The Sony Clie Popularity
 Apr 12th, 2004
Advantages:
Good Design * * Durable * * Comes with Camera * * Good little Thumboard
Disadvantages:
CF Slot but no driver, limiting you to Sony memory sticks .
Recommendable:
Yes
Detailed rating:
Look & Feel
Memory / capacity
Comfort & Portability
Ease of use
Value For Money
more
  bluerose28
About me:
Hello, I'm Laura and I'm a journalist/fiction writer - www.myspace.com/roseblue
Member since:12.04.2004
Reviews:21
Members who trust:5
Review rated by 8 Ciao members on average: very helpful 
This review received a counterstatement by a party concerned
Read Comment
Welcome my friend, to the Clie Club, if you want to join it. I've had this stylish device for about a year now, so I have a good lot to write about.
I'll start with the design. It is stylish, easy to use and impressive to on-lookers. The screen unnerved me somewhat at first, as this is a very expensive piece of metal and I did not want to twist the screen the wrong way. Let me explain, this PDA's screen you are able to flip up, twist and then flip back down, so that the screen is covering the keyboard, great for watching film clips etc. although I mostly have it with just the screen flipped up, as I am an avid writer and like to use the small keyboard. I find the 'thumboard' very useful although the screen is at slightly an awkward angle if you are holding it for a long time whilst typing. The device has Sony Clie written on it clearly in 3 separate places, so you won't forget who made it either. This was my first Palm, and although some say it is rather big for a Palm, I've always thought of it
as quite small. I'd recommend this as a first buy into the world of PDAs as it is easy to use and satisfactory in most ways. The thumboard, as I've mentioned, is very easy to use but there is also a software keyboard that you can use with the stylus on screen, and handwriting recognition so you can write the way you'd use a pen, letter by letter, onto the Clie's screen. This takes a bit getting used to, and I myself prefer to use the keyboard. With all the input methods however, you are spolit for choice.
The Clie comes with a stylus, a cradle, a charging cable, a USB cable, instructions and an installation CD, earphones, which I found rather useful, and a Sony Clie Remote. This remote limits you to using with the Clie however, but does come in very handy when listening to MP3s. Installation is very simple and after a few hours of charging, reading instructions and then installing, you can start playing with your new toy. Without installing, it's quite boring but you can imagine I played about a good while. There';s a Clie demonstration and other very simple things you can look at. After installing, this piece of technology can keep you enthralled for hours, and you can play about with the camera, audio player, MS Import where you can put your Mp3 files onto your Clie, as well as things like Documents to Go and flash player, the mpeg player, the list goes on and on.
The Clie lasts a good few hours playing mp3 files alone and I've spent ages using it to listen to mp3 files, I've needed no MP3 player. I've enjoyed using it and the volume does go up quite loud whilst listening to music. The camera is a good digital camera although it doesn't have the highest resolution and is definitely not high quality. I've enjoyed taking pictures and movies with this player, and watching movies is a pleasure with the Clie's large screen.
Now, about the memory, the Clie does have a CF (compact flash) slot, which was initially denied by Sony that it is for CF Cards. It is a 'Wireless Lan' slot. Since that time, many have developed drivers for the Clie NX70V but I am not sure where Sony stand on this issue anymore. All I know is, you can use a compact flash card if you are willing to pay the for the drivers. The only option sony really gives you is to use sony memory sticks, which is typical of sony. I do not doubt they are good media, but I would like some choice, which is why I am considering buying the drivers for CF myself. I already have a CF card, for use with my pocket pc. I also own 2 memory sticks, which I find work perfectly well with the Clie.
The Clie screen is clear and impressive, there are 3 screen size options to watch movie clips with, one is full screen.
The Clie is of course, a Palm, and there is a wide range of applications available to work with Palm, so it is not a bother finding software. The 200Mhz processor is impressive, and the device is certainly not slow. It takes it's time to load up large ebooks etc. but it hardly ever freezes and I have only had to do a hard reset about twice in the past year. When you do undertake a hard reset, a lot of the information will go back onto the Clie after a hotsync. This is done by connecting your Clie to your computer via the USB cable and cradle, and is not hard to do. It is wise to sync the contents of your Clie often, incase anything is lost.
The clie also boasts a very good digital voice recorder, so really, you can use this device for about anything! The Clie NX70V comes with a Lithium Ion battery, which lasts up to about 8 hours I'd say, although it depends on what applications you are using etc.
So much to write, and I have really had a wonderful year with this device. One more thing, although this device is durable, I must advise you to buy a screen protector as soon as possible, as with all PDAs. All it is is a little thin layer of clear plastic, you will barely notice it is there but will prevent your screen from getting scratches, as it is so very easy to do. I'd recommend this product, or others from the same Clie range. I hope it gives you as much pleasure as it has given me!
Read more on this product
Products you might be interested in
Related tags for Sony CLIÉ PEG-NX70V
|
|
by (13%):
by (75%):
17.10.2005 09:18
Good Review. Scripted well.
16.04.2004 22:27
Extremely well written. Gives a lot of useful information on the product and includes an element of comedy in the review.
15.04.2004 00:14
I have one of these i love the tilt on the screen the most. Great review. P.s Only problems with the PDA it is very fragile, and it does not fit in the whole of your hand. Dom xxx