the Apple iPhone page. You'll probably also want to dig into Barry Gerber's iPhone coverage, including The iPhone, Many Hits, Few Misses and The iPhone, More Hits and Misses.