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Electronics : Sony Clie PEG-TH55
page 1 of 3
Rating: 
- If you were a Psion 5 user... think about it. Seriously.
It took me months to decide on the handheld I wanted. I'd played with PocketPCs and knew that I wasn't happy with the wifi performance or a number of other things about the OS, so I was fairly sure that it was either Linux (Sharp Zaurus) or a Palm device. Looking around, I found that the battery life on the Clie TH55 was by far the best available. On top of that, it included everything I wanted: wifi, camera, and a decent software base for improvement.
So I bought one from Amazon UK (marketplace seller) and tested it out for a few months.
What do I think now? Well, it's been endlessly useful. Software exists to support just about anything I could want to do. Sshing into a server? No problem. FTP? Easy enough. The email client is more than sufficient, and the web browser is surprisingly effective for a system that really shouldn't be able to do half of what it does. I've found that the Japanese habit of carrying such a device around on a lanyard has a lot more sense behind it than I ever imagined, especially for those of us who really do commute, travel, or get bored in meetings!
That said, I'll be looking at the UX-50 for the convenient keyboard, just as soon as I find one available at a second-hand price. If the TH55 suffers from anything, it's low compatibility with the various Palm expansion options such as keyboards and so forth - but it's such a complete platform in and of itself that you won't be needing most of those gadgets anyway.
Rating:
- Sony compatability
I've had my TH55 for a few months now and, generally, have found it to be very useful, for all of the reasons stated by others in their reviews. The things that I don't like are:
1. Sony's "picsel viewer" for documents is not particuarly good when viewing word or adobe files. This is because it will not optimise the page width for easy viewing. Although you can scroll across the page the picture stutters as you scroll. It's so frustrating that I don't use it. If there's a setting that overcomes this I don't know about it! You can't use "documents to go" as it will not read the latest version of Word documents and you can't upgrade the "documents to go" programme to the latest version as this will stop the "Clie Mail" synching with your PC.
2. In order to transfer music to the TH55 you have to use Sony's programme and use a Sony memory card. The "problem" with this is that you are locked into using Sony memory cards which are twice the price of others on the market. I bought a card from a different maker and although it will take all the data files it will not accept "Sony" music files. You can transfer music to the memory card but the TH55 music player will only play music via its own programme. There is no way round this.
In summary, lots of the features are great but this device locks you into Sony and they are very restrictive in what they allow you to do!
Rating: - Known issues with the TH-55 not a problem.
I have had mine now for a few months. To pick up on the points that online reviews have already mentioned. The stylus is small but you get used to it as you do with the rear jog wheel, flip cover and buttons along the lower edge. Don't let that put you off buying. The speed is fine. So what if it takes an extra eighth of a second to open a program. You can switch the user interface back to standard palm if you don't like either of the two additional Sony ones. There are sites where you can download the movie record app so don't worry about not having this as standard. The power button is fiddly but you can get free programs to re-map the capture button to turn it on and off when the lens shutter is closed. You don't get a remote for the MP3 player function but the it fits nicely in a shirt pocket and you can use the hard buttons on the case to control track selection, play, stop and volume. The camera is low quality but if you want this PDA I guess you already have a proper digital camera. The free copy of Doc's To Go only comes with the American version. The battery life is superb and I really mean that. Perhaps 3x more than my NX70V. The size is smaller than most. The screen is the best I have seen and part of the processor is dedicated to multimedia so music and graphics are great. I am well chuffed with it and would recommend to anyone.
Rating: - The definitive PDA (well at least this month!)
Please read the other review as well as this one.
The features I like are:
1. Full connectivity, both WiFi and BT (I use this with a GPRS phone)
2. Fantastic battery life; better than any Power User PDA I know about
3. Fantastic quality MP3 music play back - Sony have a dedicated sound chip that puts little pressure on the main processor and therefore extends battery life
4. The price - no other WiFi & BT device with a 320*480 sceen is as cheap as this
5. Form factor - lovely size, feel and weight (the jog dial is not as bad as some say)
Now don't forget like any computer you do need to make sure you download the updates and bug fixes from the Sony support site (www.clie-link.com). The recent updates I believe address the issues with alarms mentioned by another review here.
Best value PDA I have ever owned.
Rating: - Best Clie Ever
This is the one we've all been waiting for - small & light form factor, very nice screen, good battery life (!), Wi-Fi AND Bluetooth (one up on the Yanks at last!), this thing is great. I enjoyed my previous Clie, a 760C which was fine but a bit limited.
The TH55 is quicker, can play games in FULL screen (depending on the game, some are 320 x 320, some are 320 x 480 and some are 480 x 320 which is great). I browse the internet and hotsync etc over Wi-Fi at home which is a bit of a slower experience than using a laptop, but it's so cool that i can. I can also browse the internet anywhere else (at work, as a passenger in a car, in the middle of a forest) using bluetooth and my phone. It's easy and it works, and is about as fast as a 56k dial-up.
I absolutely LOVE to watch films on it too, using the program mmplayer i can watch my DVDs that i re-encode on the computer, put them on a memory stick, and i'm away. Very, very cool indeed.
I almost forget that it's also an MP3 player, has the best diary-management stuff of any machine and takes photos.....and still leaves me with battery to spare at the end of the day.
My next step is to get a GPS attachment (over bluetooth of course) for use as a Sat-Nav system for the car.
This is not just the best Clie ever, it's the best handheld machine yet made.
One criticism though, is i'm waiting for someone to come up with a way to use the machine in landscape mode (480 x 320) instead of the normal portrait mode for using in web-browsing etc, which would make this even better.
