Rating: 
Summary: sony...bony
Review: IT's a great advance in technology on Sony's part. It's gonna come in very handy at work. But I wear surgical scrubs all day. Where is the belt clip and case!!!! Sony-- get on the ball and get this out!!
Rating: 
Summary: This is one cool gadget!
Review: My best friend recently bought a Clie NR-70. When I first saw it, I was amazed by the flip and rotate screen and built in keyboard. The rotatable digital camera feature is great, especially because after you take a photo, you can alter it with drawing tools--you know, mustaches, devil horns, halos, etc... :-) and put them into a slide show. My three favorite games I have played are Bejewled, Zap 2016, and Car--all of which he has downloaded from his PC. After reading the specs on Amazon, I found out it can play MP3's, too (and it comes with headphones!) For all of these reasons, I think I will buy one for myself!
Rating:
Summary: This thing rocks...
Review: Screen resolution is the best of any Palm OS handheld. The chassis is perfect, and the screen flips great. I'm a memory stick person, so my 128MB memory stick is more than I'll ever need between this and my Sony camera. GET THIS IF YOU need a PDA. I haven't tried the wireless yet.
Rating:
Summary: Perfection or as close as you get!!
Review: Simply the best palm OS pda on the market currently. Easy to use, the resolution is great. The mp3 player is also an excellent addtion. Palm has a lot to learn from Sony. There is nothing to complain about. Great job Sony!!
Rating:
Summary: A really excellently designed device
Review: Sony's design is really excellent: a large, bright screen, a slim magnesium-encased body, and a keyboard that is actually usable despite its small size. I was worried about the hinge, but it is quite sturdy. I bought this because I outgrew the memory constraints of my IIIC, and the memory stick works well -- including utilities for managing the extra memory. I also like the built-in software, including synch software for MS Office.
Rating:
Summary: Best Handheld PDA availible
Review: The new gadget is a great device. PDAs are very useful for personal organization but have not always been user friendly. This machine has solved some of the inherent problems. The main new feature is the keyboard-easy to use, responsive, raised buttons that allow for easy typing. I was quite surprised at how well this aspect functions. The design is unique in that the screen swivels clockwise and flips over, acting much like a tradition PDA if so desired. The tilting screen allow the user to place the unit on a desk and angle the screen to thier liking. Brilliant idea. No case is required because the screen closes onto the unit itself. The sony uses palm technology, making it compatible with the latest palm softwear. The screen is remarkably sharp.The only drawbacks is that the unit does not come with a memory stick which prevents one for using the MP3 player or video stuff. It's probably a little overpriced but what isn't these days. Other PDAs do the same things but this Sony is over the top, that why I like it. I bought it before it was even out in stores. The Sony reputation is well earned.
Rating:
Summary: Best Handheld PDA availible
Review: The new gadget is a great device. PDAs are very useful for personal organization but have not always been user friendly. This machine has solved some of the inherent problems. The main new feature is the keyboard-easy to use, responsive, raised buttons that allow for easy typing. I was quite surprised at how well this aspect functions. The design is unique in that the screen swivels clockwise and flips over, acting much like a tradition PDA if so desired. The tilting screen allow the user to place the unit on a desk and angle the screen to thier liking. Brilliant idea. No case is required because the screen closes onto the unit itself. The sony uses palm technology, making it compatible with the latest palm softwear. The screen is remarkably sharp. The only drawbacks is that the unit does not come with a memory stick which prevents one for using the MP3 player or video stuff. It's probably a little overpriced but what isn't these days. Other PDAs do the same things but this Sony is over the top, that why I like it. I bought it before it was even out in stores. The Sony reputation is well earned.
Rating: 
Summary: Not great as an MP3 player.
