PEG-N700C

During a (brief) stay in Tokyo in march 2001, I went to Akihabara (aka Electric Town), the Electronics / Computer district of Tokyo, and was lucky enough to play for a few minutes with Sony's jewel, the PEG-N700C.

I already owned a color Clie (the previous model, PEG-S500C), and I had read everything I could find on the net about the new Clie since Sony's march 14th announcement, so I knew what to expect but I feared I would be disappointed by the color screen. The PEG-S500C screen is indeed very disappointing because it's hard to read unless you're in adequate lighting conditions.

To make a long story short, I think that the PEG-N700C holds its promises, and is really a must-have device! My single regret is that it was released only April 7th in Japan, and I was back home in France at that time!!! :-(

As a matter of fact, the new device has a similar bulk when compared with the previous generation of Clie. Those who like figures can check the actual weight / dimensions on the comparison page, let me just tell you that the difference isn't very noticeable. The design has been changed (for the better IMHO) with a metal/plastic (metal at the front, plastic at the rear) case, but it's mainly a matter of personal taste...

The biggest change is of course the screen. When you look at it, you can't miss the differences. Let's start with the weak (i.e. not 100% perfect) points:

1. This is a reflective TFT screen again, like on the PEG-S500C. This means that it doesn't use much energy because it doesn't necessarily need the backlight like a IIIc screen, but it also means that it's less bright than a IIIc screen. When the backlight is off, the screen background is light beige instead of the ideal snow white. When the backlight is on, the screen background becomes (very) pale blue, closer to white but still not perfect. If you absolutely need a pure white background, buy a IIIc or Visor Prism instead of the PEG-N700C.
2. The screen support only 256 colors instead of 4096 or 65535 like some other PDA. Some will say that on a 160x160 screen you've got only 25600 pixels anyway, so 65535 colors cannot physically be displayed at the same time on a Visor or Palm m505. This is true, but pictures displayed with 65535 colors are nevertheless nicer than with 256 colors. If you need a device with a color screen just to display flashy pictures with gorgeous colors, then again you'd better buy something else! (Update: the newer PEG-N750C, PEG-N760C and PEG-N770C devices come with PalmOS 4.1 and as such can display 65535 colors! Even the old PEG-N700C and PEG-N710C can be upgraded to PalmOS 4.1, though at a cost by sending the device to Sony)
3. The screen felt a bit harder under the stylus when compared with my PEG-S500C, but this is a matter of taste and may vary with each unit...

1. Screen resolution is now 320x320 pixels, i.e. twice as fine (in each dimension, which means 4 time as many pixels) as on any other Palm (or compatible) device. Believe me, it makes a big, big difference! Even if not everybody needs such a resolution, you've probably had a look at some PocketPC devices display, and noticed that they were very pleasant to look at with their finer display. Well, the PEG-N700C can easily stand the comparison with such screens when it comes to resolution!
   Since the physical size of the screen is more or less unchanged, this is actually the pixel size that decreases so the screen is far more readable if the application use the new resolution and smoothed fonts. The old applications expecting a 160x160 screen are handled by "doubling" every pixel (i.e. displaying a square two pixels wide and two pixels high). The feeling is the same as on the good, old 160x160 screens with their big pixels we are used to with Palm devices.
   Not only is the screen beautiful with its new resolution, but it is also brighter than those of the PEG-S500C, addressing its weak points.
   If you compare the two devices without backlight in a "dark" room (middle to poor lighting), there's not much difference even if the PEG-N700C screen background is lighter than those of the PEG-S500C. The display is slightly dull, and not very readable.
   If you look at the two devices in bright light (sunshine, direct overhead light), not much difference either (for brightness at least, because the resolution makes a big difference), the PEG-N700C is still slightly better with it's lighter screen background, but both devices have a clear, bright display. The reflective technology is indeed at its best in those lighting conditions, when transmisive displays like on the IIIc or Prism become hard to read
   Finally, if you compare the two machines with backlight in a "dark" room, you notice immediately that Sony did its homework: Whereas the PEG-S500C backlight was noticeable only in very dark places, making it hard to read, the backlight of the PEG-N700C is immediately noticeable even in medium to good lighting conditions, and brings to the screen a very satisfying brightness and contrast.

Conclusion about the screen: Sony has IMHO found the right compromise between the readability / brightness and the battery life. In good lighting conditions (outdoor with sunshine or indoor with good lighting) the screen doesn't require backlighting and you have a good battery life, but when there's not enough light the backlight is very efficient and ensure you keep a very readable screen, even at the cost of less battery life. You have the choice: if you need to save the battery, you can do it (provided you can find a place with reasonable lighting), and if you need readability at all cost, the new Clie can also handle that everywhere (darkness / indoor / sunshine...).
All in all, even if the display is not quite as bright as the Palm IIIc display in normal (indoor, medium to good lighting) conditions, it remains readable even in bright sunlight. And the new 320x320 instead of 160x160 resolution brings extraordinary fine and detailed fonts. While this may seem superfluous to us Westerners, the Chinese / Japanese characters are (at last!) readable, which was far from being the case with a 160x160 display.

I won't detail much the musical features of the PEG-N700C which give a very convincing, quality sound when you plug headphones or speakers, the general design of the device (very easy to use with the jogdial and back button), the Magic Gate slot (it's a MemoryStick with some anti-piracy protection scheme. You can use a traditional purple MemoryStick in the new Clie for storing your databases, but you'll need the white MagicGate version if you plan to listen to music in ATRAC3 format - MP3 is fine with the purple MemoryStick), for which we're told to expect a few peripherals... Sony has promised a few ones (GPS, bluetooth, digital camera, etc...) using that slot, but there's nothing available yet, we've been waiting for nothing since last September! :-(

Considering the retail price of the device (49800 JP¥ plus 5% taxes, that's about 480 € ), the new Clie should meet a huge success in Japan, because the 320x320 screen allows at last a fine Chinese / Japanese character display that was cruelly lacking before.
In the USA it scorde very good sales since the PEG-N700C brings at last a quality color screen in a small PDA size (closer to the size of the Vx/m505/Visor Egde than the size of the bulky but good IIIc).

Note that Japanese programmers (including the unavoidable Yamada Tatsushi) have started writing applications that benefit from the new high resolution of the PEG-N700C, with even programs like defhires or powerhires that enable old programs to use the new resolution & optimized fonts!!!