Zipit Wireless Messenger 2

Reviewed by

Kent German

on 01/02/2008

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Page 2

The tactile keyboard buttons are relatively large and are raised above the surface of the messenger. You can type by feel, and the bright backlighting makes them usable in the dark. Each alphabetic key has a secondary function, such as a number or a punctuation mark, and you can toggle back and forth using the Alt key. We also like that the space bar is long and is placed conveniently in the middle of the last row.

As mentioned earlier, the Zipit requires a Wi-Fi network to operate. When you turn it on, it searches for the strongest free network and logs on automatically. If a free network isn't available, it will then search for the strongest encrypted network. In our testing, we were logged onto a free network in just a few seconds and could start messaging away. If you prefer to choose your own Wi-Fi network, however, that option is available.

After you're connected you'll be prompted to set up your IM accounts. You can use only one service, if you'd like, or you can use all thee at once. Also, you can save your settings so you don't have to enter your username and password each time you start up. In our testing we connected to a Yahoo IM account in only a couple steps and then searched for available buddies using the aforementioned MyFriendz button. The Zipit will only show friends who are online (idle buddy names will be italics), but you can also send messages to people not in your friends list. Like on a PC, your chat window will show your entire conversation and you can toggle back and forth between conversations. When talking to someone in the same room, the response time was instantaneous, and we were alerted to new messages with a slight tone. On the downside, the Zipit froze twice during our testing, once when we disconnected it from the charger. We were able to reset it easily, but it was bothersome just the same.

We also tested the Zipit's media capabilities by listening to a couple of Internet radio stations and playing music from an SD card. Not surprisingly, the music quality was only average, but it is fine for short stints. Just keep in mind that the external speaker has weak output, so we advise using headphones. The music player (MP3 and WMA files only) has more options than we expected. In addition to playlists and shuffle and repeat modes, it also shows album art if it's available.