- 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
I have an NX70 and tested the 80....the 80 is AWESOME. However, remember 2 things: the 80 is the 70 with a couple of great new features....and if you already have the 70 there really is no point to step up to the 80. Key points...
1. The 80 is the first palm os pda to have 32mb internal ram (as far as I know)...fantastic!!! While it is true that because of the structure of the palm os (compared to pocket pc) a good chunk of memory is not needed, the multimedia capabilities of the clie series made you wish more than 16mb were available internally. Sony listened and added the extra memory. There are large programs out there that simply function better having them on internal rather than a memory stick.
2. The 1.3 mpx digital camera is a substantial improvement. Remember, up to 3 years ago that was the max you could get with a dedicated digital camera. Combined with the capture light you can get substantially better pics, not to mention the mpeg4 video clips you can store.
3. The screen is beautiful, period. 480 by 320, the pda equivalent of 16x9 or hd. At it's lowest brightness level it's better than most color screens out there.
4. Video playback is awesome. You can download from the web a music video or Seinfeld episode and play it back on the Clie beautifully rendered!!!
5. Audio-the headphones sound great...the external speaker is ok for the job, serious music lovers gotta use the headphones. If you're in the business world and want to show something off the Clie you can use the speaker it does the job. Pulling out headphones for your boss as if I were a teenager does not cut it.
6. Great resolution allows your pics to be seen in all their beauty.
7. Docs to Go software allows you to work on MS Office documents-suggest you get the portable keyboard if you intende to do serious typing...at that point it truly replaces your laptop unless you're a cpa or a rocket scientist.
8. Voice recorder captures crisp, lengthy voice memos limited in size only by your free memory stick space.
9. Sony retained the rotating screen which lets you carry the Clie like a notepad.
10. Very easy to place music on the device.
11. Drawback: if you want Bluetooth, don't bother with this unit; however, I have no need for BT....also has no WiFi built in, but again, I have no need for that either...WiFi service is still fairly limited in NE Florida although that will change w/in a year.
12. The size of the unit is large. It's slim though and fits comfortably in my carrying case...it has a good feel in your hand...it's properly balanced which means it stays level when fully extended.
13. If the 80 is like the 70, it's unbelievably sturdy...I dropped the 70 twice on bare ceramic tile and discovered (after recovering from the horror) it didn't even have a scratch! Of course I switched my case after that.
14. Anyone that says it's overpriced is mistaken, you have to appreciate the value...ever have a time you wished you had a camcorder to film that coworker goofing off? Or a camera to avoid writing a lengthy note (of course after struggling to locate pen and paper) by taking a pic of a document? Or record a key moment in a presentation? Or wish you had something to work an important excel file, but your laptop had it's battery drained or the file is at your desktop at home because you don't have a laptop? This sucker has solved these things for me, it is truly amazing!
A BIG MISS I JUST REALIZED TODAY-IT DOES NOT PLAY WMA FILES. THIS WILL BE A PROBLEM IF YOU INTEND, LIKE I DO, TO BUY MUSIC ONLINE. MUSIC IS OFFERED IN WMA FORMAT AND THE AUDIO PLAYER ONLY HANDLES MP3S. I DONT KNOW WHAT SONY HAS IN MIND TO SOLVE THIS, EVEN THE AUDIO SOLD ON SONY MUSIC WEB SITE IS IN WMA AND INCOMPATIBLE WITH CLIES. UNBELIEVABLE MISS IF YOU LOVE MUSIC.
I insist, after playing with ipaqs, palms, jornadas, etc. there is nothing better.
Buy Sony Clie PEG-NX80V (Silver) Handheld Now
Just thought I'd take a few minutes to express the joy in my recent purchase (NX80). My experience in handhelds dates back to the early Palm days, switched to PPC in 2001, but now I'm back to Palm and have found the perfect handheld for my welcoming back.
I'm sure by now you've seen all the specs this PEO has to offer, so I want beat that drum. What I will do though is tell you that this by far is the best PEO on the street right now, I even rate it higher than the UX-50, which is getting not very good reviews.
The NX80 came out around June / July time frame, just shortly after the NX73 and just before the UX-50. Sony took the request of it's users and put it all in the NX80, most notabley was the addition of the CF slot, which by the way is absent from the UX-50.
