Comparing the old and new units is like comparing Mac hardware to Windows hardware; they both do the same thing, but one does it with so much more class. The Hiptop2 has twice as many face buttons, with several discretely hidden in the rubber bumper guards! The lighted scroll wheel is no more, replaced by a utilitarian scrolly bit flanked by dedicated Call Off and Call On buttons.... and though they look prone to accidental presses, they are not. For those who would miss the circus atmosphere of the lights, they have been reincarnated under a d-pad on the left hand side, which also doubles as the phone speaker!

The camera, once an obnoxious plug-in, is now built into the back of the 2. While the res isn't anything worth publishing, you still get fair enough 640x480 shots out of it.

Sidetalkin' the cat!

The trademark flip screen is actually a bit dodgy this time around. Because it now fits flush with the rest of the unit, the screen has to shift upward and out. This is nowhere near as smooth as the first model, where the screen rested more or less above the bulk. But even though the movement is awkward, the start and final positions are much sleeker.

Upgrading from 1 to 2 was easy, just had to pop in the old SIM card. I liked not having to visit a T-Mobile Store and risk them fucking up my current phone plan. The new v2 OS means more downloadable app options, mostly $3 to $5 games. I'm trying not to buy all of them right away.

The color screen is fabulous. Since my old Hiptop was a G1 black & white model, I can't say if this is better than the G1.5 color edition. All I know is this one looks great.

So no disappointment at all. I want a new case though, because the one supplied with the 2 is too tight and stiff.

Keeping the gadgetry talk rolling, we got Mike's PS2 online this week. Of course he had to buy a complete wi-fi setup to do so. This is the one thing that the Xbox has completely right, because it is silly to have to manage separate online accounts over different games. I was about to call Xbox Live the system's defining feature, but then I remembered the low percentage of Xbox owners that use the service. Ha!

Anyway, getting his PS2 online was far too easy (the tough part was the stupid wireless router, but then again I wasted a lot of time trying a second-hand router that I knew to be fried.) Then we played ESPN NHL 2K5. Worked well enough. The voice chat carried a delay echo, and we had a lot of game pauses when things fell out of sync. So, eh. We won, Pens 7, Caps 1.

We're currently scouting for additional online titles, but the list of non-sports co-op games with voice chat is short. We'd probably dig Monster Hunter, but it doesn't have that all important voice chat. I hope Ratchet & Clank 3 has it, or else we're stuck with hockey and maybe Return of the King.