1. More Back To School Stuff

Our first Back to School Buyers Guide was such a success that we decided to bring you ten more of the best products around. This time we cover the latest in Skype phones, a virtual laser keyboard, unusual USB Flash Drives, a cool multi-function PDA stylus, a hot mobile locker and more.

And, believe it or not, next week we'll publish a third edition of our Back to School Guide. Think a surprising accessory for your motorcycle, an input device to die for, neat accessories for your key ring, a very unique wristwatch or two, a way to sync flash drives without a PC and more, more, more. Read on and be sure to join us next week.

TRENDnet ClearSky Bluetooth VoIP Kit

By Ed Tittel and Justin Korelc

The TRENDnet ClearSky Bluetooth VoIP Kit is essentially an untethered variation on the same theme as the IOGEAR Skype Calling Kit we just discussed. As with the IOGEAR product, it too requires that Skype be installed first on any notebook or desktop PC through which VoIP traffic will travel, followed by the unit's drivers. One difference is that the handset battery requires a charge, and requires temporary attachment of a USB cable between the handset and the PC for that purpose (it conveys nothing but electricity from PC to handset, however, so you'll still have to wait for the battery to charge up before you can try it out).

Notebook users should be warned that the handset draws its charge from its parent PC, so it's probably smart to hook your computer up to its power supply (and a wall socket) to top off the handset battery. Though its 3.7 v/700 mA battery won't overtax a typical notebook, why use one battery to charge another, except when dire necessity requires such action? The initial charge-up period takes about six hours, so you'll have to be patient when waiting to use this snazzy little handset for the first time. We also observed that talk time runs only about four hours, rather than the six hours stated in the vendor specs.

Despite inflated talk time stats, the Bluetooth dongle does its job nicely. We were able to use the handset anywhere inside our building while testing the unit, and it also worked through a Bluetooth receiver we set up for a Dell Axim v51. We can't recommend using this unit around an old-fashioned CRT display, however, because we observed the handset falling prey to a pronounced hum around a 21" Dell CRT we used on our test machine until we put a one-meter USB extension cable between the dongle and the USB port on the back of that desktop unit. Notebook users or others who use more modern LCD displays shouldn't have to worry about this at all, though.

While walking around and talking on the handset, voice quality stayed clear and clean to about 100 feet away (nearly 30 meters) but transmissions died out once we strayed more than 150 feet (under 50 meters) away from the Bluetooth receiver. But that's more than enough for most dorm dwellers, and might even let them wander down the hall from their rooms (but watch out for transformer interference, especially around fluorescent lights).

The handset display offers four lines of text display, with a total resolution that's 96 pixels tall and 64 pixels wide. It puts dark characters onto a light background and remains visible in daylight and under bright indoor lighting conditions. Backlighting works only while dialing or when manipulating handset controls, so this unit will be somewhat trickier to read in low-light situations.

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