Sony Clie PEG-NX60 (Silver) Handheld

• MPEG-1 and MPEG-4 video playback
• Integrated wireless communication slot
• High-resolution TFT color display (320 x 480 pixels)
• 16 MB of RAM, 16 MB of ROM, Memory Stick expansion slot
• Clie handheld, USB cradle Stylus, AC Adapter, Stereo headphones, Remote controller, Plug adapter

The NX60 is Sony's first Palm OS5 handheld. The only differences between this and the NX70 is the lack of a built in camera. The NX60 retails for [distinctively] less though, so this is the handheld to choose if you don't need the camera.

With a 200 MHz strong arm processor from Intel this is the most powerful Palm OS PDA ever made and the NX60 is loaded with multimedia software to show that power off. For the first time Sony has included a powerful Movie Player capable of MPEG 1 and MPEG 4 playback. They have also improved the MP3 player from previous models. This version lets you manage your playlists and gives you several levels of bass boost.

Another new feature is the CF slot on the back. This is used with the optional WiFi card from Sony and will allow you to surf the web with any compatible wireless network. The new OS5 web browser is easy to use and very fast. Sony has also added a voice recording ability to the NX60 for taking voice notes anywhere.

The NX60 also has all the great features from the old NR series including the best PDA screen on any handheld. Sony's High res TFT 320 X 480 pixels color screen is sharp and vivid. It has a virtual grafiti area that can be lowered so programs, pictures, and movies can be viewed full screen.

It also includes a polyphonic speaker and alarm, AV universal remote, built in thumb keyboard, a magnesium casing that has better grip than the NR series, and lots of great software including Documents to Go 5.

I've used Pocket PC and Palm devices and this is by far my favorite handheld. Sony has taken everything that was great about the NR series and added a lot more without raising the price from the NR series.

The only downside to the NX60 is the large size, but its still very small for something you can use in place of a laptop for most uses. The screen also flips so you can use it like a regular PDA if you don't need the keyboard.

In my opinion you can't by a better PDA than one of the NX series from Sony.

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There are a lot of very thorough reviews of the NX60, so I'm going to just highlight a few of the things I think make this stand out above and beyond other palm PDAs, as well as some notes to the negative side of things, and things i have yet to try but will discuss after trying them out.

Sony design it's beautiful. Technically and from an asthetic perspective, the NX60 is almost flawless. The keyboard is somewhat extraneous if you've learned graffiti, but it's a useful backup. All controls are intuitively located (except the keyboard, which I find difficult to use while holding onto the device). Sony has employed their now famous and highly cherished Jog Dial physical interface, with the welcome addition of a "Back" button to allow you to not only scroll through and into menus/programs (the jog dial clicks in to allow what you've rolled over to be selected), but also to navigate back to higher levels within the interface. It doesn't work with all apps, however.

I really wonder whether the flip-top screen on the NX60 was the inspiration for the new class of notepad style PC laptops. It's a great design. It allows for a larger screen than your standard palm. Great idea. It also means that the screen protection is built into the function of the device, a welcome change for me from the flip top or removeable styles of screen protection (if there is any built in at all).

Contrary to a couple of the reviews, I LOVE the screen-based graffiti area. It's collapseable in (what i assume are) NX60-aware apps, which I love because it means more useable screen space, and when you write on it, you get immediate visual feedback of the shape of your strokes...it has, if anything, improved my speed and accuracy with graffiti. I love it. (review edit): I can now, thanks in large part to the visual feedback, write almost as quickly as I write on paper. Woo hoo!

The screen is bright and sharp. Lovely.

The processor is FAST, FAST, FAST. I guess i'll be testing this once i get a mem stick and load up some video...

(review edit): Tried out video...cooooollll...I found a decently priced 128 meg mem stick, so I'm not exactly ripping huge movies to this thing, but the quality is excellent. Very pleased.

the size: just big enough for my big, american guy hands. some things shouldn't be the size of a quarter. the NX60 is in my opinion just the right size. think of it like a super-futuristic detective's note pad, and the size is just right. I tried out the Palm Tungsten, and found its short height and the "pull open to use fully" 'feature' awkward, and difficult to hold on to. If you have really small pockets maybe it's ok, but it sacrifices useability for minimal stowage size. i'd rather take up more pocket space than fumble while i use the device.

(review edit): I've been using Eudora's mail product on the Clie to read mail from my Outlook inbox, and reply to some of the mail (it sends through the PC when I sync)...it rules. I took the Clie to jury duty standby with me last week, got through everything in my mailbox with time to spare. Thanks to the Clie's ability to play mp3s in the background while using other apps, I did it all listening to music. Yay.

flash player. (review edit): have tried this out now. Pretty darn cool. I haven't really pushed it yet, just simple stuff. It's decently fast at rendering simple animations, and can handle sound pretty well, so (so far) another big win.

