I had a dream > They discontinued the NZ90

[jlbunting]

I had a dream last night that Sony discontinued making the NZ90 because of low sales and model defects. Also Sony was not coming out with a newer version of the NZ90 for these reasons also.

So, my question here is, Do you think there is any truth to this "dream" I had?

[tonyreynolds]

Yes, and no...

Sony has discontinued the NZ because it fits their product cycle and marketing plans, not due to defects: they've admitted to none.

The NZ is still top-of-the-line and many stores are STILL selling it for $799.

I do HOPE that Sony will come out with a replacement, because the UX series is NOT it...

Tony

[jlbunting]

I agree about the UX> it is not a new NZ.

IMOP > the UX sucks. Don't want to start a fire but I just don't like it at all.

[Unregistered]

they are both soooo $$$$$$$$

[nz007]

Originally posted by tonyreynolds
Yes, and no...

Sony has discontinued the NZ because it fits their product cycle and marketing plans, not due to defects: they've admitted to none.

The NZ is still top-of-the-line and many stores are STILL selling it for $799.

I do HOPE that Sony will come out with a replacement, because the UX series is NOT it...

Tony

you are right, the UX is not the top end clie but it is a more "sensible" alternative. I own the NZ and I wouldnt have minded paying an extra €100 for built in Wifi and some more RAM!! Improved battery life would have been good and its a shame u have to fork out an extra €30 for a CF driver that comes free on the nx73!

Anyway, I just bought the UX50 and already pissed off because it doesnt have the remote app!!

[Orincarnia]

thats why they're 'high' end devices, people are willing to pay enough for that stuff, if only the ux had portrait mode i would have gotten it already

(busts out dual extinguishers to battle the insane fire about to happen)

[Orincarnia]

i can only wish i had an nz but in a slim line case, its so cool

[Orincarnia]

oh i'm in an nz forum, my friends dad owns an nz and hes around here sometimes, i still have to return the maps and planner to him

[nz007]

Sony needs a time out and listen to market needs!

[dimensiondvdrob]

i have an NZ (trying out) and own a UX. I cannot decide on which one to keep, cause I love the NZ's camera and I love the UX's size for portability. Which would you choose, given the choice? Give up a little portability for 2.0 megapixel camera, or give up 2.0 megapixel camera for the portability? I am still on the fence about this. Although, I have to give some extra points to the NZ; today I saw some wheels I like for my car and whipped out the NZ and snapped about 10 shots of the wheels and printed them out to take to the tire store with me. I KNOW the UX's camera would not have taken good enough shots to use for nice sized printouts, especially to be able to see the detail in the wheel and normally I do not carry a 'real' camera around with me everywhere.

[tonyreynolds]

Originally posted by dimensiondvdrob
i have an NZ (trying out) and own a UX. I cannot decide on which one to keep, cause I love the NZ's camera and I love the UX's size for portability. Which would you choose, given the choice? Give up a little portability for 2.0 megapixel camera, or give up 2.0 megapixel camera for the portability? I am still on the fence about this. Although, I have to give some extra points to the NZ; today I saw some wheels I like for my car and whipped out the NZ and snapped about 10 shots of the wheels and printed them out to take to the tire store with me. I KNOW the UX's camera would not have taken good enough shots to use for nice sized printouts, especially to be able to see the detail in the wheel and normally I do not carry a 'real' camera around with me everywhere.

Yeah, I did the same thing at Costco last night, taking pictures of stuff I wanted to show the better half later ;)

At 1600x1200, they're surprisingly detailed and you can zoom WAAAAAYYYY in. It's great. MUCH better than what I used to do which was to carry my wallet, plus cell phone, plus HandEra PLUS Fuji 4700 digicam. Now THAT combo was HEAVY, and the stuff was a small and light as I could get...

Tony

[dimensiondvdrob]

Hey Tony,

I am not one for belt cases or clip on case type things for my CLIE and I am having the HARDEST time deciding on what to do about this MAJOR clie dilemma I am having. While I love the picture quality of the NZ's camera, I am wondering since I do not use the camera all the time, or even most of the time, if it's worth the trade-off to having a larger device to carry around, versus having a smaller, lighter device that will fit easily in my pocket (even while wearing jeans!) with a camera that obviously is sub-par for taking any shots that would have any meaning, except for quick little things to take pictures of. I dont know, I dont know. How much do you ACTUALLY use your NZ's camera, Tony? Do you feel it's a inconvenience to carry a larger device, when you could carry a smaller one?

[tonyreynolds]

Rob:

I use the camera all the time, especially the more I've gotten used to it. It's a VERY nice 2MP camera with a wide range of control. Ultimately, you'll have to make the decision, but if size was that important, you may want to stick with the UX...

Tony

[dimensiondvdrob]

Well this is why I went out and got the NZ; to compare side-by-side with my UX. I'll give it the FULL 14 days use to see exactly what I need most from either unit and see what is MORE important to me, ultimately.

Tony, thanks a lot for answering my questions and being patient with me and my dilemma.

Have a good one!

