Rating: 
Summary: Get it, great stuff
Review: A Basic PDA with a great screen, what else could you ask for. I just love it.
Rating:
Summary: All around good value for the money
Review: I have used PDAs for five years, and am glad SONY grew up. While it's not the most feature packed PDA on the market, it is incredibly useful. I like the hi-res color display and I bought it particularly for the mem-stick compatibility with my digicam. My wife liked it so much that I bought her one, too.
Rating: 
Summary: i.m.o
Review: I think the Clie has the best display for you money out of all the pda's in its range. However, I was disappointed in how Amazon.com misrepresented that "in the box" the Clie "comes with a USB HotSync cradle" when it does not. It comes with a cable. I received no response from the customer service department at Amazon.com regarding this error. However, it appears that the description has since been revised. I have also not been able to receive or beam applications.
Rating:
Summary: Paper Planner Bye Bye!
Review: I love my new PDA. I will never carry a bulky paper planner again! I'm a an English/Speech/Journalism teacher, and I've already downloaded teacher software, added all my info, and am using the date book for yearbook deadlines. I also have loaded a searchable Bible, several games, and some health management software. It fits into my smallest purse, and is just a wonderful tool and toy!
Rating:
Summary: Sony vs. Palm (Screen vs. Battery Life)
Review: My first PDA was a Palm m500, which I still have, but I wanted color and I settled on a Sony SJ30 for my color PDA.
Compared to similarly priced Palm models, the Sony devices offer better displays and more memory for the same money. But those differences may not be all that they appear to be on the spec sheet. With the backlight on, the Sony SJ30 screen is definitely the best color screen available, but with the backlight off, it is the worst. The consequence is that you will always use your Clie with the backlight on, which greatly diminishes battery life. The marketing literature promises that the battery life of the SJ30 is 15 days, but that figure is based upon 30 minutes of daily use with the backlight off (which you won't do). In the real world, battery life is about two hours.
Secondly, although the Sony devices appear to give you twice the memory for the same money, the truth is that the Sony system (i.e. support for the memory stick) requires more memory for system software and includes some very fancy applications (i.e. World Alarm Clock) that you will not be able to delete from the device. Memory stick just does not integrate into the Palm OS as well as Flash Card, and therefore imposes costs in additional software needed to support the memory stick and is also significantly slower than the flash card. Moving programs and data to and from expansion media is much easier with Flash Card than Memory Stick. The only attraction of the memory stick is compatibility with Sony digital cameras and a lower price per megabyte of memory.
The higher resolution of the screen is likewise of limited value, since the tiny size of the screen is the real limitation to presenting information, and not the pixel size.
My conclusion is that the SJ30 is great for use around the house or anywhere that a charger is available, but if you need a PDA that can be away from the charger for more than two hours at a time, with effortless memory expansion, maybe you should also consider a Palm m130, m515 or Tungsten.
Rating:
Summary: This is an awesome handheld
Review: I went through a progression. As a first time PDA buyer, I bought the SL10 at Target.com, liked it so much I returned it and bought the SJ20. The backlighting on the SJ20 was incredible and I like it so much I returned it and bought the SJ30. Go with the SJ30 this PDA has more bang for it's buck than any other on the market right now (12/02). Battery life is short, but buy a cradle and keep it charged. It's a little chunky for a PDA, but I'm telling you the LCD, Memory 16MB internal and 128M expanded and software that Sony throws in is untouchable by the competition. All this nonsense about Sony's not syncing with Macs is hot air. I sync at work on a Mac and at home on a PC, and it's flawless - without additional extensions for the Mac.
Rating:
Summary: A Palm PDA for Jesuits?
Review: Given its name, the SJ(Society of Jesus?)30, this should be a hot seller into the Vatican-dominated part of the market.On a more serious note, I've owned several different Palm Platform and Pocket PC PDAs, use them intensively in my work and daily life, and I'm a big believer in them. But despite the big improvements in speed, memory capacity, applications, wireless connectivity, color-screen technology, and so on, until now there really wasn't anything that would fit comfortably in your front shirt pocket, where I like to carry my Palm. That's going to be the big appeal of this PDA. The difference between a 33 MHz and 66 MHz processor, such as with the PEG T615C and the PEG T655C, respectively, is really, from what I can see, hardly noticeable. Also, unless you're a real memory hog, 8 vs. 16 megs of RAM isn't that big a deal either, unless you like to carry lots of ebooks around (like I do), photos, or something equally memory hungry. So for most people, I think the small footprint of this PDA is going to be its most attractive feature. It's even smaller than the original T615C, mainly in length, where it's about 3/4 inch shorter. And the T615C itself was which even smaller and lighter than the Palm Vx, being the thinnest in profile and lightest PDA ever offerred up to that point. The SJ30's only competition is the new Palm Tungsten, which is certainly another great little unit. I compared both of them side by side, and the Palm looks to be a tiny bit wider and about the same height, but they're both very close. The Palm is $200 more because of the built-in Bluetooth technology. But the Sony has the 320 x 320 drop-dead gorgeous screen and the jog-wheel feature, which the Palms don't have. Whichever one you decide to buy, having a Palm is one of the greatest productivity tools for today's busy, on-the-go lifestyle. It's also one of the most fun things you can carry around with you, and I'm always figuring out new and interesting things to do with mine, and I can't say enough good about them.
