Customer Reviews

Sony Clie PEG-NZ90 Handheld

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Well, let's start by the basics. This machine is HUGE by any means if you compare it to any other PDA. It's like, well, the Darth Vader of all the Palm Powered devices. It's black, it's menacing, it's all-powerful. You can stun an attacker with it if you whirl it over your head and hit him (it includes a convenient hand strap for that purpose).

Jokes aside, it is well built (i used to have a Clie NR70V and it was very fragile), the hinges and swivels are tight, it won't open inside your backpack and get all scratched inside.

It is also a nice PDA, with all the useful stuff that any common handheld has. (Memo, Agenda, Address, To Do, Whatever). But it excels on the add-ons. That's the best part.

The digital camera is awesome (autofocus/manual focus, flash, 2.0 MP) and it can store hundreds of pictures. There are many options and settings to play with.

It also has audio recorder software. The sound is crisp, clear, and you can record many, many, many hours of speech, enviromental audio or anything.

As any other Clie, it has its own mp3 player. There's no need to buy the special SONY smartmedia card to use it: a Lexmark alternative will do the trick.

Of course, if you combine audio + pictures, you'll get a video camera. It works as one. Not great quality, it might be compared with having a webcam with you all the time.

What else ? Integrated keyboard, speaker, remote control, a couple of headphones, infrared port.

I can even speak about Bluetooth. I don't have any bluetooth gear in my house, but i'm leaving the wake-up option enabled and see if i find any BT devices in my office. Besides the blinking blue led looks cool :).

It has many improvementes since the last Clie versions. The memory stick has changed its place, so it doesn't flip out every time you put it in your pocket. The craddle is now foldable and you can take it everywhere to charge and/or connect your clie. You can even attach it to the PDA and carry it around.

Even when it is bulky, it is very well built and with a nice eequilibrium... you can hold it in your hand and it won't fall easily. That happened with the NR70V: the screen was heavier than the body, so it fell backwards always.

The keyboard is a lot better and easier to use by now. Also the back button has been moved a little and it's easier to use than before.

The camera doesn't rotate anymore... but i didn't miss the feature, since you can still use it in the open or closed form, to take pictures of yourself or others.

I would complain only about few things:

- The pen is thin ! It looks thinner compared to the huge agenda. And it has a very weird way to attach to the PDA.
- The picture browsing is waaaay slow. I'll better find a better program to handle the pictures.
- I can't recall anything else, but i'm sure that there were some things that bothered me. Ah ! The memory !!! Yes. That's upsetting: you see, there are 16 Mb of RAM but you can access only 11 of them. Why ? I don't know. However the better use of the memory stick features compensates the lack of actual memory. I would have expected at least 64 Mb RAM for a beast like this. Well, let's say it's 4 and a half stars. Oh, the price !!! Wait a little until it drops. But even now it's worth every cent. For a journalist is the perfect tool. And for a physician (who i am) too.
- And, it might seem crazy, but i find this size more comfortable for me than before. I don't think of it as a PDA, instead i think of it as a pocket sized notebook.

It may be a great idea to have a PDA and camera combo, but this product is not it. It has the best screen I have seen (big and bright); excellent game selections; but is cumbersome due to the flip screen and ridiculous stylus storage.

The camera takes good photos, but the lag time from shutter release to taking a picture is very slow and you need a very steady hand for quality picures. The still and video camera use way too much power (in relation to a stand alone camera which may be able to take up to one or two hundred pictures on a battery charge vs about 15 - 20 for this one) The screen is just about invisible in sunlight making it very difficult to frame picures.

The Piscel Viewer for documents is not user friendly and you cannot edit any documents without additional software. As a PDA alone it is not bad, but many are better due to battery life and are more user friendly.

Just a bad choice. Battery life at this time is way behind the state of the art (5 hrs max just leaving it on). The power lasts about two hours playing even simple games (something like backgammon). You cannot even fill a MS on one battery charge and movies cannot be taken (or the flash used) at anything less than full power. The battery is rechargeable (and removable), but there is no external charger available. Batteries must be charged in the Clie.

The cradle connection is awkward and usually takes both hands and some jiggling to get it to seat on the cradle. The only way to tell it is seated properly is to turn it on and make sure the battery logo has a lighting bolt accross it indicating that the unit is charging and therefore is properly seated in the cradle.

I am now looking at a Pocket PC and digital camera (separate) to get better performance. Any one want a sightly used Clie NZ 90??

I finally made the plunge and bought the NZ90. After being a die-hard Palm user (starting from the Palm Professional,III,Vx,M505), I switched to the Sony Clie.

I truly enjoy playing with the NZ90. It has more functionality than the Palm M505. The camera and video features are amazing. The 2mb still camera produces decent quality pictures. One use I make with the camera is to take shots of documents from work. Now I can reveiw my work on my Clie without having to take home hard copies. The video function gives me the opportunity to film short clips on the fly of my baby boy. (I chose to defer purchase of a digital video camera and opted to use the video on the Clie.) The video quality is poor, but serves its purpose until my son begins to walk when I then plan on purchasing a digital camcorder. Also, I purchased the wireless card for the Clie. GREAT. I love this. You can check pop3 email and browse the internet without having to boot-up your laptop or computer. The easy power on/off of the pda makes it quick for me to check email as well as read the daily news.

