Classy PDA (Sony Clie N770C)

Member Name: robert_p

Product:	Sony Clie N770C
Date:	18/05/02 (1232 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quality screen, Battery longevity, Palm OS speed

Disadvantages: No Web browser, No bluetooth adapter yet

A couple of years ago, I purchased an HP Jornada 545, more as a geeky toy at the time.

The worth of this machine was proven to me when I needed to stay in a hotel with no internet access, and only my PDA and Mobile phone to help me communicate my important information.

Times change, and so do the capabilities of these devices. Having seen a Sony Clie 770 demo in a shop, I was amazed just how quickly work could be done on this thing!

The Win CE devices feel sluggish by comparison, and the newer models are only just getting the memory to help them perform more useful tasks.....

This Sony is basically a supercharged Palm PDA. Sony have given this little beauty their magic touch by making it not only physically desirable, but also offer more functions.

If you really do want a Windows based PDA, make sure you read this site first: ipaqpetition.com

It has some interesting observations by Ipaq owners

The screen is a high definition affair (320 x 320 pixels) which is double that of its Palm M505 competitor. This makes using the device a pleasure and coupled with a 33MHz CPU and 8Mb RAM, the machine is lighning fast in each application.

OK, it's not really got the horsepower to playback high quality movies, however it makes a good attempt. The in-built MP3 player entertains me with nice quality while I'm reading my Web Clips every morning on the train (it comes with cool clip-on headphones).

Some people don't like Sonys proprietory Memory Sticks, I find that there's no real limitation here. I bought a 128Mb Memory Stick and can store more on it than I know what to do with.

My Sony camera came with a 32Mb MS, which after having taken a few pictures, I plugged into the Clie. The in-built software read the photos and displayed them perfectly. Now that's usable technology!

The screen protector is functional, however I'd recommend a folding wallet to keep the
cover in mint condition.

There is one adapter which I can't wait much longer for, and that's a Bluetooth Memory Stick. When that arrives, the little Clie will be able to do everything that I need of it.

Quick word about software:-

I use Documents to Go to edit Microsoft documents. That is very handy.
The bundled software includes Real Player, which I personnaly loathe! As usual, it takes over your PC. By putting the Clie into transfer mode, a modern PC (Win 2K or XP) will detect the Memory Stick and mount it as another Drive. Copy your MP3's/Documents this way, it'll save you lots of time!

Quick word about hardware:-

Pointer can fall out if you're not careful.
The unit is slightly thicker than a machine with no MP3 playback, although the battery lasts me at least 2 weeks before a recharge is needed. That is playing MP3's every weekday for two hours, and using the unit for daily tasks for upto one hour a day. For a comparison, my Jornada needed a recharge every other day!

Things I miss:-

I hate to say this, but a Windows Terminal Server application would be nice (although I believe someone has translated VNC to the Palm OS).

These devices come and go, but I know that this device will be here for the long run!

Summary: