Psion 5mx v Sony Clie N770CU v Nokia 9210

Psion 5mx v Sony Clie N770CU v Nokia 9210

Thought it would be nice to do a comparitive review of the PDA's I currently own- although I'm comparing 3 very different machines after a lot of thought I came up with a surprising winner.

Psion 5mx

I have used Psions for the past 10 years ever since I purchased an original 128kb Psion Series 3 in 1991. I steadily upgraded through every new machine and finally stayed with a 5mx. I still use it now and have to say that most of it's advantages are hardware related- the keyboard is still the best I have used on a PDA and I type just as quick on it as I do on my Toshiba laptop. It's solidly constructed and looks (in my opinion) very professional with a unique hinge which slides the keyboard out as you open the unit. The screen is very clear (monochrome) and has en excellent backlight which works well in all conditions. Yes, Psion have moved away from the consumer market and this machine lacks some features that are seen in a lot of modern PDA's- colour screen, MP3, video playback and good quality web clipping to name but a few. It's advantages lie in the overall design and the EPOC OS which is outstanding for generally organising your day to day adventures- it's still the only OS that truly integrates applications which each other i.e. you can put a 'wrod' document into the 'agenda' application with a couple of key presses and the same goes for 'sheet' files, sketches etc. etc. It's main disadvantage is size (sort of)- it is big in comparison to Palms and Pocket PC's but the trade off is an excellent keyboard and the fact that it is still the best PDA to use as a laptop replacement! Pros Keyboard / EPOC OS (Ease and speed of use) / Build Quality Cons Monochrome screen / starting to look a little bit dated / size Portability: 7 OS: 9.5 Ease of use: 9.5 Features: 8.5 Flexibilty: 9 Overall: 8.7

Sony Clie N770CU

Well, here's the machine that inspired me to set up Clie World almost from the day I purchased it. I was using a Palm m505 as my main machine and bought this more out of curiosity than anything else but it was a very good choice and to this day I still marvel at the quality of the screen! Although the Palm OS is not as practical or quick as EPOC in everyday use it is the nearest there is and comes in a much smaller hardware package which has it's own benefits. So why do I use this Clie over the other Palm Powered offerings? Firstly the battery life is quite superb, even when playing MP3's for long periods of time. It also has a feeling of robustness which a machine like the T625 does not have- it feels like it could be dropped from a fair height and survive to play another day. The screen clarity and colour dfefinition are excellent and really show off photos in all their glory. Finally, the MP3 playback sounds wonderful- this may sound over the top but within a few weeks I had sold my Sony mini-disc as this was the only machine I could find to match it's sound quality. It's not all gushing praise and this machine does have it's faults- the screen is easily scrathable and I already have 3 scratches on mine (had never scratched a PDA screen before in 10 years so it's not just me) and it is fairly bulky in comparison to some of the new Palm units but in this review it wins by a mile. Pros Screen quality / MP3 playback / Build quality Cons Data input (Graffiti) / Fragile glass screen / Poor cradle (too light) Portability: 9 OS: 8 Ease of use: 8 Features: 9.5 Flexibilty: 8.5 Overall: 8.6

Nokia 9210

I have only been using this machine for a week but have already managed to ascertain the good and bad points already. The main dissapointment for me is the fact that it has onboard a development of the EPOC OS but the hardware does tend to take away many of the benefits normally associated with EPOC. Although programs like conatacts, agenda, sheet etc. are colour variations of the programs used in the 5mx the screen on the 9210 is just too small to take full advantage of their usability. The processor does not seem fully capable of handling the OS either as there tends to be long waits whilst opening and navigating in some programs. On the good side the keyboard, whilst small, is surprisingly usable and with a small amount of practice I can get up to some fairly quick typing speeds. The combination on a mobile phone and PDA does work well here- it's a pleasant experience sending SMS and email quickly from anywhere you like and to be able to scroll through your contacts and then press 'call' to reach them is nice. The Web application is quick as well with some complex pages loading a lot quicker than with a Clie and standard GSM mobile for instance. One other very useful feature is the hands free function which is superbly implemented- I managed to hold a conversation with my Mother yesterday whilst the phone was open 10 feet away and she thought I was on my land-line. There are many other features which I won't go into here but you can get more information at allabouter6.com. Pros Phone/PDA integration / Keyboard / EPOC OS Cons Size & weight / small screen / speed Portability: 5 OS: 9 Ease of use: 7 Features: 8.5 Flexibilty: 8.5 Overall: 7.6

So the 5mx wins by a very small margin- the choice between these 2 machines is purely down to what the user requires- if you need to input lots of data on the road and want a laptop replacement the 5mx is the one. If portability and MP3 are your main wants the Clie is the one to go for (it has been discontinued though so be quick). Finally- the Nokia 9210, whilst very desirable, does not quite feel like the finished article yet.

Interview with Joel Suplido of Clie Source (now 1src)

Where are you based and which PDA do you currently use (and why)?

I'm based in the island of Guam, USA (13 North latitude and 144 East longitude). I have a Clie T615 because I believe it has the features I want in a PDA: color screen, size and weight, design, and functionality. I used to have a 710 but the MP3 listening I do would usually be done at work (with iTunes) or at home (with Winamp) so I didn't see a reason why I'd keep the 710 (I gave it to my sister as a present). My first PDA was the USRobotics Pilot.

Are you and Reggie related???

Yup. I'm his older brother but he's based in West Virginia, USA. That's the nice thing about the net -- distances mean nothing, and I love it!

Why did you set up Clie Source?

