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J_Anderton · Feb 5, 2003, 10:17 AM

I'm in the PDA hunt again...

My choices are...

Sony SJ20
Palm M500
Palm M505
Sony SJ10
Palm Vx

I'm really narrowing it down to the Sony SJ20 and the Palm M500.

The SJ10 lacks a few things the SJ20 has (Screen is better and more memory)

The Palm M505 has the ridiculous screen and the Palm Vx...I don't know. It's just about the same as the M500, so I'm not sure.

What do you think is the best choice? I played with them all and love them all...so, I want your opinions.

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J_Anderton · Feb 5, 2003, 08:42 PM

Anyone?

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bluedog · Feb 5, 2003, 09:28 PM

Handspring!? No seriously, I've had a handspring and loved it.

BUT from your choices, I'd go with the better screen. It is the limiting factor for many of these smaller portable devices. If you have an option for expansion, all the better.

The memory stick isn't *really* that useful unless you have it for other devices like a camera (which ropes you into one manufacturer in Sony's case).

The screen and memory would be my pick.

Jordan · Feb 6, 2003, 05:01 AM

I had a couple of Palm's and they were really good.

Was very happy with the Vx but always wanted colour.

When the Clie's came out I jumped at them and bought the PEG-N760C. Seemed to be okay but something was missing. They just aren't as well designed as the Palm. The stylus constantly falls out and I have lost a number of them. The extra bulkiness I don't like either. I have an iPod for music and a digital camera for photos.

Recently, I have had serious problems with the alignment of the digitizer and have had to reset the device a couple of times a day. I'm about to buy a new one and it will be a Tungsten Palm.

Just my two yens worth....

Jordan

J_Anderton · Feb 6, 2003, 08:05 AM

I had an original Handspring Visor (2mb) when it first came out...that was ages ago.

It was good, but the design was "Blah."

I can get the Palm M500 for a good $180 brand new and a Sony SJ20 for $150.

The extra $30 will really be for the design...which I love. It's thinner, but not really smaller than the SJ20. The 16mb is very nice, but you can get SD cards very cheap now. The resolution and the "white" display are nice features to have...so, I don't know.

I'm trying to get people's opinions on their experiences with Sony and Palm.

I'm also thinking about picking out one of these tomorrow.

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J_Anderton · Feb 6, 2003, 04:30 PM

OK...

So, I went to CompUSA today to check out the PDAs.

Palm M500 for $180
Palm M505 for $210
Sony SJ30 for $220
Sony SJ20 for $150
Sony T615 for $199

I was in there for about thirty minutes playing with these things. I don't know which to choose!

I love the design of the Palm M500 and M505. I just love it. The color screen for the M505 isn't THAT bad...it could be better, but it's not terrible, IMO.

I'm really considering going color, because I want to keep this PDA for a good amount of time, you know?

Then...I saw the Sony T615 for $199! Very thin, nice display, and all that good stuff...although, it's a bit tall.

What do you think I should do?

Sony T615 for $200?
Sony SJ30 for $220?
Palm M505 for $210?

The Sony's have the 16MB, which isn't a big deal. The Palm has the terrific design, but the screen isn't that great as the Sony's. I'll be using "Documents to Go" A LOT just to let you know...

So...Any suggestions? Opinions please.

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Emotionally Fragile Luke · Feb 6, 2003, 07:25 PM

SONY! They hi-rez screens are incredible!

smic · Feb 6, 2003, 09:58 PM

ok i got an sj20 and it kicks ass
the back light is cool on them, instead of stupid blue, its white
the sj10 sucked, i had that before for a week, and it ate batteries fast
and i had a t415 and that was cool, like the 615 tall and skinny, but it only had 8mb of memory, and i filled it quick
the 16 is cool, i use 9mb of it most of the time, the sony was way better then the palms i thought, mainly for the high res screen, and the added memory

i forget if the 615 had hires or not, some of the older sony's didnt

but i got mine from a cool store that let me return stuff in 15days no questions asked, and the whole reason i didnt get the sj20 at first was because they didnt carry it till like 13days after i got the first one

oh and the skinny sony that i had at first felt funny, the sj20 feels nice like a tv remote, or a cell phone, and the jog dial no the sonys is great too

Macola · Feb 6, 2003, 10:09 PM

I picked up a Clie T615C for $150 (after rebate) a while ago and really like it. The hi-res screen is definitely woth having. The only down side to Clies is not being able to use some of the software on the CD which is Windoze only.

J_Anderton · Feb 6, 2003, 10:30 PM

I spent hours and hours tonight researching my choices. I looked up every review for each PDA...went through the PDA forums...looked at comparasions...etc...etc...

I've decided to narrow it down to the two Sony PDAs.

It's about equal between the two.

Both have great high res color screens...both have 16mb...both have all the goodies, program wise...

It's just...

T615: Thinner, but taller. 0.5" thin.
SJ30: Thicker, but smaller. 0.7" thin.

T615: $199
SJ30: $220

That's about it. So...I don't know. I don't know.

Do you think that high res screen is a big plus for reading Word documents???

Thank you for your opinions by the way...it's been a big help so far.

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Emotionally Fragile Luke · Feb 6, 2003, 11:08 PM

The high rez screen is good for EVERYTHING!

Just so you know, Sony is coming out with a couple great new low end Palms soon.

J_Anderton · Feb 6, 2003, 11:17 PM

Originally posted by Emotionally Fragile Luke:
The high rez screen is good for EVERYTHING!

Just so you know, Sony is coming out with a couple great new low end Palms soon.

Sounds good.

Yeah, I seen the new Sony's...The ones with different color casing, color screen, and a flip cover, right?

I believe I read somewhere that it's on Amazon now...for $280 something...somewhere around that range. I think the SJ30 looks better though.

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Emotionally Fragile Luke · Feb 7, 2003, 12:52 AM

This one is also on the way...

slffl · Feb 7, 2003, 01:09 AM

I first had an HP 540. I then switched to the Clie PEG-S300. Now I have the Treo 300. If I were to be getting a PDA only, I would probably go with the IPAQ 1910. Review here

http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/hp1910-review.html

Smallest PocketPC I've ever seen.

I Bent My Wookiee · Feb 7, 2003, 01:47 AM

Here is the new Sony, looks great:

J_Anderton · Feb 7, 2003, 02:41 PM

This morning, I went out and bought the Sony SJ30!!!

This thing is SO nice!!! Whew!

PROBLEM THOUGH!

I installed everything...everything went fine. I installed some nice software...I transfered my address book, BUT...When I try to iSync or Hotsync my datebook...it will go through the entire transferring process, but it won't actually transfer. There is nothing in my datebook on my PDA!!!

What's going on? Help please.

ALSO!!! How can I get DocsToGo to work on my Mac? Can I even use it on my Mac???

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finknottle · Feb 7, 2003, 02:44 PM

Get Missing Sync
http://www.markspace.com/missingsync.html

J_Anderton · Feb 7, 2003, 02:53 PM

That's the thing...I don't believe I need Missing Sync for my Sony.

It's strange that everything else syncs perfectly, except my DateBook.

From what I know, nobody else needed Missing Sync for any Sony SJ series...so, I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

Hmmmm...

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J_Anderton · Feb 7, 2003, 06:47 PM

Nevermind...

I got it working.

Thank you all for your opinions and all that...I love this thing! The screen is so incredible...just wow!

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smic · Feb 7, 2003, 09:07 PM

there is a docs to go for mac
but last time i checked it said to get the trial for the mac, even though i had the full thing for pc that came with the clie
and i could buy it after the trial period

so i never bothered to use it