Take a shot without it and then the same shot with it; they'll probably look identical. Perhaps a useful flash would have taken too great a hit off the battery. The camera has three image resolutions and can hold 36 pictures, regardless of the resolution.

The Sidekick II's camera performs acceptably well in bright light conditions, but the resolution is low and the photos are grainy.

Communicate
The three communication apps—AOL Instant Messenger, text messaging, and e-mail—all work well. Typing on the thumb keyboard will seem tedious if you're not used to it, but it's hardly the smallest one around.

We found it easy, compared to others. The IM client lets you hold ten chats at once, and automatically jumps to active discussions. The e-mail client works with any POP3 or IMAP account. Best of all, these apps are always on, so you don't need to tell them to check for messages.

Getting the communication services, though, requires signing up for T-Mobile's data plan, which costs an extra $20 a month if you already have T-Mobile voice service. If you don't want a call plan, the data plan is $29 per month.

A PR representative told us that the Sidekick has a strong following in the deaf community, whose members appreciate being able to get the data plan without a voice service.

In Sync
You can synch your computer's calendar, to do list, and address book with the Sidekick II, although you do so in an untraditional way that turns some people off. Most devices connect with a cable, so synching is a one-button operation.

With the Sidekick II, you get your own Web account when you first register the smartphone, and you input changes through the website. For $9.99, you can download an Intellisync application that lets you easily sync your online account with your desktop information, providing you have a Windows computer and use Microsoft Outlook.

The online documentation says that you can perform up to eight syncs in an eight-hour period, which seems like an odd limit, but not a stingy one. We're not crazy about having to pay $9.99 for easy synchronization, but we love the wireless way of doing it. When you sync new information, it shows up on your Sidekick II only a few minutes later.

Other Software
The Web browser works fairly quickly for a handheld device, although less quickly than a standard dial-up connection. It reorganizes Web pages into one-column views, so be prepared to do a lot of scrolling. We found it handy to have around, but a chore if surfing for long.

The Sidekick II comes with one game, Rock & Rocket, which is really just an Asteroids clone. It's amazing that the phone comes with only one game and that that game is one of the oldest video games around, one that debuted in the 1970s.

Certainly the goal is to get users to buy better games, which cost between $2.99 and $6.99. You can also purchase ringtones of actual songs for $1.99. Surprisingly, you can't purchase or download skins to change the Sidekick II's look.

Besides the earbud, the Sidekick II comes with a leatherette case, which has a belt clip. It won't win any beauty contests, but it will keep your phone safe.

The suggested price for the Sidekick II is $299, but with rebates it's easy to find for $199 with a new T-Mobile account. For the best deal, though, surf to Amazon.com, which is giving it away for free with a new T-Mobile account. It's an amazing offer for such a good phone.