Data input is one of the biggest issues many people have with PDAs, and while stylus handwriting recognition and Graffiti dont take long to learn, they can be difficult to master, and cant compare to typing on a keyboard. With this in mind, Sony has sought to expand on the input possibilities with the Cliee PEGNR70VG by including a 42-key QWERTY keyboard in addition to the usual Palm OS methods of input.

Other PDAs have had keyboards (most notably the Handspring Treo line), although the inclusion of a keyboard is generally done at the sacrifice of size and weight. In order to keep the new Cliee as compact as possible, Sony has implemented an innovative flip lid design, with the keyboard being exposed when the device is opened. You can still use the Cliee in a conventional PDA layout with the stylus for input, and the screen rotated 180 degrees and folded back down.

The keyboard itself is reasonably easy to use, and the speed of data input is somewhat faster than a trained stylus user using Graffiti. The only trouble I had with it was the lack of several keys that appear on full-size keyboards, and some difficulties entering double letters. Otherwise, for composing short memos and emails, the keyboard is a good option.

Another innovative feature of the Cliee is the inclusion of a small 100,000-pixel camera that can be rotated to either face away from the PDA or towards yourself. The quality is not fantastic, but you can still take groovy little snaps with ease. In my opinion, however, if the choice was between having a small camera or having wireless connectivity built into the PDA, I would definitely opt for wireless. Sony has stated that the camera is more in line with its current push of integrating IT with its traditional strength of AV, but given this, wireless is still a more compelling feature to many compared to a small camera.

The Cliee features a colour screen with a resolution of 320 x 480 and 65K colours, and as it is a reflective TFT, its easily viewed even with a lot of ambient light. The unit also acts as a music player, both with Sonys ATRAC3 format and MP3. The Memory Stick slot is used for music storage, although youll need the secure MagicGate sticks to play music.

Sony has opted to use the Palm OS for the Cliee range, which has its advantages and disadvantages. There are hundreds of applications available for the Palm, and it also requires less power to run, meaning the Lithium Ion battery can deliver five solid hours of continuous usage with the backlight on which equates to several days of normal usage before needing a recharge. The down side is that as Pocket PC 2002 is becoming increasingly popular, it has a growing list of powerful applications available for it, and is well suited to network and multimedia functions, whereas multimedia is quite new for the Palm OS. Palm OS is also a little dated in terms of interface and functionality compared to Pocket PC 2002.

This Cliee does come with a large bundle of software, including PictureGear 4.5 Lite for editing your images, and SonicStage LE for copying audio tracks as well as several more Palm OS apps. Unfortunately, while the Sony apps all look cool, their operation can be a little cryptic at times, and some functions that should be intuitive are buried under a few levels of menus, or even in an entirely different app all together.

The Cliee is undoubtedly a very funky piece of kit, and will appeal to those looking for a functional PDA that also has style. The clamshell design is cool and the high-res colour screen is very good, but while the addition of the keyboard will be perfect for some it will also be redundant for others. The camera is a little novel, and Memory Stick a little less flexible than SecureDigital or CompactFlash, but it allows the Cliee to double as an MP3 player. The only real drawback of the Cliee is the price. At the business end of $1,400, it is within a stones throw of the Toshiba e740, which also features integrated wireless, Pocket PC 2002 and a comparable colour screen.