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Top-rated reviews of the week (photos)

Here are a few of CNET Reviews' favorite items from the past week, including the Diddybeats high-end in-ear headphones, the LG Fathom smartphone, the 2010 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG, and more.

CNET Reviews staff
1 of 12 CBS Interactive

BlueAnt S4 hands-free voice controlled car speakerphone

Here's our weekly roundup of the new products CNET reviewers liked best.

BlueAnt S4 hands-free voice controlled car speakerphone

Editors' rating: 4 out of 5

The good: The S4's voice trigger grants users access to most of the speakerphone's functions without physically touching the device. "What can I say?" command practically eliminates the need for an instruction manual. Imported contacts' caller ID info is read aloud when receiving a call. Bing-411, Vlingo, and BlueAnt app integration, as well as A2DP audio streaming, extend the device's functionality.

The bad: The S4 lacks a built-in voice dialer, so if the paired phone doesn't have its own voice dial system (e.g. Android), calls must be manually initiated. In louder vehicles, the S4 had difficulty understanding our voice commands.

The bottom line: The BlueAnt S4 delivers good call quality and, with its voice trigger system, increased vehicle safety. However, it excludes many popular handsets from its true hands-free claim by not including its own voice dialer.

Read CNET's full review
Price: $99.99

2 of 12 CBS Interactive

Clickfree C2N (320GB external hard drive)

Clickfree C2N (320GB external hard drive)

Editors' rating: 4 out of 5

The good: The Clickfree C2N offers a convenient way to backup computers within a network. It's fast, compact, good-looking and includes a docking station.

The bad: The Clickfree C2N doesn't allow you to back up the entire computer as an image, and it doesn't support USB 3.0, FireWire, or eSATA.

The bottom line: The Clickfree C2N makes an excellent backup solution for home users, including those with multiple network computers.

Read CNET's full review
Price range: $131.99 - $219.38

3 of 12 CBS Interactive

Diddybeats High Performance In-Ear Headphones

Diddybeats High Performance In-Ear Headphones

Editors' rating: 4 out of 5

The good: The Diddybeats headphones offer a durable design with nice, stylish accents; sound is impressively balanced; and the package includes useful features such as in-line mic with volume and playback control for the iPod as well as a wide variety of eartips.

The bad: The Diddybeats' earpieces are on the large side and can have a tendency to push out of the ear.

The bottom line: The Diddybeats earphones offer a great balance of style, durability, features, and sound quality, making them a good option for anyone looking for nice in-ear headphones with some character.

Read CNET's full review
Price: $149.99

4 of 12 CBS Interactive

Seagate Momentus XT (500GB hard drive)

Seagate Momentus XT (500GB hard drive)

Editors' rating: 4 out of 5

The good: The Seagate Momentus XT offers excellent performance at a price that's significantly lower than solid state drives (SSDs). It offers a larger capacity than SSDs and comes with a generous five-year warranty.

The bad: When compared with traditional hard drives, the Momentus XT is more expensive and currently caps at 500GB. The drive doesn't support the new SATA 6Gbps data transfer rate.

The bottom line: The Momentus XT is an excellent replacement for traditional laptop hard drives. It offers large capacities and SSD-like performance at a fraction of the cost.

Read CNET's full review
Price: $137.19

5 of 12 Sound ID

Sound ID 510 Blutooth headset

Sound ID 510 Blutooth headset

Editors' rating: 4 out of 5

The good: The Sound ID 510 is a slim and lightweight headset with a discreet, minimalist design. It comes with different sized ear loops that feel comfortable in the ear, and we like the dedicated power toggle. The Sound ID 510 has a dedicated iPhone app that adds features like Personal Sound mode, a headset locator, Environmental mode, and more. It offers great audio quality as well.

The bad: Special features like the Personal Sound mode and the headset locator are available only with the iPhone app--Android and BlackBerry owners will have to wait for their own apps, whereas non-smartphone users might never have these features at all. We also prefer physical volume controls to the touch sensor.

