Advice Please

[HdIsss]

Hello All,

I've recently bought a new Clie 770 on ebay, it's OK but now I realise I could have bought a new 665 for only around £40 more (ouch).

I've heard that the 665 has a much better screen than the 770, as well as more memory and faster processor. Question: can anyone tell exactly how much better the 665 screen is ?

The cheapest I've seen a 665 (675 in the UK) being sold for is £233 (about $364). I'll be visiting the US next month, and I'm thinking that if any of you tell me that the 665 is a significant improvement over the 770, and the cost in the US is cheaper than the in the UK, then I'll consider buying a 675 in the US and then selling the 770 on ebay (and hopefully come out not to much out of pocket).

Can anyone tell me what I can expect to pay for a 665 in the US ?

Grateful thanks in advance for any replies.

[ckmoose]

The T665 is going for about US$229.00 although you might find deeper discounts if you look carefully... They are becoming more scarce since they've been discontinued.

The T665 screen is a SIGNIFICANT improvement from the older Clies. A couple of people in our PUG have and/or had them.

The T665 has a 66Mhz Super VZ processor and 16 meg of RAM. The processor speed is pretty noticable when accessing the Memory Stick and certain other programs. Kinoma runs much smoother on the faster processor. Not to mention the upgraded alarm sounds and ability to play waves, and MP3s through the speaker.

Well, that's my rundown on the T665... Hope it helps!

[MattE]

Something to remember is that Sony may not (if fact I'm pretty sure that they won't) honour the warrantee if you buy it in the US and try to get it fixed in the UK - in the unlikely event that you have a problem with it that is :-)

[Unregistered]

Ckmoose & Matte,

Thanks for your replies. I like the design of my 770, but quite frankly I wasn't as impressed with the screen quality as I thought I'd be. I find that brightness has to be turned up to max, and even then 'whites' tend to be a bit dark with a kind of blue tint, of course, I guess the screen was great compared to other brands when the 770 was 1st released.

Is one of the reasons that the 665 has a better screen is that it has backlighting instead of the front lit 770 screen ?

I think you're right in terms of potential warranty problems, however if I make a purchase with my Visa card I can get 3 years warranty free. I've checked the small print and I can't see any restrictions on purchases made outside the UK (I will check this is indeed the case).

I'm also worried about the problem the 770's seem to have with dust getting under the screen, if that does happen I'd have trouble selling it on.

[cehaney]

Newbie question... What is the diff between the 665 and the 675 (outside of the one being sold in the US and one in the UK)? The specs I have seen appear to make the two identical in features.

Would there be any issues with the power adaptor/cradle in one country vs. the other?

[HdIsss]

Cehaney,

The 665 (US designation) and 675 (European designation) are identical.

The 665 will obviously have a US standard power plug, however that is easily solved by using a travel adaptor, or purchase a 2nd hand UK spec cradle.

The 675 and 665 (I suspect like most Clies) are useable on power between about 100 - 240 volts,

The European 675 may be like my 770 which as 'standard' UK issue has a US power plug hardwired, with a push fit UK adaptor which doesn't make it very robust.

[MadBob]

I thought the 675 also had to be fitted with more ROM to allow the multiple languages? which you can rip out and use file storage,

[ckmoose]

The backlight on the T665 screen does make some difference. But, the over-all screen color and definition is better too. It's more than just the light source.

I belive HdIsss is correct, everything about the T675 and T665 is identical except the ROM, which can be accessed using a program like Jack Flash. Honestly though, I don't really see a huge need for using flash RAM when you have a memory stick. I used to use Jack Flash on my Palm III and Palm IIIc, but it seems redundant since easily accessable storage is already built in. IMHO

[killah fury]

I live in the Uk, and bought a T665C from Amazon.com and had it sent to a friend in New York who posted it on to me. I saved loads of money...

The T665C is a brilliant machine, a big improvement on the N770C (which I had previously)... but if you're thinking of upgrading now - you're better off going for the brand new TG50 with built in bluetooth, 200mhz processor and a whole lot more.

[HdIsss]

killah fury,

Thanks for your advice (and to all others who've replied). I'm sure the TG50 is a great PDA, however cost is a factor, I've seen them advertised on ebay for about £300 so I'd be looking at quite a big additional outlay on something which will drop in cost over the next few months.

If I'm lucky enough to purchase a 665 in the US, and then sell my 770 on ebay for about the same sum as 770's are changing hands for now, I'll break even, at worst only be a few £'s out of pocket.