Sony Clie PEG-S320 Electronic wonder
Written: Jan 21 '02 (Updated Jan 21 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Low cost, very portable
Cons: none that I can think of
The Bottom Line: I would recommend this to everyone looking for a low cost PDA
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| opinionated3's Full Review: Sony CLIE® PEG-S320 Handheld |
For the longest time I have always resisted the temptation to run out and buy one of the new fangled organizers. I was happy to use my leather bound organizer that was given to me as a gift several years ago after I started my job. I needed something to hold all my paperwork, calculator, pens and it worked just fine for me. Last year I was promoted into the sales department and my organizer needs changed. I soon found myself with all kinds of hand written lists, phone numbers and tons of notes scratched all over my old organizer.
I needed a way to organize my all of my phone contacts and addresses that I could locate quickly. I also needed something that I could jot down notes to myself while in a meeting with a client. I considered purchasing a laptop computer, but I changed my mind when I started pricing them. When the cheapest laptops were going for over $1000.00, I realized that was not an option. So I started looking elsewhere and I remembered that many people were writing reviews on these PDA or Personal Digital Assistant. I didn't know a whole lot about them at the time and I only had seen them in the stores.
So I started to read some of the many reviews on the multitude of PDA's Epinions has in it's database. The most popular at first seemed to be the Palm Pilot and followed shortly by the Visor. Again I really didn't know much about them, so all I could was take as much time and research all the brands and models. We finally settled on a PDA that had all the brand recognition I wanted with a proven track record for quality. Even though Sony is not synonymous with low price, I was looking for features versus the price and expandability.
We chose the Sony Clie PEG-S320 as far as I am concerned we got a good deal. It came with all of the features that I needed and a bunch more that I can use when I need them. Let me tell you a little about the machine.
Sony Clie PEG-S320
Portability
As with most portable equipment size does matter and the smaller and lighter the better. This little jewel fits both categories quite well. With it's rather small over all size (4 1/2" x 2 3/4" x 1/2") I was able to fit it perfectly in my coat or shirt pocket. What made it fit even better was how light it is, weighing in at a light as a feather 4.27 oz. I was very happy with how portable it is. I was worried with it size limitation it would effect it's capabilities as an organizer to store data. Well, I guess you can say I knew absolutely nothing about how this device stores all that data. When I did some research on the subject I soon found out that my concern over the amount of data storage was not necessary. I will explain more about the storage capability later in the review. I want to get more of the description of the machine. Another factor in determining how portable a device can be is how Long does the battery last. The Sony Clie PEG-S320 comes with an internal rechargeable Lithium-ion battery. This gives me plenty of hours of use between charges and it allows me to keep tract of my sales leads and meeting notes.
What does it look like?
I was really impressed with the appearance of the Sony Clie PEG-S320 when I first seen it in the store. It is so hard to judge how it looks on the Sony website. It is twilight silver in color and has a large monochrome LCD screen. The screen is very easy to see in all light conditions since it is back. It has 4 control buttons located toward the bottom. It has a really neat feature that I like, it is located on the side and it is called a jog wheel. This jog wheel allows you to scroll through programs on the screen without having to use the stylus and tap the screen.
What can I do with this device?
When I first started looking for PDA I was impressed with what I was able to do with them right out of the box. It comes with preloaded programs for storing addresses, phone numbers and scheduling appointments. I also can use it to jot down notes while I am on the phone with a client or in a meeting with client. I have always been a relatively disorganized person and with this new PDA, I have found a way to put back some of the order in my life. I also can use the hot sync cable and link with my PC at home and work. With this feature I can down load programs from the web and transfer them to my PDA. I also can transfer files and emails from PC directly to my PDA.
With all the software that is included you can see how many uses for the Sony Clie PEG-S320. The list is pretty long and it amazes me that I can get all that software loaded on this tiny machine. Here is a list of the bundled software that was included with my PDA.