Things I haven't tried yet:

PDFs with images.

mp3s it sounds like VBR mp3s aren't useable, which is too bad. but that's what the iPod is for, right? ;-) Besides, I'd rather spend 400 bucks on an iPod and put 15 gigs of vbr mp3s on it.

(review edit): tried out the mp3 player. Pretty decent. The Bass booster is ok, but the power throughput IMO leaves something to be desired. Again though, that's why there's such a thing as iPod.

notes:

memory stick I'm wondering if it's compatible with the up to gigabyte mem sticks that are available now...the user manual only talks about mem sticks up to 128 megs. Would be useful for the photo, video and mp3 capabilities of this device...i'll write more about it if I find some answers to this.

wireless network card i'm considering getting one, which i wasn't considering before this is such a useable device that it might be worth dropping the extra cash for.

camera module c'mon...chances are, if you are getting one of these, you already have a multi-megapixel camera with at least partially manual settings. You don't need a camera on your PDA ALSO, do you? ;-)

things i'm a little disappointed by:

the remote control function doesn't seem to be able to communicate with my sony amp or my sony vcr, which surprised me. maybe i'm missing something. (review edit): ok I got it to work with all my sony gear. Yay! Still isn't working with the (Samsung) tv, which is old enough to probably be using some obscure, outdated IR set, so no huge disappointment there; I've never had a remote control for it anyway (got it used). it just would have been nice. The remote commander app does have pre-sets for Samsung TVs, so I'm betting that the age of the TV is the problem. Time to upgrade ;-)

the internal memory (11 megs) is a little skimpy for a PDA with this much processing capability. i filled it up to capacity with word docs, excell files, web downloaded news, a couple of simple PDFs and my M$ Outlook info immediately. it reminds me of early days of laptops, when the standard ram was _never_ enough to do anything but read your good old text based email. You WILL need a memory stick, which i'm sure is Sony's general game plan. (review edit): if you look around you can find a 128 meg card for under fifty bucks, including tax, in San Francisco.

the keyboard could give a little more tactile feedback, but it has a continuous surface, so there's no dirt getting under the keys and screwing it up to worry about, which I highly value. pockets pick up a lot of grit : )

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This is the first PDA I've ever owned, although I've been eyeing them for years, waiting for just the "right" one to come on the market. This is it. I could not be happier with it.

I opted for the PEG-NX60 over the NX70 because I have a great digital camera and didn't need one in the Clie. Since my camera is a Sony, it is very easy for me to swap memory sticks between the two devices. I've got tons of photos and videos saved on a 64 meg memory stick that I use predominantly for the Clie, and with the included image/video conversion program, I still have a comfortable amount of free space on the memory stick.

I found the Palm OS 5 to be quite intuitive, and even Graffiti was not a problem for me, although I was certain at the beginning that I would be using the hardware keyboard most of the time. Now, I use it infrequently, but I am still glad I bought this clamshell design Clie because of the additional protection it provides to the screen. I have been using this since December and have not felt the need to buy a protective case for the device. It rides in my purse and the well-built metal shell, plus clamshell design, feels very secure to me.

The included apps, especially Documents to Go, are terrific. I've set up the Clie to sync several Word and Excel documents between my home and work PCs, and it works like a dream. I always have the most current copy of those documents with me.

All in all, it's a good work tool, and a great play tool as well. I love having the ability to keep current work docs with me at all times, plus having a digital photo album as well. There's more to tell, but I think each user will tell his or her own story.

It's a winner, and I'm once again thrilled with a Sony product!

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I bought this device for use at work. I work as an emergency medicine physician so I was looking for something that would be "almost" pocket size or just easy to carry around in scrubs.

Good points about this unit. It is very light compared to later models. Great color screen, very durable, sony brand quality. No camera. A good point because the unit is lighter, you are not paying extra money for poor, poor quality pictures, and you can purchase a pocket size digital camera for good prices now if you really *NEED* to take pictures.

Overall, Great unit, great price. Worthwhile investment.

My wife got this unit from work, so I had the luxury of playing with this without worrying about my pocket book. The darn thing has a 200MHz processor! The screen is crisp and clear, and we just marvelled at how clear the pictures are on this screen. Unlike my Palm m130, getting the Hot Sync to work on my USB interface for my Win2K laptop was no problem at all. One negative is that you absolutely need to buy a memory stick, as there is no way to take advantage of everything the Sony and Palm 5 allows without this. We were also slightly surprised with the size of the unit, but if you swivel the screen so that you don't use the keyboard it does fit into the palm. Strongly recommend this if you have the money.