Review of New Sony Clie PEG-NR70

Bryce writes "Here is a detailed review of the new Sony Clie PEG-NR70." Kurt the Pope picked one of these up in Japan and I have to say that it is an amazing PDA. Brilliant screen, and that cool flip open design with a mini keyboard. When I can get one that speaks English, it could be my next PDA (my iPaq died!)

Comments

Motorola Unattractive??

[Julius X]

From the article:

The most easily recognized innovation is the folding "clam shell" form factor. This design choice parallels the progression of mobile phone design in Japan, where ever-larger color LCD screens left little room for number keys that human fingers could comfortably press. In the pursuit of more surface real estate, Japanese mobile phone manufacturers decided to risk the stigma associated with flip phone designs -- a stigma largely caused by Motorola's unattractive and dated models

Excuse me? I would not call products like the StarTAC or V60 unattractive. Nor would I call them "dated". It seems to me that Motorola Cell phones are made for people who want to use their cell phones for exactly that purpose---to talk to people. I'll tell you this...my StarTAC 7868 is a hell of a lot more comfortable than any Nokia brick I've ever seen.

Where's the wireless?

[john82]

It's amazing to me that with all the design and features that went into this product, Sony left out wireless. Considering the advanced telco services in Japan, Sony's reputation for using the latest technology for their products, and the price of this puppy ($600), I expected that wireless would be a given. Check ZDnet for another review.

Re:better review

[mliu]

Sorry, figured it would be obvious. Heh, prices on electronics are good in Japan, but not THAT good (didn't you read that recent piece on Akihabara shopping?).

I think the equivalent dollar figure I saw on the N70V was around $440 US as I recall.

Re:cool, but where is the phone?

[mliu]

As cool as those combo PDA phones are, if you stop and consider for a moment you'd realize that the sheer geek factor of those is off the charts. There are 3 demographics such phones would target:
the practical businessman
the trendy student
the gee-whiz technogeek

Forget the average businessman, do you think the average fashion conscious teen would consider for a second holding a PDA sized phone up to their head and talking into to it? Half the appeal of cellular phones comes from their "cool" factor, and these days smaller is better seems to be the significant trend in phones. Frankly I can't see those combination PDA phones achieving any market penetration outside of the geek market. If the wireless is only for data, that's one thing, but you can't expect people to talk into these things.

For my money, bluetooth PDA's paired with small, sleek cellular phones is where it's going to be at. You got a phone when you need a phone, and a PDA when you need a PDA, and not a gainly unsightly mess when you need either.

Re:Some issues against this...

[Wraithlyn]

Memory Stick. It's big (physical size), expensive, proprietary, and does not hold too much data.

Big?? You could lose one of these in a pack of gum. A sneeze could carry it away. I've seen people with bigger fingernails. What exactly is small?

Expensive, and low data storage? I just ordered a 128MB stick for US $70 for my digital camera (DSC-P50, it rocks). Nearly 2MB per dollar for NV RAM? Pretty damn reasonable if you ask me.

Proprietary? Unfortunately yes. But at least they're hawking something GOOD. And yes, SmartGate is indeed worrisome, luckily my camera doesn't support SmartGate :)

However, I want to make a point that Sony are not total proprietary bastards. My DSC-P50 camera takes Sony's InfoLithium battery pack, but it ALSO takes standard AA size batteries, which means it can take NiMH rechargables, which kick ass. Kudos to Sony for not locking the P50 into a proprietary power source, which they could've easily done.