Comments on: Sony Releases Three New Clie Handhelds

"Palm's Tungsten line is about to get smoked"

I would rather have a TT3 with the five way navigator, portate and landscape modes, and much more ram for the extra $80. I'd say it's sony's lineup that will get smoked.

One Palm to rule them all!

According to the specs, it comes with a "retractable stylus" as an included accessory

http://tinyurl.com/2bhrj

Sorry for the long link, but that's where it says it.

It sucks. I have a NX80 (my main unit) and Tungsten T. The Clie stylus is useable, but pathetic. The Tungsten stylus is wonderful. After awhile the Clie stylus gets "gummed up" (mine did anyway) and stops extending when you pull it out of the silo - I have to do it manually now. I love the Clie, but hate the stylus.

"Third party developers are about to get screwed in a major way. Gotta feel sorry for WordSmith, Quickoffice, MiniCalc etc."

Not all of us love or use DTG. I personally detest it - free or not - and will continue to use Wordsmith and Quicksheet.

Make that 17. I purchased WordSmith AND upgraded to DTG Premium. Each one has strong points which make them an excellent team.

i, too, am pretty disappointed with the lack of bluetooth. with sony ericsson's many bluetooth phones, it really surprised me.

regardless, what can you say more about this new sony clie?

any news on a tungsten t4? or tungsten e2?

I find it sickening how Sony feels Europe "deserves" BT while the US doesn't....of course, this is fed by the fact that GSM is the de facto mobile standard over there whereas it's a hodgepodge of CDMA, TDMA, & GSM.

That said, with Ericsson phones dwindling greatly in popularity amongst the domestic US carriers, the move doesn't surprise me all that much. Also, continued moves like this will put the nail in BT's coffin (at least in the US) because arrogant, sluggish companies like Verizon will see no compelling reason to offer BT-enabled phones. A true catch-22 if there ever was one in this business.

That said, PalmOne could make a grand statement by at least offering OS5 drivers for their BT card so a Sprint Treo 600 owner could really impress everyone--BT functionality (albeit from a card) & full smartphone capabilities as well. That way, T3 owning folks could leech connectivity off of their Treo 600 ownning pals!

Guess again. Who would buy a $550 UX when you can get a TH-55 with 802.11b AND Bluetooth for $350?

The UX is actually selling well in the US (especially in Silly Valley) despite the fact that it costs more than a decent Windows desktop. Europeans use Bluetooth. Americans ignore it. Sony isn't dumb enough to parasitize their own boutique PDAs by selling a cheap, perfect PDA.

It's just too big.

Put the Pom-Poms away, there, Muffy.

Sony deserves credit for FINALLY developing a handheld in 240x320 with a standard tablet, but that's hardly innovative. There are a lot of things to like about this unit (no slider, clear flip-cover, battery life, etc.), but there are also plenty of things to dislike (stylus, Memory Stick format, no Bluetooth, no native Landscape, etc.).

Your cheerleading is reminiscent of a far-different time, when Palm would introduce a lame upgrade and Sony would follow-up with 3 units that were all much better. Let's wait until March and see what Palm releases. Or perhaps let's wait a little longer and see what PPC 2004 offers--that's why PPCs are "silent," for now, developing devices off the new OS.

And really, pom-poms just look goofy, anyway.

Whats the freaking big deal about these unit6? Why all of the clueless fanboys? I've got news for you: the new Dell Axim X3i is 400Mhz/64mb ram/full VG/ w/built in wifi - all for $300. Better stats than the Clie in every way (except actual screen resolution) for $100 less! No im not a PPC troll - i love Palm OS but wish Sony would actually produce an exciting unit at a good price - but apparently they dont have to to get un-discerning fanboys excited enough to buy their drek. Did i mention that this has the worst buttons/controls of any PDA every produced (even worse than any other Sony unit?).

Say you like it - fine. But acting like this overpriced but underpowered (123mhz) device is some sort of second-coming - its just embarassing to read.

;-), slither back to ClieSource, where mindless fanboys are always welcome. This isn't a "Sonly Savior" of a PDA. Not hardly.

The T3 hasn't self-destructed since the update, which now ships in ROM. Discounting it out of hand (did you ever own, use, or even hold one?) only displays a lack of reason and plenty of ignorance/arrogance. No, it's not perfect either, but it's a tablet hi-res+ PalmOS PDA, and out LONG before Sonly could seem to manage it.
If you want to talk about a PDA that sucks (oh, wait, you did) the UX is it. The screen makes it worth it? Hah! How can a 2" screen be worth it? Hell, the Fossil watch would have had a larger screen had it come to market.

