Sony CLIÉ PEG-SL10

...have now had my new Sony PEG-SL10 for about a year, and I have to say, overall, I am very impressed.
This is my 2nd PDA - my first being a Handspring Visor Deluxe. I wanted something that had a somewhat better display and had better memory expandability. And while color would have been a nice feature to have, it was not something I needed to spend the extra money on.

The hi-res display is really sweet !! Letters are no longer ...
...the ability to use standard Sony Memory Sticks, and 2) the Jog Wheel & Back Button on the side - this was a brilliant move by Sony to add this to the unit. Its like using the scroll wheel on a mouse. You just scroll to the item you want selected, and then just press the wheel.

My only criticism with this unit does have to do with the display. In a room with softer lighting, the display is a little hard to read. For me, this is minor ... more

I have now had my new Sony PEG-SL10 for about a year, and I have to say, overall, I am very impressed.
This is my 2nd PDA - my first being a Handspring Visor Deluxe. I wanted something that had a somewhat better display and had better memory expandability. And while color would have been a nice feature to have, it was not something I needed to spend the extra money on.

The hi-res display is really sweet !! Letters are no longer "blocky" looking. It just has a nicer, smoother look to it. The size & weight is fine for me - I'm not looking for something that will fit in my wallet - and its much smaller than my Visor anyway. The cover is adequate, and I may ultimately opt for a more protective case in the future.

The buttons on the front are just fine (a little smaller than the standard Palm or Handspring buttons). Overall, this unit feels solid. I had read an article on another website where people were complaining that the touch screen on this unit wasn't very responsive. Me personally, I did not find this to be the case (but this could be a subjective issue from person to person).

But aside from the new hi-res display, what really drew me to this model was 1) the ability to use standard Sony Memory Sticks, and 2) the Jog Wheel & Back Button on the side - this was a brilliant move by Sony to add this to the unit. Its like using the scroll wheel on a mouse. You just scroll to the item you want selected, and then just press the wheel.

My only criticism with this unit does have to do with the display. In a room with softer lighting, the display is a little hard to read. For me, this is minor because I don't mind using the backlight feature. Yeah, using the backlight draws more battery power. But I always keep a healthy stock of batteries in my house anyway and won't mind changing the batteries a little more often.

And the display looks GREAT with the backlight on !! But I could see this being an issue with some people.

Compare all the other PDA's on the market in this price class. Personally, I don't think any of them will come close to what you get with this Sony.
This price class is typically for the "entry level" PDA. But I do not consider this Sony to be an "entry level" unit. BUT, before you buy this model, I do recommend seeing it firsthand to determine if the display is to your liking, because I can see some people NOT liking it.

Here's why this PDA is great:
-33mh processor
- 8 MB is plenty of room for a PDA, however, the memory stick option allows you to increase by 128 MB.
- Superb resolution, can display monochrome pictures as well as MPEG videos (or some equivalent).
- Design is classic Sony, jog dial, "back" button, overall size and weight are perfect.
- Excellent software preinstalled allows you to work with and synch Word/Excel documents.
- Blows the comparably priced Palm Zire out of the water in terms of resolution, memory, and functions.
- The price is first-rate; this piece of kit would have cost a lot of quid just a couple of years ago.
- It has infrared capability for sharing information and hot-synching.
- Great battery life.
- It uses Palm OS.

Here's why you may NOT like this PDA:

- It's not color (although color only adds to the cool quotient, it does nothing for your information).
- The high resolution makes the letters hard to read, honestly, if you're over 50 you will likely hate it (but you can increase the font).
- The stylus is very thin and hard to manipulate for people with less than dexterous hands (but you can buy a replacement).
- Uses a USB cable instead of a cradle for hot-synching.
- No audio to speak of other than the standard beeps and buzzes.
- Uses standard AAA batteries (although I considered this a plus, I hate high-maintenance technology).
- It's the lowest line, so it won't impress too many people (if this is your primary motivation you wouldn't even be considering this product).

Overall this product is superb for the price and the features it includes. Thumbs up Sony

 

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