PEG-T615C

The PEG-T615C is the third generation of color Clié devices.

Technically speaking, it's similar to the PEG-T415 (see comparison table) with more RAM and a color screen. The most notable differences when compared to the previous generation are:

• 16 Mb RAM instead of 8 Mb on the PEG-N6xxC and PEG-N7xxC.
• The weight and bulk have been notably reduced, so the PEG-T615C (or its Japanese twin, the PEG-T600C) is the smallest color PDA made by Sony. Its closest rival is the Palm m505 which has almost the same weight and bulk.
• No MP3-dedicated chip on this device, which makes it the replacement of the PEG-N610C more than those of the PEG-N760C. On the other hand, like its monochrome cousin PEG-T415, there's a builtin sound synthesis module and speaker which quality is impressive! Even if it's not yet High Fidelity sound, the PEG-T615C can still be considered the state of the art for sounds: alarms are at last going to be audible, and more pleasant to hear to than the poor "bip, bip" to which PalmOS devices users are used to listen to!!!
• The infrared port has been beefed-up, its range is now much better so that you can use it as a remote control using the appropriate supplied software.
• Let's note also the LED on the front side, just below the up/down rocker. This diode lights up during the battery charge, and extinguishes when the charge is complete. Very handy. It can also be used as a visual alarm. The new PEG-T615C also vibrates for alarms if you ask it to do so.
• The buttons, unfortunately, are smaller and a bit harder to use than on the previous models, especially the tiny up/down lever that replaces the up and down buttons. :-(
• A new connector on the PEG-T615C makes it incompatible with previous Clié devices periphérals (different pinout, voltage decreased from 5V to 3.3V on the serial link).
• Last but not least, the battery, which life decreases notably from the previous generation Clié. Various people have reported a battery life between 4 to 7 hours, depending on the backlight brightness, the processor load (arcade game or static text...). Beware, you'll have to carry the cradle with you to recharge your PEG-T615C, since (unlike the previous models) the AC adapter plug doesn't fit the Clié itself, only the small plug on the back of the cradle.

The screen deserves some in-depth study. Sony had really scored a hit with the PEG-N710C (and declinations) screen, so everyone burns to know how good is the screen on the PEG-T615C... ;-)

In my (humble) opinion, it's as pleasant to use than those of the PEG-N760C. I say PEG-N760C and not PEG-N710C because the 710C, due to its PalmOS 3.5 limitation, could only display 256 colors, whereas the more recent models (PEG-N6xxC and PEG-N7xxC running Palm OS 4.x) can display 65536 colors, like the PEG-T615C. That being said, the screen is slightly different, and depending on your typical use, may be slightly better or worse for you:
If you view many pictures or drawings on your Clié, if you like to have warm, vibrant colors on your screen, then you might be disapointed by this new model, as the colors displayed are less vibrant.
If on the other hand you often display text, then you'll be seduced by the crisper images and increased contrast of this new screen. As has been previously reported by others, the black is blacker and the white whiter (no, this is not an ad for yet another washing powder...)

As for brightness, the screen is rather brighter than those of the PEG-N760C at the same setting.

A decent screen, then, and a large memory, a MemoryStick extension for additionnal memory or peripherals, this only could make it another hit for Sony...

Add to this a very complete software bundle, a quality sound, a visual/vibrating alarm, a boosted infrared, one could wonder what's missing to make it the perfect PalmOS device!

Well, it comes close, but this new Clié has some drawbacks too, which I will now list:

Battery, first, which life has notably decreased. When the PEG-N760C, with a low brightness setting, could last for more than 13 hours (that's a direct Paris-Hong Kong flight without having to recharge it), the PEG-T615C doesn't easily exceed 6 hours of battery life. Not that bad, for some, because if you're the kind of user that can recharge the Clié on a desk at work or at home everyday, you've nothing to fear. If on the other hand your the typical "Road Warrior" always on the run in cars and airports, beware, you might find the battery life difficult to live with. An to top that, Sony designed a USB cradle / AC adapter pair in which the AC adapter cannot plug directly into the Clié anymore, but only in a plug at the back of the cradle. So to recharge the Clié you'll have to carry the cradle with you... :-(
(At this time, Sony doesn't provide yet a travel kit for the T615C, but a USB sync/charge cable or a portable AC adapter for the T615C are available from third party sources).

Otherwise, the buttons feel a bit small to me, but it seems you have to chose between a small Clié with small buttons and a big Clié with big buttons... Make your choice! ;-)

As of today, Sony doesn't sell a serial cable for this model, but this (and other types of cables like a USB cable) can be found in thrid party vendors catalogs. It's unfortunate that Sony decided to change the connector for this model, as all the keyboards, modems, MP3 or bluetooth modules that worked with the previous Clié devices won't be compatible with the PEG-T615C...

All in all, this seems an excellent device to me, and it will most certainly be a big commercial hit if it's correctly priced when released outside of Japan and USA (I know that the PEG-T615C is available in Singapore and Hong Kong, but it's the US version, not a localized version!). The PEG-T615C official price is 400 US$ (450 €).

Now a few pictures (sorry for the bad quality of those - blame it on my (too) old digital camera and the terrible lighting conditions in the room!):

The T615C on its cradle
The T615C cradle: notice the small AC adapter connector.
The T615C AC adapter can accept multiple voltages, but make sure you have an adapter to convert the physical shape of the US plug into whatever you need.
A new connector format... :-(
A nice jog dial
Smaller buttons, but a LED under the up/down rocker...
The T615C screen (left) and the N700C screen (right) with the lowest brightness setting.
The T615C screen (left) and the N700C screen (right) with the highest brightness setting.
The T615C screen (left) and the N700C screen (right) with the highest brightness setting (uniform black image).
The T615C screen (left) and the N700C screen (right) with the highest brightness setting (uniform white image).
The T615C screen (left) and the N700C screen (right) with the highest brightness setting (uniform red image).
The T615C screen (left) and the N700C screen (right) with the highest brightness setting (uniform green image, believe it or not ;-).
The T615C screen (left) and the N700C screen (right) with the highest brightness setting (uniform blue image).