Discussion > Other Areas of Interest > All Handhelds > T615C: The One (for me, anyway)
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T615C: The One (for me, anyway)
By: bookrats @ 11:09 PM
Got my T615C last week, and it's a keeper. Coming from using a Visor Deluxe for almost two years, though, I'm sure the effect of the Clie is more impressive than it might otherwise be. 
Some background: I kept holding out for HandSpring to build a high-res (color or B&W), but my patience gave out last year. I bought a Sony Clie N710C -- and returned it the next day. I didn't like the buttons on it, and I found the hi-res fonts too "spidery" (thin) for easy readability. In short, it wasn't the PDA I wanted with me all day, every day.
But the T615C has turned out to be a different story. It is a honey. Others have done a good job of reviewing it's pros and cons, but let me briefly jot down why it works for me:
- Hi-Res Screen: In short, This was the feature I was most interested in -- and it's the one I'm most satisfied with. The hi-res mode, combined with the extremely white background, is a treat for reading. Yup, the reds are not brilliant (sort of metallic); but the contrast and crispness of the screen more than makes up for that. I can see the differences between it and the N760C, but I prefer the T615C's screen -- for what I plan to do with it.
My aim is to read text on it, and the T615C is superb for this. I can read information in Datebk4 or AvantGo with much less eyestrain and with much greater ease (and no more spidery standard hi-res font thanks to ThinFontFix!) And when you see a hi-res app like Wordsmith -- Lordy. I converted a bunch of standard TrueType fonts to FineType, and while it's not yet to the point of reading from a printed page, it's a major jump in quality for Palm PDAs.
- Buttons: OK, compared to any non-Sony model, they still come in last -- but they're better for me than the Clie N-Series, i.e., you get a tactile response when you press them. All except maybe the rocker button on the T615C -- it's equally bad, I think, but in a different way. However, now that I use the jog dial (and it didn't take long to learn it 'n like it), I don't much care.
- Stylus hasn't been as bad as I thought from previous reviews. I've gotten used to it -- but I'll probably buy a third party one when they come out -- I'd like something heavier.
- 16 MB memory: And you'll need all of it! I figured I wouldn't need to use a Memory Stick for a while, but after I loaded all of the crap (excuse me, I mean stuff) Sony ships with the T615C on top of the stuff I moved from my Visor, I had only 3MB left! (After moving the hi-res games, the photos and the GMovie movies off onto the memory stick, I'm back to 47% full). Glad I bought a 128MB MS (for $50 after rebate -- sweet.)
- The form factor I like -- a lot; comfortable to hold, but very solid.
- The reduced battery life isn't an issue for me, and three days of heavy use show no problems at all -- never got lower than 70% full. (I've heard it's comparable to the m505, but I've seen no figures.)
And now... it's accessory time. 
I really want a work-thru case with a belt clip, like the Rhodiana I had for my VDX. The Body Suit for the T615C looks nice, but I want to wait and see if Vaja comes out with something in a month (though I prefer a plainer model, and the Body Suit is that.) And a Stowaway Keyboard (I hear that's coming in the 2nd quarter), and a heavier stylus. I got my Brando Screen Protector; I'm waiting a few days to put it on, so I can tell what sort of differences it makes to the screen quality.
And Whither My VDX? *Sniff* It's been SO reliable for so long (almost 2 years); I feel like Snidley Whiplash tossing Puff the Magic Dragon onto the scrap heap. I've decided to keep it around as a back-up unit, in case the Sony has problems (it is a Sony, after all -- I got the Best Buy 3 year extended policy with the Sony Quality record in mind.) But it goes away into the drawer.
However, it's time to move on: I've sold my FlashPlus and Stowaway Keyboard for the Visor to friends, and have many Clie Newbie questions -- which I'll be asking them around here. This is a great board for Visor users, or Visor users at heart.
__________________
Jeff Meyer
"And he died like he lived: with his mouth wide open."
By: mikedemo @ 04:04 AM
I had a Vaja case for my 710c and I loved it!!!
I hope they make one for the T-615.
Anyway . . . I love this T-615. This screen is the best I've seen yet. This is the only Clie with a screen that rivals the Visor Prism in color vibrance. Where the 610/710/760 look a little washed out the T-615 is vibrant and pure. Sony really made a winner here. The audio capabilities put Palm branded devices to shame. I could go on and on but basically Sony used some common sense when they built this device. They are great judges on evolutionary improvements to their devices.
I hope when Palm OS 5 comes out they then do a revolutionary step again, like they did with the 710c.
__________________
-Mikedemo
It's all about how you spend the money.
By: bookrats @ 05:54 AM
quote:
Originally posted by mikedemo
I had a Vaja case for my 710c and I loved it!!!
I hope they make one for the T-615.
They haven't decided yet. I hope they make a decision soon, 'cause my short attention span is causing me to look at the Body Suit with greater and greater interest.
Using the power of personal rationalization, I've pointed out to myself that:
- The Body Suit will probably be $40 less expensive
- Having had a Rhodiana case for years, I don't want anything too gorgeous or polished, like the Vaja cases.