Rating:
Summary: PDA that delievers!
Review: For the ponderers...
I have an obession of researching devices before I buy them. Thoroughly. For my PDA, the final decision would come down to how they looked and felt in the store. The iPaq and Toshiba e740 felt so cheaply made it disgusted me, especially the iPaq. The thin plastic was hollow and felt like that of a child's toy. And both were large, clunky, and totally awkward.
Next came to clamshell Cliès. They were made of beautiful stainless steel, but were too large and narrow for my taste. The clamshell design was nice, but awkward...it looked like a phone. And all of those frills? If you wanted a camera, go buy a REAL digital camera.
The Palm Tungsten was perhaps the most beautful of them all. Wrapped in a grey superstrong case, is was appealing. And the pics online are decieving--it was the tiniest, I think, PDA in the whole section when closed. The sliding device, however, I found not to be smooth. And who wants to spend $$$ on a little device with Bluetooth and a faster processor? I mean, seriously; how much of a difference can a processor make in a PDA? Think about it. Besides, the hype about the screen is laughable. Palm's most expensive's PDA has a screen resolution equal to this one. :) The m505 and m515 were just, in my opinion, way overpriced for an absolutely horrible color screen and an unattractive case(s). The Zire was cute and iPod-like (I am a die-hard Apple freak) but had (low) 2mb of memory and lacked a color screen. Good for others. Just not enough for me. The other ones were so boring I barely noticed them. (i7something from Palm, Visor something......)
Then I saw the other Cliès. They were strikingly sleek with grey and silver plastic (unbreakable and solid, not cheaply made) and the gleaming diamond-like CLIE` sign just whispered my name. It was the perfect size--small enough to pocket, but still felt solid and comfortable in my hand. The flip-top (removable) protected the device and the most beautiful color screen (equal to the stupidly priced TungstenT) lived underneath. It had all the features I wanted in a PDA. No WiFi, camera, etc. Big deal. Besides, all of those features eat battery life---especially the Toshiba e740.
This PDA delievers. It is the best valued PDA on the market. Way less than the m515, and the m515 has a pathetic color screen compared to this. This thing *literally* never leaves my palm or pocket. I charge daily but the battery still could last longer. Works with Mac. Great. Other than that, this is awesome. If you are going back and forth between this or a Palm, hold your breath and get this!
I did the same thing and am so satisfied. So buy this if you research your products (like me :-) like crazy. Your wait is over!!!
But don't forget some accessories! (MS card, carrying case, etc.)
Hope you make the right decision.
Rating:
Summary: Good little unit!
Review: I favor its slim design.
Responsive unit.
Great for the price.
Color resolution is great.
I did not give it 5 stars because it did not come with a cradle.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent PDA For The Price - Great Value!
Review: After a couple of weeks of playing with the unit, I am uniformly impressed by it. The screen is crisp and clear, and colour is a nice bonus for a PDA of this price. Incidentally, for those of you considering the lower-priced monochrome SJ10 and SJ20 units, you might want to check out the backlights first. The SJ10 is wholly unacceptable in all but very bright lighting conditions. I was thinking of going with the SJ20 at first, but it suffers from significant "ghosting" when the screen changes (quite distracting). It's also not as bright as the SJ30 on full backlight. This colour model has absolutely no ghosting problems, and each screen pops up quickly and clearly. I recommend you try out all 3 models at a local electronics store that displays real units (I'd also recommend you try them at night, to see what I'm talking about). The response time of this unit is excellent, and all applications open quickly and smoothly. The bundled apps are more than sufficient for most users, and the software setup was simplicity itself. In particular, the datebook is well designed and easy to use (one of my most important concerns). As always, documentation leaves a little to be desired (especially the poorly documented mail feature that some have rightfully complained about). However, the basic Palm OS mail software DOES automatically message with Outlook Express without special setup required (would be nice if they told you that, though!). Note also that it only syncs with your inbox and not all your subfolders (presumably need to pay for the full Intellisync software for that feature). The remaining software is great, and all very easy to use and setup. The unit is a bit on the heavy and thick side, but that's to be expected given its price. It's still quite reasonable and compact, and fits very well in the hand. Also, the incredibly useful JogDial can easily be accessed by a lefty like myself (i.e. using right index finger). The lack of that feature alone is what turned me off standard Palms (just like if you've ever used a scroll mouse, you know you can't go back!). Minor quibbles over the stylus or lack of cradle are understandable, but not an issue for me. The same goes for the simple speaker (I'm not planning to listen to music with it). If you want a PDA that works the way a PDA should, and don't care about the frilly extras, this unit has everything you'll want.
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