martinhellman's Full Review: SONY CLIE T615C/S SILVER 16MB HHLD USB HOTSYNC CR...
I’m posting this same review for three Clies: the 610C, the 615C and the NR70 since I’ve owned all three (and returned the 615C) and can compare them well.
I bought a 610C in November 2001. I needed a PDA to help me with my calendar (especially recurring events) and also wanted it to do double duty replacing my crumpled and out-of-date wallet photos. So the display of a digital photo had to be at a quality comparable to that of a wallet photo. A friend who follows this area in depth told me the 610C was the only one for me (at that time) and he was right. I've loved it. The photos aren’t quite as good as brand new wallet photos, but seem as good as ones that have been in my wallet a few months.
Even with text applications, like the calendar, the quality of the screen is a real plus. A friend who has a lower resolution monochrome screen saw mine and literally said "Wow!” He had trouble occasionally reading the jagged text on his Palm, but could read mine easily. I do prefer to use my reading glasses since the text is roughly newspaper size, but that’s a statement on my age and eyes, not the Clie. In this size form factor, you can’t get larger fonts without cutting the amount of information that can be displayed.
OK. Now to the 615. A month ago, my wife decided she’d like a Clie also. I couldn’t find the 610, except refurbished through E-Bay, so I bought a 615C for her. Sounded like the same unit (same price, screen resolution and color palette, etc.). I figured it was just an updated 610. NOT! For text based applications, it was fine. But, when I viewed the same photos on my 610 and her 615, the 615’s looked washed out, bordering on monochrome (at least in a side-by-side comparison). Two other advantages of the 610:
While we didn’t do any quantitative testing, the 615’s battery seemed to run down much faster than the 610’s.
The 615 stylus is slightly smaller and harder to hold, at least for me.
At first I thought I had a defective 615, but some web-sleuthing on “Sony Clie 615C washed out” came up with a few reviews that hinted at the problem I had. Other evidence, though not “beyond a reasonable doubt” led to the conclusion that, for some inexplicable reason, Sony had traded the better screen of the 610 for the lousy screen of the 615. So I took the 615 back to the store and got the new NR70/U. (The /U means no digital camera and $100 cheaper. Still comes in $100 more than the 610 or 615 at $499.)
Of course, before buying, I compared the photo quality of all three Clies. I’d rate the NR70 as almost as good as the 610, still slightly inferior, but adequate for my taste. I was worried the slightly larger size might bother me, but it hasn’t. I haven’t used the keyboard much, and so far find Graffiti faster and easier, but a new user (or one who practices with the keyboard) might disagree. I’m still stuck with the same smaller stylus like on the 615. Battery life seems to be comparable to the 610, much better than the 615, though again that’s an impression, not a quantitative test. Several advantages on the NR70:
The case is much classier, and more protective, than either the 610 or 615’s.
The larger screen (640x320 instead of 320x320) allows me to see how I’m writing my Graffiti. (What I draw is shown for about half a second after I draw it, allowing me to see where I need improvement.) I wish Sony would let me use that portion of the screen to display a larger photo, but so far I haven’t found it usable that way.
The ability to listen to tunes of other audio means I can dispense with a portable CD player when traveling – if I get energetic enough to learn to use it and spend the money on a larger memory stick. The audio option on the 610 or 615 was $100 so, if you want audio, the NR70 costs no more than those units.
I didn’t go for the NR70 with the digital camera because the resolution seemed too low to be useful, plus I have two great digital cameras. If it had been at least 640x480, it would have been nice, but at a tenth of a megapixel (interesting that I can’t find the exact resolution, even on the Sony website!), it would be of very limited use.
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