Sony Clié PEG-T625C

There are a few negatives you might want to bear in mind. For me, they don't detract from the overall impression of the device, but be warned away. The rocker scroll button is a crime. It's tiny and pretty much unusable. The upside is that the jog dial is absolutely amazing (at least as long as you hold the CLIE in your left hand!) and you don't really need the scroll button. The jog dial is the kind of thing you'll wonder how you ever did without once you get used to it. The flip-over cover, however, is a little too fragile for me. I tend to keep my PDA in a rather big pocket at my thigh and it rattles around when I move. On the CLIE, the cover is simply a leather flap the size of the unit that hanges across the top. There is a more rugged case mentioned on the the CLIE site, but so far I can only find it on the American sonystyle.com. The CLIE is pretty much the same size as the Palm m50x, though, which brings some hope of finding a more protective case. For now, I'll just have to keep it in another pocket. Also, I wish I didn't have to buy a separate power supply in order to charge the CLIE without the craddle. At 5.2V and a special connector, I doubt making my own will work. :-)

Lastly, for those of you who care, I've not yet managed to get it work in Linux. Windows support is excellent, especially since Documents to Go is included, but, whereas my Visor was very easy to set up (with gnome-pilot), the CLIE has so far been unresponsive. I'm working on a solution to that one, but since the CLIE is a typical geek toy (and geeks like Linux), I expect support to be either already available somewhere or just around the corner.

The PEG-T625c looks and feels great, it comes complete with a variety of software, Date book, Address book,Note pad, To Do,Mail,Calc, Paint,Photo stand,PG Pocket, World Clock,G Movie,Sound Utility, AV Remote, Avantgo,Memory Stick manager, and my favorite- Documents To Go which is excellent for working on Word and Excel documents on the move. I would have liked the Palm Expense application but it is not included with this model. Intellisync Lite is included to hot sync with Lotus Organiser. [I have purchased the extra software to sync to Lotus Notes]

The Peg-T625C has a USB connecter which seems quicker than the Palm 111c serial lead. The Sync/charging cradle is very well designed and the Clie fits snugly.

I like all the little features, the Jog wheel to scroll through applications and then 'click' the jog wheel to open the application. It comes with a soft screen cover that can be removed. I think it could benefit from some sort of clip to hold it closed. The Stylus is metal with plastic ends, it is thinner than the Palm stylus but I am getting used to it. The Colour screen gives sharp definition to text, the sample photographs that come with the system have the clear resolution as described by Sony in their brochure, I have played short mpeg files using G Movie and they are again clear and sharp.

What I don't like : the scroll button is small and not as easy to use as my Palm 111c. I am disappointed about the colours. The 'web' pictures show the colours on screen as bright and sharp but on my T625c the Red looks a muddy red, Bright yellow appears as dull yellow. The colours are better than some other PDAs but do not compare well next to the Palm 111c which shows the colours as advertised. It is still colour and it still looks good,with a high resolution screen. I have been spoilt with the Palm 111c.

Overall: I would recommend the Peg-T425C, it has great looks,easy to use and it fits well in the plam of your hand. Application bundle is good and all my existing Add-Ons have been transfered to it and they all work well. It cost me £60 more than my original Palm 111c but it is years ahead in quality and style. The extra cost is easily covered by the extra RAM, expandabilty and looks. Add to that the software included and you will not be disappointed.