Palm Organizer Software
Address Book
Date Book
To do list
Memo pad
Expense
Mail
Calculator
Sony's Software
PictureGear Pocket
PictureGear 4.3 Lite for (PC)
Memory Stick Gate
Memory Stick Autorun
Value-Added Software
AvantGo
gMovie (generic media)
powerOne Personal
Vindigo
Acid Solitare
Bejeweled
Race Fever
Streetfinder Express (Rand McNally)
Most of the software is pretty much self-explanatory, but some of it may not be. Most of the Palm Organizer software should be easy to figure out. These are the basic functions behind the creation of the PDA, keeping all your information at your finger tips while you are away from your home or office. Now as far as the other software that is included, this is used to control the other neat functions of this device. Even though it is a monochrome screen it still has the capability of displaying pictures and video files. Of course since the Sony PDA uses a different file format then your PC, they're software that is loaded on your PC as well as you PDA to convert the picture files from your PC to your PDA. This is the PictureGear Pocket and PictureGear 4.3 Lite. I really like this feature, since I have three kids and my wife likes to use the digital camera I bought her last year. She takes pictures of the kids and sends them to me at the office or just saves them on our PC and then we transfer them to my PDA.
How does this device store so much?
The Sony Clie PEG-S320 uses two types of memory for storage that are a permanent part of the unit and it also comes with a socket for popping in Sony memory modules call Memory Sticks. The two types of permanent storage that are inside the unit are flash and dram. The flash memory is used to hold the operation system, which in this unit is Palm OS version 4.0. The dram memory is used to hold the preloaded and downloaded software programs. The amount of each type of memory is 4 MB (flash) and 8 MB (dram). You are probably asking yourself that doesn't seem like a whole lot of memory, it probably can't store much data with all those programs that come preloaded. All the programs that are written for the Palm operating system are written is a special language that is designed to be small in size so it will fit within the reduced memory size of the device.
The Sony Clie is fitted with an expansion port on the back which is used to plug in memory modules called Memory Sticks. These memory modules are used to expand the storage capability of the device. These Memory Sticks are used to store the picture files as well MP3 files when using the Audio adapter option. As I found out the hard way that not all Memory Sticks are the same. They're two different types of Memory Sticks made by Sony for the Clie PDA, one is called MagicGate Memory stick and the other is just Memory Stick. The MagicGate is specially designed for digital data storage, this makes is specially suited for music storage. It uses the Sony MagicGate technology and software. The Memory Stick is used for storing picture files and video files. The Memory Sticks come in different storage sizes;
MagicGate Memory sticks
8 MB
16 MB
32 MB
64 MB
128 MB
Memory Stick
32 MB
64 MB
128 MB
What do I think about this device?
This PDA has made my job so much easier, as a salesperson for a computer service company I have a large number of clients that I have to keep phone numbers and addresses handy to keep in touch with when I am away from my office. I also like that I have my kids pictures with me and I can keep updating them as my wife takes new pictures. I'm not really into the MP3 craze like some people are, but I do like to listen to music and when my radio station I listen do doesn't play me favorite music. I can pop in a memory stick that has my MP3 selections on it and listen to my music. All of the things make it a very nice device to have. It is very easy to operate, you can use the stylus to tap on the screen to launch programs or you can use the jog dial and a small scroll through box pops up and you can scroll through the list of your programs.
Can you access the internet with this device?
That is a great question and the answer is yes you can, but only with the optional wireless modem adapter or the 56K handheld modem. I cannot speak anything about either one of the modems because I didn't purchase them.
Other options include:
Serial Cradle
USB Cradle
Handheld travel kit which includes an AC travel adapter that connects directly into the PDA to recharge the internal Lithium-ion battery.
3 pack of stylus
In conclusion, I would recommend this unit to everyone looking for an inexpensive PDA. That has a lot of features, very portable and easy to use.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 155.00
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