Comments on: Sony's NX70V Cut to $400

The Zire 71 can only be compared because its camera is the same resolution. The NX70v offers a lot of better things than just a camera. Camcorder, good quality MP3, dual slots, keyboard, 320x480 with virtual graffiti, voice recorder, and the case itself provides good protection to the screen. The Z71 is nice, but it can't be compared to something with features like this.

Ryan.. IT'S PXA NOT PAX!! Man, this is like the ninth time I've pointed that out! Almost as bad as Dan and the 'NX90'.

-Bosco

whoops, thanks Alex.

>The Zire 71 can only be compared because its camera is the same resolution.

Like that's the only "common" functionality it shares. How about the mp3 player and other multimedia capabilities? Or the fact that both have gorgeous screens - but with different formats (320x320 or 320x480) depending on people's preference. Both run Palm OS5.

Or, perhaps, did you mean that because the Zire is $100 cheaper there is still no comparison because the Zire is such a great value? ;-)

-Kevin Crossman

Multimedia is still only Kinoma for video, and you'll still need MMPlayer. 320x320 and 320x480 makes a world of difference. Sound volume is probably the #1 complaint with the Z71; Go ask Foo how he listens to music on his. Dual slots is probably another big reason. The Zire isn't yet Wifi capable unless you buy a sled, and you can kiss pocketability goodbye. Then there's the keyboard. And you can over/underclock it. I'm sure the Zire is nice, but let's not blow its features out of proportion.

-Bosco

I have to agree with Bosco, if the price was in the same range, there's no way I'd pass on the Sony. It's too big for my tastes, but I know a deal when I see one!

PS: in regards to the audio, we aren't still in the volume=quality mode, are we?

It's the high volume without unwanted noise and distortion that's impressive about the MP3 playing Clies. Zire 71, T|Ts gives you low volume with lots of excessive noise. I guess you'd rather have that.

In fact, the NX/NZ series is probably the best MP3 playing Palm OS devices because of the sound quality, Memory Stick Pro (which has now gone beyond SD in storage size AND lower price), CF slot option (with Eruware CF driver), and the remote wand/hold buttons.

I can't even imagine using any PDA for MP3s without that neat little remote wand and the hold button. Having volume, track, and play/pause control in the tip of your fingers without taking the PDA out is a sublime music listening experience on the go.

And having the screen hold feature means that I can actually listen to MP3s on my NX70 for 7 hours in real life. Try that with Zire 71 or T|T.

Infact, with the "PXA Clocker" utility, I've managed to squeeze another hour or two out of the MP3 playback by underclocking the PXA250 of the NX70 down to 100Mhz instead of the default 200Mhz! :)

The only possible additional capability I'd want out of MP3 playback on the Clies is VBR support.

"PS: in regards to the audio, we aren't still in the volume=quality mode, are we?"

I have ear phones that completely cover my ears and block out much of the surrounding sounds. So when I plug them into my CD-player, I have to make sure to turn the volume down really low, or else I'll go deaf! So I think if I bought the Zire 71, I wouldn't have a problem. Now if I had a pair of cruddy earbuds that fall out of my ears, then I probably would think the audio stinks.

(Why do some people say you can kill two birds with one stone when it's hard enough killing one bird with two stones?)

I'm totally biased here, after having two Palm handhelds fail on me in as many years, but I wouldn't go to Palm looking for a high quality audio device. They just haven't been "doing it" for very long. The same with optics, although they seem to be really into sliders now too.

I've watched them have enough trouble getting the comparatively more basic ones right.

Anyone who studies their history will let Palm work the kinks out with the first few models at the very least.

I personally will give Palm time to get their OS5 stuff together while I explore what Sony has to offer.

"Zire 71, T|Ts gives you low volume with lots of excessive noise. I guess you'd rather have that."

The Z71 must be different from the T|T, or there was something wrong with the T|T's you sampled. Software is also a factor, with some of them actually trying to manipulate the MP3 decoding process as replacement EQ.

The output of my own T|T is cleaner than either of my Sony MD portables. The volume leans towards the lame side, but is more than adequate unless you use cheap headphones. As it relates to audio, I partially picked the T|T because the MP3 playback was decent, the speaker was facing the correct direction, and it will handle sound sampled at 16bit/44khz in multiple formats. The Sony has dedicated MP3 hardware, but sampled sound is limited to 8bit/8khz, compressed ADPCM only.

I'm sure the Sony MP3 playback is very good, but I also don't think the T|T audio is noisy or distorted on a properly functioning and patched unit. I regularly patch my Palm into 12,000 watt systems for sound checks, or into the little 1,400 watt system at home, and it is remarkably clean. I speak based on experience as a pro audio engineer.

PS: Just so you know I'm not biased on brand, the NX70v blows the Z71 away in terms of multimedia. If I had to pick between the two, I'd grab the Sony in a heartbeat.

I thought the NX70v was discontinued weeks ago?

Anyway, this is nothing. The NX70v is $300 at my local circuit city, last i checked.

UZI4U182@suscom.net | Main PDA: Sony NX70v
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heh.. if tapwave does start taking preorders for the zodiac in september and it does sell for 400 then itll pummle the nx70v into the ground ;)

The Zodiac will be even better if it comes with a Flash player and a desktop app that can take Flash files from Web sites (online games, anyone) and load them to the Zodiac