Sony Clié PEG-NR70V

This is my first Clie and the features I like about it apart from the integral memory stick slot are:
(1) The resolution of the display ( enhanced by YiShow of which more later)
(2) The integral camera which while not megapixel is good enough for good quality images of people suildings and room interiors.
(3) The Software Graffiti area and silk screen buttons. These can be replaced by applications thus increasing the screen real estate by 30 - 50 %. Great for displaying photos.
(4) The jog dial and its usefulness in navigating within the basic Palm applications.
(5) The swivel screen which allows use in standard palm mode or with the screen inside the unit when closed and when opened being apable of being used with a hardware keyboard.Its fun to see the display itself flip part way though the swivelling!
(6) The Graffiti area display of the strokes as electronic ink - instant feedback like TealScript - very useful
(7) The Documents To Go display. I have always found traditional Palms inadequate for anything but very simple spreadsheets because of the need to continually scroll. The high resolution display however overcomes this sufficiently to make Sheets To Go really useful - for the first time.

The features I don't like are:

(1) When in traditional Palm swivel state there is no way to switch quickly between the standard palm applications as the hard butttons for these are above the hardware keyboard , which is only easily available in the flipped swivel state. One solution to this is YiShow which is an application launcher and external memory viewer. It dispenses with the sofware graffiti area and allows hotspots to be linked to any of the main palm applications. Essential for traditional Palm users who prefer Graffiti to hard or soft keyboards.
(2) The absence of Powerpoint viewer in the Documents To Go Suite. To install the professional suite you must uninstall the applications loaded from the Clie's CD you cant just add the Powerpoint viewer, so if you already have it and want to use it on the clie dont install the Documents To Go suite from the Clie's CD.
(3) The limited applicabilty of the Remote Control Software. There doesn't appear to be any wway to learn commands so you are limited to a predefined and limited range of devices. Or delete the application and try a 3rd party Remote controller like OmniRemote.

Now for some comparisons:
(1) The Handspring Visor Prism's display is brighter than the Clie which in turn is brighter than the M515.
(2) Sounds on the Clie are great and can of course play MP3 files for which there is a tie-clip extension with stereo ear plugs. Not for me but I can see that this could be a useful feature for others.
(3) Current expandability is limited. I like the use of the Phone with the Visor Prism and the GPS unit - the former is really useful the latter more a fun item. How long before we can have a unit that brings Phone PIM and GPS toghether in one unit?
Perhaps the memory stick slot will allow 3rd part suppliers to provide add ons for the clie?

In summary : A great evolution of the Palm OS family with some quirky design points which can however be overcome with 3rd party sofware. If you're thinking of geting one go ahead there's much to commend.

The reason I say hold your horses on the NR70V is that the latest and greatest, whilst looking almost identical, does introduce some great new technology which you should not be without. The highlights are : 200Mhz ARM processor; Palm OS 5 (with the really cool welcome screen); improved camera resolution (300,000 pixels vs. 100,000 here); lots of great new software (including documents to go that allows you view and edit word and excel documents on the move) and best of all an integrated voice recorder which allows me to remind myself of all the great ideas I have had.

One of my great ideas was to not rush into buying the "R" and wait for the "X". So if you are not to bothered about the fact that it will obviously cost you more money (as all new gadgets do), my advice is to wait a few weeks and get the latest toy, otherwise you will kick yourself when it's launched in Europe.

Of course if you are not too bothered about the extra features I mention above, then the R is a perfectly good, no a great PDA (plus they have reduced the cost to intice you further).

I first thought the keyboard would be a bit useless having got used to graffiti, but it has come in very handy when my hands are getting numb. The buttons are well spaced and it is easy to keep up a good words/minute speed, after about half an hour to an hour of usage, both the keyboard and graffiti work out about the same, but below that it�s not worth using it. For users who haven't ever used a pda though, the keyboard will probably be your main form of data entry as there will be no need for you to learn a new input method.

The remote software Sony provide can't be programmed so something like omni remote will be needed if you want to use your pda as a remote, but this can't use the high powered part of the IR port so has limited range.

The processor is twice as fast as most of its competitors and really does make a noticeable difference. Shame it doesn't come with palmOS 5, but you can always update when it becomes widely available.

Overall i can't really fault this pda, but the price might be steep for many, and right now pocketpc might be seem a better OS, but in the style stakes, this may encourage them to join the palm camp.