why did sony clie stop production

[vwovw]

why don't they sell them anymore? pda's thing of the past? cell phone pda's take over?

[m0nkeyb0y]

That and the rise of the umPC (http://www.sony.co.uk/view/ShowArticle.action?article=1171476225612&site=odw_en_GB&source=rss).

[geekymamaw]

Anyone bought the Sony Vaio umpc yet? What are your thoughts on it compared to the Th55? Could it possibly work as a suitable replacement? I know it is bigger and has more functions and is more a mobile PC than anything, but is it practical to use at work like I use my TH55? Or is it just too much for what a PDA user needs? Would it be too slow on start up? Battery life of 2 hours is much less than I am used to. As I get nearer to the undeniable fact of needing a new PDA someday to replace my TH55, I am wondering what will be the next best thing. Hopefully, my TH55 has more time in it. It is still working great.

[geekymamaw]

I guess I have a lot of money invested in memory sticks and want to be able to continue to use them. Darn Sony for it's proprietary nature!

[Dick Tracy]

Sony quit the PDA business because they were not making money.

[totololo]

In about 2 years they released more than 10 different models. They killed their own market this way. Most of their machines were extremely expensive and replaced very quickly by better ones ... So people were very disappointed.

Another reason is that they invested a lot of money into clie's developpment but this kind of machine simply doesn't interest the mass market. Most of the people i know think that PDAs are a lot too much expensive for the use they could have of it.

So, finally Sony kept working on PSP and mobile phones.

[eva-01]

yes, i think they found that the pda market was not really expanding, their pda's were fairly expensive BUT very innovative and still considered some of the best

i also think they started to shift focus onto their partnership with ericsson - having made some sucessful pda's such as the p series

i am expecting some good things from sony ericsson, i was impressed by the form factor of the m600i - and there are rumours and some photo's of its successor the m610i

it has a nice set of rumoured features such as wifi, bluetooth, 3.2 mpixel camera in addition to the usual features and its supposed to be 3g aswell - it also has a touchscreen and a keyboard - if a little bit of an odd keyboard

i think it will be the next pda/phone/ uber gadget i get to replace my current phone/pda/mp3 player

the only thing is that it runs on uiq 3 os which doesnt have a lot of 3rd party software

[vwovw]

some worker at COMPUSA said that sony got into legal troubles in the states so thats why thy stopped. i like your reasons better not his

[totololo]

Well, you know, USA is not the only market on Earth ... and Sony can very well produce devices for their own market as well as for other countries in Asia or Europe.

So, this explanation doesn't looks so credible to me ...

[vwovw]

me either.

[totololo]

The official explanation from Sony is that they wanted to focus on the smartphone market that seemed wider than a pure PDA market.

[dragonsgames]

some worker at COMPUSA said that sony got into legal troubles in the states so thats why thy stopped. i like your reasons better not his
That's why he is working at CompUSA and making minimum wage...

[vwovw]

thats what i was thinking just didn't want to say it :)

[jiyong]

Anyone bought the Sony Vaio umpc yet? What are your thoughts on it compared to the Th55? Could it possibly work as a suitable replacement? I know it is bigger and has more functions and is more a mobile PC than anything, but is it practical to use at work like I use my TH55? Or is it just too much for what a PDA user needs? Would it be too slow on start up? Battery life of 2 hours is much less than I am used to. As I get nearer to the undeniable fact of needing a new PDA someday to replace my TH55, I am wondering what will be the next best thing. Hopefully, my TH55 has more time in it. It is still working great.


The VAIO UX is definitely not a PDA. I have one and AFAIK, you can't have a working calendar when the VAIO is in standby. Personally I liked the keyboard of the CLIE UX-50 better.

If properly configured for energy saving, you can work for more than 3 hours with WiFi. There is also a bigger battery available for the VAIO.

The solid state disk can improve things by 10% - 15%, according to what I've read. I have the 280p, with a 1.8" HD. The SSD also has better IO.

I would say, stick with your TH55 for now and see if the UMPC's get PDA functionality in the near future. And don't forget all UMPC's are quite a lot bigger than any modern PDA.

[geekymamaw]

I see what you mean. I am hoping by the time my TH55 gives up the ghost, there will be a umpc with the PDA functionality I need, and of course smaller would be a plus. Also, instant on and ready would be nice. As for that functioning calendar, yes, a definite need. I depend on my TH55 to remind me of a meeting. It's hard to believe something out there was made was so well did not stay in the market. It will be hard to find something suitable to replace it, at least for now. I'm holding out hope that something will be there when I need it. I'm keeping my TH55 as long as possible.