WHAT'S HOT: The Clié PEG-T615C is the thinnest Palm-based handheld you can buy with a high-resolution color screen. It measures just half an inch thick, not including its detachable black leather flip-down cover, and it displays gorgeously smooth, crisp photos on its 320-by-320-pixel screen in 65,536 colors. It comes stocked with 16MB of RAM for adding lots of applications and carrying around a big photo album if you choose. (The included PhotoStand app lets you use the PEG-T615C as a display for photo slide shows. Just start the slide show feature and pop the PDA in its USB 1.1 syncing cradle to watch all your favorite photos pop up one by one.)

A Memory Stick slot at the top lets you add storage or applications, and a Jog Dial high on the left side lets you work your way through menus and make selections using one hand. Finally, DataViz's Documents to Go provides valuable document creation and editing tools so you can take Microsoft Office files on the road with you.

WHAT'S NOT: The $370 T615C is on the expensive side for Palm OS-based PDAs, and no modem is available for it yet. The rechargeable lithium ion battery isn't removable.

WHAT ELSE: The PEG-T615C comes in blue or silver aluminum (we reviewed the latter), with a dark-gray Graffiti writing area and reversed-out application shortcut icons: a pleasant departure from the standard gray-green Palm screen. Long thin buttons in a row at the bottom launch the four Palm applications; the buttons' identifying icons are etched into a dark panel above and are a tad difficult to make out without sufficient lighting. The power button, big and round and comfortable, sits in the lower right corner. Including its cover and gray-and-white plastic stylus, the T615C weighs 5.9 ounces; without the cover, it weighs 4.9 ounces, the same as the new Palm M515. The screen is bright and easy to read with backlighting turned on, even in bright sunshine. But with the backlight turned off, it's difficult to read unless you hold the T615C under a bright light.

Sony sells a very basic 320-by-240-pixel $150 Memory Stick digital camera for the T615C. The PDA also works with Sony's $130 Audio Adapter kit, which comes with headphones and the software necessary to play back digital audio and movies. Though few users may be interested in this feature, the T615C is one of two Cliés (the other is the T415C) carrying an enhanced infrared port that lets it act as a universal programmable remote control for TVs and stereos up to 15 feet away.

UPSHOT: If a Palm-based PDA with a thin profile and the best screen possible tops your wish list, your choice should be the new Sony Clié PEG-T615C. It's as slim as the Palm M515 and only slightly more expensive.

SUMMARY

Sony Clié PEG-T615C Palm OS 4.1, 16MB internal memory, 2.2-by-2.2-inch active screen area, 320 by 320 resolution, Memory Stick expansion slot, lithium ion battery; 4.9 ounces; one-year parts and labor warranty, toll-free support for 24 hours daily. $370 888/595-8246 www.sonystyle.com/micros/clie