Sony Clie PEG-SJ20 Handheld

This being my fourth PDA, and being myself an unabashed technophile, let me say this is a fine piece of machinery. I have owned a Palm IIIe, a Visor Deluxe, a Palm m105, and now this, but believe me, I get my hands on every model I can. (I'm poorish, you see). In the passing time, I've learned a simple meter for evaluating a piece of digital equipment: It's in the details.

If you are new to the PDA world, you want these details. I speak from experience. Like bateries that recharge, instead of disposable alkaline. Such a relief. Saves you money in the long run, plus you can hotsync more often. (Hotsyncing is a huge battery drain on less enlightened cradles).

The backlight hi-res screen is also a delight. Try one. You won't ever go back. The black and whiteness is fine by me. Color still strikes me as gratuitous, too much money for too little gain. If you can't think of a really good reason for one, you don't need it. Seeing a backlit b and w screen will only confirm this.

Finally, there is just a lot of fit and finish. You get the feel that this is a solid design statement, whereas even nice Palms like the Tungsten have this feeling like they might just fall apart if you look at it the wrong way. The Clie feels solid and looks great, which doesn't change anything (I've never had a PDA break on me). But it's one of those things that just makes me smile, and is indicative of the overall product. This is a solid buy, more PDA than most people need, well executed, and at a wonderful price. Buy it.

p.s. This model works perfectly well with Mac OS X, if you are curious. If you have Palm Desktop 4 installed (and if you're running X, you must), you're all set.

Sony continues to rock the entire PDA industy with its Clie line. Within weeks Sony introduced a low-end, mid-range and high-end unit in the SJ series. Other then price these units clearly target a particular consumer group. Its just a matter of weighing the features with the cost to determine which unit is best for you.

With virtually the same number of models ever released as palm there is really no question about quality and reliability.As a matter of fact some may argue that despite the much larger share of Palm over Sony in terms of units sold, with the past year it has been Sony who has picked up the slack as the Industy leader in innovation. In an industry which is highly dependent on innovation, Sony has done more for PALM in the past year and a half then PALM has done for PALM in the 5 years that they have been around.

Since all three units have identical exteriors I will review three at the same time. The buttons are a vast improvement from the T-series but may still pose as a problem with them being to close to each other. Otherwise the screen is terrific on all three and visual output is crisp whether monochrome or color. Hi-Res or 320x320 pixels is a huge improvement on palms 160x160 pixels. I may be exaggerating going back to 160x160 resolution is like going back to playing PONG on the Atari after playing Mario Brothers on the Nintendo.

In terms of battery life the SJ-10 and SJ-20 will give you a week's worth of battery life while the SJ-30 will give you 3-4 solid days of typical use before requiring a recharge. Although clie's are known to have slightly less battery life as its Palm counterparts, it certainly makes up for it with its screen.

Preference is really what will dictate which unit is best for you. If color is not important and all you need to do is input dates, contacts and notes then the SJ-10 will fit the bill. But if you need to do all those things plus games, documents and to view web clippings then the SJ-20 might be better suited for your needs.

This series is a great addition to the clie line with a unit for virtually everyone. You can't go wrong with any of them.

Buy Sony Clie PEG-SJ20 Handheld Now

Previously I owned a Handspring Visor Deluxe and I must say that this handheld is superior in many respects. It is small and stylish and being compatible with SONY's memory stick the amount of information you can store is greatly expanded. A nice feature of the SONY handhelds is the jog dial which allows you to scroll through adresses. The high resolution screen (320x320 pixels) is also a big improvement over older models. This model comes with a white backlight and should be on when viewing your screen unless you have this PDA in direct sunlight. Unfortunately, the screen without backlight being extremely dim. However, continued use of the PDA with the backlight on will allow you to use it for at least 7 hours without recharging, thus this should not besuch a drawback for the average user. This handheld does not come with a cradle, but does have a AC adapter that allows you to recharge your batteries as well as a USB connector that allows you to do hotsyncs to your PC. Note that this handheld is not compatible with MacOS.

Bottomline: Great B/W PDA with very nice hi-res screen (be it with backlight on) that fits all your basic needs at a very affordable price.

Read Best Reviews of Sony Clie PEG-SJ20 Handheld Here

When I first decided to look for a PDA, my main goals weren't a big, flashy device with a full-color display and tons of built-in accessories if you're looking for these, then the SJ-20 probably isn't for you. However, it excels in my main areas of usability portability, ease of use, long runtime on battery, clear screen, and wide range of programs. The clie's high-resolution screen is crisp, excellent, and very readable in the sun or a brightly-lit indoor room, and the backlight allows for hours of productivity even during power outages, something that can come in handy during the winter months. It's also incredibly light (lighter than the hard case for my sunglasses), and fits more nicely into your hand, in my opinion, than palm-brand organizers. Overall, if you're looking for a good PIM with excellent runtime, readability in any conditions, greater productivity capabilities and expansion, and a built-in battery so you don't have to keep buying AAs, then this is the device for you.

Want Sony Clie PEG-SJ20 Handheld Discount?

I did a ton of research before settling on the Clie SJ20 from Sony. In the end, it just made sense to go with the best. I wanted an inexpensive PDA because I wasn't sure it would "catch on" with me. So that narrowed things down to the Dell Axims (the only Pocket PC worth buying) and low-end Palm OS models. The Axims were out because after all the accessories I'd want, I'd spend closer to 500-600 dollars.

I then compared other PDAs from black and white used Handsprings to the flashy new color Tungstens.

The built in memory and high-resolution of the SJ20 sold itself with the only detraction being the proprietary Sony memory sticks. Amazon just happened to be provideing big rebates on both Lexar Memory sticks and Clies, so I bought the SJ20, which has the same features as the SJ30, minus the color screen and half the price. I also bought it because it's only a few dollars more (on Amazon.com) than it's competition from Palm, the Zire which is worthless in comparision.

Let's compare shall we?

SJ20 vs. Zire: 16 MB vs. 2 MB built-in memory, 320x320 vs. 160x160 screen resolution. The Clie has lots of included software for watching movies and pictures as well as editing and viewing Word documents and Excel spreadsheets. It's also fully compatible with all black and white and greyscale third party Palm software.

It's been my experience that Sony = quality, from their televisions to their video game consoles. The Clie is no different. For being so small (like a deck of cards, only thinner) it sure is sturdy.

So, if you're new to the market of PDAs like I was, you too will see the value inherent in the SJ20.

I know if this PDA proves its worth to me, my next one will be another Clie, with built-in keyboard, MP3, camera and full color screen, the NX70V!