The box itself.

The contents of the box itself. Note the inclusion of playing cards and a puzzle. These will be collector's items when Ballmer dies.

This looks like a poster, but we believe it to be the "table top centerpiece." Some third world manufacturer took Microsoft for a ride on that mark-up.

One tote bag. Actually, I'd gladly carry around my yuppie organic groceries in this thing.

Ohh, now the good stuff. We're talking four streamers, some balloons and cute Win 7 cocktail napkins. What, no piñata?

On the plus side, you do score a free copy of Windows 7 Ultimate. That awesome token basically puts all of our petty comments to rest. [Thanks Rico!]

The box itself.

The contents of the box itself. Note the inclusion of playing cards and a puzzle. These will be collector's items when Ballmer dies.

This looks like a poster, but we believe it to be the "table top centerpiece." Some third world manufacturer took Microsoft for a ride on that mark-up.

One tote bag. Actually, I'd gladly carry around my yuppie organic groceries in this thing.

Ohh, now the good stuff. We're talking four streamers, some balloons and cute Win 7 cocktail napkins. What, no piñata?

On the plus side, you do score a free copy of Windows 7 Ultimate. That awesome token basically puts all of our petty comments to rest. [Thanks Rico!]

We get a good look at the interchangeable lenses, the rig itself, as well as a shot of the pretty pedestrian box. As we've said before, it's what's inside that counts with this sexy beast. [Recently Reviewed via Engadget]

The sharp, colorful packaging isn't quite what people will see on launch day, but it's close. Enter the demo guy again, who says it's "almost launch day packaging." Presumably this means Michael Arrington still has to bless each unit or anoint them with oils before they're shipped out the door.

And lastly, while it is billed as such, this video is not a true unboxing, as the CrunchPad in this video is covered from head to toe in filthy fingerprints. This one's been sleeping around already. Harlot. [YouTube via CrunchPad Fans - Thanks, Trooper]

It's from CES says Josh T. It's the same difference to me, because I am indifferent to unboxing, but if this isn't a final retail package, etc, it apparently has no ceremonial value. [Thanks, shopperciti.com!]

Judging from all those CB radios car stereos in his Flickr set, this D5000 might be stolen. I kid, Kadath, honestly.

But seriously. Send the D5000 my way or I tell the Princeton police. [Flickr via Engadget]

Here are the two sides of the argument. On the one hand, we feel that unboxings convey no real information (who cares about people taking things out of boxes), and a gallery with closeups shows off the product much better than watching a doofus try and open some plastic bags.

On the other hand, unboxings are supposed to be emotional and experiential, showing off what it's like to open up a Kindle 2 or a MacBook Pro for the first time. It's not supposed to be like a regular post, instead, letting readers into our living rooms in order to "feel" a product they otherwise wouldn't buy.

How do you feel?

Poll results from "Are Car Alarms More Trouble Than They're Worth?"

Yes: 73%
No: 27%

Arriving in 275-pound crates, the pair of tables were unloaded off a truck before being pried open with a crowbar. Inside, it look like the unboxing of many other gadgets, just a lot bigger. This sucker is huge. I still kind of want one, as impractical as that would be. Maybe someday. [Amnesia Blog]

[Duncan Riley on Vimeo, Gallery Courtesy of Dylan Jay on Flickr]

[iPhonePortugal]

Personally, I don't get much of a thrill out of unboxings. Besides, we have already seen the Eee PC 901 topless, so the mystery is all but gone. Still, if you cant get enough of this strange gadget strip show, Laptop Magazine has the filthy images you so desperately crave. And if you are not interested in unboxings, they also came up with some initial impressions saying that they were generally pleased with what they saw so far—despite an initial problem with a bent keyboard. Hit the link for the full gallery of photos. [Laptopmag]

In nine years, I've gone through five mobiles. A Nokia brick my dad gave me (left in the back of a taxi), an Ericsson flip T28 (the flip eventually flopped), an Ericsson T68 (honestly, the best phone ever, lasted three years), a cheapo, tiny Panasonic I picked up at Dubai airport for 50 bucks, and the RAZR.

Perhaps its because, as phones have become more sophisticated, they have become more fallible. The RAZR promised so much—and I'm not talking about bumping into Beckham at the supermarket checkout here—and failed to deliver.

As my first cameraphone, it made pictures that looked like something I drew on Etch-a-Sketch a couple of decades ago, but I can live with that. What I can't live with is the sluggy interface. Or the buttons that don't work, with their eerie backlight that just shows up all the hideous detritus that my phone has picked up from being chucked into the black hole-esque dustbin that is my bag. Or the seemingly random volume control. I can't see a thing on the screen when the sun is shining. And I have room for just 13 incoming SMS messages at any one time before I have to start deleting them.

So, let's talk about the good times with my RAZR. *tumbleweed blows across the page* I was pissed off the day I bought it because the shop didn't even have the black one I wanted. I'd liked the look of that when it came out, but by the time my Panasonic gave up the ghost, all that was available was silver. Why did I go through with it? It was small enough to fit into my pockets without making me look like a ladyboy, and I'd heard good things about Motorola from other friends. They're not my friends any more.

I asked myself what I liked about it, and there was one thing: the wallpaper is a picture of Jesus taken the day after he asked me to marry him, and I'll be sad to see that go. But the quality is so shite—honestly, I'd have got better results from a pinhole camera—I know that it won't travel. Plus, for some reason, I can't send photos via SMS.

I can't even lose it, like older more beloved phones. I left the RAZR in a club a couple of months ago, and I'd made it halfway down the block when some guy came running up behind me. "You left this on the bar," he wheezed. (Everyone in Spain smokes, and I'm a fast walker.) As he palmed the RAZR back into my hand, I could swear there was a look of pity on his face.

In truth, this isn't about the RAZR, but what comes after. I bleeding know it's time for a new phone, but which? No prizes for guessing which one Jesus wants me to get. But even when the 3G model of the iPhone eventually deigns to park its arse at an Apple Store near me, I am still digging my heels in over certain issues—internal memory too small, eminently crackable screen for my klutziness, a rather larger size than a closed RAZR, etc etc. I also know that the largest-capacity 3G iPhone would be molto 'spensivo, and I don't know whether I really want to spunk that much on a phone. Pathetic, isn't it?

So here I am, willing but unable to put the RAZR out of its misery. Until it breathes its last, when the ringtone that sounds like J-Lo bellydancing sputters to a halt, as the little screen with the M logo fades to gray, when the buttons lie dull and unresponsive beneath my desperate fingers, that will be the time to replace it. Got any recommendations?