[Orincarnia]

well right off i suggest keeping the nz cause you get all the capabilities of the ux and i think the nz's keyboard is cool, and the camera........it would be worth it to me, its black magnesium, now that is hot.

but it depends, do you have silver equiipment that you want to match it with? or, wellin my opinion the when you look at both devices closed, the nz looks a whole lot cooler, expecially that silver line on the top with the lights and you can watch widescreen movies on both, but you can replace the battery on the nz,

whereas the ux to get the same you'll have to buy the extended battery which will probably make it closer to the size of the nz, so, my thing is, do you want wireless widescreen or do you want a little bigger a little off colored big camera,

i'm really big on memories so i would take the camera hands down i have about 6000 pictures in 5 months and if i had the choice of the nz i would have a whole lot more hardcopys of the pictures, and a whole lot more pictures in general cause they'd be better quality so i could crop them and not worry about pizelation, cause right now my printer doesn't do good 640x480 printouts but the nz or cybershot U is excellent resolution, buying the nz is the same thing as buying a big version of the tg and a cybershot U i immediatly suggest the nz, but then again, do you love the camera as much as i do? and does the camera last long enough on the battery to make it worth it? 90 bucks for another battery, or 100 if you use the ux, wifi on the ux takes just as much battery as the camera does on the nz, your choice...

wow, i never thought i could type that much

[dimensiondvdrob]

Orincarnia,

Thanks for taking the time to write that! I know it's a lot.

But, this seems to be the biggest CLIE decision I have ever made! While I love the size of the UX as compared to the NZ, the NZ seems to be an overall more complete unit in terms of utility. I mean, the UX can do everything the NZ can do, except take excellent images with the camera. Although I DO NOT use the camera the way or as much as you do, I know that since I have used my NR70V, I WANT a camera built-in to my PDA, whatever PDA I choose. I mean, I could get a cybershot U, keep my UX and be done with it all, but I DO like the NZ a lot. It's a hard choice. That's why I am glad I have both now, to use them side-by-side and compare as best as possible.

[Orincarnia]

well why not just keep both? carry both and you'll always know you have the nz, and you'll hardly know the ux is there, i could only wish i was in your postion with both to choose from, that would be so cool, but then i'd want to keep both........

[dimensiondvdrob]

you know Orincarina, I was thinking the same thing! Keep both, hmmm, but to carry an NZ around just to take photos with? or if i move my PIM data to the NZ, then what will the UX do? probably nothing. I just am not good keeping up two machines to keep in sync with my computer. too much to do.

[Orincarnia]

well if you have both a desktop and laptop you could pair them off, thats what i would do, leave the bigger with the dekstop and smaller with the laptop, but of course i'd always be doing wireless hotsyncs with my laptop cause that would just be SOOOO cool

[Orincarnia]

well what you could do is keep the 2 for a LONG time and take one with you, and see which you miss more, if you take the ux do you regret leaving the nz at home? or if you take the nz, will you regret leaving the ux? if you're a business man and use suits or blazers ALOT then i'd say keep the ux cause the inner pocket (at least on my jackets) feel like they fit the ux PERFECT, but if you have cargo shorts i definitly say you could keep the nz, i'm in cargo pants a lot more than i'm in suits or blazers, buts cause i dont deal in business.............

[dimensiondvdrob]

i own a business, but wear jeans and shorts a lot. not really cargo pants, but surfer-type shorts and tee-shirts or a polo sytle shirt. I will definitely use one or the other for the next few days and see if I miss one when not using it and so on. we'll see what happens; i'll keep you posted.

[crabini]

There is one thing the UX will never have....
I have a 2.2gb CF drive with loads of stuff...
Expandability is a big thing for me, I have a CF SD,MS & SM card reader that I use in the NZ90, I also have a CF to pc card adaptor and have been experimenting with a few Compaq WiFi cards that seem to work with the wl100 drivers and there are an abundance of cards out there that have many possibilities, I also use a Sony HVL-IRC IR light for use with the 2mp camera with night photography.
The 2.2gb CF drive allows me to have 60+hrs of mp3's and Hours of DVD quality movies and ebooks, documents etc. on my NZ and with the Battery adaptor and dc dynamo, its a very powerful data/entertainment combination.

[lostether]

I would really like to see the NZ replacement be in the form factor of the UX, closer to the NZ's size, with the excellent camera and flash, the far superior keyboard this would allow, and built in WiFi. After having tremendous experience with both the UX and the NZ I would say don't ever put yourself in a position which forces you to choose one over the other, I personally just couldn't do it. If you have an NZ now, keep it. You give up as much as you gain when you make the switch.

[babsk]

I own several PDA's myself, so I'm in the camp that if you can own both, go for it. I appreciate aspects of all my PDA's, but what makes the NZ so awesome is the camera. It really does take excellent pictures. The NZ is bigger, yes, but it's not THAT big, as in, it's certainly not like having a laptop or Tablet PC. It's still more than highly portable. It's just great to always have a digital camera with me by default. And one that takes great quality pictures. I never thought I'd be an NZ fan, but I am now, and am really appreciating it. I mentioned it another thread, but as I had said, two of my computers have the wallpaper/theme pictures of my husband and daughter, one taken with my Fuji s602 stand alone camera (which is 3 MP, interpolates to 6MP) and one taken with the NZ. Both of them look fantastic on the monitor screen-almost indistiguishable which camera took which picture.
Anyway-good luck with what you decide.
The other thing about the NZ is that it is rugged, and I don't worry about it-it's solid. And the CF slot is great to have. So those are more factors, which others have commented on.