2 negatives that needle me:
1) Batter life is poor, especially when using the still camera with flash. The flash drains the battery after 10 shots.
2) The size is a hurdle. Unlike the sleek m505 design, I have to carry the bulky NZ90.

I enjoy playing with my NZ90, emphasis on the "playing". As for practicality, I miss the m505 design as I daily use the address book, calendar, memo.

I just got this recently and I am very happy I made the decision to spend the cash. Yes the price tag is hefty but you get what you pay for. I read some reviews from handheld sites that said the weight and size were annoying. Now that it is in my hand, I can say that NEITHER are annoying. It weighs more than the typical palm and certainly is bigger, but as an engineer who is used to holding TI scientific calcs., it is nothing that disturbs me. It is roughly the same weight as my TI-86 and is about 25% shorter.

Pros:
The screen resolution is very crisp. As a matter of fact, the screen looks so good, you can decrease the brightness to 1/3 to improve battery life and it still looks fine. The sound that comes out of this little thing is quite clear as well. I love the fact that it can play music as well as play Flash and other movie files. You can also make voice recordings and they are pretty good. Also, the construction is superb...very solid and sturdy feel to it.

The camera is a huge benefit since I will never be anywhere without one. For a handheld camera, it serves its purpose and then some. No, it will never get better pictures than my Minolta Dimage 7i but then again, I would never carry the 7i around everywhere. The camera lens is protected by a flip cover. Very thoughtful so the lense doesn't get scratched.

The cradle design is extremely ingenious...no more bulky cradles. It is a foldup easel style cradle which is very transportable. Hot syncing is very easy between my PC and this unit.

I also love the fact there is a jog dial on the side that you can use to scroll between applications and select w/o having to use the stylus. This is useful for mass transportation users like myself.

Cons:
There are some design issues with this unit but nothing to go nuts about. The main thing is that there is a battery yo-yo effect when the flash is enabled in the camera. This is well documented in handheld website reviews and I assure you, this is a real issue as I am seeing it for myself. It seems that as soon as your flash is turned on, the battery remaining indicator takes a dip. Not a big deal when the battery is near full charge, but an issue when you get around say 50%. If the battery indicator dips too low, you cannot use the flash.

I can live with this b/c I am not planning on snapping countless shots on this unit BUT not everyone may be in that boat. I also fully expect SONY to address this issue (looks like it is a power management issue with the software) but if they don't, I will be very disappointed as it seems like it is a design flaw.

Another small con I have is the stylus location. I don't like the way it attaches to the side. I think that if I were clumsy, it would easily drop if I weren't careful when I tried to snap it back into the unit.

I want to amend my original review...I have stumbled upon one thing which is a little annoying but once again, something I can live with. You CANNOT play the recorded movie files to the TV. Yes, this is for real...I must say that SONY really didn't put much thought here as most digicams that can record movie clips allow you to show both still images and movie clips on TV.

All in all, I love this machine...very sleek and beautiful...very useful and at the same time fun as heck. I hope SONY addresses the battery yo-yo effect and maybe somehow upgrade a driver so I can show movie clips on the TV.

Pros: Fast processor; built-in keyboard, Bluetooth, and 2-megapixel camera with flash; large, sharp display; removable battery; precise battery meter.

Cons: Bulky; camera is slow to start up and shut down; no built-in Wi-Fi.

Summary: Sony's NZ90 is significant not because it's going to be the world's greatest handheld (though it might be) but because it raises the bar. A built-in 2 megapixel camera with flash, Bluetooth, mpeg movie record and playback, MP3 playback, voice recorder--these obviously are way beyond the basic to-do list/address book/calendar. If you buy an MP3 player, a 2MP camera, a voice recorder, and a color PDA, you may very well spend [a lot of money]. Having it all in one is nice. Sony's not perfect; they need to kick the memory stick habit and support CF/SD cards, which are much cheaper and more versatile. As others point out, the onboard RAM seems a bit stingy, though PalmOS doesn't require as much as PPC. Anyway, I'm excited to see this happening and I hope a bunch of other companies copy Sony. Competition is good for everyone!

Well, let's start by the basics. This machine is HUGE by any means if you compare it to any other PDA. It's like, well, the Darth Vader of all the Palm Powered devices. It's black, it's menacing, it's all-powerful. You can stun an attacker with it if you whirl it over your head and hit him (it includes a convenient hand strap for that purpose).

Jokes aside, it is well built (i used to have a Clie NR70V and it was very fragile), the hinges and swivels are tight, it won't open inside your backpack and get all scratched inside.

It is also a nice PDA, with all the useful stuff that any common handheld has. (Memo, Agenda, Address, To Do, Whatever). But it excels on the add-ons. That's the best part.

