SONY is poised for another hit!!
Written: Aug 17 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Moderate price, Sleek design, Expandable, jog dial, rechargeable battery
Cons: B&W screen, no flip-up cover, poor mac support
The Bottom Line: If you're a PC user in search of a Low-Med end Palm PDA, This IS your only logical choice!!! Even competes vs. high end Palm PDAs!
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| kenfused's Full Review: Sony CLIE® PEG-S320 Handheld |
I've owned many Palm OS PDAs: Palm IIIx, Palm Vx, Handspring Visor, Platinum, Palm m505. And while Sony floundered with price and features of it's previous Clie, this one is poised to strike!
Starting with it's low suggested retail of $199, at this point, no Palm OS pda comes close.
It has a few exclusive features: easy (and recently lowered prices) memory stick expansion, jog-dial navigation (remember how you lived before your wheel mouse), and rechargeable LION battery (not available with ANY Palm pda in this price range)
The processor is the same 33mhz Dragonball VZ processor found in most of the popular quick PDAs now. m500, m505, Handspring visor, and the upcoming m125. This is enough power, and snappiness for most users.
The screen is bright, sharp and has a good backlight.What else can you expect from the makers of the Trinitron screen?
The design is very sleek, and the size is notably smaller than the Handsrping lineup, and just a bit larger than the Palm m500 series. The m105 is similar, but feels cheaper than the Clie S320. The design is a step up improvement for Sony compared to the previous S300, with an improved color, and sophistication. It feels more high quality in it's build.
Also included are Sony exclusive multimedia applications that make this an easy choice.
To compare other Palm OS models currently available, at $199, this beats ALL comers. Handspring really cannot compete with it's visor deluxe or platinum. The Sony is as fast as the platinum, and is smaller. With the exclusive LI-ION battery, and smaller expansion cards (memory stick) there isn't any compelling reason to go with Handspring in this price range (or even compared to the Visor Edge). That is unless you have a real need to use the Handspring Springboard slot. Memory sticks are cheaper than any Springboard slot memory expansion, and are easier to find.
Compared to Palm Branded models, the Sony easily defeats the m100 lineup. With faster speed, memory expansion, etc. It even compares favorably against the much more expensive ($399) Palm m500. Except for the size and form factor where the m500 wins, I'd pick the Sony for the price! You can't beat that. Save the extra $200 and buy a fat memory stick if you like!
All in all, Sony really did it right this time.
The only other downside is that Mac sync requires a special 3rd party software package ($30)
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 189
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Epinions.com ID:
kenfused
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Location: Los Angeles, CA
Reviews written: 56
Trusted by: 10 members
About Me:
Love consumer electronics and saltwater tropical fish!
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