Mike, did you realize you're now defending your nemesis?

_________________
Sean

Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.

Whats the freaking big deal about these unit6? Why all of the clueless fanboys? I've got news for you: the new Dell Axim X3i is 400Mhz/64mb ram/full VG/ w/built in wifi - all for $300. Better stats than the Clie in every way (except actual screen resolution) for $100 less! No im not a PPC troll - i love Palm OS but wish Sony would actually produce an exciting unit at a good price - but apparently they dont have to to get un-discerning fanboys excited enough to buy their drek. Did i mention that this has the worst buttons/controls of any PDA every produced (even worse than any other Sony unit?).

Say you like it - fine. But acting like this overpriced but underpowered (123mhz) device is some sort of second-coming - its just embarassing to read.

It's not the fanboys that are in need of clues. Your post shows your ignorance of both PPC, PalmOS, Sony and the HHE.

Anyone that knows PDAs realizes it's poinless comparing CPU speeds and RAM amounts between PPC and PalmOS models. The HHE throws another wrinkle into the equation. And have you (a) actually USED the buttons on the TH-55? Or are you (b) just another hot air "expert" babbling based on screenshots they've seen on fanboy websites like this.

Answer: (b)

Overpriced?
- 320 x 480 screen
- 802.11b
- camera
- 32 MB RAM (equivalent to around 1 GB in a PPC handheld...)
- solid construction
- huge suite of bundled apps

All for less than $400. Overpriced? Only if you're a dullard.

It's just too big.

Since the Dell Axim has been mentioned, let me bring an example from another environment that may be helpful in this discussion: Dell's iPod wannabe costs US$50 and US$100 less than apple's 15 and 20Gb models and includes some additional features that iPod's don't have. Based on the above comments cheaper and more features are better? hell no! why? because it's the only player that falls silent during fast forward or rewind, you can't make it play your entire music collection, and although it has a microphone there is no way to copy your recordings back to your PC. I am taking this information from an article by David Pogue at the New York Times technology section.
If the axim has similar hardware glitches to be added to PPC alarm random on/off feature (a cool way to say that your alarms will not sound most of the time) then I'll say that expensive and reliable is better!

__________________________________________________
Current fan of a 320x480 tablet shaped PDA with built in BT+Wifi for less than US$500

Hi, as a French, I know that the TH55 will be in Europe the 15 of March, with BT AND Wifi.
A french website has already done a complete review of the hardware, and will post the software review soon this week. So if you read French... It's on www.clieandco.com

Whoops, there, Mike. "Cadeau" is masculine! Philippe Radley

Btw, to those of you complaining about a lack of Bluetooth, I was under the impression that while the PalmOne SD Bluetooth card is not compatible with OS 5, the Sony Memory Stick bluetooth card would work with OS 5 CLies.

And with a single Memory Stick slot, where do you store the info/files you need when using the Bluetooth card - assuming it has the necessary drivers? Hmmmmmm....? There's NO excuse for a high end PDA to not have Bluetooth. None. Other than to purposely cripple a PDA + drive sales of a more expensive model.

It's just too big.

Whoa! $319. Thats a heck of a deal. Especially considering the Zire71 is retailng for $250. So for $70 more you're getting 16megs of more memory, and WiFi, plus the increased screen size. Still, I'd never consider replacing my TT3 for this. 32 megs may be great for an entry-level Palm, or for those meant for entertainment, (i.e. Zire71), but I like my 64mb. WiFi is nice, but I prefer Bluetooth, can't stand memory stick, and I don't like the un-detachable screen cover. But worst of all is the processor. I feel pretty comfy running at 400mHz. I get about 4 hrs of battery on my TT3, so you know what I do- charge it! I plug it in for about an hour or so each night while I browse the net, such as right now. However, I will say this is an extremely sleek unit. I really like the looks of it, although this unit also goes to show that Sony must not think people play games on their handhelds. With the jog dial being in back. Plus, I've seen some screen comparisons, I think on that French website, it doesn't seem all to impressive. I'll give it a run through at a store demo when available of course. And for $319, it sure sounds good.

I was at two different Best Buys last week and they only had a couple of random PDAs on display. When asked about the limited inventory, the person behind the counter said they were no longer selling them. Is this old news?

All I've paid attention to is the TH55. And, yes, it can use MSPro. But not *all* features, according to Sony fine print (such as highest transfer speed).

Another "PPC-only" feature falls: You can do HWR with MyScript! Bye-bye Transcriber/Calligrapher!

http://www.vision-objects.com/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=7