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Acer neoTouch P400 and P300 early review: Windows Mobile sorts your life out

The Windows Mobile Acer neoTouch P400 and P300 are designed to sort out your work/life balance. Life, yeah, we've heard of that

Richard Trenholm
Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.
Richard Trenholm
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The Acer neoTouch P400 and P300 mid-range smart phones are designed to help you perfect your work/life balance. Life, yeah, we've heard about that: it's that thing other people do after work.

Who needs a life when your work lets you test out cutting-edge mobile phones like this? Not us, buddy. The P300 and P400 both run Windows Mobile 6.5.3, the last gasp of Microsoft's current mobile operating system. With Windows Phone 7 series also revealed here in Barcelona, WinMo 6.5.3 is something of a lame duck. Still, the list of options is presented in large, clear type, and the scrolling action is bouncy and responsive.

The P400 is entirely touchscreen-based, while the P300 packs a slide-out Qwerty keyboard. The 81mm (3.2-inch) screen could be bigger: the large round home button and the pointlessly large Acer logo cut into the screen size, with onscreen real estate further reduced by a taskbar that duplicates the function of the physical Windows button.

Built-in apps include Windows Media Player for your music, video and pictures, and a dedicated YouTube player. Internet Explorer 6 Mobile supports Flash.

Both phones offer 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS, although we weren't able to test this out in the Acer stand. They sync with other Acer devices via the cloud, so you can marry your laptop, desktop and phone.

Click 'Continue' to see more of the P300 and P400.

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The neoTouch phones aren't all business. You can access social networks when your boss isn't looking.
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The P300 conceals a slide-out qwerty keyboard.
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The phones give access to Windows Live.
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The P400 includes swappable black or silver covers. The round home button also changes colour, depending on what you're doing.

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