- Gee, Vaja's from Argentina... they're having financial problems, aren't they? Hmmm....
Uhh... anyone owned a Body Suit PDA case?
__________________
Jeff Meyer
"And he died like he lived: with his mouth wide open."
By: slotmachine @ 12:39 PM
Congrats BR!!!!
After holding on to your VDX for so long, you deserve a little flash!! By the way, I think its good cyber-karma(?) to keep your old pda. Give it a cozy retirement in one of your dresser drawers. 
In a shameless display of greed, I'm going to hoild out until the 66Mhz processor rolls out. Unlike Palm, I think Sony has a 60% or better chance of upgrading the T-series with the new chip.
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That IS a Palm III form-factor in my pocket, AND I'm happy to see you.
By: GSR13 @ 02:34 PM
I still have my Visor Deluxe. It was my original PDA. I also keep mine for backup, just in case something happens to my CLIE. I also use it to test potential software. Unfortunately, it seems to have developed a slight digitizer problem. I have been able to work around it, but nevertheless, it is unfortunate.
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In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. JOHN 14:2
speed?
By: BillC @ 03:51 PM
can anyone tell me how the 615 and 710 rate as far as speed on Benchmark? Thanks
66 mhz chips
By: BillC @ 04:07 PM
I have another question. Slotmachine mentioned PDAs with 66mhz chips. Are these the same as the Strongarm chips? Thanks.
Re: speed?
By: bookrats @ 04:51 PM
quote:
Originally posted by BillC
can anyone tell me how the 615 and 710 rate as far as speed on Benchmark? Thanks
Benchmark 2.0 shows my T615C to be at 212% on the relative timings -- slightly faster than a Visor Platinum.
__________________
Jeff Meyer
"And he died like he lived: with his mouth wide open."
Be kind to your old Visors
By: bookrats @ 04:54 PM
Maybe it's time to set up Assisted Care for old Visors. GSR13 -- sounds like yours has become hard of hearing in its senior years.
Remember, pull them out of the drawer and talk to them on occasion. Remind them of the good times you had. And whatever you do, don't tell them about all the great things you can do with your new PDAs...
__________________
Jeff Meyer
"And he died like he lived: with his mouth wide open."
Re: Be kind to your old Visors
By: AzNCoMpUtAnErD @ 06:41 PM
quote:
Originally posted by bookrats
Maybe it's time to set up Assisted Care for old Visors. GSR13 -- sounds like yours has become hard of hearing in its senior years.
Remember, pull them out of the drawer and talk to them on occasion. Remind them of the good times you had. And whatever you do, don't tell them about all the great things you can do with your new PDAs...
Or else...she'll come outta the drawer while your sleeping, and push your new PDA off its cradle and take its place. She'll pull her stylus out and poke your new PDA as hard as she can! You better watch out!
__________________
nelson.hsieh
good artists copy, great artists steal. . .
Re: 66 mhz chips
By: AzNCoMpUtAnErD @ 06:43 PM
quote:
Originally posted by BillC
I have another question. Slotmachine mentioned PDAs with 66mhz chips. Are these the same as the Strongarm chips? Thanks.
I believe it will be part of the new Motorolla MX Processors? I believe they will still follow the DragonBall architecture. Clock speeds for ARM processors will probably come in over 100 MHz, though I'm not sure...
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nelson.hsieh
good artists copy, great artists steal. . .
Re: 66 mhz chips
By: slotmachine @ 10:10 PM
quote:
Originally posted by BillC
I have another question. Slotmachine mentioned PDAs with 66mhz chips. Are these the same as the Strongarm chips? Thanks.
Nope, it is not a Strong ARM chip, just an evolutionary step in the Dragonball family. Motorolla is going to start mass production of the 66MHz chip in March. I'm guessing that Sony is already pretty close to finalizing a T-series design around the chip, and will have units on US shleves by mid-May. I have no facts or even rumors to back that up (unless I start one now), its just an educated guess.
As far as the RISC processors go, Palm says Q3 2002, I say Q1 2003, with a flurry of updates through Q3 2003. I can't wait that long.
__________________
That IS a Palm III form-factor in my pocket, AND I'm happy to see you.
T615 Cases
By: bookrats @ 10:16 PM
Well... I couldn't wait for Vaja. Went and ordered the Extreme Limits Body Suit case. I'll let you know what I think.
Yeah, the Vajas are nice... but anyone who's seen a Rhodiana case knows that style isn't Priority One with me...
__________________
Jeff Meyer
"And he died like he lived: with his mouth wide open."
By: Trotsky @ 08:32 AM
Hey guys, it's been a while since I posted here....
Anyway, I too bought the t615c and I think it's the bee's knees, as they say.
The best part was the I sold my m505 to a friend of a friend for $325 (including my memcard and a hardcase and a ton of software preloaded). So it wasn't TOO hard to convince my girlfriend to "let" me pony up the extra $80 for the T615... Well..... to be more accurate I've convinced her to the point where I don't think she'll be too mad AFTER I tell her I got it today... hee hee 
This is EXACTLY what I wanted when I upgraded from my Visor Edge to the m505. I dumped the Edge because I wanted to be able to expand my memory with changing it's oh so sexy form factor.