Review: This Clie handles the usual fuctions of a PDA about as well as the average Palm OS machine, I supose. I have not used any other PDA's, so I can't compair it. I have used other portable MP3 players and they have been easy to use, easy to load with music and generaly easy to use the fuction buttons and keys. This NR70 Sony Clie will only play music encoded at 112 bits or higher. This makes the music files take up a lot of room. I am normally able to encode at a bit rate of 32 and get very acceptable sound quality. With the NR70 and a 128 meg Memory Stick you can load a little over 40 songs. If you want to use this Clie as a MP3 player, give the above some "serious thinken" before you plunk down [money]. Memory Stick cost is over and above the [money]
Rating:
Summary: Think Twice Before You Buy
Review: This is a love-hate handheld. I've owned my NR70 for four months, and would advise someone to think twice before buying one of these machines. First the plus side. This is the best looking handheld device I've seen. It's as much of a piece of art as a handheld gets these days. The case is a joy to hold, and the rotating screen doesn't get old after months of use - it's still a blast to spin it into position. The design also serves to protect the screen against scratches. Battery life is not too bad - better than I expected - and it recharges quickly. The 320x480 screen is outstanding when applications support the full resolution (unfortunately few do). With 320x320 apps, the virtual graffiti area and icons are extremely clear. Now for the negatives. I returned my first two. NR70 Clie #1 had a dead pixel. I swapped it for #2, and upgraded to the NR70V with a camera. Two problems. The camera is very poor quality and I lost interest in it after five minutes of playing with it. The second problem is that the screen brightness of my NR70V was less than that of the NR70. I could see this because my wife had also purchased a NR70 and in a side-by-side comparison, hers was brighter than the NR70V. In addition, when I went back to Circuit City, their NR70 on display was brighter than their NR70V. Not a big difference, but these are expensive machines and I like mine bright. So, I returned the NR70V and wound up with Clie #3. After 4 months of use, here are the downsides: 1) Reliability problems. My wife had to send her NR70 back to Sony for repair because it hosed her memory stick and the infrared wouldn't work. Sony told her these were "known problems" (well, why release the hardware if it has known problems?) She had a poor customer support experience - the packaging Sony mailed to return it for repair arrived several days after it was promised, and it took over two weeks to get her machine back. Sony doesn't really care that users depend on these machines for their jobs and has no program to rush a replacement unit to the user. It breaks, it's your tough luck. One piece of advice from Sony was, "why didn't you purchase an extended warranty from Circuit City." Well, why should I? These machines are expensive enough already! My own Clie has had intermittent problems reading the memory stick and now is unable to transmit wireless. It's not convenient for me to be without it for two weeks, however, so I'm going to try and live with it. 2) The "keyboard" is completely useless. I never have used it. The device should have been made smaller, or this space used for a more useful feature like wireless. 3) The up/down keys and the four buttons for the Palm OS applications are useless. The device feels unnatural in the hand when opened up clamshell style - you can't get a good balance holding it and using the buttons to play games. These buttons belong on the bottom of the screen. The problem is further compounded by the nonstandard configuration and ridiculously small sizes of the up/down buttons. 4) Not enough applications support 320x480. Only two applications that I use regularly do - AcidImage and Mobipocket reader. It is frustrating that more apps don't support this and that Sony did not rewrite the key Palm OS apps (datebook, etc) to support 320x480. 5) Not enough applications support the hires mode. Even the new release of Bejeweled 1.6 doesn't support hires. This is frustrating because once you see a hires app, you don't want to use anything that displays at 160x160. Ever. 6) Sony makes you install a Sony version of the Palm desktop on your PC. I expected that at least after having to uninstall my old Palm desktop and reinstall the Sony desktop, the new one would at least look better. But it is just as uninspired an interface as the standard Palm desktop - couldn't they have spiffed this up a bit?! 7) Too expensive. Price is coming down, but the original retail prices ...are greedily high for a Palm OS device. 8) Prepare to stock up on extra styluses because they don't stay in place too well and fall out of their slot on the side of the Clie. 9) Can't hear MP3's without headphones. Game sounds are loud, system sounds are loud, but MP3s are barely audible. 10) The hold button is easy to slide into the "on" position without knowing it. The first time I did this, it took me a few minutes of fiddling with the Clie to realize it wasn't broken after all. But it keeps happening. 11) The memory stick sometimes pops out of it's slot if the Clie is jostled around in a packpack or briefcase. 12) As noted, the camera in the NR70V is poor quality and not worth the extra price. All in all, I do enjoy my Clie, but I'd never buy another one of these and I'm staying away from Sony next time around.
