11 of 11 customers found the following review helpful:
 It's All About Accessories - The Good and the Bad, 2004-09-03
In today's world of electronic gadgets, there are two things that really are frustrating: 1) Once you buy an electronic gadget - it often is obsolete the next day; 2) You often need to get lots of accessories to get the most use of your gadget. On top of that, when you are ready to buy a replacement gadget to replace the one you want - all of the accessories you bought are suddenly no good. Thus, the dilemma I faced when my old Palm IIIc finally showed signs it was nearing the end of its life was what to buy. I had used my IIIc for 3 1/2 years. During this time, I had such accessories as a Leather Case, A Keyboard, and a Travel Charger. Now as I was viewing what Palm (today) had to offer, I discovered that those nice accessories I owned were suddenly no good because none of the new models that Palm offered were compatible with them. Not a happy camper. As I mention above, this isn't a Palm-specific problem, but a problem with consumer electronics - and something companies in the consumer electronics industry have completely taken advantage of the consumers.
Enter Sony's Clie PEG-NX80V - this is known as Sony's Personal Electronics Organizer. In addition to being a very impressive unit, it did seem to solve some of my immediate problems around accessories, but of-course introduced a new set of accessory problems I did not imagine.
First up the unit itself. It is a beautiful unit that will immediately make a great first impression. It is silver and basically looks like a mini tablet computer. For starters, the unit folds down into its own hard case - so I didn't need to buy any extra cases because this protected the screen (I keep mine in a Day Planner binder, but you still may want a leather cover to prevent case scratches). When you open the unit, you will see a screen and a keyboard - now it looks like a mini laptop. The Keyboard solved my dilemma of having to buy a keyboard (I use mine to enter sales data and really depend on a keyboard - this one works great). Now the cool feature is you can swivel the screen around and fold it back down on top of the keyboard into the traditional PDA view - now its just like a regular PDA. The PEG-NX80V package also comes with a beautiful looking USB cradle in which the back of the cradle is translucent. In addition, the AC Charger unplugs from the cradle and can be plugged into an plug adapter that connects to the unit - now you have your travel charger. Yes, the plug adapter is included. That solved my travel adapter problem (I take it on the road a lot). The unit also has a slot for expanding memory with a Sony Memory Stick or Compact Flash Card as well as connecting a wireless lan card.
There are some other impressive features with this unit. First up the stuff you get out of the box. The unit comes loaded with Palm OS 5. Sony also packages their own version of the Launcher Program - which looks very attractive. The Sony Launcher does get some getting used to, but I like it because it looks good. If you can't get used to it, you can switch to the traditional Palm OS launcher. There is a jog dial on the unit for making scrolling lists very easy. To write, the unit comes with Palm's Graffiti 2, but there is something better - the Decuma Input Handwriting Recognition Software. Decuma Input has a utility where you enter your handwriting and then the unit will recognize your writing. I found the change from standard Graffiti to Graffiti 2 a bit annoying. But Decuma Input is terrific and once you get used to it, you won't go back. The unit will allow you to switch between Decuma Input and Graffiti. The unit comes with an application that will turn your PDA into a Universal Remote Control to use with such devices as a TV, DVD, VCR, etc. Finally the unit comes with a built in voice memo recorder for recording quick voice memos, storing them in the unit and playing them back. Only thing disappointing is a very cheap styled stylus.
As for this being a Personal Electronics Organizer, it has some terrific features - but also some warnings. For starters it has a Built in 1.3 Megapixel Camera with a flash - its only 1.3 Megapixels, so it won't replace your digital camera. It's a nice feature and you can store pictures and do some cool things like put photos in your address book. Be warned - snapping a picture will consume a lot of power from your battery (especially with the flash) - more than you expect. Be also warned, you MUST have a Memory Stick to export/import pictures with your PC and Clie - thus another accessory. There also is a built in MP3 Player (the unit does come with headphones) and a Movie Camera as well. Using the MP3 unit and Movie Camera does require the Use of a Memory Stick - thus this becomes another "required" accessory. The Data Backup Program does also require the Memory Stick. From looking at the specs, it isn't intuitive you need the Memory Stick for these features.
