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27 Oct 2000
Sony CLIE PEG-S300 Review
by danchan
 I
have always been a Neo-Luddite
when it came to handheld devices. Ever since my brief encounter with a Sharp
Pocket Organizer years ago, I've held firm in the belief that electronic methods
were unnecessary when paper is both more affordable and more portable.
Ever try to slip a Palm (even a Palm Vx?) into your wallet?
Of course, I don't have thousands of essential numbers, and I'm not a jet-setter
who needs to keep track of the day's flight itinerary. A couple of old business
cards, a good pen and real small writing has always sufficed for me.
So how do I happen to have a Sony CLIE?
No, I didn't give in, exactly. I figured there's got to be a business opportunity,
a niche to be filled, in handheld devices. Because while I don't use them, a
lot of people apparently do.
How do I explore the possibilities if I don't have one myself?
Design
 How
does the Sony compare to the Palm Vx? It is thicker than the Palm and it's thinner
than the Palm. Let me be more precise, front to back the Sony is thicker, but
side to side the Sony is thinner. Because of this, the CLIE feels really comfortable
in your hand.
 The
design of the CLIE is arguably better than the Vx. The CLIE avoids the simple,
chic, model-thin look of the Palm and instead goes for a more traditionally
clean, straight-line, two-tone styling that just stands out. The CLIE
has a nice heft to it, without being too heavy. The pen, which has a metal body,
slides into its holder with an unmistakably refined snap.
Jog Dial
 You
know the specifications on the CLIE: it's got the extra jog-dial and the memory
stick slot (included is an 8MB stick). Are they useful? The jog-dial would be,
if more applications used it. It's well-designed, sitting right underneath where
your left-thumb normally rests (sorry, lefties).
Unfortunately, applications have to be written specifically to make use of
it, so only the built-in software that comes with the CLIE uses the jog-dial.
It'd be nice if third-party products like AvantGo would start using it.
Memory Stick
 The
memory stick is the main reason why I chose the CLIE over the Vx though. Expandable
memory seemed like a good idea considering offline browsing of web-sites requires
anywhere from 50K to 250K per site. Here's one thing you should know though:
just like the jog-dial, the expandable memory can only be used by applications
that specifically support it. Meaning for now, the memory stick is mostly unused,
since data that needs to be accessed by most applications must sit in main memory.
Backlight and Case
 The
backlight works! I've never had to squint. In bright light, it doesn't show
up at all, but when you need it most, it comes through.
The case is a slightly textured, faux leather that protects the CLIE well and
is resistant to scuffs and scratches itself. It folds out towards you and downwards
like a super elongated flip-down cell-phone.
 What
do I think of handheld devices now that I have one? I like AvantGo.
I like being able to read the news while on the bus or the MTR. There's a lot
of travel time to kill with public transportation in Hong Kong. That's what
I've been using it for.
I'd pick this over the Palm Vx any day, but the Sony CLIE still gets a MONEY
TO BURN rating from me. While offline browsing is wonderful, it is not
essential, and for all its other functions, well, I can still make do with my
old scribbled over business cards.
theVooner's Second Opinion
The Sony PEG-S300 is a good product, donąt get me wrong. It has all the
function of Palm Vx, and then some. As someone who has bought so many
PDAs he's lost count, I love that Sony now has a PDA. I'm a big fan of
Palm because of its simplisticity. Windows CE is slow and cumbersome,
though that is changing. (I had a chance to play with the iPaq recently
and it is very impressive. I may just have to buy one!)
Anyway, I'm an owner of a Palm Vx so for me the next PDA has to be another
level up. For most Palm users, that move is to a color screen. So the
PEG-S300 is a big disappointment in that regard. The Japanese has a color
version (PEG-S500) but it wonąt be in an English version till sometime
next year. If you donąt have a PDA yet, CLIE PEG-S300 may be at the top
of your buy list, but with a color one just around the corner, I'd rate
this one definitely a WASTE OF TIME.
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