A Palm-Size Sony VAIO?

Sony is the latest company to jump on the personal digital assistant bandwagon. The electronics giant's new CLIE handheld runs on the Palm operating system and combines the sleek lines of the Palm V with the expandability of the Handspring Visor, another Palm OS-based device.

But the $399 CLIE (an acronym for Communication, Link, Information, and Entertainment) does not simply pay homage to its predecessors. In other respects, it's all Sony, with exclusive features such as a Jog Dial navigator, a Memory Stick expansion slot, and the ability to download and view multimedia files.

A Handheld, in Sony Style

This 4.27-ounce unit--which measures 4.6 inches long, 2.9 inches wide and 0.6 inches thick (roughly the size of a monochrome Handspring Visor, but an ounce lighter)--features the slick industrial design of Sony's VAIO line of desktop PCs and notebooks. It's small enough to slip easily into a shirt pocket, even though it uses a separate case instead of a fold-over lid to protect the display. The Jog Dial navigator, also found on Sony mobile phones and VAIO notebooks, speeds navigation through your address book and e-mail.

The Jog Dial is located on the unit's upper-left side, placed so that you can easily move it with your thumb while you hold the PDA in your left hand and write with your right hand. The stylus holder is located on the right rear, convenient if you're constantly removing and replacing the stylus to take notes. It's not quite as easy to move the Jog Dial with your right index finger, so left-handers may not be quite as comfortable with the arrangement.

Like the Palm Vx, the CLIE has 8MB of internal memory, 2MB of flash memory (used to update the unit's ROM via a software download), an infrared port, and version 3.5 of the Palm OS. It also comes with many of the same apps that come standard on a Palm device--a date book, a to-do list, expense reports--plus an enhanced address book into which you can insert pictures. These features make the CLIE look and feel very similar to other Palm-based handhelds.

In addition, the CLIE ships with a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that yields about a week and a half of heavy use. It can be recharged in the combined charger and HotSync cradle, which connects a computer to the CLIE by a fast Universal Serial Bus or slower serial connection. (A serial adapter is included.) Using the USB connection, we were able to easily synchronize the CLIE with Microsoft Outlook on a notebook PC and add new applications with the Palm Desktop application.