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SupahCoolX · Jul 17, 2003, 06:32 PM

Holy cow!
http://palminfocenter.com/view_story.asp?ID=5666
http://www.sony.jp/products/Consumer/PEG/PEG-UX50/

I haven't been excited about anything in the PDA market for a while, but this thing is seriously cool. GBA SP-style design, 480x320 landscape screen, keyboard, bluetooth, 802.11, digital camera... As long as it's not ridiculously priced (which, of course, it will be) I'll definitely pick one up.

Severed Hand of Skywalker · Jul 17, 2003, 07:46 PM

Cheesy and big. It looks like the early Windows CE devices.

If you need all that you should just spend the extra bux and get a laptop.

asmujica · Jul 17, 2003, 07:52 PM

Getting one also. They claim its the smallest clie to date.

nbnz · Jul 17, 2003, 10:55 PM

Originally posted by asmujica:
Getting one also. They claim its the smallest clie to date.

Smallest Clie ever? Or smallest Clie with integrated keyboard and flip/swivel screen? It is very cool, will have to wait till the price and availability in Australia is announced before I get too excited. I was just thinking earlier this week I need to upgrade my m505.

Severed Hand of Skywalker · Jul 17, 2003, 11:24 PM

Originally posted by asmujica:
Getting one also. They claim its the smallest clie to date.

Have you seen the high end one, the thing is a brick.

icruise · Jul 17, 2003, 11:45 PM

Looks like a copy of the Sharp SLC-760:

But I'd take the Sony over the Sharp any day.

geekwagon · Jul 17, 2003, 11:46 PM

I just did a quick comparison and it is smaller than my Tungsten T (just barely) when it is in the Palm hardcase. Which it is, 100% of the time. And I carry it with me everywhere, so it passes the "shove it into a jeans pocket" test.

The size looks ideal since this one wont need a hardcase because of its clamshell design. I must say I was ready to buy an iPaq 2215 this weekend but now I am thinking I will wait and test out one of these guys. For what I would use it for, it looks perfect. My T is still meeting my needs, so I am in no huge hurry.

maxintosh · Jul 18, 2003, 05:56 AM

Originally posted by geekwagon:
I just did a quick comparison and it is smaller than my Tungsten T (just barely) when it is in the Palm hardcase. Which it is, 100% of the time. And I carry it with me everywhere, so it passes the "shove it into a jeans pocket" test.

The size looks ideal since this one wont need a hardcase because of its clamshell design. I must say I was ready to buy an iPaq 2215 this weekend but now I am thinking I will wait and test out one of these guys. For what I would use it for, it looks perfect. My T is still meeting my needs, so I am in no huge hurry.

Yeah, except:
iPaq 2215: $369 ($297 for students)
Sony UX-50: Lord only knows, but Sony's high-end Clies are absurdly expensive

Also, the UX-50 looks as if it may have problems running the standard Palm programs. Plus, the keyboard looks awful, as it is on the TG-50, NX70, NR60...

Nebrie · Jul 18, 2003, 12:05 PM

Originally posted by maxintosh:
Yeah, except:
iPaq 2215: $369 ($297 for students)
Sony UX-50: Lord only knows, but Sony's high-end Clies are absurdly expensive

Also, the UX-50 looks as if it may have problems running the standard Palm programs. Plus, the keyboard looks awful, as it is on the TG-50, NX70, NR60...

PPC sucks.

$599 in Japan, so $699 in the US (Apple's not the only one that screws internationals)

Programmers get to deal with yet another propietary Sony extension and rewrite their software again, they must be happy.

geekwagon · Jul 18, 2003, 02:03 PM

Originally posted by maxintosh:
Yeah, except:
iPaq 2215: $369 ($297 for students)
Sony UX-50: Lord only knows, but Sony's high-end Clies are absurdly expensive

Also, the UX-50 looks as if it may have problems running the standard Palm programs. Plus, the keyboard looks awful, as it is on the TG-50, NX70, NR60...

Just curious, where are you finding the $297 for students price? I am not afraid to spend around $600 if the unit turns out to be decent.. more than that I might question though. I'm not going to choose something just because its cheaper though (hey, I'm a Mac user right?)

I could see how the processor and newer 5.2 version of the OS might cause problems. That said, there are PPC apps that are having problems with PPC2003, too.

I don't think the screen will cause problems though, anymore than HiRes+ caused problems. If you notice, the area that the palm apps run in is 320x320 square, just like any of the new Clies or Palms. Sony will just enforce that the soft graffiti area be visible when running "non-aware" programs, just like the do with hires+.

