NX80 & Bluetooth vs NZ90 & Christmas

[Unregistered]

HELP!!!

For Christmas I decided to get my husband a PDA. We're Mac users, although I don't think this matters. Originally he had read about an NZ90 so I ordered one, but then we saw one in person and he thought it was too big to fit in a pocket and like the NX80 better. I canceled the NZ90 order before it was shipped, but of course the co. goofed and it arrived Fri. Meanwhile I ordered the NX80 which is on its way and one has to go back.
He needs it to write notes at work (hence handwriting recognition-- preferably the system (I forgot the name, but it's something like Decalian???). He'd also like bluetooth to connect to ??? We don't have cell phones. I bought him a card which will allow him to connect wireless.
WHAT DO I DO? I can choose between either.
Primary concerns: size, handwriting recognition & connection for downloading
to a computer (no wireless at work).
Is there an adaptor for the NX80 that will make it work with bluetooth???
Is there a computer Santa out there who can help? I can return either of them on Fri. I just have to decide which to wrap and put under the tree.
Thanks for the help.
Confused Wife

[dspellman2002]

Originally posted by Unregistered
HELP!!!

For Christmas I decided to get my husband a PDA. We're Mac users, although I don't think this matters.

Yeah, actually, it sorta does. You're going to want to get a copy of Virtual PC and Windows on your Mac so that you can use the Clie software (unless Sony has a Mac version I don't know about yet). Some of the good aftermarket applications have versions that CAN come with a Windows component so that you can work on both and sync the two. I'm a Mac user, too, but I'm doing most of my Clie stuff on a Windows laptop.





Originally he had read about an NZ90 so I ordered one, but then we saw one in person and he thought it was too big to fit in a pocket and like the NX80 better. I canceled the NZ90 order before it was shipped, but of course the co. goofed and it arrived Fri. Meanwhile I ordered the NX80 which is on its way and one has to go back.
He needs it to write notes at work (hence handwriting recognition-- preferably the system (I forgot the name, but it's something like Decalian???). He'd also like bluetooth to connect to ??? We don't have cell phones. I bought him a card which will allow him to connect wireless.
WHAT DO I DO? I can choose between either.
Primary concerns: size, handwriting recognition & connection for downloading
to a computer (no wireless at work).
Is there an adaptor for the NX80 that will make it work with bluetooth???
Is there a computer Santa out there who can help? I can return either of them on Fri. I just have to decide which to wrap and put under the tree.
Thanks for the help.
Confused Wife

The NX 80 has a slightly newer version of the Palm OS operating system (5.1 as opposed to 5.0) and comes with Decuma and Graffiti II for handwriting recognition. I think the NZ 90 comes with Graffiti (the original).
The NZ 90 has a better camera (2X zoom and flash and higher resolution) and Bluetooth built in. The NX 80 has no Bluetooth, but there's a Memory Stick Bluetooth adapter that's just been introduced (an extra cost option and one more fiddly little thing to carry around). Both will handle the WiFi card (wireless).

If it were me, I'd wrap them together and let him make the decision. Send back the other on Friday.

Size is probably not going to be a REAL issue. I have an NX 70, which is longer than the NX 80 but slightly shorter than the NZ 90. I don't think I'd have a problem with any of the three. Matter of fact, what usually happens is that by the time you put a CASE on these suckers, they all three get too big for your pocket. If you put them in your pocket *without* a case, but in there with your keys and change, you get the outside of the PDA a bit dinged up, but the clamshell design saves the screen and important bits. I bought an aftermarket leather case with a belt clip and hang it off my belt sometimes and just cart it (in my hand or briefcase) around other times and sometimes even take it out of the case and stick it in my pocket naked with the keys and change. Whatever works. The size differences seem significant at first, but aren't in practice.

The handwriting recognition differences are minor, at best. While Decuma seems to be a cool option at first, most of the folks I know that have it don't bother with it at all, or at least don't prefer it over Graffiti. There are, of course, one or two who think it's the greatest thing since sliced tofu. Graffiti 2 is no improvement over Graffiti -- it's some small changes, and has been done that way to avoid a lawsuit. In some cases it's worse. Here again, there's little to prefer one over the other in practice. If you get used to one or the other, that's all that counts.