The bottom line: Combined with the iPhone app, the Sound ID 510 is a truly excellent Bluetooth headset for iPhone owners.

Read CNET's full review
Price: $130

6 of 12 CBS Interactive

Fujifilm FinePix HS10

Fujifilm FinePix HS10

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: Great feature set; excellent dSLR-like controls.

The bad: Poor photo quality above ISO 400; mixed shooting performance.

The bottom line: Fujifilm's FinePix HS10 has the look, feel, and controls of a dSLR, with the photos and shooting performance of a common point-and-shoot.

Read CNET's full review
Price range: $444.00 - $499.99

7 of 12 CBS Interactive

Lenovo IdeaPad Y460 0633

Lenovo IdeaPad Y460 0633

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: Excellent CPU/GPU combo; slick design.

The bad: Unimpressive battery life; gimmicky touch controls; pricey.

The bottom line: Lenovo's 14-inch IdeaPad Y460 is a well-designed gaming/multimedia laptop--but in this price range, the competition is also bringing its A game.

Read CNET's full review
Price: $1,049

8 of 12 CBS Interactive

LG Fathom (Verizon Wireless)

LG Fathom (Verizon Wireless)

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: The LG Fathom is solidly constructed with a bright display and a roomy QWERTY keyboard. It comes with Windows Mobile 6.5.3, and has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. It supports CDMA and GSM networks for use worldwide.

The bad: The LG Fathom's resistive touch-screen display is not as intuitive as we would like. We also noticed slight sluggishness with its accelerometer and image refresh rate. The LG Fathom's bulky exterior might not be for everyone.

The bottom line: The LG Fathom is a well built Windows Mobile phone with plenty of features, but its occasional lapse in performance can be annoying.

Read CNET's full review
Price: $149.99

9 of 12 CBS Interactive

2010 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG

2010 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: The transmission, engine, and suspension combine for excellent sport performance in the 2010 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG. A good navigation and audio system is available.

The bad: Fuel economy is dismal, and the car lacks a relaxed driving mode for the daily commute.

The bottom line: The 2010 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG is a powerful and very satisfying sport sedan, but not practical for daily driving because of poor fuel economy.

Read CNET's full review
Price: $57,350

10 of 12 CBS Interactive

Nikon Coolpix S8000

Nikon Coolpix S8000

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: Great LCD; stereo mic; 10x zoom in an attractive compact body.

The bad: Poor low-light photo quality; no optical zoom while recording movies; mixed shooting performance; no semimanual, manual modes.

The bottom line: A nice design and a couple extra features keep the Nikon Coolpix S8000 from being an also-ran compact megazoom.

Read CNET's full review
Price range: $259.00 - $329.26

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11 of 12 CBS Interactive

Sony Dash

Sony Dash

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: The Sony Dash delivers a personalized buffet of news, music, and video from across the Web, packed into a 7-inch touch-screen display.

The bad: For all its features, nothing about the Dash really stands out as a pillar function. The built-in speakers are wimpy. You can't run it using batteries. Touch-screen sensitivity is sluggish.

The bottom line: The Sony Dash is a fun device for tech enthusiasts looking to cram the Web into every corner of their homes, but it's not a fit for everyone.

Read CNET's full review
Price range: $199.00 - $199.99

12 of 12 CBS Interactive

Sony Handycam HDR-XR550V

Sony Handycam HDR-XR550V

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: Full manual feature set for video; geotagging for video is fun, if not very practical; autofocus system performs very well.

The bad: Annoying menu system; no wind filter or meaningful audio controls; relatively big and heavy; expensive; defaults to low resolution, not-full-HD video quality; cumbersome touch-screen interface.

The bottom line: The Sony Handycam HDR-XR550V fares well compared with the competition, though its video could be a bit sharper and the interface less cumbersome. Unless you absolutely need to store a lot of video on the camcorder--which I don't suggest--or have large hands and therefore could benefit from the extra grip the hard drive provides, the cheaper and nearly identical flash-based CX550V is a better deal.

Read CNET's full review
Price range: $1,099 - $1,399

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