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VAIOs *are* desktop machines.

swv3752: Smaller size, 5mb more useable memory, and the ability to use cf cards.

You're kind of comparing a luxury car to a mid-range one (or some similar differentiation between market segments), swv3752, but you also made a couple of mistakes.

First, you CAN use compact flash type II cards with the NZ90, and the available RAM on the NX80 and NZ90 are identical: 32 MB (16 ROM, 16 RAM).

While it's true that the NX models are smaller, it's with good reason. Unlike the NX models, the NZ90:

• includes a strobe flash for the camera (and believe me, you need it if you're anywhere that's not brightly lit and you want pictures of a decent quality!) not just a "capture light"
• the CF slot is inside the body of the NZ90 vs. outboard on the NX models
• most importantly, the NZ90 has a REMOVEABLE rechargeable battery. Have you ever had your PDA run out of juice while you were on the road? It always happens at the worst time. And if you're using the wireless networking or the camera a lot, battery power can get eaten up fast.

So, yes, the NZ90 is a little bigger (0.03 inches deeper, 0.12 inches wider and 0.38 inches longer), but I'll take it over the NX models any day -- it's a real workhorse for road warriors and other highly mobile workers. The NX models are good for what they are -- mid-range devices -- but they just don't measure up. Here's the comparison chart.

Um, actually the specs page says it has 32mb. The software itself is located in ROM memory, so that doesn't take up any space. Still not that much, but more than 16mb.

We are testing the new Sony Clie NZ90 which comes with a 2 Mega Pixel camera, built-in Bluetooth, Palm OS 5, wireless LAN slot, voice recorder and a 320 x 480 pixel display. We are testing it with the add-on 802.11b wireless LAN WiFi card. It records video in MPEG-4 and plays back MPEG-1 and MPEG-4 (among other formats) so I'm not exactly clear on what the fuss is about here.

For those confused by the NX spec page, there's a type. though the 73 and 80 seem identical aside from color (silver vs black) and price ($599 vs $499), the 73 has a 300,000 pixel camera, not the 1.3 megapixels stated on the page. It also has half the ram (16 vs 32) though others on this thread claim that the difference is more marginal (11 vs 16) due to 'overhead' and memory address issues.

Sony makes a series of Mavica digital cameras that write pictures to mini cds (160ish mb). This appears to fit all the criteria of your request but is pretty expensive and you still have to charge the battery, and I bet quite often because the cd burner must take some serious battery.

If you were purchasing a PDA right now, would you choose Palm, Handspring, or avoid them entirely?

I would avoid both of them entirely, but not because of the sale, but because of the clunky design, smaller screen size, and general lack of innovation. With Handspring came along, it pushed Palm to adapt and made their products cheaper, and smaller. But overall both of their products we're basically the same. I mean how long did it take for Palm to develop USB functionality, even Handsprings came with it right out of the box?

Then the Palm OS market changed when Sony came along, they pulled the 6 Million Dollar Man on the competitors. They made their handheld, faster, smaller and added functionality the others were lacking. I did my research and at the time bought the Clie PEG-SL10 and I haven't looked back. Palm may of been one of the originators but Sony has been the innovator.

I think this sale is bad for everyone, competition always spurs more innovation.

Mike

RM-AV3000 kindly disagrees with you

The 12 inch powerbook is only a cacheless 867Mhz

and on top of everything else lacks several legacy ports it abandons in favour of firewire and USB.

In that perspective, it's struggling to stay a competitive deal even if it dropped another $100

While I do believe he is correct, I think he may be off base with the PDA. This is one of the only devices that I would like to see be more "all in one". I'd personally like a Sony Ericsson p800 style PDA phone that had the screen from a Clie NZ90, GPS, iPod sized hard drive, megapixel camera, the VERY cool remote control center from Sony, 802.11g and Bluetooth + an Mp3 player and DIVX/MPEG4 decoder. While something like this would be in the high end (probably where the NZ90 is = $800 + $100 802.11 card) I still think it'd fly off the shelf, and possibly be subsidized by cell phone companies, at least in part with service agreements.

I still hope Apple is considering such a device or at least with most of the features listed here with a compact flash & SDIO slot.

I know there's a little link overload, just illustrating how easily this could be done right now!

All of this could be squeezed into a current form factor Sony Clie.

It's keyboard looks like the exact same dimension as a TG50 Sony Clie (which an office-mate owns). Seems to work for him just fine.

However, a $449 price tag is rather hard to justify here. I known that it's comparing Apples to Oranges, but, a person can still pick up a used, last generation laptop with vast amounts more computing power for the same price on an auction, or slightly more at a computer show. And yes, I do realize that making these things are not exactly cheap, but $400+ dollars for those specs - from an unproven manufacturer?

I'll stick with my $195 backlit Clie that I got from Circuit City - after my $35 mail in rebate and the $10 mark down from the holiday sale (which can do everything that this can) for now. I'll pick a Yopy up off Ebay in a few months though.