The NX80 feels very solid in the hands and I love the jog dial and the back button. Because of these two features, you can literally use one hand to navigate your way around, it works fabously with Avantgo.
I know you've read all about the memory and the way it's distributed, leaving the user with just under 16 meg, but I use a 256mb memory stick for anything I add, for example; I have almost 5 meg of Avantgo info on the card and will soon be adding family photos and more. Point is, it's not on the handheld and the precious memory is there for common functions such as To dos, address, memos and the many Sony apps that come with it. The PPC I had previous was the IPAQ 3835, loved it, but got really tired of the resets and hangups, and most of all the having to click and click and click to do what fewer clicks achieve with Palm OS.
The keyboard lights up as stated and the pictures the 1.3 megapixel camera takes are more than satisfactory. You say wireless not built in, I say, how often do you use wireless, if plenty, then look elsewhere, if here and there then this PEO is for you, buy the wireless card (under $125 at mysony) and pop it in your CF slot that some other handhelds don't have and you have wireless.
Battery life is not a problem for me thus far, I'v e always been the sync every day type, so mine gets a charge daily, but I did test it for a few days and the battery life doesn't drop dramatically like some reviews I've read states, even using the camera the drop isn't dramatic.
The display is awesome, I have my setting at the very lowest brightness and if you didn't know it, you'd think it was set to med or high, it looks that good. Now that I'm using the Sony application launcher, I can't do without it.
Yes you can take your word, excel and even ppt presentations with you on this beauty, and when you're in that meeting, it'll certainly turn heads. The cradle is terrific, you just lay the NX80 in it, no pushing, and you just lift it off when you're ready to transport. Oh yeah, you can hotsync with the PEO off, couldn't do this with PPC. There's alot of grumbling about the stylus, small and lightweight. Well I felt that way initally, remember I went from IPAQ 3835 (heavier stylus)to NX80, so I too thought it was flimsy and lightweight, but after using it, it's just as comfortable, actually moreso that the bigger one I've used before.
Overall, you want be disappointed with this PEO, go to cliesource.com and brighthand.com for reviews and user reviews. Go to local electronic stores and hold it in your hands and you'll be heading to the checkout area. Sony pumps products out really fast, which is why this particular model isn't getting the hype, but you find a user of this PEO and I'm willing to go out on a limb and say they're very happy with it, I am. Now go get yours!
Read Best Reviews of Sony Clie PEG-NX80V (Silver) Handheld Here
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.
Want Sony Clie PEG-NX80V (Silver) Handheld Discount?
2 years ago I 'upgraded' from a Palm Vx to a Compaq Ipaq. I went from using my Palm several times a day to using the Ipaq once every two weeks. Just never liked the Pocket PC thing. I bought my Sony NX80V about a month ago and found out what I've been missing. Sony took a great product (Palm OS) and made it better. Love the screen, love the interface, love the cool stuff Sony builds into everything. This is a very high quality product and worth every penny I definately got more than I expected. The craftmanship is wonderful, and it does everything you could think of MP3's to a back-up remote control for your TV, mpeg video, and tons of other Palm apps. The built in camera is fun and adequate for 80% of the digital picture taking I do; the keyboard is handy, even though I prefer Graffiti. There are two built-in ways to expand memory with both CF and Memory Stick options. My only complaint is you have to use the Sony 802.11b card for wireless networking, which is overpriced. I wish it was smaller, but then again I bought it because I wanted the large hi-res screen. I don't go anywhere without my PDA now, and I find myself much more productive. Bottom line a little expensive but worth the investment.
One thing's for sure, I'll never go back to pocket pc.
In today's world of electronic gadgets, there are two things that really are frustrating: 1) Once you buy an electronic gadget it often is obsolete the next day; 2) You often need to get lots of accessories to get the most use of your gadget. On top of that, when you are ready to buy a replacement gadget to replace the one you want all of the accessories you bought are suddenly no good. Thus, the dilemma I faced when my old Palm IIIc finally showed signs it was nearing the end of its life was what to buy. I had used my IIIc for 3 1/2 years. During this time, I had such accessories as a Leather Case, A Keyboard, and a Travel Charger. Now as I was viewing what Palm (today) had to offer, I discovered that those nice accessories I owned were suddenly no good because none of the new models that Palm offered were compatible with them. Not a happy camper. As I mention above, this isn't a Palm-specific problem, but a problem with consumer electronics and something companies in the consumer electronics industry have completely taken advantage of the consumers.
