Japanese OS -> English?

[Dave_Arden]

Hi,

I dont know much about the Clie yet. But when I visit Japan I would like to buy one. Is it possible to set the Language of the OS to English, or would I need to buy a US version instead? Perhaps otherwise, there may be a facility to flash the ROM with US language version? Any help is appreciated.

[fearlessfozz]

From what i have heard you can not switch languages on a clie. What language it is in when you buy it is what its going to stay in so I would choose the language I am most comfortable with and buy that version. Also if you buy one in japan it will cost you more money than to purchase it from where you are locally.

If you wish to learn japanese and wish to imerse your self in the language to learn it better, i would purchase and english clie and get a launcher program like YiShow and have that in japanese so you will always have the english to fall back on if you need to.

hope this helps

[Mason]

Hi Dave,

Generally, there are pros and cons to buying consumer electronic products internationally. Here are some things for a foreigner to think of before buying a Japanese (/J) model of Clie:

The large electronics shops in Akihabara, (Tokyo) carry foreign (French, Chinese, Korean, English etc.) models of many products including CLIE.
You can flash a Japanese model to English. (I have not done it personally.)
Japanese prices are significantly lower than international prices.
Japanese models will handle English applications.
Instruction manuals for (most) /J models are Japanese only.
Desktop software is for Japanese Windows or Mac OS.
Add-on applications are intended for residents of Japan.
Sony warranty registration/service requires a domestic address.

If you are still interested, send me a private message and I will discuss details with you.

Mason Love

[netsurf9901]

Originally posted by Mason
Hi Dave,

Generally, there are pros and cons to buying consumer electronic products internationally. Here are some things for a foreigner to think of before buying a Japanese (/J) model of Clie:

The large electronics shops in Akihabara, (Tokyo) carry foreign (French, Chinese, Korean, English etc.) models of many products including CLIE.
You can flash a Japanese model to English. (I have not done it personally.)
Japanese prices are significantly lower than international prices.
Japanese models will handle English applications.
Instruction manuals for (most) /J models are Japanese only.
Desktop software is for Japanese Windows or Mac OS.
Add-on applications are intended for residents of Japan.
Sony warranty registration/service requires a domestic address.

If you are still interested, send me a private message and I will discuss details with you.

Mason Love


I am also very much interested about this Mason.

I live in Tokyo and they have a lot of slightly used Sony PDA's in here that are really cheap and I am very much interested in knowing on how to convert the OS from jap to english.

Please let me know.