At least it looks like the software it comes with out of the box are aware of the larger screen though. I used to have an NX60 (I loved that thing to death: the hinge eventually wore out..) and all the software that came with it was incapable of using the full length of the screen.

Why are all the PPCs still stuck at 320x240 resolution, anyway? OS limitation? That is the one thing that always keeps me away from the PPCs. It just looks awful..

icruise · Jul 18, 2003, 02:14 PM

Originally posted by geekwagon:
Why are all the PPCs still stuck at 320x240 resolution, anyway? OS limitation? That is the one thing that always keeps me away from the PPCs. It just looks awful..

Basically Microsoft dictates the specs of pocket PCs, which is why there is very little real differentiation between PPC models.

maxintosh · Jul 18, 2003, 04:49 PM

Originally posted by geekwagon:
Just curious, where are you finding the $297 for students price? I am not afraid to spend around $600 if the unit turns out to be decent.. more than that I might question though. I'm not going to choose something just because its cheaper though (hey, I'm a Mac user right?)

Just go to the HP store and open the Store for Education. It's right there.

PPC isn't god's gift to man, but I think Palm is way too underpowered. PPC is much more flexible and multifaced -- I've owned 6 palms, and I'm just tired of them. The new screens might be hi-res but they're still TINY!

SupahCoolX · Jul 18, 2003, 05:49 PM

Well, yesterday I was excited. After seeing the $700 price point, Sony can keep it.
Oh well...

geekwagon · Jul 18, 2003, 06:05 PM

Just go to the HP store and open the Store for Education. It's right there.

Thanks for telling me about that. I poked around in there and couldn't find a link for students (not faculty or institutions) previously. That is a pretty good deal, even the carepaqs are discounted. Interestingly, the 5550 or whatever the new high end one is called is only ~$13 off there.

Well, yesterday I was excited. After seeing the $700 price point, Sony can keep it.
Oh well...

Agreed, that sucks. I was hoping for $599 at most. Oh well, no hurry.

Immortal K-Mart Employee · Jul 18, 2003, 06:36 PM

Originally posted by SupahCoolX:
Well, yesterday I was excited. After seeing the $700 price point, Sony can keep it.
Oh well...

$700 what a joke. I mean, you can get laptops for that price!

icruise · Jul 19, 2003, 12:18 AM

You can probably get a used car for that price too. So what? A car isn't going to fulfill the same needs as the Clie anymore than a laptop would. The whole point is that you have a very capable small computer that you can literally take anyway.

Immortal K-Mart Employee · Jul 19, 2003, 12:48 AM

Originally posted by Icruise:
You can probably get a used car for that price too. So what? A car isn't going to fulfill the same needs as the Clie anymore than a laptop would. The whole point is that you have a very capable small computer that you can literally take anyway.

A laptop is nothing like a car. You can get a laptop that can do 10x more then a palm for the same price. See the difference?

geekwagon · Jul 19, 2003, 02:47 AM

Originally posted by Immortal K-Mart Employee:
A laptop is nothing like a car. You can get a laptop that can do 10x more then a palm for the same price. See the difference?

Yes, but there are also things that a handheld can do that laptops can't, like fit in a jeans pocket. It's all about buying what fits your needs.

No matter how much a laptop can do that a handheld can't for the same price, it is all useless if you can't take it with you..

Skywalkers new Hand · Jul 19, 2003, 01:20 PM

Originally posted by geekwagon:
Yes, but there are also things that a handheld can do that laptops can't, like fit in a jeans pocket. It's all about buying what fits your needs.

I guess I should be surprised that a guy called "geekwagon" wants one of these things in his jeans pocket, it is not like any girls are getting in there

geekwagon · Jul 19, 2003, 03:06 PM

Originally posted by Skywalkers new Hand:
I guess I should be surprised that a guy called "geekwagon" wants one of these things in his jeans pocket, it is not like any girls are getting in there

Hey, were all geeks here right? I mean who else but geeks/nerds/etc would spend a bunch of time hanging out at a forum discussing computers?

As for girls, I would say something about that, but my wife also reads this forum

One of these days maybe I will make a sig image that explains the username..

Alpha-sphere · Jul 19, 2003, 04:18 PM

Originally posted by geekwagon:
Hey, were all geeks here right? I mean who else but geeks/nerds/etc would spend a bunch of time hanging out at a forum discussing computers?