Enter Sony's Clie PEG-NX80V this is known as Sony's Personal Electronics Organizer. In addition to being a very impressive unit, it did seem to solve some of my immediate problems around accessories, but of-course introduced a new set of accessory problems I did not imagine.
First up the unit itself. It is a beautiful unit that will immediately make a great first impression. It is silver and basically looks like a mini tablet computer. For starters, the unit folds down into its own hard case so I didn't need to buy any extra cases because this protected the screen (I keep mine in a Day Planner binder, but you still may want a leather cover to prevent case scratches). When you open the unit, you will see a screen and a keyboard now it looks like a mini laptop. The Keyboard solved my dilemma of having to buy a keyboard (I use mine to enter sales data and really depend on a keyboard this one works great). Now the cool feature is you can swivel the screen around and fold it back down on top of the keyboard into the traditional PDA view now its just like a regular PDA. The PEG-NX80V package also comes with a beautiful looking USB cradle in which the back of the cradle is translucent. In addition, the AC Charger unplugs from the cradle and can be plugged into an plug adapter that connects to the unit now you have your travel charger. Yes, the plug adapter is included. That solved my travel adapter problem (I take it on the road a lot). The unit also has a slot for expanding memory with a Sony Memory Stick or Compact Flash Card as well as connecting a wireless lan card.
There are some other impressive features with this unit. First up the stuff you get out of the box. The unit comes loaded with Palm OS 5. Sony also packages their own version of the Launcher Program which looks very attractive. The Sony Launcher does get some getting used to, but I like it because it looks good. If you can't get used to it, you can switch to the traditional Palm OS launcher. There is a jog dial on the unit for making scrolling lists very easy. To write, the unit comes with Palm's Graffiti 2, but there is something better the Decuma Input Handwriting Recognition Software. Decuma Input has a utility where you enter your handwriting and then the unit will recognize your writing. I found the change from standard Graffiti to Graffiti 2 a bit annoying. But Decuma Input is terrific and once you get used to it, you won't go back. The unit will allow you to switch between Decuma Input and Graffiti. The unit comes with an application that will turn your PDA into a Universal Remote Control to use with such devices as a TV, DVD, VCR, etc. Finally the unit comes with a built in voice memo recorder for recording quick voice memos, storing them in the unit and playing them back. Only thing disappointing is a very cheap styled stylus.
As for this being a Personal Electronics Organizer, it has some terrific features but also some warnings. For starters it has a Built in 1.3 Megapixel Camera with a flash its only 1.3 Megapixels, so it won't replace your digital camera. It's a nice feature and you can store pictures and do some cool things like put photos in your address book. Be warned snapping a picture will consume a lot of power from your battery (especially with the flash) more than you expect. Be also warned, you MUST have a Memory Stick to export/import pictures with your PC and Clie thus another accessory. There also is a built in MP3 Player (the unit does come with headphones) and a Movie Camera as well. Using the MP3 unit and Movie Camera does require the Use of a Memory Stick thus this becomes another "required" accessory. The Data Backup Program does also require the Memory Stick. From looking at the specs, it isn't intuitive you need the Memory Stick for these features.
While this is a great unit and it did solve my accessory problems, it created a whole new set of others (namely with the Memory Stick). It is also worth noting to get the Wireless LAN for internet access is a costly accessory as well. However the unit is still very impressive looking and works terrific. Price out what accessories you want and need then shop carefully. Your bet is to try to get it on sale or for a rebate though to get the most for your money.
This case is a great find. High quality materials and construction. Very sturdy. My Dell Mini 10 with extended battery pack fits into the padded pocket easily and is secured by an elastic band with velcro. The main compartment also has full width zippered and mesh pockets opposite the netbook. Charger adapter can be placed inside. A magazine will also fit inside. The double handle with velcro closure is very comfortable to carry.