When the 710c came out I was really tempted until I found out that it had a cheezy PLASTIC case (YUCK!). I never dreamed that I would find a Palm that met my requirements of:
1. Color
2. Hi-Res
3. Extremely slim
4. Case made entirely of aluminum (or better titanium! hehe)
5. Expandable memory without changing the form factor
The m505 met all but #2 while the 710c and 610c met all but #3 and #4. And since 3 and 4 were more important to me than 2 I got the m505. But now comes THIS crazy thing! Man I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! It not only meets #1-5 it adds 5 extra goodies I didn't even factor in!
6. Enhanced sound (WOW it sounds amazing!)
7. Jog Dial (one handed PDA-ing, ahem...)
8. SIXTEEN FREAKING MEGS INTERNAL!!!!
9. Looks as sexy as my phone (Sanyo 6000)
10. Remote control that WORKS consistently AND is easy to set up WITHOUT having the original remote control!
Thank you Sony! (Now if they only had as good of a customer service policy as Handspring.....)
-Trotsky
By: Trotsky @ 08:36 AM
BTW I just wanted to say:
To whoever recommended the ebook reader, "DeepReader" :
THANK YOU. DeepReader is THE best ebook reader out there. And in hi-res it makes ebooks LOOK like a printed page. It is so nice to read now that I have DeepReader + T615.....
The rest of you hi-res-ers out there check it out....
-Trotsky
By: Carl0 @ 09:03 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Trotsky
DeepReader is THE best ebook reader out there.
But it has a serious flaw, it cannot read documents on a memorystick. The author is still working on this essential feature.
http://www.rzanerutledge.com/deepreader/faq.html
__________________
Carlo
By: Trotsky @ 09:13 AM
That's what I use PiDirect for. I leave whatever book I am reading in my pidirect folder so that I can read it off the memcard.
-Trotsky
By: AzNCoMpUtAnErD @ 08:24 PM
You guys are making me miss my 710... 
Maybe when Sony comes out with another T series with the 66 MHz processor, I can get a T615 hehe...
Yeah! I can't live without memory expansion on my edge! I just bought a 32 MB CF card from LeadXPaint, and now I'm looking for a CF Module...I'll see how it fares, but I know it won't come close to my 710 with 64 MB MS... *tear*
__________________
nelson.hsieh
good artists copy, great artists steal. . .
T615 case from Extreme Limits
By: bookrats @ 04:55 PM
quote:
Originally posted by me
Well... I couldn't wait for Vaja. Went and ordered the Extreme Limits Body Suit case. I'll let you know what I think.
Yeah, the Vajas are nice... but anyone who's seen a Rhodiana case knows that style isn't Priority One with me...
Well, lucky I said that up front...
Got the Extreme Limits case, and have been using it for a day.
Good Points:
- Belt clip works well (particularly when I learned that it's easy to snap the case in when you hold it sideways)
- Very sturdy leather -- think this will be close, if not equivalent, to the protection my Rhodiana provided for my Visor
- Easy access to Jog Dial, buttons, etc.
- Outside leather construction looks fine, if a little Western (black leather, very white stitching.) I'm back in, the saddle, again....
Bad Points:
- The leather surrounding the screen (at least on mine) tends to "slop over" the screen a bit at the top. It makes the screen appear crooked, and gives an overall sloppy appearance to the inside.
- While it's easy to get to the buttons, and Jog dial etc., I bought the Vertical style; and at the moment, it's taking a while to get used to holding it with the front cover flap hanging below. I realize that this is a problem with a lot of cases; the Rhodiana got around this by carrying the Visor upside down, and having the flap open over the top of the PDA, not the bottom.
- The very top of the Clie would be exposed if I'm carrying it outside on the belt clip and it's raining (I live in Seattle) and I'm not wearing a coat.
Since I live in Seattle, I usually AM wearing a coat, so this probably isn't a problem; and besides, if there was a strap to provide protection, it would probably need to be removed to get to the Jog Dial. It's a tradeoff, and I think they made the right one.
- On/Off button is a little hard to get to (not a problem, since I could just use the Back button as On/off.
The strap for closing the lid doesn't bother me (though a snap close would be nicer).
My only question is, there is a hole cut in the case to allow several small holes on the lower left of the back of the T615C to be open. Is that a mike down there? I really need to read the instruction manual.
__________________
Jeff Meyer
"And he died like he lived: with his mouth wide open."
Re: T615 case from Extreme Limits
By: mikedemo @ 12:41 AM
quote:
Originally posted by bookrats
. . . My only question is, there is a hole cut in the case to allow several small holes on the lower left of the back of the T615C to be open. Is that a mike down there? I really need to read the instruction manual.
Its a the speaker. Don't belive me, well fire up "Zap!2016" (which has improved audio.) and put an ear to it.
*Caution* do not have the volume all the way up or you may cause damage to your ear drum*Caution*
gotta put a disclaimer y'know
__________________
-Mikedemo
It's all about how you spend the money.
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