While this is a great unit and it did solve my accessory problems, it created a whole new set of others (namely with the Memory Stick). It is also worth noting to get the Wireless LAN for internet access is a costly accessory as well. However the unit is still very impressive looking and works terrific. Price out what accessories you want and need - then shop carefully. Your bet is to try to get it on sale or for a rebate though to get the most for your money.
11 of 11 customers found the following review helpful:
 After over a year of daily use..., 2004-07-03
This is my third PDA, the priors were Palm IIIvx, Sony Clie 610C. I really use my PDA all day, so I could justify paying a bit more for a nicer PDA. I have friends with CE based machines and they really don't use them nearly as much as I use mine.Pros:
Too many to mention all of them, but the all add up to great usability. I really used a lot of the features that I thought were just bells and whistles. The flip display is great because you don't need a case unless you are trying to keep the unit pretty. The camera was a life-saver for shooting white boards before they get erased and showing tech support problems that were hard to describe over the phone/email without a picture. The voice memo took excellent notes even at conference meetings (much better than my friend's Palm Tungsten 2). Additional apps such as a mileage log (Trip) have been so important to me that I replaced the hard-wired button for notes with it. The Silk Launcher has a mode that adds more app buttons to the graffiti area. Battery life is very good. I would often go for 3 or 4 days between charges, regardless of the display brightness. If I reduced the brightness, I could go for a week of light use between charges. Cons:
A tad big. Too heavy to tote around for MP3s at the gym.
After well over a year of heavy use, the Power/Hold slider button died, making the unit unusable (Fortunately, I sync'd up just a few hours before it broke!). Decision Time:
Sony want's $150 to fix it. For double that, I can get a new one, and since no other PDA surpasses the UX80V, I think I will do that. I have been very rough on my Clie, but it really is a workhorse for me.
10 of 10 customers found the following review helpful:
Great PDA for medschool students, 2004-06-17
Great PDA, I'm a medschool student and it helps a lot in the hospital and in the classrooms. A lot of free medical software to download from the web. The camera it's awesome, it has a slow shutter function that allows you to take pictures even in dark rooms; the resolution (1.3MP) it's good and I can take pictures of patients, X ray films, CT scans and more with nice quality.
The battery lasts for at least 5 hours of continuous work, and the integrated keyboard helps a lot when you're tired of using the stylus. The internal memory it's quite short, but I bought a 256 MB Lexar MS (not too expensive) and don't have any problem.
I do recomend this PDA for medschool students because it's a helpful tool in the hospital (specially the camera). The free software I found on the web includes drug guides, medical calculators, diagnostic and tratment tools, medical news software, etc, etc, etc.
5 of 6 customers found the following review helpful:
Best PDA... still!, 2004-04-17
The Clie NX80 is still the best PDA around, despite being discontinued by Sony. The latest model, the UX, doesn't even come close in terms of screen size or brightness, camera quality, or overall reliability.There's nothing on the horizon which is even threatening to make this unit obsolete. It will certainly rank with the best for at least another 2 years. Considering that unused NX's can now be bought for aboutUS$300, you really can't go wrong. Highly recommended.
4 of 5 customers found the following review helpful:
Possibly the BEST PDA on the planet right now..., 2004-04-01
I've had my NX80 for about two months now and continue to be amazed with what this little device can do. SONY really got it right with this device. Screen in HUGE and bright and the keys/buttons well laid out. I use my NX80 everyday to listen to MP3's, watch movies, play LOTS of games, and use it for productivity purposes (calendar, phone#'s, notes). My favorite games are Billiards, Bowling, Crazy8's, Rumnmy, and GTS Racing all of which look amazing on the NX80. The compact flash slot can be made fully functional with *free* hacked drivers (www.cliesource.com) to really increase the NX80's functionality. I SIMULTANEOUSLY use a 512MB compactflash and 256MB MS Pro stick. I've started experimenting with Macromedia Flash which, by the way, the NX80 can play PERFECTLY. I can transfer "SWF" files that I download from the web (search your PC for *.swf files!!!) directly to the NX80 and play them on the go! The screen protector is an absolute must. I (...) believe I got every penny's worth.
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Amazon Sales Rank:#13623