Here's one side note, though. I do some small note-taking with handwriting recognition software. But if it's going to be serious note-taking, I have a Sony KB-100 Clie keyboard. It's a thin folding keyboard (folds up to something a bit larger than the Clie) that mates to the Clie and allows you to use the Clie like a mini laptop. There's even a port that will allow you to recharge the Clie while you're typing by plugging in the AC adapter. With an application like Docs To Go, you can actually type in a native Word document and exchange that with Word on your desktop computer, retaining fancy formatting on the desktop while having modified formatting on your PDA. It's very cool to pull out your keyboard from one pocket, your PDA from the other and then sit there in Starbucks typing away while the laptop users peer over their screens and wonder where it came from (and where it went when you walk out). If you need to check your email, you simply pop the WiFi card into your Clie and log into the TMobile hotspot at Starbucks and send and receive from there.

Ultimately, it's going to be very small things that move him one way or the other. Maybe it'll just be a flip of the coin. But if there's a choice between making you crazy and making him crazy, do the latter. And make him make the decision with both of them in front of him <G>. Later, it's HIM having second thoughts, and not you.

david

[BMEngineer]

He will like the NX better.

[mr_gkyc]

Originally posted by Unregistered
HELP!!!

For Christmas I decided to get my husband a PDA. We're Mac users, although I don't think this matters.


It does. Sony is pretty poor in supporting the Mac. You will have to fore-go some of the stuff that the NX/NZ come with such as the music and video conversion utilities. The music stuff is forgettable since it's Sony's proprietary ATRAC3 format but the video is kinda neat. You can of course run those thru VirtualPC or something along the line...


Originally he had read about an NZ90 so I ordered one, but then we saw one in person and he thought it was too big to fit in a pocket and like the NX80 better. I canceled the NZ90 order before it was shipped, but of course the co. goofed and it arrived Fri. Meanwhile I ordered the NX80 which is on its way and one has to go back.


To me, the NZ's biggest fault is its thickness. I too compared the NZ90 with the NX70. The NX70 is passable in my pant pocket; the NZ90 isn't. But the NZ's camera is nice. I've seen the output from it from a ClieSource member who took it on motorcycle vacation and the pix were really nice, comparable to a dedicated dcam.


He needs it to write notes at work (hence handwriting recognition-- preferably the system (I forgot the name, but it's something like Decalian???).


Decuma is supposed to be a more "natural" system but Graffiti 1 (or 2) is the more prevalent standard on PalmOS devices. As I understand it, Graffiti is a system where you the writer adapts your writing. With Decuma, the machine tries to adapt to the writer's style.


He'd also like bluetooth to connect to ??? We don't have cell phones.


Hmmm... he likes BT but doesn't know what to do with it... ;-)

The important distinction between BT and WiFi (802.11b/g) is the range. BT is very short-range, say 3 metre or less. WiFi is easily on the order of 50 metre or so.

The primary use of BT is to connect to a cell phone so you can get onto the net. The newer cell phones (GSM/GPRS or CDMA/1x) support data rates of about 50k and up. You're getting analog modem connection speeds. Here in Canada, it's relatively pricey so I'm disinclined to suggest that.

You can also use BT to connect to your Mac/PC while you're sitting beside it. But then, why would you put up with a screen if you're in front of your Mac/PC.



I bought him a card which will allow him to connect wireless.
WHAT DO I DO? I can choose between either.


This wireless card is probably the Sony WL110 which is a WiFi card. It allows him to connect to a WiFi hotspot or access point. If you get one for home, you'll be able to use your CLIE from anywhere in the house to surf. Also, if you go to a coffee shop with a hotspot, you can surf too.

(I use WiFi on my NX70 in my office and I find it very useful.)


Primary concerns: size, handwriting recognition & connection for downloading
to a computer (no wireless at work).


What do you mean by "downloading to a computer"?


Is there an adaptor for the NX80 that will make it work with bluetooth???


Sony does market a BlueTooth MemoryStick outside of North America that can be used with the NX80. It is pricey. Plus, because it is a MemoryStick, you'll have to pop out whatever MemoryStick you've got in there. Kinda annoying in my books since you're almost for sure going to need to put a MemoryStick in any CLIE to get any use out of it.


Is there a computer Santa out there who can help?


I'm no Santa but I hope the above's of some use. Let me know if you've more questions.


I can return either of them on Fri. I just have to decide which to wrap and put under the tree.
Thanks for the help.
Confused Wife

Personally, I'd suggest keeping the NX80. It's a nicer size, slightly better on the battery, has a new OS, has more useable memory in it.

