Sony Clie PEG-NX80V (Silver) Handheld

[Archived in $300 - $400, Camera und Video, Games, Handhelds und PDAs, Music, Productivity Software, Products, Sony]

Manufacturer: Sony
Price at amazon.com: $399.88
This item is not stocked or has been discontinued.

Product Features:

• High-powered handheld running Palm OS 5 and packed with multimedia features
• Built-in 1.3 mega pixel camera
• Video recording and playback
• Expansion slots for integrated CompactFlash and Memory Stick cards
• What's in the box: CLIÉ Handheld, USB HotSync Cradle, AC adapter, Stereo headphones and remote controller, AC plug adapter (with attachment), Hand strap, Retractable Stylus

Product Description:

Average Customer Rating:

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Comment: A fantastic high end PDA Rating:
I have had several PDAs, from early Casios to the fantastic Psion 5mx and Palm Vx. I looked for a long time to find my next, and I based it on the following critera:

1) It wasn't Microsoft - I have heard too many stories of strange behaviour, particularly in synching as well as the ever faithful "just reboot" to solve problems. Palm OS or Symbian were the only two I was interested in.
2) I don't want a phone. I have a nice small Nokia, I don't need to carry around a large PDA just to make calls
3) I wanted some nice features like MP3 playback, colour screen, etc.

Based on these criteria I looked mainly at the Palm Tungsten T2 and the Sony Clies.

Here is why I bought the Clie NX80:

1) Engineering - this is one sweet package. As soon as you hold it, you will know what I mean. The buttons are all good and in logical positions, it feels tough and durable and it looks fantastic.
2) Features - well beyond my requirements, this unit delivered a fantastic large screen which is amazing, keyboard input as well as 2 types of graffiti (Decuma is great), camera and voice recorder.
3) The Flip screen - this is a fantastic feature. By flipping and swiveling, you get the benefits of a secure package (when closed), keyboard and screen as a clam or a large screen when flipped around and folded back. To me, this means that using the keyboard is easy in open mode, I can read eBooks in bed with the flip around mode and the rest of the time I don't have to worry that something is going to scratch that gorgeous screen.

I am a technology nut, and I love my gadgets. This is probably the best all round gadget I have ever bought. The longer I own it, the more I like it. Better still, it actually helps me do work as well!

Don't be fooled - it is expensive and is not a small, light unit, but it certainly exceeds all my expectations for what I need.

Some people have complained about battery life - I don't know why. It seems to last through a lot of use. I read my eBooks at least a couple hours a day, book appointments and enter tasks. It lasts at least a few days of serious use and at least a week of more limited use.

The camera was one feature I thought would be a waste. Having said that, I am glad that the NX80 is the only model on sale in Australia (the NX73 didn't make it out). The 1.3 megapixel camera takes pretty good photos and I have surprised myself how much I have already used it in meetings to print whiteboards. Get some good electronic whiteboard software and you have an electronic whiteboard whereever you go!

Finally, I have to say that the Clie application manager is much nicer than the Palm OS one. I bought SilverScreen for the Palm to make it nicer, with the Clie I can't see that happening. It works really well with the scroll button and I find I can swith applications much better than on the Palm - particularly to applications that aren't coded to the 4 buttons.

Overall, a very impressive unit that I am recommending to everyone I meet.

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Comment: Scratchy Screen Rating:
I agree with all the good reviews of this product but I have to give a word of warning. I've owned many different PDAs since my first Palm Pilot IIIe to my last Clie PEG-SJ20 (before this PEG-NX80).
I loved this PDA from the start (for all the reasons that others have written about here). Learning the Graffiti2 was annoying but I got used to it pretty quick. I see no real improvement and if I could've installed Graffiti1 on it I would have.

I'm a heavy Graffiti user (I never use the keyboard, and I can wrtite faster on my PDA than I can using pen and paper.

Here's my Major Gripe: With only ONE Week's use,(with the Clie's own Stylus, the Graffiti area of the screen got scratched very badly. Bad enough that I could feel the stylus bump and skip over the scratches! The Graffiti could no longer recognize my input!

I searched the web and found several posts from people with this same problem.
I called Sony and they blew me off. They said that it was a "hardware issue" and there was nothing they would do about it. The basically didn't care and told me I should've used a Screen Protector! I had used my Clie PEG-SJ20 for about 2 years without any screen protectors or anything and it NEVER got one tiny scratch.

I had to go out and buy a Screen Protector (which I HATE to use). With the new Screen Protector it now recognises my input, but I can STILL feel the bumps across the scratches and it reads wrong every now and again. It's not smooth like before eother.

BTW, I made 100% sure that the tip of the Stylus didn't have any points, spikes or imperfections it.

So if you buy one of these, put the Screen Protector on it BEFORE you get your stylus anywhere near the thing!

Oh, and Sony's Help Desk... Sucks.

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Comment: Best PDA... still! Rating:
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.

Posted at November 11, 2003 07:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)