UX50 speed vs Tungsten C

[mpnielsen]

Hello Everyone.

I have been using the Tungsten C for about 7 months now, and I am very happy with it. Like many people here, I have been through quite a few PDAs in search for the perfect one. For me the T|C is pretty close.

BUT - then there is the Clié UX50. And being a chronic gadget junkie, I have had to really fight the urge to buy it just because it is so cool. Now, I am trying to be more rational about it, and there is one issue that I would like some help on: Speed.

Since Sony has adopted the somewhat silly policy of not stating comparable CPU specifications for their new PDAs it is really hard to try to imagine how fast the UX50 really is.

So here is my question: Does anybody have hands-on experience with both machines (or with the UX50 and any of the XSCALE 400 Mhz Palms)? And is the UX50 noticably slower?

To me it is useless that maybe I can play back video at 30 fps if - for instance - rendering webpages is s l o w. So how does it meassure up?

Any input will be much appreciated.

-Morten

[abid786]

Unfortunately, yes, it is slower to most people. I also find it slower, in comparison with a Tungsten T3 (same 400 MHz XScale processor). :( The UX is good at 30 fps movies and rendering MP3s, but the 123 MHz processor is slow in viewing native *.docs or *.xls files, and also is slow in rendering large webpages with many graphics.

One thread is here (http://www.cliesource.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=41307&highlight=speed)

Abid

[NinjaZX6R]

I agree. I read a review on it, because I was interested in it as well. The separate graphics controller is what allows it to be great at multimedia, but other areas, they said it does FEEL sluggish. Benchmarks also show it to be slower than the Sony 200mhz models. So, if you are interested in multimedia, then its good choice, but you probably knew that :)

-Collin-

[mpnielsen]

Thanks for your inputs.

What you are saying is (unfortunately) what I suspected. The UX50 is blazing away showing video and sluggish when it comes to non-bitmapped non-sequential data like Word documents or (worse!) web pages.

Actually, from a technical point of view, this is a somewhat strange design decision on Sony's part, if you ask me. Multiprocessor architectures are potentially nice, but are normally used to stretch the envelope on already optimized systems. In my opinion, using a multiprocessor approach as a scheme to be able to downgrade a compontent (main CPU) is dubious when the goal is reducing power consumption.

The overhead involved (at hardware and OS kernal levels) running more processors, affects both system speed and power consumption negatively - all things equal and for a fixed throughput level. The overall system throughput improvement should at least compensate for this overhead if the multiprocessor approach is to pay off from a performance point of view. Evidently, Sony has designed a product with reduced overall performance in order to reduce power consumption.

What I am trying to say is that they might have been able to achieve this with a single processor solution using for instance the very power aware PXA255 and running a variable clock scheme on that.

So why? Its a bit like the Memory Stick thing. The exotic is part of an overall Sony product strategi: Sony introduces some proprietary hardware component (in this case the HHE/DSP/GA cluster) to be used on a variety of their offerings in order to maximize their margin. And they figure that the discussion we are having right here will not affect sales at a scale that can neutralize or even reverse the positive effect on revenue. It's business and it's too bad for some of us who would like a different approach. Sony will say that you cannot meassure throughput in any simpel way anyway, and that its a question of profiling the throughput. And they are right, of course.

Well, maybe they'll launch a differently scoped UX - maybe the PEG-UX70 with a larger screen, a serious clock rate and a larger battery to deal with it? :)

'Nough ranting.

Thanks again for your input. I might be heading for a Zaurus C860 or a T|T3. Or maybe I'll just bag it, and keep using my really nice T|C that plays video perfectly.


-Morten

[abid786]

I don't know about that, but I do know that the TH55 runs the HHE and has a greater battery life than the T3, which runs at 400 MHz.:cool:

Abid

[mpnielsen]

Yes - but PalmOne do not mess with the clock as far as I know? I think it is possible with the XSCALE CPUs - anyone?

:)

Morten