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NX70V
Review by David Eaton |
Date: |
31/12/2002 |
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In a nutshell, the
NX70V is the Lamborghini on
Palm handhelds. The design is sleek and the amount of features that
are packed into its case are phenomenal.
Design: Let's
begin by taking a look at its design. The NX70, like its
predecessor, the NR70, has a unique swivel design for the screen
which allows you to use the device as a tablet or in a clamshell
configuration allowing you access to its built-in keyboard (More
about that later…) For those users who are familiar with the
design of earlier Palm devices and are proficient in Graffiti, the
tablet design is for you. New owners of a Palm device may feel more
comfortable using the keyboard until they familiarize themselves
with Graffiti.
The case itself
measures 0.9 inches thick (about equal to a deck of cards) by 2.8"
wide and 5.4" high. The design is slightly taller and thicker
than other devices utilizing the Palm OS but the extra size is more
than made up by the amount of built in hardware. The extra thickness
is a result of its built-in expansion slot for a wireless NIC
(optional, of course..) and the added height is for the 320x480
display with room for the hinge on top. It weighs a solid 8 ounces
(2.5v ounces heavier than my old Handspring Visor Deluxe) but still
fits comfortably in your shirt pocket.
Speaking of hinges,
the NX70 was designed to utilize everything - even the hinge area of
the unit. Incorporated into the hinge is not only the On/Off button
but also a light that functions as a recording indication, the lens
for the camera (which will swivel 280 degrees independent of the
unit), and the capture button which can be programmed to capture
still shots, movie shots, or record voice memos.
The exterior of the
case is a brushed Magnesium that, unlike the Palm and Handspring
devices that I have owned in the past, has a slight textured feel
(the others were smooth) that feels real nice and comfortable to
hold.
As I mentioned
before, one of the most unique features of the case is its swivel
screen. There is really no need to purchase a protective case for
the unit because of its ability to close up and protect its screen
and buttons by the magnesium shell.
Hardware
Features: If you are really into gadgets, the NX70V is for you.
It not only sports the highest resolution screen of any Palm OS
handheld devise, but is one of the fastest as well. The features
that came with the unit eliminated the need to purchase an
additional 5 Springboard modules for my Handspring Deluxe.
Processor:
The speed of the unit will blow you away. After using older palm
devices for years and growing accustomed to the 12 MHz speed of the
pre-Dragonball processors, the 200MHz ARM processor was a huge
upgrade for me. When playing games like Bejeweled, for example, the
game play and graphics were faster than on my home PC! That's not to
say that its 3 times faster than a 66 MHz processor, however. The
extra speed is needed to smoothly operate the multimedia features in
the unit - and seems to handle the job very well.
Memory: One
small drawback to the 16 Mb of internal ram is the fact that you
aren't told ahead of time that only 11 Mb is available for use. The
other 5 Mb is taken up by 4 Mb of internal programs and 1Mb reserved
for program operating room. The plus side is that you should never
get an "Out of Memory" error. The installation of a memory
stick is definitely one of the first things to do after getting this
device. I went ahead and purchased a 128Mb stick when I got my unit
and never looked back…
Screen: One
of the first things that really jump out at you when you see it for
the first time is its large Hi-Res color screen. The sample photos
are absolutely beautiful and provide you with some out-of-the-box
eye candy to impress your friends.
As with the NR70
model, the graffiti area is software driven and can be eliminated to
provide you with a 320x480 viewing area. An added touch is being
able to see what you're writing. I found that this feature
drastically increased my accuracy with graffiti input.
Camera: This
is one of the coolest gadgets ever! With a simple roll of your thumb
you can rotate the lens from its protected position and then either
tap the screen or push the button located on the side of the hinge
to take either still shots (640x480 resolution) or movie clips.
These still shots and movie clips are, by default, stored on the
optional memory stick. Although they seemed to be stored on a
propriety format, the included software lets you easily dump them
into your PC as MPEG4 movies or JPG photos.
