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New Clie Handhelds from Sony
A Commentor writes: "Sony has release two new handhelds including a super slim high-res color model, which has 16M and "AV Remote Control feature". It is also covered at news.com."
Looks like Sony will continue to hold the coolest Palm clone crown.
If I had my time to go over, I would have purchased a Sony Clie instead of my Palm m505. These new ones with memory stick (you can buy it at walmart and its cheap, unlike the m505 cards) and the oh so impressive audio out feature make this a must have. Palm should pay attention before their market share on devices dwindles more.
Tis better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt --Abraham Lincoln
It's got great color, and it plays MP3s, but I hesitate to say that it's the coolest. I'm absolutely in love with my HandEra 330. This sucker has support for SD memory as well as CF+, meaning that it supports Ethernet connectivity, 802.11b, GSM cell modems, etc. etc., as well as huge honkin' memory cards and the Microdrive. I can run a shell on my HandEra to my uni's Unix server. Can yours do that?
Mine also has a high-resolution screen which makes many programs easier to use since they can fit more data on the screen. It also has a Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery pack available, it comes with a built-in microphone and voice-recording software (Which can record straight to SD or CF if you want), it has that cool jog-dial button so that you can scroll text or start apps with it...and it has a virtual Graffiti area, so that I can reclaim the space it uses if I'm reading e-mail or PDFs. Also, using CardPro, you can install Palm apps directly from SD or CF without syncing. You could even get an FTP app or a web browser and download apps and install them that way.
If color is your thing, HandEra's already got a color model slated for release in a few months. But the flexibility and capability of my unit *far* outweighs the benefits of a measly MP3 player.
"Mod, mod, mod...and another troll bites the dust."
I know how you feel. When i was tossing around ideas on what to upgrade to, i was jumping between the s320 clie and a handera 330. The old palm IIIe was a bit outdated, and i needed more than 2megs of space.
Handera's virtual graffiti was what almost won me over. That is DAMNED impressive, and i can say that in all the achievements that these new models have been coming out with, the retractable gf area is the most appealing.
I decided to go with the S320 though. The memory stick was very appealing to me, and with sony's promises for a memorystick camera and gps, i decided it was worth the investment. however, now those are only going to be available for the 600/700 models, i feel i may have made the wrong choice. too late now.
I wanted to get a handheld that was different than the typical palms and handsprings. To me, 2001 showed no vast improvements to the handhelds of those two product lines. More memory, and better color screens. Whoopie. Palm found it necessary to flood the market with very similar handhelds... m100, m105, m125, m500... only big difference is the memory and the availability of a memory slot. There was no single new improvement that REALLY made it worth upgrading this past year.
For the most part, unless you drop or sit on your handheld, theres no real need to upgrade. PalmOS based systems do the same stuff. OS changes arent significant enough to make it worth buying a handheld just for the upgrade. If you've got a memory expansion slot, then theres virtually no reason to upgrade. Need more memory? pop in a bigger memorystick or compact flash and sell the old one on ebay. There are numerous applications now that let you run your apps right off these expansion cards, so thats not even a drawback now.
I honestly feel that palm has to slow down and focus more on what they're putitng into their products to make them stand out and be different. Achievements that set them apart from the other PalmOS models, and from their own previous product line. Just adding more memory is not enough for me to dump my current unit and upgrade.
USB Cradle $50 bucks
AC Adapter $30 bucks
Stylus 3 Pack $15 bucks
Doesn't seem too bad...
Also, only compatible with Sony software? It runs the PalmOS, which means it's compatible with the largest selection of software available for any PDA.
Or maybe you were just trolling...
IIRC, Sony never sold a "Network" or "Memory Stick" Walkman that directly supported MP3 or non-DRM sticks. They all convert MP3s to ATRAC3 before uploading.
Interesting note: The Network Walkman is the only Memory Stick device that forces DRM. Clies will play MP3 or ATRAC3. VAIOs with built-in stick readers typically support MagicGate, but add-on readers (USB, PC Card, or floppy) don't. However, Memory Sticks are removable drives to the OS, so you just have to mount, navigate to PALM/PROGRAMS/MSAUDIO/, and tune in.
You remind them every time you vote with your wallet. Instead of buying an NW-MS9, buy a Nomad. Or an Archos Jukebox. Or an iPod, if you're in that 5% of the market enclosed in the JRDF. Let them know that, given a choice, consumers will choose the path of most convenience. (See also: Circuit City DiVX vs. DVD) Maybe if everybody imposed DRM as vigorously as Sony, the Network Walkman would be competitive. As it stands now, their only customers are members of Hillary Rosen's immediate family.
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