- If you were a Psion 5 user... think about it. Seriously.It took me months to decide on the handheld I wanted. I'd played with PocketPCs and knew that I wasn't happy with the wifi performance or a number of other things about the OS, so I was fairly sure that it was either Linux (Sharp Zaurus) or a Palm device. Looking around, I found that the battery life on the Clie TH55 was by far the best available. On top of that, it included everything I wanted: wifi, camera, and a decent software base for improvement.
So I bought one from Amazon UK (marketplace seller) and tested it out for a few months.
What do I think now? Well, it's been endlessly useful. Software exists to support just about anything I could want to do. Sshing into a server? No problem. FTP? Easy enough. The email client is more than sufficient, and the web browser is surprisingly effective for a system that really shouldn't be able to do half of what it does. I've found that the Japanese habit of carrying such a device around on a lanyard has a lot more sense behind it than I ever imagined, especially for those of us who really do commute, travel, or get bored in meetings!
That said, I'll be looking at the UX-50 for the convenient keyboard, just as soon as I find one available at a second-hand price. If the TH55 suffers from anything, it's low compatibility with the various Palm expansion options such as keyboards and so forth - but it's such a complete platform in and of itself that you won't be needing most of those gadgets anyway.
Rating:
- Sony compatabilityI've had my TH55 for a few months now and, generally, have found it to be very useful, for all of the reasons stated by others in their reviews. The things that I don't like are:
1. Sony's "picsel viewer" for documents is not particuarly good when viewing word or adobe files. This is because it will not optimise the page width for easy viewing. Although you can scroll across the page the picture stutters as you scroll. It's so frustrating that I don't use it. If there's a setting that overcomes this I don't know about it! You can't use "documents to go" as it will not read the latest version of Word documents and you can't upgrade the "documents to go" programme to the latest version as this will stop the "Clie Mail" synching with your PC.
2. In order to transfer music to the TH55 you have to use Sony's programme and use a Sony memory card. The "problem" with this is that you are locked into using Sony memory cards which are twice the price of others on the market. I bought a card from a different maker and although it will take all the data files it will not accept "Sony" music files. You can transfer music to the memory card but the TH55 music player will only play music via its own programme. There is no way round this.
In summary, lots of the features are great but this device locks you into Sony and they are very restrictive in what they allow you to do!
Rating:
- Known issues with the TH-55 not a problem.I have had mine now for a few months. To pick up on the points that online reviews have already mentioned. The stylus is small but you get used to it as you do with the rear jog wheel, flip cover and buttons along the lower edge. Don't let that put you off buying. The speed is fine. So what if it takes an extra eighth of a second to open a program. You can switch the user interface back to standard palm if you don't like either of the two additional Sony ones. There are sites where you can download the movie record app so don't worry about not having this as standard. The power button is fiddly but you can get free programs to re-map the capture button to turn it on and off when the lens shutter is closed. You don't get a remote for the MP3 player function but the it fits nicely in a shirt pocket and you can use the hard buttons on the case to control track selection, play, stop and volume. The camera is low quality but if you want this PDA I guess you already have a proper digital camera. The free copy of Doc's To Go only comes with the American version. The battery life is superb and I really mean that. Perhaps 3x more than my NX70V. The size is smaller than most. The screen is the best I have seen and part of the processor is dedicated to multimedia so music and graphics are great. I am well chuffed with it and would recommend to anyone.
Rating:
- The definitive PDA (well at least this month!)Please read the other review as well as this one.
The features I like are:
1. Full connectivity, both WiFi and BT (I use this with a GPRS phone)
2. Fantastic battery life; better than any Power User PDA I know about
3. Fantastic quality MP3 music play back - Sony have a dedicated sound chip that puts little pressure on the main processor and therefore extends battery life
4. The price - no other WiFi & BT device with a 320*480 sceen is as cheap as this
5. Form factor - lovely size, feel and weight (the jog dial is not as bad as some say)
Now don't forget like any computer you do need to make sure you download the updates and bug fixes from the Sony support site (www.clie-link.com). The recent updates I believe address the issues with alarms mentioned by another review here.
Best value PDA I have ever owned.
Rating:
- Best Clie EverThis is the one we've all been waiting for - small & light form factor, very nice screen, good battery life (!), Wi-Fi AND Bluetooth (one up on the Yanks at last!), this thing is great. I enjoyed my previous Clie, a 760C which was fine but a bit limited.
The TH55 is quicker, can play games in FULL screen (depending on the game, some are 320 x 320, some are 320 x 480 and some are 480 x 320 which is great). I browse the internet and hotsync etc over Wi-Fi at home which is a bit of a slower experience than using a laptop, but it's so cool that i can. I can also browse the internet anywhere else (at work, as a passenger in a car, in the middle of a forest) using bluetooth and my phone. It's easy and it works, and is about as fast as a 56k dial-up.
I absolutely LOVE to watch films on it too, using the program mmplayer i can watch my DVDs that i re-encode on the computer, put them on a memory stick, and i'm away. Very, very cool indeed.
I almost forget that it's also an MP3 player, has the best diary-management stuff of any machine and takes photos.....and still leaves me with battery to spare at the end of the day.
My next step is to get a GPS attachment (over bluetooth of course) for use as a Sat-Nav system for the car.
This is not just the best Clie ever, it's the best handheld machine yet made.
One criticism though, is i'm waiting for someone to come up with a way to use the machine in landscape mode (480 x 320) instead of the normal portrait mode for using in web-browsing etc, which would make this even better.
