robrecht

What is the deal with SONY and the lack of real landscape support on their portrait VG Clies? 

This has been a problem since SONY first released VG on the NR70 and it still has not been adequately addressed?

Now that OS6 won't initially support portrait/landscape switching and if SONY won't be developing their own proprietary APIs, I guess portrait VG Clies will continue to suffer from this lack of landscape support for a while to come. 

CliePet

> What is the deal with SONY and the lack of real landscape support on their portrait VG Clies?
> This has been a problem since SONY first released VG on the NR70 and it still has not been adequately addressed?

Some people believe it to be a problem. Some don't. Sony obviously doesn't see it as a strategic feature they must implement themselves.
They have designed PDAs assuming a specific orientation (like the hardware keyboard on the NX/NZ series, and a different orientation keyboard on the UX), as well as placement of their buttons and jog dial and camera etc.
If a switchable orientation were important, they would have a more trimmed down PDA (like the Tungsten T3 or even the TH)

Another answer is: it is hard to make it work.

The one device that has the rotate feature is the Tungten T3, which is a much easier case (produced by PalmOne themselves, no external keyboard/jogdial orientation problems). They designed the PDA around the feature including the expand-o-display.

FWIW/IMHO: If Sony needs to implement this feature themselves (v. being part of the OS6 feature set) then I'd rather they didn't play catchup to the T3 and have a poorly working feature. Instead I'd hope they work on more unique features that worked well with the natural orientation of the PDA.

michaelp

I do not currently own a Clie' (Clie'less) and I'm spending a lot of time reading and researching before buying. I am not totally up to speed on the need for switching (portrait <> landscape) other than the type of use (browser, pics, calender, etc.) may lend itself to better viewing in one mode or the other.

Here and at other sites I see several people complaining about the UX-50 being landscape with no portrait option.

Then I read here and other places, where several complain about the portrait Clie's with no landscape option.

Sure seems like it would be relatively simple (and very useful) for Sony to allow the ability to switch portrait/landscape on either (any) unit.

However, it is somewhat amusing to see the landscapers wishing for portrait and the portraits wishing for landscape.

I guess you just have to figure out which mode you want or need the most before you buy. Sony seems to be forcing the same choice with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi (with the exception of the Euro TH or the UX-50).

EdFrmBrighthand

This is because there are situations where landscape is better, and situations where portrait is better.

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CliePet

Check this thread for continued discussion:
http://www.cliesource.com/forums/sh...&threadid=40380

(ie. some people want the feature, others don't see the need)

NOTE: this topic comes up quite frequently, check the archives under ROTATION.