Import PalmOS PDA (the perfect marriage)
Written: Aug 13 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Relatively inexpensive, included li-ion battery, thumb-wheel, bundled-pix viewer, good looking
Cons: no serial-cable included, expensive cradles not included
The Bottom Line: The core PDA has the best bang for the buck. Not much additional goodies included in the package, though.
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| DrMobots's Full Review: Sony CLIE® PEG-S320 Handheld |
I used to have an original Palm Pilot, but stopped using it because it was somewhat bulky and I needed to change batteries every two weeks or so. I had been waiting for a slimmer PDA with built-in rechargeable batteries. Sure, the expensive Palms and Handsprings have built-in rechargeable batteries, but they are too expensive for my taste.
Surprisingly, Sony's new CLIE PEG-S320 is not very expensive. For US$200, you get 8MB of RAM (7.7M available for user stuff), a built-in IrDA port, a high contrast backlit screen, power CABLE and USB CABLE. You don't get a cradle in the package, but the two included cables can recharge and hot-sync the PDA, just not at the same time. You also get a built-in Li-ion rechargeable battery. The PEG-S320 is probably the least expensive PalmOS PDA with a built-in Li-ion rechargeable battery.
If you are using a Windows OS and have a USB port, you don't really need a cradle. According to the manual, one full charge (takes no more than 3 hours) is good for 11 days of average use. The USB hot-sync is fast, trouble-free and reliable. However, if you are using Linux, you can only hot-sync with a serial port at this point. The serial cradle is $60, and it is not available everywhere! I had to order the cradle directly from www.sonystyle.com. The cradle does hot-sync and recharge at the same time.
Except for the additional thumbwheel, this PalmOS PDA is about the same as other PalmOS PDAs in terms of ease of use. You do want to spend some time practicing the Graffiti entering technique before giving up on it. Once learnt, it is very handy. For those who absolutely do not want to learn, you can always pop up the built-in virtual keyboards for alphabetical, numeric and special symbol entry.
The additional thumb wheel is useful for scrolling. It is much easier to roll the wheel than to click on the those tiny up/down arrows. I have not found it extremely useful, yet.
The monochrome screen is easy to read in sunlight as well as interior light. When it does get dark, you can use the backlight feature (press and hold the power button). I think Sony should have used LEDs and light pipes instead of electro-luminescent (EL) source. LEDs are much more durable and do not require nearly as much electronic components. The EL source does provide a much more evenly lit area in cool green.
If you want to carry the PDA in style, you probably want to pay a little to get the Sony holders. The included soft flip-over cover is functional (as a screen protector), but otherwise a total mismatch for the silver-colored PDA. It does not provide any additional pockets for credit cards.
In conclusion, the PEG-S320 is a cost-effective package. It doesn't have all the nice options thrown in (no cradle, no overall carrying case), but the core unit is very nice and well equipped.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 199
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Epinions.com ID:
DrMobots
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Location: Sacramento, CA
Reviews written: 33
Trusted by: 4 members
About Me:
Husband of a lovely and smart wife, father of a witty and most adorable daughter.
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