A clear winner from Sony!
Written: Nov 03 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Does PIM functions well, gorgeous hi-res screen, lots of fun apps!
Cons: Somewhat expensive, lacks web browsing capabilities, no wireless networking support
The Bottom Line: Buy it. It's just the right size, the user interface is simple and easy to use, and the extras make it even more fun!
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| MediaLabGuy's Full Review: Sony CLIE® PEG-T665C Handheld |
I've owned and used 15 PDAs (this one is my 16th), including the orignal Pilot 5000, both the HP Jornada and iPaq pocket PCs, and even the linux-based Sharp Zaurus, and I have to say that the CLIE PEG-T665c is perhaps the most fucntional and best-designed PDA I've bought to date. I'll briefly hilight what I like about the designs, and of course, my gripes.
PERSONAL INFO MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS
The calendar, address book, task, and memo fucntions are for the most part similar to what is on every other Palm OS pdas. Palm takes a simple approach to these functions, and they are done quite well. You can easily add appointments and sync them with your PC without too much effort.
The CLIE has one additional interesting function on the address book - you can attach a photo to a person's address book entry. It isn't terribly useful, but it's a fun feature I've played around with, and it's a great conversation starter when you show your friends the photo they have next to their names. To add a photo, you simply pick a photo on your PC, crop it, and then "transfer" it to the PDA. You can then go in the address book and attach it to the appropriate entry.
The CLIE syncs with both the included Palm Desktop applicaiton or with Microsoft Outlook (using the Intellisync Lite software included on the bundled CD).
PC INTEGRATION
You can browse word and excel documents via the included "documents-to-go" app which converts them back and forth between the palm. You can also browse .pdf documents using the Adobe Acrobat for Palm OS application you download from the web. You have to start another application to "convert" the documents back and forth, which is a bit annoying, but it's better than not having this capability built in.
PDAs running Microsoft's Pocket PC OS actually continuously sync data as long as the device is cradled and connected to your PC. With any Palm OS PDA (this one included), you have to press a button to "hotsync" your data; from a user experience point of view, I prefer the always-synced Microsoft model, but this is just a minor gripe.
FUN APPLICATIONS
The CLIE comes with a bunch of "fun applications," including a gorgeous multiple time zone alarm clock, a paint application, a photo and slide show viewer, and even a universal remote control you can use to control your TV, VCR, and AV Receiver.
MP3 PLAYER
It's awesome, and it works. The CLIE uses memory sticks (up to 128MB) which you can copy MP3s and play them back on the CLIE. The audio fidelity is amazing; the sound is clear and crisp through the included headphones even at relatively high volume. (The jornada and the iPaq, on the other hand, is not well shielded so you hear lots of squeaks and squacks).
BATTERY LIFE
The CLIE uses a built-in lithium-polymer battery that charges when the unit is in the cradle.
Actual: 5 days w/out charging with about 20-25 minutes of daily use. (Advertised battery life is 14 days). Best of any color PDA. My HP jornada would die after 3 days of use.
GRIPES
Ok some gripes:
1. The CLIE doesn't support wireless networking; I can't plug in a Compact Flash 802.11b card and download my email. Some would gripe about the inability to browse web pages, but my response to that is that it's not easy or fun to do and the user experience of doing so on a Pocket PC is horrible.
2. The e-mail application is limited. You have to buy a 3rd party app (multimail or Versamail) to hotsync mail directly with an IMAP server.
3. Most of the Games included on the bundled software CD are trial versions and you need to pay additional money to use them. After you spend $300 on a PDA, you need to buy more games. Oh well.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 325
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Epinions.com ID:
MediaLabGuy
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Member: Wesley Chan
Location: Cambridge, MA
Reviews written: 48
Trusted by: 29 members
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