Sony CLIE PEG-TG50 Handheld

In my review, you won't find a highly comprehensive product overview or exhaustive look into how this Clie fits into the industry product mix. Rather, I just offer a summary of my experience owning the product.

First, I want to make it clear that I have limited prior experience with other PDAs. The only other PDA that I have had before was the Samsung I300 combination cell phone / Palm Pilot. When I was looking for new, stand-alone PDA, I didn't want too much punch or too many cool features. Really, I just wanted a good organizer that still had some fun-factor. This is what attracted me to the Sony PEG - TG50.



The most important thing that I was looking for was the price. I knew what features I wanted, and I didn't want to spend too much. It looks like the current retail price for the TG50 is around $299. I do feel that this is a bit too much, but some price-hunting resulted in a vendor that had it for sale for $229. At this price, I really do feel that the TG50 is a great value. To me, value encompasses many facets of a product, and I think the TG50 does well in many areas.

Build quality, usability, key hardware features, bells and whistles, and style all contribute to my liking of this Clie. Holding the TG50 in your hand, it is obvious that it was built with high quality and good materials. There is a big difference in confidence in a product if the chassis is solid. I am not too keen on the folding aluminum cover – because it is awkward and rather cumbersome. It seems more fragile than the rest of unit. I have ordered a new cover, so I hope this isn't an issue for me in the future. A link to the cover can be found at the bottom of this review.

As with usability – I feel that the keyboard area is much more effective than a graffiti surface. The I300 had a virtual graffiti area, and I know graffiti very well. At first, having a keyboard area seemed to be annoying – but I soon discovered that I could input things much more quickly. I suppose it may be the type of data that I am putting in, but most of my input consists of short notes and names. I suppose, if I were to compose long, complex strings of characters, then having a graffiti area would be more valuable, but to quickly type a phrase, the keyboard area is very effective. I also have no trouble using the thumb-wheel and the power/off switch hasn't presented any issues. Last, Sync-ing up with desktops or laptops has been painless… I have synched with an Emac, Laptop over IR, and using the USB cradle without any problems.

Honestly, I do not know how well the hardware of the TG50 stacks up against competitors. To me, this Clie is fast, has a good, clear screen, and the docking cradle is pretty much on par with any docking cradle that I have ever used. I have a Sony Vaio laptop, so the memory stick limitation wasn't very annoying. I have no Bluetooth devices, so I have no opinion about the TG50's support for that technology.

The bells and whistles come primarily from the available software titles that ship with the Clie. There isn't much to say about a USB docking station and power cable… that's pretty much standard. However, the TG50 also includes some good document / image viewing software and was very easy to set up. It is very easy to record voice memos, and I have had no problems with things hanging up or crashing. Again, I haven't used many PDAs, so maybe all of this is to be expected. However, I've had my share of products which ship with nothing and are nightmares to configure.

As with style, I think this Clie looks nice and its appearance goes well with some of the other hardware that I carry. There isn't an "awe" factor, but that's not something I really care about. Also, it is small enough (just barely) to be carried without much issue. Maybe it's because I'm already used to carrying bulky brick cell phones, (that I300 was fairly large).



There are a few minor things that could be improved. The first element that I would replace is that funky flip cover. Even an Apple Newton 120 has a folding cover that tucks behind the base of the chassis so that it is out of the way. However, the location of various hardware access points makes this impractical. So, I think Sony should ship that plastic cover as an extra accessory (link is below) so that customers can have an alternative to the bulky aluminum cover.

The next issue I have is the very small port that is used to connect between the charging bay and the power supply. Sony made it so the power supply can also be plugged into the Clie directly (well, a small adaptor is needed). However, small plugs are extremely annoying. I found that the plug itself doesn't really have that much friction and does not remain held in place very well. There are no clips to keep it situated. This has only bothered me one time, but I fear it may get worse over time as the plug gets used more.

The last thing is purely superficial and silly… I have a scratch on my Clie. I also have a lot of scratches on my pocket digital camera and my cell phone. I guess that's just how I introduce electronics into my arsenal.


In summary, if you can get the TG50 in the low to mid $200s, it is a great bargain. I feel that it fulfilled all aspects that I was looking for in a good, easy to use personal organizer.


Appendix:

Here is a link to a vendor who is selling that plastic cover that I talked about in this post.
http://www.meritline.com/pda-cover-sony-tg50.html