Palm vs. Clie

[Ruby Vee]

I'm going to need to replace my Visor Prism soon, and although Handspring's Treo looks very nice, there doesn't seem to be a folding keyboard that you can use with it, and I use my keyboard a LOT! So, I was looking at Palms and was almost ready to buy a Palm 515. But when I went to the store, the salesman there was really pushing Clie. He kept saying "You get more for your money," but couldn't seem to be specific about this claim. He was showing me the SJ30 and the T615C, both of which have 16 mb of memory, higher-resolution color screens than the Palm and seem rather similar to each other and to the Palm.

Has anyone out there used both the Palm and the Clie, or is familiar enough with both to offer an educated opionion as to why the Clie is (or isn't) better? Which is more reliable, has better battery life or better features? And as to the Clie, if it is better than the Palm, which model should I choose? I'm looking at spending $250 - $350, and then will want to get a keyboard as well.

Thanks for your help,
Ruby Vee

[Stardust]

I'm up against the same dilemma: a Sony or Palm to replace my Prism. My eye has been caught by the new Palm Tungsten T and the Sony PEG-T665C Limited Edition. The upcoming Stowaway XT "super-thin" keyboard is designed to work with the Palm, whilst an older Stowaway model is available for the T665C. Given the number of new market entries with all those powerful features, I'm getting a bit confused and remain undecided.

[garymazza]

I own a HandSpring Delux; When I decided to retire it and find a color unit I bought a Palm 130 and returned it, 3 separated times. For various problems. Poor quality of the fit and finish, fatal error exceptions. I purchased a 615c after that and have been for the most part very satisfied. The color is great and the unit is very reliable. One fatal error alert, I did a soft reset and went on my way. I am glad I bought mine, and the 16 mb internal memory makes a huge difference as does the 320x320 color vs Palms 160x160. I travel, and its neat to have photos on it you can actually see that are very clear. Good luck hope you find one you like.

G:)

[Erbid]

Summary (I just got a CLIe after using a Palm Vx for years):
I got "color, resolution, sound, and USB hot-sync" for a current price of $200 vs. $100 for the current price of my old Palm Vx. I avoided spending $500 or $700 on the new Palm OS 5.0 devices that tore at my pocketbook for WEEKS before I set a $350 limit.
I actually spent $406 for two of them, and my wife has joined the ranks! My Vx cost a lot more when it was new…

The vibrating alarm is new to me. I really appreciated it in my latest cell phone…

So far:

Downside of CLIe:

(Opinion) It's thicker and heavier than my Palm Vx. It seems "denser?" because it's narrower.
(Fact) 4.9 vs. 4.0 oz / 0.5 vs. 0.4 in???
(Opinion) The Sony models are pretty close to each other and it got a bit confusing near the "decision point".

Offsetting factor:
(Opinion) I just looked up the facts; my opinion is "it seems that way at first". It's not much bigger (it is narrower 2.83 vs. 4.1 in) and the weight is no big deal unless you're doing jumping jacks with it in your shirt pocket. I always removed my Palm from my pocket before being extremely active, and will do the same with my CLIe, so this is not a biggie for me.

Upside of CLIe:

(Fact) I got mine (and you can get yours) for $200 today. It supports 320/320 in good color with great lighting. It has "advanced sound" (can play MP3s, I think, not tested yet) compared to the old Palm Vx. It's a cheap way to join the modern world. Finding the T615 on "closeout" both on Palm.com and Overstock.com for $200 cinched things. The Tungsten was the only competition from Palm, and the price made up my mind for me.

(Opinion) My requirements were Good 320x320 or better color, Small size, and low cost. I had a top end of $350. At $200 this was great. The Palm OS 5.0 devices tempted me, but Palm OS 4.1 had the newer features I added in to Palm OS 3.x using upgrades and patches. I have found no definitive opinions that the new hardware needed for OS 5.0 is faster running OS 5.0 than the hardware required for OS 4.1 is running OS 4.1. The CLIe T615 It is "fast enough!" for me. Is shows color pictures and plays MP3s, which will be investigated after I play with it at the level I've used my Vx for a while.

Offsetting factor:
I really did not get to "hands on" evaluate the OS 5.0 devices although I was sorely tempted (Camera included with top end CLIe / The Tungsten looks as sleek as my Vx).

