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9800

LG 55LW9800 review: Local dimming TV disappoints

As we describe in detail in our explanation of the confusing world of LED backlight configurations, our favorite variety is known as (deep breath) "full-array with local dimming." It's also exceedingly expensive to implement, at least to judge from the sticker prices of the only currently shipping 2011 HDTVs to offer this feature: Sony's XBR-HX929, Sharp's Elites, and the LG 55LW9800 reviewed here. The LG is unique among the three as the only one with passive 3D TV capability--combining local dimming with the brightness, crosstalk, and practicality advantages of polarized 3D glasses. If you want … Read more

Inside, BlackBerry Torch lags Droid, iPhone

The BlackBerry Torch 9800, though a high-end smartphone, is not in the same league internally as the Motorola Droid or Apple iPhone.

Let's state up front that the Torch is a BlackBerry, which is to say it's for the corporate market and doesn't necessarily aspire to be a more consumer-centric Motorola Droid or Apple iPhone. That said, the display and the internals don't scream cutting edge, either.

At 3.2 inches diagonally and with a 480-by-360 resolution, the Torch's touch screen does not compare very favorably to the 3.5-inch 960-by-640 resolution iPhone 4 screen or the 3.7-inch 480-by-854 resolution display on the Droid 2.

And the screen is really a window into a smartphone's internals, as typically the larger, higher-resolution displays require the latest and greatest silicon inside to power them.

Which brings us to the Torch's main processor: it's a Marvell application processor running at 624MHz, essentially… Read more

Reaction to RIM choice: Why AT&T again?

BlackBerry fans have much to be happy about when it comes to the new BlackBerry Torch, but few applauded Research In Motion for choosing AT&T as the exclusive U.S. carrier for the new phone.

Almost immediately during the live blog of the news on CNET's Web site, readers posting comments at the bottom of the story expressed their disapproval.

"Wonderful," said one commenter. "Another good looking, capable phone available only on AT&T's already over taxed network."

"Yet another hardware vendor goes exclusive with AT&T--what the heck?!?!&… Read more

RIM announces BlackBerry Torch (live blog)

Editor's note: We used Cover It Live for this event, so if you missed the live blog, you can still replay it in the embedded component below. Replaying the event will give you all the live updates along with commentary from our readers and CNET editor Bonnie Cha. For those of you who just want the updates, we've included them in regular text here. (All updates from Marguerite Reardon unless noted. Also included are her answers to reader questions.) You can find a brief summary of what was announced in our follow-up article "RIM announces the BlackBerry Torch.&… Read more

BlackBerry Torch on the horizon

Links from Tuesday's episode of Loaded:

Research in Motion unveils the Torch Android overtakes iPhone in smartphone market CBS content finally coming to Hulu? Connecticut Attorney General warns Amazon, Apple over e-book prices Mac Office 2011 gets a release date

RIM bets big on next-generation BlackBerry

For Research In Motion, the new BlackBerry 9800 is more than just its latest device. It's an opportunity to show critics that the BlackBerry can stand up to likes of Apple's iPhone and a flurry of new Google Android devices.

With all the hype surrounding the iPhone and the various Android smartphones that have hit the market recently, it's easy to forget that RIM's BlackBerry is still a dominant force in the land of smartphones, both in the U.S. and worldwide.

In fact, Research In Motion is the No. 2 smartphone vendor worldwide, with an … Read more

BlackBerry revamp to take on iPhone?

Research in Motion is expected to unveil a new touchscreen BlackBerry next week to rival Apple's iPhone and other smartphones, like ones using Google's Android operating system.

Shares of RIM were up Wednesday on the speculation, reports Reuters.

The new BlackBerry 9800 is expected to be launched at an event in New York City on Tuesday next week. AT&T, which is expected to be the exclusive carrier for the new phone, will be joining RIM for the announcement. CNET reported news of the press conference earlier this week.

For months, bloggers and others watching RIM closely … Read more

Gateway's bargain gaming monster even cheaper

We don't normally concern ourselves with what big retail stores put on sale every week--after all, they spend enough money to advertise their wares, they certainly don't need our help.

But while flipping through the Sunday sales circulars in the New York Times, we spotted the recently reviewed Gateway P-7811FX laptopin the Best Buy ad. We loved the latest version on Gateway's bargain-priced gaming rig enough to give it an Editors' Choice award--but we did grouse that at $1,450, it was about $100 more than previous versions.

For this week, at least, the P-7811FX is on sale for $1,249, which is a great deal for an Intel P8400 CPU, 4GB of RAM, a 1,920x1,200 17-inch display, and Nvidia's new GeForce 9800 graphics card.

The ad even promises a free PC game (up to $49.99), so you can show off Crysis on a laptop that can actually play it. That being said, we'd avoid the PC game bundled in the newspaper circular--we probably don't need a GeForce 9800 to play James Patterson's Women's Murder Club.… Read more