Sony Clie NR 70V Review
Gary Mercado
082002
Name one consumer electronics company that has managed to etch itself a niche in consumer's minds, and you can't help but think of Sony. Remember the Betamax and the Walkman? These products forever changed the world's perception of what are essentially a video recorder and a handheld radio cassette player.
The important thing to note about these products is that Sony didn't invent them, they were just repackaged to a point where they transcend their image as hi-tech oddities, and became things that just about everyone wanted to have. Whether you're a housewife, businessman or a techie, you just had to have the ability to record your favorite programs or listen to portable music.
Dare I say it, but once again Sony scores with the Sony Clié NR 70V.
The Clié NR 70V is Sony's excellent rendition of what a PDA should be. As if to announce they are changing the rules, Sony imprints the words "Personal Entertainment Organizer" instead of PDA firmly in front of it's facia. And rightly so. Now not only can it maintain your contacts and other standard features, it can take pictures and record and store movies and music.
Specs Galore
Let's start off by looking under the hood. The NR 70V has a 66MHz Dragonball Super VZ processor, which it makes full use of to power a built-in MP3 player and a hi-resolution TFT 320x480 wide screen capable of 64k colors. There is 16mb of RAM standard, and juice is provided by a Lithium ION polymer battery.
Putting things together is the Palm OS v. 4.1, with standard Date and Address Book, To-Do List, Mail and the rest of the regular Palm applications. Sony adds on its World Alarm Clock, a Remote Commander to replace your standard TV or VCR's remote, Clié Paint with simple picture editing tools, Sound Utility, gMovie for movie playback, PictureGear for arranging and categorizing your pictures, Clié Audio Player, and of course the Clié Camera for taking pictures and a host of other Clié Memory Stick applications for transferring your data to and from a Memory Stick.
There are so many notable things about it I don't know where to start. Polyphonic 16-bit sound allow special alarms offering a drastic improvement over your basic cellphone-like sounds. That bright, TFT 64k display is amazing to look at and the high-resolution allows excellent readability up to 320x480. With it's 66MHz processor you can playback original quality videos and view graphics with no pixelation whatsoever.
The Clié's ability to twist and turn it's screen really grabs your attention. Not only does it allow you to use either Palm-stylus or mini-keyboard data entry, but the way it seamlessly twists and clicks reassuringly in place while rotating the display 180º is just-way-too-darn-cool.
Where it Shines
But where the Clié really comes to life is with its BUILT-IN (read: not optional or bulky add-on) 300º, 320x240 pixel camera. It's placed at the center of the Clié and acts as its hinge as well. This way, the Clié's clamshell can act as a makeshift 'tripod' of sorts, and you can place it on a level surface and start clicking away. The lens can be twisted to take pictures from almost any angle, and when not in use twist into the clamshell to protect the lens. The side of the 'hinge' also acts as a 'shutter' button, so taking a picture can just be press and presto!, instant picture.
Clié's Camera application allows you to take lengthwise or crosswise pictures, and you can save in it's default PictureGear format or JPEG. The camera is by no means a great camera, many common digital cameras are easily better. However quality is acceptable and is good for taking that odd shot of your dog or your cute nephew. Adding a camera to a gadget that's constantly within arm's reach all the time like a PDA is a brilliant idea and a great way to collect memories. Of course, being mated to a PDA, the Clié camera has functionalities no digicam can come close to.
Practical Applications
With picture abilities you can now add a picture alongside an Address Book entry, adding life to that staid Palm application. The Address Book's custom fields can therefore now be used for practical applications such as documentation. Insurance companies, surgeons and other professionals can use it to quickly document incidents and reports. Unfortunately, when synching the address book, the attached image will not synch into the PC, meaning that entries with images must only stay in the Clié. Hopefully in the future Sony can modify the Palm OS again to allow this.
Also, transferring the images from the Clié to the PC takes some investigation, as again it is limited by the Palm OS. After a hotsynch, your images will be stored in your default directory deep inside the Palm directory in your PC. You can install the bundled PictureGear Lite on your PC to gather pictures for you, but if you need to use another application like Adobe Photoshop to edit them, you will need to know beforehand which directory Palm places pictures in.
Where it Not So Shines
A memory stick should come standard with the Sony Clié. Mine quickly filled up with pictures, leaving little space for MP3s. Sony has been criticized for their decision to use their proprietary Memory Stick, but I think these are commonly available so it shouldn't be a problem to find one.
Using a Memory Stick drains the battery a great deal as well, but it makes up for this somewhat by allowing applications installed on Memory Stick to run without having to be placed on the Clié's internal RAM - other removable storage do not allow this.
Also, the battery if allowed to drain makes the Clié suffer a full reset, deleting entries you have placed on memory. This can be a shocking experience but with an claimed battery life of 10 hours (if 30 mins / day) you should be able to keep this from happening ahead of time.
Finally the biggest drawback is price. At an SRP of P33,000.00 it's clearly for the deep-pocketed gadget lover.
Buy This Future Classic. Now.
The Clié NR 70V is an excellent well-executed marraige of a digital camera to a PDA, and it's the only one around that can do that. Sony clearly has a winner here as not only is it a quality product with the Sony name but is also a true breakthrough. I imagine that one day all PDAs will be this way, and Sony is blazing the way with the NR-70V.
Future Walkman? We'll see, but Sony's winning formula is clearly in play here, and I wouldn't be surprised if 10 years from now this will be a classic.
Contact:
Sheryl Mirra Koo
Computer Devices Corporation
Unit 1203 Global Tower Bldg.
Gen. Mascardo St. corner Capt. M. Reyes St.
Bangkal, Makati City
Philippines 1233
Tel: (632) 8893168 / 8451382 to 83 / 8441495
Fax: (632) 8441495
Full Specs:
OS provided Palm OS 4.1
Installed RAM 16 MB
Weight 200 g
Dimensions: 72.3 (W) x 136.6 (H) x 16.7 (D) mm (closed style)
Input device type: Keyboard & Palm Stylus
Processor Motorola DragonBall Super VZ 66 MHz
Built-in devices: Display, CMOS digital camera, MP3 player, Jog Dial
Display type: Backlit TFT color
Color support: 16-bit (64K colors)
Max resolution: 320 x 480
Expansion slot(s) total (free): 1 ( 1 ) x Memory Stick
Battery installed (max): 1 x Lithium Ion
Mfr estimated battery life: 10 days
Service / Support 1 year warranty
Available Accessories:
Memory Stick 64mb and 128mb.
Memory Stick Bluetooth
Sony Clié Stylus Pen
PEGA-KB20 Mini-keyboard
PEGA-ST70 4 in 1 Stylus Pen
USB Hotsync + Charger Cable
USB Hotsync + Serial Hotsync
Travel Charger Cable
Car Charger Cable
Jeans Holder / Case
Leather Case
Screen Protector