Top 5 Gadgets of the Year

By Dec. 15, 2009, 8:01am PT 21 Comments

The year is winding down and reflections of 2009 have me thinking of the five gadgets introduced that I believe have made the most impact in the mobile tech world. These choices are my own, and as always with personal devices they reflect my own needs and opinions. I have restricted the choices to devices I have actually used for extended periods. The top five cover a range from smartphones to computing devices, and my choices are based on hands-on use of each one. I offer my reasoning behind each choice, and as always I am interested to hear your thoughts on my selections. If you have different choices please indicate them in the comments. Here are my top five gadgets in no particular order.

Verizon MiFi

Novatel MiFi. While I said the list is in no particular order, I must make it clear I believe the MiFi is the top gadget of the year by far. Novatel clearly understands the needs of the mobile professional, and the MiFi is a unique solution to providing mobile connectivity that far surpasses other solutions. The concept of putting a 3G modem into a mobile Wi-Fi router is pure genius, and anyone who uses one quickly understands the utility the MiFi brings to the table. There is simply no better way to have mobile broadband on the go, and the MiFi is a game-changing gadgets.

Motorola Droid

Motorola Droid. The impact that the Android smartphone operating system has made on the market is significant, and the Droid is the best of the phones that appeared this year.  The Droid may not be the best smartphone, but it makes the list as the first major Android handset to generate big sales numbers. The phone is the best Android phone around, and Android is the hot ticket platform this year. Thus the Droid is a top gadget of the year.

Viliv S5 UMPC

Viliv S5 UMPC. The best handheld computer this year is the S5. Viliv put an entire netbook into a 5-inch slate form, and made few compromises to get it to work. The S5 is versatile whether used in landscape or portrait orientation, and this is the first handheld PC since the Sony U to make such an impact on the genre. The option of integrated 3G makes the S5 a truly connected UMPC, and Viliv kick-started the UMPC craze this year with the introduction of this new handheld.

HP Mini 5101 netbook

HP Mini 5101. The Mini 5101 is a netbook that has no compromises. The build quality is superb, and the keyboard is the best I have used on any netbook. The performance of the Mini is as good as that of any netbook I have used, and the portability couldn’t be better. It is rare that a gadget packs so much usefulness in such a small package, and the Mini 5101 delivers in this regard. It is one of the rare notebooks that I felt comfortable throwing in the bag, knowing it could handle whatever might be needed.

Lenovo ThinkPad x200 Tablet

ThinkPad x200 Tablet. The most versatile notebook of the year has been the Lenovo ThinkPad x200. It is the best implementation of multitouch on Windows 7, and is the best Tablet PC. The powerful performance is top-notch for a convertible notebook, yet the 12-inch size makes it very portable for daily use. The utility provided by multitouch on a slate Tablet cannot be overstated, and coupled with the ability to swivel the screen around into notebook configuration makes the x200 extremely versatile.

I did not consider price nor other factors in the makeup of this list; I simply based my choices on actual usage of the five gadgets. I understand that pricing plays a big role in purchase decisions, but I decided to reflect only the value each gadget provided through usage.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.