These Are the 11 'Worst Gadgets' of 2011

Want to know which tech gadgets from 2011 were universally panned by consumers and critics alike? Business Insider has you covered.

“A lot of companies tried to push the boundaries by inventing new categories, but ended up creating flops instead,” Business Insider explains. “Others attempted to copy successful products like the iPad and iPhone but created pricey, underpowered gizmos.”

To be sure, 2011 saw the introduction of some great new electronic toys. But it's much more fun to review the ones that flopped hard.

Here are some of the worst tech gadgets from 2011 (block-quote information via Business Insider):

10. Motorola Atrix's Laptop Dock is a "Waste of Cash"

While the Motorola Atrix was a decent phone, the optional laptop dock accessory for it was a total dud. It cost a whopping extra $500, and was essentially just a shell of a laptop that wouldn't run unless you plugged your Atrix into it. It also ran an outdated version of Firefox and wouldn't let you download apps to it.

Unfortunately, Motorola is still pushing the laptop dock for other phones like the Droid Bionic and Droid Razr.

9. Samsung's "Green" Smartphone, the Replenish, "Just a Gimmick"

Samsung released the underpowered Replenish mostly as a marketing gimmick. It was a weak Android phone with a tiny touchscreen and unreliable keyboard. The phone was covered in cheap-feeling plastic, which Samsung claims was made from recycled materials. (That's where the marketing gimmick comes in.)

However, it only sold for $50 on contract, so what do you expect?

8. Toshiba's 10-inch Thrive tablet was a "Thick, Plasticky Beast"

Toshiba attempted to do something different with its first Honeycomb tablet by providing access to full-sized ports for USB, HDMI, SD cards, etc. But the result was a thick, heavy, and plasticky tablet that was absolutely smashed by reviewers. It didn't help that the Toshiba Thrive shipped with a major bug that caused it to get stuck in sleep mode.

7. HTC's Jetstream Tablet was way too Expensive

HTC's first 10-inch tablet, the Jetstream, was pretty impressive on the hardware side. The company even managed to make a few nifty modifications to Honeycomb. Unfortunately, it was way too expensive at a whopping $700 with a two year contract from AT&T. (It cost even more than that without contract.)

6. Google's Chromebooks Ended up Being  Major Disappointments

Google's Chromebook laptops were supposed to usher in a new era of computing where everything is done on the web. But that didn't happen. The Chromebooks were pretty much useless without Internet access, and cost way too much ($500) for what they did. Plus, the hardware performance was only so-so.

5. Sony's Xperia Play "PlayStation Phone" was a Cool Concept, but Didn't Perform Well

Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play, the long rumored "PlayStation Phone" was supposed to take mobile gaming to the next level. It featured a nifty slide-out video game controller and provided access to some excellent games from Sony. But the result was a thick, cheap-feeling device with horrible controls. What a dud.

4. HP's Veer 4G was the Company's First and Last Attempt at a WebOS Smartphone in the U.S.

The HP Veer was the first device released in the U.S. to run the new WebOS 3.0. But the phone was so tiny that it was nearly impossible to get anything done on it. It would later suffer the same fate as the TouchPad after HP decided to kill off all WebOS hardware.

See what other gadgets turned out to be total duds at Business Insider.