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T625 review by Scott Jackson (27/02/2002)

I received my new Sony Clie PEG-T625C on Monday 25th February 2002 from Dabs.Com. I was hoping to wait on the new Palm m515 but after hearing it won't be High Res I decided it had to be a Sony. It was purchased to replace my trusty Palm IIIc and Palm Vx. My new replacement had to be similar in size to the Vx form factor and I'm happy to say that it doesn't disappoint on that score. It feels good in your hand due to the slimmer design but that maybe a personal thing. As I opened the box and held it in my hands my initial impression was very good, the unit is better put together than I thought it would be and it looks much nicer in your hand than the photos on the web sites. I charged it up for a few hours before I turned it on. As soon as the charge indicator on the Clie went out I turned it on to see what the screen was like. I can only say the screen is superb, very clear and easy to read and bright under all lighting conditions, e.g. outdoors, under fluorescent lights etc. I usually have the brightness turned down to the minimum and its still bright enough for everyday use. Now the screen has one problem - the colours are washed out. I compared it to the vivid colours of the Palm IIIc and it does have a problem displaying reds and greens. Personally I don't find it a major issue because the screen is very clear and as I said earlier its very good under all lighting conditions. The high resolution is brilliant, having the option to have the icons small is great and the high res apps I have installed are a major improvement over the low res apps, a good example of this is 2DMemo which is a high res replacement for the built-in Memo Pad. Photos have to be adjusted in Photoshop (raise red and green levels) to compensate for the washed out colour and I have had some success in doing this. The improved sounds are just that - much improved, when I tried the inbuilt sounds I was very impressed, the best way to describe the sound is to listen to midi files on your pc, the sound is that good. I look forward to someone converting midi files for download (maybe Clieworld ???) so I can listen to some tunes. I can see games developers going to town with the new sound capabilities and it really takes the PalmOS to another level. Much has been made of the buttons on the front panel. The buttons themselves are fine, no problems with them at all even for game usage but the rocker switch is next to useless. Thankfully the Jog Dial makes the rocker switch redundant and allows one handed usage of the Clie without having to reach for the stylus. The inclusion of the back button makes this process even more painless and the whole thing is a joy to use, I don't think I could live without a Jog Dial anymore. I have a Jog Dial on my Sony J5 phone which I find indispensable. Battery life is fine, I can play Acid Solitaire for hours on end and although the battery meter seems to drop quickly it always has plenty left. I would compare it to the Vx battery life if you use the Vx's backlight occasionally like I used to do, and as I always charge my Palm everyday I don't see any problems. I have also ordered the USB Charger/Hotsync cable from Innopocket in the US so I can charge the Clie from my laptop. I don't have a Memory Stick yet but I'll pop down to my local Sony Centre and get myself a 64MB stick today as I have only 500k left from the 16MB RAM that comes as standard in the T625 ! I'll never know how I've managed all these years with just 8MB ! We need more memory as standard, the new apps are getting bigger all the time especially the games, Qubix which is the most impressive 320x320 game I've seen takes up over 1MB of RAM ! I've downloaded a few essential apps for the Clie. * ThinFontFix - It really makes a big difference to the built-in fonts and makes them much clearer without them being too heavy. * Clie Launcher - A High Res launcher that I really like, try it and see for yourself. * PowerJog - An app that allows use of the Jog Dial in programs that don't specifically support the Jog Dial. Overall I'm very impressed with the Clie T625 and would recommend it to anyone looking for the latest PalmOS device. Scott Jackson (equaliser)