The digital camera is awesome (autofocus/manual focus, flash, 2.0 MP) and it can store hundreds of pictures. There are many options and settings to play with.

It also has audio recorder software. The sound is crisp, clear, and you can record many, many, many hours of speech, enviromental audio or anything.

As any other Clie, it has its own mp3 player. There's no need to buy the special SONY smartmedia card to use it: a Lexmark alternative will do the trick.

Of course, if you combine audio + pictures, you'll get a video camera. It works as one. Not great quality, it might be compared with having a webcam with you all the time.

What else ? Integrated keyboard, speaker, remote control, a couple of headphones, infrared port.

I can even speak about Bluetooth. I don't have any bluetooth gear in my house, but i'm leaving the wake-up option enabled and see if i find any BT devices in my office. Besides the blinking blue led looks cool :).

It has many improvementes since the last Clie versions. The memory stick has changed its place, so it doesn't flip out every time you put it in your pocket. The craddle is now foldable and you can take it everywhere to charge and/or connect your clie. You can even attach it to the PDA and carry it around.

Even when it is bulky, it is very well built and with a nice eequilibrium... you can hold it in your hand and it won't fall easily. That happened with the NR70V: the screen was heavier than the body, so it fell backwards always.

The keyboard is a lot better and easier to use by now. Also the back button has been moved a little and it's easier to use than before.

The camera doesn't rotate anymore... but i didn't miss the feature, since you can still use it in the open or closed form, to take pictures of yourself or others.

I would complain only about few things:

- The pen is thin ! It looks thinner compared to the huge agenda. And it has a very weird to attach to the PDA.
- The picture browsing is waaaay slow. I'll better find a better program to handle the pictures.
- I can't recall anything else, but i'm sure that there were some things that bothered me. Well, let's say it's 4 and a half stars. Oh, the price !Wait a little until it drops. But even now it's worth every cent. For a journalist is the perfect tool. And for a physician (who i am) too.
- And, it might seem crazy, but i find this size more comfortable for me than before. I don't think of it as a PDA, instead i think of it as a pocket sized notebook.

I had this PDA for almost two years now and it still works properly except that it's internal memory falls short compared to other PDAs. Most of it's people seems to complain it's battery usage especially when operating cameras but if you make your backlit screen minimal as possible, then the camera will last longer even with the flash. I do that all the time and usually gets me 50 shots with flash if used continuosly without quitting; quitting so would make results for your battery life different. MP3 works great but you'll need to format your mp3s to atrac3 using sony's software since all it playback is atrac3. I also recommand that you get at least 256mb of merory stick pro for this one; that way you can backup lots of data in case your pda screws up and also to store some video clips, games, works, etc. If you want to playback mp3s, buy the standard magicgate merory stick fot it; only those can playback atrac3s. This pda can access most of webpages too as long as it doesn't eat away too much of merory space. I hope this review helps some of those who wish to use it's built-in camera very efficiently because I know I did.

Ignore the mediocre reviews on Brighthand and ZDNET. I own this machine and it kicks serious butt.
Positives
1. The screen is by far the best on the market. Kicks Pocket PC butt and even CLIE earlier models.
2. Camera is awesome. You may say why do I need a camera all the time but believe me, if you have it you will take more spontaneous pictures.
3. Keyboard is much better than previous models.
4. Movies is also a plus..take some heat of the moment clips.
5. Bluetooth Hotsync is convienient. Link up with phone to check email.
6. Wi-Fi means you can surf anywhere

Negatives:

None- you may size but whats the size of carrying a camera and a PDA.

Having used the Sony Ericsson P800 Smartphone which was rubbish- bad operating system, bad voice clarity, useless camera

I'd rather use this machine and a bluetooth phone

I recently bought this item, let me first tell you I own it. I was amazed when looking for info on this item at the number of people who rated it and did not even have one. Well, I have one and I can tell you, so far so great.
This thing is wonderful. It is much better than I thougth it would be.
It is fast and well put together.
The best thing I like about it so far has been the support it comes with.
I had difficulty getting music on memory stick and called support at 11:00 P.M. EST. and got through in less than 2 min.
I called another time due to my own inability to get something to work got though in less than 2 min. and they were frinedly and helped right away.
Overall the price is the only thing I have a problem with but you get so much.
The camera and the video is nice as well and the flash actually works quite well.
I love this thing and hope this review has helped you and God has blessed you!

The main reason I bought the Peg-NZ90 over other Palm OS5 devices was the 802.11b feature, which works great. I have had it for around a week now, and I find myself using it more than the palmIII that it replaced. The digital video is cool, and the Sony remote is a nice feature. I just bought the magicgate 256M memory stick and will throw some MP3s on it in the next few days. I haven't used the bluetooth feature because I don't have any bluetooth devices yet. The web browser, though pretty bare bones works surprisingly well and the graphic resolution is very high quality. This is the best Palm OS device currently available. Granted it is a toy, but a productive toy.

One con: The battery flakes out a bit when using the camera, you can only get a couple shots off before it looks ike the battery is almost comletely depleted, but if you go to another application, the batter lookes fine again.