George

[anitanium]

i personally don't mind the size of the NX80 compared to the NZ90. ALL clie's are relatively large and won't be able to fit in many small pockets anyway. But the NX80 is smaller. Its hard to say right now. I say try out both models and see which one he likes better. There are small little things that might make him lean towards one model. Maybe he likes the flash on the NZ90 and the integrated bluetooth. He might like the backlit keyboard of the NX80, it all really depends.
I love my NZ90 =)

[oneeyesquare]

I have both. The 80 is now my main PDA. Mostly due to the increased memory. The smaller camera is adequate and takes much better stealth pics (I have a Sony P-10 for real pics). I also have the Bluetooth memstick which works great. I purchased it from blueunplugged.com for $120 or so shipped. Yes, it's more dinking around, but my primary Bluetooth usage is for hooking up to a gps.
All that being said the NZ is a much better "all-in-one" package. Also there are some better cases available for it. I just noticed Vaja has two models last night. One which almost fits my needs!
I think the advice to let him choose between either is sound, though it might have the dangerous cosequence of him wanting to keep both. Myself-case in point.:D

[clicclic]

YOU DO NOT NEED VIRTUAL PC. Get Missing Sync,which enables you to sync your Sony / Mac. You can find it here:

http://www.markspace.com/missingsync.html

It syncs Sony Cliés with Mac OS X. Learn more about iSync as well. A future upgrade may work at some point with Cliés.

Keep the NX80. The NZ is not really a PDA. Keep the NX80 and go to Ebay and search for this: "PEG-MSB1" or "sony bluetooth -ericsson -headset" . Buy one of these bluetooth memory sticks. You can also get it from Blue Unplugged here:

http://www.blueunplugged.com/

You do NOT need Virtual PC. The suggestion makes me cringe. Talk about overkill.&nbsp;Just get Missing Sync and stay Mac Happy....

[dspellman2002]

Originally posted by clicclic
YOU DO NOT NEED VIRTUAL PC. Get Missing Sync,which enables you to sync your Sony / Mac. You can find it here:

It syncs Sony Cliés with Mac OS X.

Yeah, yeah, that's true. It will sync the Palm Desktop to Mac, but that's about it. And I have that set up on one of my Macs at work.

BUT...If you want to use ListPro!'s Windows-only desktop component, you're out of luck. Same with Agendus and Docs To Go. There are just too many Palm/Clie applications out there these days that have a Windows (only) compatible desktop companion application NOT to have a copy of Windows on your Mac desktop, abhorrent as that may seem to a MacAddict.

As for Bluetooth -- the main reason to use bluetooth (near as I can tell) is to connect with cell phones that have bluetooth capabilities, mostly to use the whole system as a modem for connecting to the internet or to send SMS messaging and the like. Buying a memory stick bluetooth adapter means that you have to remove the memory stick from your Clie, which means that you can't access whatever you store on Memory sticks (music, applications, data, etc.). Buying a Bluetooth headset and adapter to listen to tunes doesn't seem to make a lot of sense in that context <G>. YMMV Having it (bluetooth) built in makes a lot more sense if that's what you want to do. That way your memory stick slot is free to hold...er...tunes.

david

[Obi-VVan]

For christmas I buied the NX73V who has build in bluetooth (only the european version). External it's th same of the NX80. Internal is similar. 32 mb ROM the 73 and 16 the 80
16 mb ROM the 73 and 32 the 80

there are differences on the camera.
the 80 has a 1.2 megapixel camera
the 73 only 310.000 pixel

the 80 has the capture light
the 73 has a led for the bluetooth

P.S. sorry for my english :)

[Kanakanak]

Dear Santa's Helpers,
Thanks for all the advice. I decided on the NX80 and sent the NZ back. With WiFi he doesn't need Bluetooth now and we both have IPods so the music isn't a serious concern, other than for a few tunes to have around. He really liked the size better and the "stealth" camera. I bought him the Mac software Missing Sync and it's all coming along. Right now he's just having some trouble setting up the WiFi (isn't that always trouble no matter the device, but fun once it's up and running?) Advice???
I've really enjoyed reading the responses -- thoughtful and smart!!! Thanks again. I had him register for the site. He's KANAKANAK (the place where he was born in Alaska and the longest English palindrome).
Thanks again.
The No Longer Bewildered Wife

[gusanitoverde]

I have been using all the Sony Clies NX70, NX73, NX80, and NZ90 and all of them have been very sweet to my Mac (Power Mac G4, OSX) Having missing sync does take care of the "PC softwares" you may not be able to use from the installation CD. iPhoto connects to MS import automatically and retreives your pics, and so when you connect MS import, iTunes connects with your Memory Stick to download songs painlessly.

[BMEngineer]

great choice of yours to keep the NX....!