On the other hand, MP3 players, digital cameras, and video cameras do not belong with integrated phones or PDAs. These media device require a lot more storage space, which at the moment, means a hard drive. My MP3 player, a Creative Nomad Jukebox 3 has a 20GB hard drive, which is fantastic! I love carrying around all the music I own on it. My digital camera, which is at the low-end of the spectrum (1.3 MP), currently has a 128MB card, which is adequate for a trip of approx 2 weeks or so. I can imagine that if I purchased a camera with a better resolution, I'd want a lot more storage on the camera, perhaps somewhere in the range of 1GB. (BTW, can the cameras that take CF cards use the microdrives?) I currently don't own a video camera, but have been working with digital video at my job, and it's fantastic. If I were to get a video camera, why not get one that has a HD built in? With the addition of a firewire or network port, you could transfer the video over quite quickly. Unite the media devices around the fact that they need a lot of storage, which requires a larger form factor.

I'm actually not convinced that a MP3 player should be integrated with anything, as I can forsee situations where that'd be really inconvenient. However, I'd love to have a combo digicam / DV cam, and hope that more device like that are produced. Sadly, all of the video cameras I've seen that also take still photos don't do a good job of that, and all the digicams I've seen that take videos don't do a good job of that.

Todd

OK, OK, well, you do lose the immersive VR environment on the client side.... :-)

I'm a bit confused as to why commercial skip/advance has become so controversial all of a sudden. VCRs have had these features for years: Panasonic, Sony. So why is this a big deal when it comes to PVRs?

here

Good thing I bought a Tungsten T, it rules.

Sony's Clie' page

Just to spare you a little searching.

Ummm... The rest of your ill-thought out diatribe aside, Sony has licensed TiVo's technology and sells a Sony branded TiVo.

I know it may be too late for people who have already deployed equipment, but Sony does offer the Giga Pocket PVR and Room Link combination on their desktops. You can even use WiFi to connect from the PC to your AV equipment. Plus it comes with its own remote.

I know it may be too late for people who have already deployed equipment, but Sony does offer the Giga Pocket PVR and Room Link combination on their desktops. You can even use WiFi to connect from the PC to your AV equipment. Plus it comes with its own remote.

Not a bad Idea. A similiar solution would be this. A bit pricey but gives one a complete solution for video archiving and editing plus is foward looking in allowing digital camcorders to be hooked up.

Most digital cameras will have a/d converters built in so one could also a dv camcorder with a firewire card to capture analog video.

I would highly recomed the final archive product be on dvd as movie. DVD+/-R/W does not realy matter.

Do a google search - there are tons of sites talking about it. If you can't decide which standard you want get the Sony DRU500A which does all of them (except DVD-RAM)

I think the idea of the Panasonic camera is good, but much like the editcam, I don't think it will do anything but fill the needs of hobbyists. The Sony camera that records to discs scares me too. Recording to a disc, what happens when I shake the thing? Does it skip?

Most professionals want durability and reliability. Most of these types of cameras, and some of the lower-end DV cameras, are good for hobbyists but I know I demand more (and I am a professional). Cameras like DV5000 from JVC are inexpensive and are solid pieces of equipment, but may not be for the geek. Automatic focus is something you will not find on most professional cameras.

I know that there have been some successes in the profesional world with this type of camera, but that is the exception rather than the rule. Almost all movies are still shot on film and most television stations and production companies demand something more durable than a disc based camera... and something more standard than a PCMCIA rig. Most places are still using BetaSp, even though Sony quit development a couple of years ago (please don't think I mean BetaMax). I believe this PCMCIA based camera will come and go much like the EditCam. Hopefully venders will realize that people like standards and that they get upset when "left out in the cold" with a product that no one else will support (see Digital 8mm). I think this not only holds true for professionals but hobbyists as well.

God bless this rant... and my karma.

On Sony's web sites, it's spelled "Wega" in plain-text. There's no confusion with a shadow or silhouette here. It's a W.

It's spelled "Wega", but yes, it is pronounced "Vega". Yes, it's completely stupid.

Not Vega, Wega. I know a lot of people screw that up, but I how can you trust a review site that doesn't even get the name of the product right?

• Your one CD player. Go do a little more research.

Are you saying that Sony sells only one model of MP3/CD player? Not true. Are you saying they don't sell multi-changers that do MP3? Also, not true. It seems you need to do research.

As to the rest of your comments, I think you just don't get what it means to be a monopolist and how that changes the rules of doing business.

Here's a clue. It's legal for me to contract with someone to only carry my brand of anything. It's not legal for a monopolist to do the same, if this keeps others from entering the market.

If you don't like anti-trust laws, well, come out and say it, but that's the way it works today.

• Your one CD player. Go do a little more research.

Are you saying that Sony sells only one model of MP3/CD player? Not true. Are you saying they don't sell multi-changers that do MP3? Also, not true. It seems you need to do research.

As to the rest of your comments, I think you just don't get what it means to be a monopolist and how that changes the rules of doing business.

Here's a clue. It's legal for me to contract with someone to only carry my brand of anything. It's not legal for a monopolist to do the same, if this keeps others from entering the market.

If you don't like anti-trust laws, well, come out and say it, but that's the way it works today.