Rating:
Summary: Think Twice Before You Buy
Review: This is a love-hate handheld. I've owned my NR70 for four months, and would advise someone to think twice before buying one of these machines. First the plus side. This is the best looking handheld device I've seen. It's as much of a piece of art as a handheld gets these days. The case is a joy to hold, and the rotating screen doesn't get old after months of use - it's still a blast to spin it into position. The design also serves to protect the screen against scratches. Battery life is not too bad - better than I expected - and it recharges quickly. The 320x480 screen is outstanding when applications support the full resolution (unfortunately few do). With 320x320 apps, the virtual graffiti area and icons are extremely clear. Now for the negatives. I returned my first two. NR70 Clie #1 had a dead pixel. I swapped it for #2, and upgraded to the NR70V with a camera. Two problems. The camera is very poor quality and I lost interest in it after five minutes of playing with it. The second problem is that the screen brightness of my NR70V was less than that of the NR70. I could see this because my wife had also purchased a NR70 and in a side-by-side comparison, hers was brighter than the NR70V. In addition, when I went back to Circuit City, their NR70 on display was brighter than their NR70V. Not a big difference, but these are expensive machines and I like mine bright. So, I returned the NR70V and wound up with Clie #3. After 4 months of use, here are the downsides: 1) Reliability problems. My wife had to send her NR70 back to Sony for repair because it hosed her memory stick and the infrared wouldn't work. Sony told her these were "known problems" (well, why release the hardware if it has known problems?) She had a poor customer support experience - the packaging Sony mailed to return it for repair arrived several days after it was promised, and it took over two weeks to get her machine back. Sony doesn't really care that users depend on these machines for their jobs and has no program to rush a replacement unit to the user. It breaks, it's your tough luck. One piece of advice from Sony was, "why didn't you purchase an extended warranty from Circuit City." Well, why should I? These machines are expensive enough already! My own Clie has had intermittent problems reading the memory stick and now is unable to transmit wireless. It's not convenient for me to be without it for two weeks, however, so I'm going to try and live with it. 2) The "keyboard" is completely useless. I never have used it. The device should have been made smaller, or this space used for a more useful feature like wireless. 3) The up/down keys and the four buttons for the Palm OS applications are useless. The device feels unnatural in the hand when opened up clamshell style - you can't get a good balance holding it and using the buttons to play games. These buttons belong on the bottom of the screen. The problem is further compounded by the nonstandard configuration and ridiculously small sizes of the up/down buttons. 4) Not enough applications support 320x480. Only two applications that I use regularly do - AcidImage and Mobipocket reader. It is frustrating that more apps don't support this and that Sony did not rewrite the key Palm OS apps (datebook, etc) to support 320x480. 5) Not enough applications support the hires mode. Even the new release of Bejeweled 1.6 doesn't support hires. This is frustrating because once you see a hires app, you don't want to use anything that displays at 160x160. Ever. 6) Sony makes you install a Sony version of the Palm desktop on your PC. I expected that at least after having to uninstall my old Palm desktop and reinstall the Sony desktop, the new one would at least look better. But it is just as uninspired an interface as the standard Palm desktop - couldn't they have spiffed this up a bit?! 7) Too expensive. Price is coming down, but the original retail prices ...are greedily high for a Palm OS device. 8) Prepare to stock up on extra styluses because they don't stay in place too well and fall out of their slot on the side of the Clie. 9) Can't hear MP3's without headphones. Game sounds are loud, system sounds are loud, but MP3s are barely audible. 10) The hold button is easy to slide into the "on" position without knowing it. The first time I did this, it took me a few minutes of fiddling with the Clie to realize it wasn't broken after all. But it keeps happening. 11) The memory stick sometimes pops out of it's slot if the Clie is jostled around in a packpack or briefcase. 12) As noted, the camera in the NR70V is poor quality and not worth the extra price. All in all, I do enjoy my Clie, but I'd never buy another one of these and I'm staying away from Sony next time around.
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