It's a keeper...

Well, I've spent the last few years looking for a PDA that has everything that I want in a single package. I don't want to have to tote around an extra five or six pieces of hardware just to get the desired functionality out of my PDA. Part of the whole idea behind a PDA is to reduce the amount of stuff you lug around, right? And having cast my vote for the PalmOS, I set out to find just the right one.

At first, there just didn't exist any model with what I was looking for. The original 1000s and 5000s didn't have the memory capacity. The 3 series were big, didn't have the memory, and still lacked a way to enter large amounts of data (other than an externally attached keyboard). The 5 series was better with the smaller form factor, but it still fell short with the same problems as the 3 series. The 500 series had the added benefits of memory, expansion, and color, but they still lacked the ability to enter larger amounts of data when needed. Then along came Sony with the NR series.

Now, up to this point, I'd owned exclusively Palm brand units and was a definite fan of the PalmOS' simplicity and speed. Then I set eyes on the NR70 and never looked back. With the additional memory, included expansion, and added "thumb-board" it covered just about every need that I had for a PDA. On top of that, it had the wonderful high resolution color screen with extra screen real-estate, and the ability to play MP3s (not that I use it - but I could). It also included the flip & twist screen. It allows the Clie to live outside of a case as it naturally protects the screen from being knocked or scratched.

After having actually owned the unit for a while now, I couldn't be happier. It's worked flawlessly for about 6 months now, and I'm still loving the Hi-Res screen. I haven't made much use of the ability to play MP3s, but when I have used it, the sound matched any dedicated MP3 player that I've used. And the keyboard is a lifesaver anytime I've wanted to store larger amounts of data (ever try putting the contents of your CD collection into a PDA using a stylus?).

Of course, no product is perfect, and neither is this one. I've been wondering about the robustness of the hinge, and while I haven't had any problems, I see that as being the weak point of the unit. Also, while the flip & twist screen is a great innovation and a wonderful feature, it also makes the unit difficult to use (without the use of third-party software) as it covers all of the buttons and keyboard.

Overall though, I believe that Sony has a winning PDA in the NR (and subsequent NX) series of Palm PDAs. I certainly hope that they continue to put out PDAs with this kind of innovation in design because if they do, then we'll be seeing some really great PDAs in the future.