...that the 'Sony Clie' tries really hard to make you forget that it's a Palm device?

Sony's got a track record for this, no?

That's Miss Clio or Miss CLI± to you!

Looking at their site, it looks like the SJ20 is their only current high-res monochrome option, but they've had a few in the past, including the SL10 that they currently have available as a $99 refurb.

Say hello to VAIO

I know it's CRT and not LCD, but i can never get enough screen real estate and this monitor makes development so much easier on the eyes with the wide wide 24" display.

Big Ass Monitor

For serious work with limited space you need the 3840x1000 resolution. At work I have a pair of Sony GDM-FW900 monitors. Great resolution, crisp imagines, easy on the eyes. Beautiful

I love TiVo and I love Sony for their industrial design sensibilites. Everything in my entertainment center has a Sony logo on it. Including the TiVo. I wonder how this news bodes for the Sony TiVo...

Sony already makes a DVR built with Tivo technology. I imagine they will still use Tivo technology for a US release of the new product.

Adding a DVD burner is definitely a cool addition.

Some of the earlier posters are getting at the problem, here. This phone is basically the same as any other mobile phone device, it just wraps around your wrist a little better. Waterproof? It had better be, since your wrist goes near a faucet much more often than a mobile phone normally would. I have a Sony radio that fits on an armband or on a belt clip. That seems like a much better form factor than the wrist.

after all don't they make the mp3 players, and they also make copy-protected cds. So if all their customers behaved legally the only thing they could play on the mp3 is their home recordings of the kiddies playing recorder (eek)?

that doesn't seem to match the sony marketing of their mp3 players. (create your own music mixes - for me that means no recorder music thanks)

So is it legal in the USA to be promoting something that encourages illegal behavior? And is it good business practice to be building copy protected cds that hurt the mp3 player business when you're in both?

How about if the old Laptop TFT screen gets built into the side of the PC case? Like those glass windows everyone bores out of the case.

Of course, then, ultimately, you'll end up with something like this...

Model III
- or -
Sony's new all-in-one
- or -
Datapoint 2200
- and an Osborne computer mentioned elsewhere in the thread -
Osborne executive 3

I will have to say, though, one of the prettiest cases I've ever seen was this one... it'd make a pretty cool Linux box today (with some hardware modification)!

Sharp MZ40K System 2

I guess all-in-ones are somewhat en-vogue again. It just figures an all-in-one-(esque) case mod for a regular tower case is in order.

My guess is that Sony (and other electronics manufacturers) will end up selling the hardware with TiVo continuing to exist as a service, rather than as a brand of hardware.

Phillips' MP3/DVD portable may be yet to be released but the Sony MPDAP20U has already been out for a couple of months. It seems like the Holy Grail of Portables: 24X/10X/24X CD-RW, 8X DVD-ROM (plays MP3/DVDs), USB 2.0, LCD remote, no DRM, and oh yeah, it has a Memory Stick slot, too. It's a little spendy at $299. Page 33 of the User Guide confirms that MP3 on DVD-R/RW is a go (and via Memory Stick as well). Here's a review.

The only thing I might possibly try to wish for is Sony making a clie model which folds on its wide side(like a loptop) rather than its narrowest side(like a... sony clie?) ofcourse this laptop style clie would have the keyboard flipped accordingly(like you would see on a laptop) and the screen would still be able to flip over top the keyboard to have a traditional allscreen pda.

"A quick look at Sony's site shows that a 32" HDTV is going to set me back $5000."

That is because it is a PLASMA display. If you scroll down they have a 65" 16:9 HD-RPTV for $3500.

Well
The counterparts for this particular model in the PC realm only sport PIII not the PIV. For instnce, the VX89 Series notebook from Sony carries only an PIII 900 processor. From my experience, a G4 generally beats out a X86 processor that has 1.5 X superiority in clockspeed. So, I definitely believe this Powerbook will outclass a notebook with 33MHZ superiority.

You can fnd the specs for this computer at
VX89 Series

Wow, tiny computer. Nice. Look a n o t h e r tiny computer.

The competition listed in the review is the Apple iMac and the Gateway Profile 4S, but I don't see how this comparison can hold any leverage at all. Honestly, the Sony PCV-W10 captures a specific demographic and truly is a unique and innovative product. Both the iMac and the Profile are both "economy" machines: stripped down (hardware-wise) versions of the PC made to save space (I assume).

The only real content in this review is contained in the hardware specs and images, but those can be found here.

http://www.jp.sonystyle.com/Product/Pserver/Fsv-pg x1/index.html

"Then I figured it out. Masturbation. The only viable use I can fathom for having the ability to conveniently and surrepitiously carry around tiny movie clips and random digital phots is to satisfy a lonely geek's need to have easy-access porn-at-hand"

From Sony Product Information Page
"Sony's exclusive Jog Dial navigator allows you to access images, phone numbers, notes, even video clips, while keeping your other hand free"

Lastly: This page [sonystyle.com] renders like sh!t in Netscape. How very unprofessional.
That's odd. I renders very nicely in Mozilla 1.2.1