Mic / Speaker:
I have also been very surprised at the quality of the sound coming
from the internal speaker, whether it was a MP3 playing of something
recorded through the internal microphone. The sounds are full and
vibrant and it's hard to believe that the speaker is smaller than a
dime! The microphone also picks up plenty well enough that you can
record all sorts of things - not just voice memos. For example I
used it to record the practice of a Southern Gospel quartet that I
belong to and played it back for them so that they could hear what
they sounded like. You could hear all four parts and the piano!
Controls: As
I mentioned before, the unit has a built-in QWERTY style keyboard
that is located in the flap opposite the screen. While the buttons
are about as big as a pencil eraser and spaces pretty close
together, it is convenient to use your thumbs to type. While this is
not as fast an input for someone proficient with graffiti, it is
still doable and, with practice, can be almost as fast.
Located directly
above the keyboard are your standard buttons for the Calendar, the
Address Book, the To Do List, and the Memo Pad along with the normal
Up and Down buttons. While the layout of these buttons makes it a
little awkward to use them for arcade-style game controls, it is
doable.
All the external
controls for the unit (not including the keyboard) are located along
the left side - convenient to your left thumb if, like me, you're
right handed and typically hold the device in your left hand while
holding the stylus in your right.
One of the features
that I haven't quite gotten used to using is the jog wheel and "Back"
button located along the left side of the unit. The jog wheel will
alloy you to scroll up and down either within a program or when
selecting items on a drop-down menu. Just like the wheel in your
mouse, you can even push it to activate what you have chosen. I'm
waiting for someone to write a hack that will allow you to program
that selection to activate a program of your choice. If anyone knows
of such a hack, please let me know.
The "back"
button does just that - it takes you back to the last screen you
were in just like browsing the internet. It's convenient to use when
switching back and forth between 2 different programs when doing
cutting and pasting.
Another switch to be
aware of is the "Hold" switch located about half-way down
on the left side. When id is activated, even by accident, it freezes
all the buttons and you cannot even turn on the device. If, like me,
you have done this accidentally on a new device, you may find what
appears to be a dead screen. Even after doing a hard reset you get
an initialization screen followed by an error window containing the
word "Hold" before the device shuts down. It took me a few
times to figure out that the device was telling me to turn the Hold
switch off… ;)
MP3 Remote &
Earphones: Above the jog wheel (and just under the shutter for
the camera) is the input jack for the headphones and the MP3 remote
which is included. This handy remote has a clip which can be used to
attach the remote to your clothing to control your play lists. It
contains yet another hold button and built in stylus point on the
tip along with controls for the volume, track selection, and a play
/ hold switch. (One note: when listening to MP3s, be sure to turn
off the back light to conserve battery power.)
The ear buds are
nothing special to write home about - just your standard Sony ear
bud. My preference is a full-sized ear phone that doesn't feel like
a rock jammed into your ear so I purchased a set to use with the
remote. The sound is as good as any MP3 player that I have heard.
Battery Life:
The internal rechargeable Lithium Ion battery charges to 4.20 volts.
While this may seem like a lot more than the 3 volts you get from 2
AAA alkaline batteries, the unit needs a lot of power for all its
glitz. The things that seem to use up the most power are the A/V
functions such as taking movies or listening to the MP3s. Of course,
the back lighted screen also uses a large amount of battery power so
be sure to turn it off whenever you don't need it: for example when
you're listening to MP3s with the unit in your pocket. All this
being said, however, you should be able to run the unit using a lot
of multimedia type applications for 4 hours or so before recharging.
If you're mainly going to be using regular Palm apps, you should get
about 7-8 hours of normal use out of it before the batteries run
low. I'd plan on charging it every day and, if you're going to be
using a lot of power-hungry applications, consider purchasing the
optional battery pack that uses alkaline batteries to either
recharge the internal batteries or provide additional battery power.
Expansion Slots:
The most important expansion slot, in my opinion, is one for memory
sticks. This slot is located on the top of the unit (just below the
hinge) and directly behind the I/R port. It uses industry-standard
memory sticks as well as Sony's Memory Gate sticks which offer
additional copyright protection.