As for girls, I would say something about that, but my wife also reads this forum

One of these days maybe I will make a sig image that explains the username..

i'd rather be a geek than someone with no opinion following the crowd. Everybody is different and if they want to mark us a geeks/nerd then go ahead. I at least know something bout a computer. What do you know? How cool hugo boss is? that doesn't do anything for you in this computerized era.

I hate it when people call us geeks. Everybody think of us as stereotype nerd. Do we dutch people walk around in wooden shoes with tulips in our hand and a windmill in the background?

nonhuman · Jul 19, 2003, 04:42 PM

Originally posted by Alpha-sphere:
Do we dutch people walk around in wooden shoes with tulips in our hand and a windmill in the background?

You mean you don't?!?!

ASIMO · Jul 19, 2003, 05:52 PM

Originally posted by Alpha-sphere:
...Do we dutch people walk around in wooden shoes with tulips in our hand and a windmill in the background?

Is that comfortable?

Immortal K-Mart Employee · Jul 19, 2003, 06:13 PM

Originally posted by Alpha-sphere:
I at least know something bout a computer. What do you know? How cool hugo boss is? that doesn't do anything for you in this computerized era.

I guess working in the graphic design profession for 10 + years has taught me nothing about computers

DekuDekuplex · Jul 20, 2003, 01:53 PM

Originally posted by geekwagon:
Yes, but there are also things that a handheld can do that laptops can't, like fit in a jeans pocket. It's all about buying what fits your needs.

No matter how much a laptop can do that a handheld can't for the same price, it is all useless if you can't take it with you..

True.

For example, I live in Manhattan, and laptops reportedly get stolen very often around here. I own a Hammerhead (Apple's internal codename for the 17-inch PowerBook), but am afraid to take it out of my apartment at night because of this problem.

However, if I had a handheld, I could hide it much more easily than my laptop when riding in the bus/subway.

It's quite difficult to fit a Hammerhead into a jacket pocket

, and dangerous-looking passengers look me over when I carry big bags on the bus/subway late at night.

DekuDekuplex

iBorg · Jul 20, 2003, 05:50 PM

My biggest complaint with this new, uber-expensive Clie, is the unnecessarily limited ram. 16 MB??? No reason they couldn't have matched the 64 MB of the Tungsten C, especially for the inflated price.

That's the sole reason I'm not buying this thing.

iBorg

hadocon · Jul 21, 2003, 10:19 PM

I love this little baby. It has its shortcomings, but I love the size, especially when it has BT and WiFi...

here is a great place for pics...

link to Japanese site

P.S. I think it looks cool!

icruise · Jul 21, 2003, 11:17 PM

Originally posted by Immortal K-Mart Employee:
A laptop is nothing like a car. You can get a laptop that can do 10x more then a palm for the same price. See the difference?

The point is that PDAs and laptops are very different animals. You do not buy a PDA to accomplish the exact same things you buy a laptop for. They are very different, not only because the PDA is much smaller and can be taken with you everywhere, but because the things they are good at differ wildly. My point was that your comparison is just as nonsensical as be comparing it to a car.

Ever try to look up an address quickly on a laptop? I once saw a guy whip out a huge thinkpad when standing in line just to check an address. Wasn't pretty. Laptops are not good for quick checks of information or quick notes. PDAs (and paper notebooks...) are.

iBorg · Jul 22, 2003, 02:15 AM

Originally posted by hadocon:
I love this little baby. It has its shortcomings, but I love the size, especially when it has BT and WiFi...

Agreed. But they f'd up in a major way, by providing only 16 MB of usable ram, when Palm OS 5 allows for 64 MB, as the Palm Tungsten C does - which also provides WiFi.

Oh, well ..... Sony EOL's their products every 6 months, so I guess I won't have too long to wait for them to upgrade this....

iBorg

hadocon · Jul 22, 2003, 09:51 AM

Originally posted by iBorg:
Agreed. But they f'd up in a major way, by providing only 16 MB of usable ram, when Palm OS 5 allows for 64 MB, as the Palm Tungsten C does - which also provides WiFi.

Oh, well ..... Sony EOL's their products every 6 months, so I guess I won't have too long to wait for them to upgrade this....

iBorg

True about the EOL... Another problem I have with the UX50 is that there will be few apps that take advantage of what it has to offer. This will be a great unit with OS 6 comes out. BTW, when is OS 6 slated to be realeased?