Comments on: Sony Launches the Clié in U.S.

They are going up against the $399 Palm Vx not the much cheaper models. They both have the same amount of memory and the Clié is close to being as small as the Vx. Throw in the MemoryStick expansion slot and I'd take the Clié.

The point about the color version being more expensive is a good one. The IIIc is currently going to $399, too. Maybe that's why Sony held off; they knew the color version of the Clié would be too expensive to be competitive.

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Plenipotentiary
Palm InfoCenter

Well... the memory stick is actually a step in the right direction, so far this seems to offer more memory possibilities then any other Palm vendor. Sony has plans to eventually realease a 128 meg and 256 meg stick that will also work on their Palms. It may seem like way too much for a PDA, but I know medical students that could use an extra 10, or 20 megs of rams just to hold all the files reference material they would like to carry on thir PDA's. Also, if you've been diggin deep into Sony plans, I think they're hoping that at some point their PDA's will play full motion video's... and I think even streaming video in the future from other wireless solutions. It is pricy, but it seems to be the only Palm vendor which has bigger future out looks then all the others. I guess now we'll just wait and see...

You should not compare it to the IIIe or visor. The clie is the same size (acutally smaller) than the Vx PLUS it INCLUDES an additional 8MB of REMOVABLE memory. That is pretty sweet if you ask me.

I doubt it. Not with the color version not coming out until next year. In case you have been living in a cave and haven't noticed alot of formerly die hard Palm users are buying and using IPaqs because they are tired of waiting for Palm to actually improve something on their devices. $399 for this is a joke.

Count me in. I've used just about every Palm made (since the III), and just got my iPAQ...this thing is f@#*ing incredible! I never realized how outmoded the PalmOS has gotten until I started using the iPAQ. I'm not saying Palm's are crap, they're ok, but they are really falling behind. There is nothing innovative about the current line-up. Even the Sony is a big yawn. $400 for a Palm V competitor? Thanks, but no thanks.

Give me high res color (160x160 pixels on a Palm is an absolute joke), MP3 music, and ebooks any day. As for Palm introducing more advanced handhelds....even if they do, that is over a year away. I'm not going to sit around waiting for Palm to get their shit together. Thats not my problem, it's Palm's.

Brand loyalty only goes so far with me. If you build a great product, you've got my business. But if you sit on your ass for over 5 years and do nothing to innovate or improve your product offering...then it's adios.

I have to agree. I was expecting(hoping for) more from Sony. Other than the memory stick, what makes this any better than the Palm V I bought almost 2 years(!) ago? Very strange--the Palm technology just hasn't been very interesting in the last year or so.

Don't get me wrong--I still think my Palm V is incredibly elegant for what it does. But, at this rate, MP3 players are going to pass up the Palms technology-wise :( If Sony priced this at $250ish, I'd say this was worth looking at. $400? No thanks. Maybe if it had color. I think the mem stick is cool, but... not cool enuff to warrant $400. Palm programs just don't require that much memory, and it doesn't play MP3s, and you're not gonna watch any movies on it. So--why have the mem stick? It isn't a cheap medium, so you're not gonna buy software on it. It just seems like they threw on a storage solution without a problem(!). Gimme an MP3 player and my Palm V for the same price...

I just went back to the site to see if I could still do it (a few minutes later) and I can't! There's no button on the bottom of the page anymore!! They're trying to get me, I know it :-P

I believe you. I went to check after I read your comment and it was there but now it is gone again. Sounds like they are having big problems.

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Plenipotentiary
Palm InfoCenter

After clicking on the link to the SONY ordering page above, I clicked "Handhelds" in the left side of the page. And from there, I could order it again, but it's listed as back ordered. Now I know they're out to get me. Muahhaaaahaaahaa

Sorry Ed. I was commenting and I didn't refresh soon enough to see your comment. I'm going to stop posting comments now. Later.

I've checked several times over the past 4 hours and all I can say is Sony is having some real problems with their Web site today. Sometimes the link to order the Clié is there and sometimes it isn't. If you want one, keep trying the page and you'll eventually be able to.

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Plenipotentiary
Palm InfoCenter

I don't think these promises were ever made by Sony. They came from this CNET article:
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-202-1878847.html
and never cited anyone but "sources" for the prediction that Sony's PDA would be a "sub-$200 PDA with color display, limited wireless Internet access, multimedia capabilities and add-on storage capabilities through its Memory Stick technology".

I don't think we should hold a grudge against Sony for this.

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Plenipotentiary
Palm InfoCenter

I totally agree..

Great! Now we'll have people talking on their cell phone with one hand, browsing on their Sony PDA with the other, and driving with their knees! :)

But it does seem cool. I wonder how well the dial actually works.

I got the listing of specifications off the Sony site but I don't think it was very well organized by them. I think they are saying that Acrobat Reader is for the PC. It is in the list with some of other things that could only be on the PC, like "Palm Desktop for Sony" and "User Registration for PC" but I'm not sure so I didn't want to mess with it.

The best arguement I can make for this theory is that if it had an Acrobat Reader for the Palm, Adobe would have said something about it yesterday when they made a big hoopla about the AportisDoc PDF Converter.

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Plenipotentiary
Palm InfoCenter

Maybe this says something about the MAC OS being used with business professionals?

(I don't know, it's just a thought)

The Visor supports the Mac OS. The Palm supports the Mac OS. The Clie doesn't. Oops! Bad move, Sony...

Maybe this says something about the MAC OS being used with business professionals?

(I don't know, it's just a thought)

Since when have Palm devices and their spinoffs only been for business professionals?

Don't feel too left out, it also doesn't support Unix, Linux, NT, or even Win95.

Want to complain? Here's the Sony feedback page:
http://www.sel.sony.com/SEL/feedback.html

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Plenipotentiary
Palm InfoCenter

It’s your opinion but, you must also think the PalmV looks *cheap* because it has the same exposed contacts on the bottom. And it is not a matter of cost. The smaller V and Clie are packed so tight, there is no room for a little retractable door.

Smaller palm or retractable door… hmm… I’ll take the smaller palm please.

Hmmm... me, I, mikecane@wildmail.com, am not registered at this site?! Ryan! What's up with that? Anyway, the memstick has a SPRING in the slot. Push down on it and it pops up. Hence that protruding one inch we've seen. The spring held it up. mc

The memory stick you seem that out the device one inch is only a demo to let you know where the MS be inserted.. Actually, the MS is fully inserted and eject by a smaller button...

I just got one from Fry's and my biggest complaint is that for $400, the thing is all plastic. The silver you see in the pictures is NOT aluminum like the V. It makes it feel kinda cheap, although not as cheap and flimsy as the Visor. For $400, I would have liked to see a sturdier construction.

What kind of case does the Clie come with? Is the quality of the screen the same as the Vx? I ordered from the web page and got a back order, didnt think it would be available retail this soon...

Case is a nice flip case style. Uses no vecro, just grips tightly. I suspected the screen was not as good as the V because it uses normal backlighting. Not so. It is just as clear. Its nice to have the old style backlighting again. Its actually useful.

Does your Clie show "OQ" instead of "OK" when you delete the movies from the handheld. I transfered the movies from the memory stick to the handheld and when I went to delete it, instead of "OK and Cancel" options, I got "OQ and Cancel" options. Check it out and please let me know by posting it here.

Thanks!

If you read the specs..you'd have seen it.. 12th bolded statement down

http://www.ita.sel.sony.com/CLIE/products_content.html

This would be fantastic, but I can't find it on the SONY support site. Could you give me some details how to find it?