Taking the entire
width of the unit and responsible for some of its thickness as well,
is the expansion slot for the optional 802.11B Wireless Network
Adapter. While this slot is also industry standard, the only card
available for it at the moment is the wireless NIC. If someone would
come up with a GPS card for this slot than I would be in heaven!!!
I/R: The I/R
port on the unit, as mentioned, is on top and is behind the power
button. Gone are the days of having to turn my Handspring over on
its side in order to beam anything! The port is "enhanced"
to provide extra power and can be used as a universal remote control
device (using the build-in software or a program such as Omni
Remote) to control devices across the room. While I have read a few
reviews from people unsatisfied with its range, I can use it from
about 15-17 feet away from my entertainment center.
Stylus: The
stylus that is included with the unit is small and tucked into the
bottom of the unit on its right side. If you have large hands like I
do, you'll find yourself saving this one for emergency use and
utilizing a larger stylus / pen combination.
Built-in
Software: The NX70V is one of the first devices to come with
Palm OS version 5.0. As such, some of your older programs may not
run if you're upgrading from an older PDA. The Hi Res+ screen can
also throw some older programs for a loop. Developers are working
fast and furiously, however, to release versions of almost all the
popular applications that, if not written to take advantage of the
OS and the increased screen size, will at least run on them.
As has been
previously mentioned, the NX70V comes with 4Mb of built-in software.
This includes not only the standard Palm apps but also several
others which can be broken down into the following categories:
Launcher: The
default launcher that is enabled on the unit is designed to take
advantage of the jog wheel in making selections. You scroll up and
down through categories of programs and push in on the jog wheel in
order to launch the program. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be
any way to scroll through the categories first and selecting one of
them before scrolling through its programs - you scroll through all
the apps one category at a time. If, like me, you have close to 75
applications loaded, this can be kind of tedious. One good feature
of this launcher is the ability to list 12 favorite programs under
the category listing and access them by a tap of your stylus. You
can also, through a simple menu option, choose to use the standard
Palm launcher program or do like I did and download one of the many
launchers out there that utilize the Hi Res+ screen.
Standard Apps:
The NX70V, as expected, comes with color versions of the standard
palm applications for tracking Appointments, Addresses, To Do's, and
memos. These have also been configured to use the extra screen area
when you shrink down the graffiti area.
Audio Apps:
The audio applications for the NX70V are twofold, one designed for
playing MP3s and one for recording and playing from the voice
recorder. The Voice Recorder program also includes an option to
convert your recordings for use as alarms! While the MP3 player does
a great job, the PC software used to convert and load MP3s on the
device seems to only convert non-copyrighted material. I have to
find a way around that. If I purchase a CD, I ought to have the
right to listen to the music on any device I wish!
Video Apps:
The video applications far outnumber the audio applications. They
include the CLIE Viewer which will view all video files, the Camera
program, a Movie Player, a separate Movie Recorder, a Photo Editor
(similar to MS Paint), and two programs for displaying your
graphics: the CLIE Album and the PhotoStand program - both are
designed for slide show type presentations although I haven't played
with them enough to tell you the difference yet.
Utilities:
The utilities that come with this are pretty good as well. There is
a built in file manager, backup program, and a program called MS
Import which, when activated, creates a removable drive on your PC
for fast and convenient access to your memory stick. This is one of
the handiest features that I've found when you need to load a lot of
files.
Bundled Apps:
The CD that accompanies the unit contains a wealth of software.
Along with shareware versions of several games and resource type
applications, it also comes with a "lite" version of "Documents
to Go" which will allow you to sync your Clie with Word and
Exel documents to view and edit them on your handheld device.
Overall
Impression: The Sony Clie PEGNX70V is the top of the line of any
handheld device running the Palm OS. It is rich in features and is a
wonder to behold. Whether you're looking for functionality or the
PDA with the most gadgets, the NX70V is the one for you. The more I
use it, the more I love it.
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