[garymazza]

May I suggest checking out Amazon for a memory stick. Thats where I got mine, fast delivery, great people to order from. Very professional. Sena leather cases for the Clie are also a good value, great quality but getting a little pricy, and thats a shame when I bought mine they were $29. I can speak from experience they make a very good product. The last time I praised Sena cases I was suspected of working for them. LOL .. Not true, just a well pleased customer. senacases.com

Hey .. let me know how it goes.
Gary

[PDASROCK]

You are obviously advertising amazon.com!! Just kidding. Sorry about that whole mess, I guess that guy was having a bad day. Just curious, what size stick did you get, how much, and how big is an average mp3? Cheers, Ben

[garymazza]

I bought the 128 mb memory stick, for the difference in price I thought it to be the best value.

Haven't done mp3 "yet", trying to find the accessory player for the 615c cheaper than what Sony wants for it, when it gets down to around $50 or $40 I will buy one. But I download quite a bit, and am using Splash Photo with which by the way I love. Excellent program, very easy to use. I can get some really great looking pictures on here at hi res of 320x320 on the memory stick very fast and easy. In addition Splash lets you enlarge, crop rotate your pics before you put them on the Clie'. Very cool.

G
:cool:

[clotheslady]

I bought a Clie T665C a couple of weeks ago. This choice after weeks of playing with both Palm and Sony products. I went to the store thinking I would get the T615, but found the T665 still under my $350 limit with better processor and MP3 player included. Must admit, it's taking longer to get acquainted with everything than I imagined, but am very happy with the unit.
My next *learning experience* will be purchasing a mem. stk. and try the MP3 player.
In short --- I feel this unit has a lot to offer for the $$.
CJ

[NickC]

The only real advantage I saw for the m500/515 over the Clie models is that the m500/515s have way more accessories available and they're often right at your corner computer store. Clie accessories are much more limited despite more and more models coming out using the same serial connector.

Featurewise, the Clie's win hands down.

[Stardust]

Thanks for all the comments from the Clie owners. However, I'd like to raise a question many people haven't paid much attention to: How easy is it to replace the Palm or Sony battery in terms of availability and cost? And has any Palm or Sony owner actually had his battery replaced?

[cliemea]

definatly go with the clie, on the clie models you can view almost all you applications on one screen- tungsten you cant- clie is alot cheaper, the only thing the tungsten has is palm os 5

[NickC]

There have been a few posts around palmblvd about replacing batteries - do a search. While it's not as easy to replace batteries as it is for cell phones, it doesn't sound like it's too difficult. And there have been users who've had their units for more than 2 years without noticable loss in battery capacity. The most important things to remember are for Li-ion batteries, charge fully the first time and don't let them drain down too low very often.

[Jimmy]

As the pround new owner of the Sunset Orange Limited (sounds like a train doesn't it), I am extremely pleased with the unit. Earlier someone posted that you could get an MP3 player add on for the $40~50. If you were to do that, I would just go for the Refurbed or sale priced 665. You get MP3, and upgraded speaker (piezo<sp?>), a faster processor and an upgraded screen.
Between the Palm and the Sony, IMHO, there is no comparison, Sony all the way, I have been through a Pilot, Pam III and after picking up a Clie 760, haven't even considered palm, the colors and features are splendid.

Jimmy

[Stardust]

I'll be getting a T665C early next year to replace my Prism. I've checked out the Palm m515, which must have one of the lousiest color displays, and the Palm m130, which looks more like a toy than a PDA. As for the Tungsten, it is rapidly gaining notoriety dust under the screen. Whatever happened to quality control at Palm?

[hcamstra]

I did not know this when I bought my Clié, but one of the best features proved to be MS Import/Export. This app. (included) allows you to use a MemoryStick (not included) as an external harddrive on any PC where you install MS export. If you work in an office and like to/have to work at home as well this is a must. For me the MS has become the working folder "My Docs"; anything else is backup. It works with the cradle as well as with a hotsync/charge cable.
(I've never heard anywhere that Palms or Handsprings can do this)

[Markd60]

The Sony kicks the Palms butt in every way.
My 3 palms all developed digitizer problems. they became just a little off in the upper right corner. I have 2 Palm Pilots sitting in my junk drawer and one Palm 3C at work, dead as a doornail.

the 665 is worth ther extra money over the 615. I use my MP3 player and it is great! You can turn off the display to save batts too. you can use the headphones (or the speaker) for games and video sound. With the headphones it sounds like a big stereo!