Sony Clie SJ30

The smallest Clie so far, with a great screen.

Price: £230

Manufacturer: Sony

Ratings

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Verdict

Pros:

Excellent screen
Great looking and good value

Cons:
No media playback

Overall:
It's compact, has a brilliant screen, is very easy to use and, at £230, it's a snip

Mark Walsh, Personal Computer World 06 Dec 2002

This latest Clie, the SJ30, is the smallest we've seen, pure and simple. It's essentially the little brother to the 625, the best Palm device we've seen in the last year.

Like the 625, the quality of the screen is the standout feature; frankly, it's good enough to warrant purchase alone.

Sony has managed to fit a 320 x 320 resolution into its tiny frame, and it's bright, sharp and responsive to the stylus, although we found that a little too short and thin for our liking.

There are only two ports on the device: an infra-red port and a Memory Stick slot, both situated next to the power button at the top.

The former is useful for connecting to notebooks, but as there are currently no GPRS Memory Stick attachments, and this does restrict this device somewhat, and Bluetooth Memory Sticks are a massive £160.

Sony's jog-dial rears its head again, as does a back button, both on the top-left corner. It's a handy extra feature, but you won't find yourself using it much as you can do it all on screen.

Battery life was pretty impressive - after four days of frequent use, the meter hadn't shifted from 100 per cent. That's no real indication of how long this will last, but it is long enough to stay alive during a short trip.

Sony has also released a gamepad attachment that can be hooked on to the bottom of any Clie. The number of games is limited, but it certainly keeps you amused, and the quality of the screen is a major factor.

The lack of media playback or potential for wireless access means this is simply a personal organiser with a few neat touches, but there are few to rival it.

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