It was set up by my brother because he believed that the Sony Clie is going to be the future dominant Palm PDA. Seeing the 1000+ registered members, I'm happy to see that my brother's vision is on the right track.

How many people work on the site (besides moderators) and how many hours a day do you spend?

It's a hobby of my brother. So it's just him and me. For me, I do about 1 hour of work a day -- more when I was building up the Files Section.

What do you enjoy most about running Clie Source?

I love the people who are onboard! They are the most intelligent, helpful, and logical bunch I've seen compared to most boards. When ClieSource was just starting, the moderators were the ones who pulled in new members primarily because of their real concern for those who are in need.

What do you least enjoy?

...trying to be calm when people try to take potshots at each other onboard. Yes, fights do happen in ClieSource just like in other boards. Sometimes I get disappointed because I don't see why people get personal because of an inanimate object (ie. their respective PDA's). I'm getting tired and sad of reading Palm vs. Sony stuff too.

What's your favourite non PDA website and why?

www.the-gadgeteer.com I've been reading it ever since I got the Palm Vx a while back. I visit this site from time to time just to see what new gadgets have been designed. I've read a lot of informative reviews in this site.

Who designed Clie Source?

My brother along with a gazillion suggestions from the beta test group (the group which eventually became the first moderators).

What are your future plans for the site?

ClieSource is a very dynamic site. I don't know to what it will evolve into. It's what the registered members would want it to be anyway. We listen to them and if it's feasible, then we do the changes. For myself, it's building up the icon sets and linking them to palmgear.com and muchy.com (a Japanese Clie site).

Has it been successful in your opinion and how many hits do you average a day?

The growth is phenomenal. Last January, we had 800k hits. I don't have the exact figures but right now, it's safe to say that we get around 7 new registered members a day. Thanks for this interview. We wish you all the best for Clie World!

Thanks to Joel (and Reggie) of Clie Source who, I have to add, have been very supportive of Clie World from day one and have offered various news stories, encouragement and advice for which I am grateful.

Skip Bremer's Review of the new Sony Clie t615

I have tried upgrading my trusty Palm V to a Palm m505 and a Clie 610C over the last couple of months, but I was disappointed with both of these units. The Palm screen was crap and the Clie was like a brick (but very nice other than that). But, I finally have found the unit for me.

The Sony PEG-T615C. It arrived from PC Connection overnight on the 23rd. Let me cut to the chase by saying that this is, IMHO, the best "Palm" ever made bar none. It is awesome. The workmanship, case, bolted in jog dial, silver back and front, locked in nice hard leather flap... it's even got an eye bolt sticking out for hanging it around your neck or where ever, made again its made out of polished metal. This unit fits in your hand like to was made with your hand.

The screen is absolutely fantastic. I have been running it for the last two days and found that I had to move the brightness down to minimum, as low as the slider would go, and that works perfect for daylight, partial daylight, and at night. Actually it's nearly too bright at night. Someone needs to make a hack that lowers the range of the brightness slider. ***Are any programmers listening?*** I'm not kidding. At full brightness I could be a burglar without a flashlight; this unit would suffice instead.

The fonts are so readable. I found, because my eyes aren't what they used to be, that the ThinFont fix is for me (thanks to that author), and I like to run my programs with the bold font, and it is tremendously and pleasurably readable. The very white background is a dream that I was beginning to think I'd never see in a PDA (I've been PDAing since the HP95LX). I'm actually not sure that screens will ever be any better than the one on this unit. They certainly don't need to be.

The battery, everyone's concern, has turned out not to be a problem for me at all either. Yesterday, I purposely made sure I did not charge it at all. I used it all day on and off, between doing some desk work and such, to install and configure all of my programs and data. I like to start out "fresh" with a new Palm, so I move my Palm folder and start over (a habit Windows has taught me no doubt). So basically I fiddled with it heavily all day. It went on the charger only for the many hotsyncs I ran. I might have left it there for a few minutes now and then while I was busy, but largely it did not have a chance to grab a charge to speak of all day long (I started with a full charge from the night before). I didn't think it was ever going to get off 100% for a while at first, but by last night it had finally gotten down to 60%. So at 11:00pm I jumped into bed and, after some of Leno, I played some Klondike solitaire, three games I think, and reviewed today's schedule and just marveled at what I had. When I finally laid it down it was at 50%/3.73V and that's where it was this morning when I got up. At work this morning, I have shown it around to some of my friends and worked with my schedule (DateBk4) and added a debit for a gas fill up this morning to SplashMoney and now it is laying on my desk at 49%/3.73V. I plan to use it today without setting it in the cradle so it can tell me when it is low because I'm curious where and when that will be. Anyway, for the way I work, usually popping it in the cradle at work when I'm working on my desktop, I am just not going to have a problem with this battery I don't think. I don't remember the m505's battery lasting like this one seems to. I am going to buy a third party pair of cable (USB and Charger) so I don't have to carry the cradle home over the weekend or on trips. I did the same thing with my Palm V.

The alarms are clear, and I like the new sounds for a change--lots of them, and they are loud. In fact it is embarrassing to check them and change them here as others no doubt think I must be at my desk playing a game or something.

I have ONLY one little complaint. The buttons are just fine, but the rocker button for page up and down is a little hard to use. It's kind of stiff and small and will take some getting used to. But then again I am getting used to, and loving, the jog dial and back button, and I find I don't have to use the rocker very much. I like the way Sony made this machine so that if you lay it down on the desk face first (with the leather cover still flipped to the back) none of the buttons get depressed; it just lays their flat and solid.

As you can tell, I really do like this machine and in fact there is no way you could get me to trade it for any other machine on the market.