The Sony PEG-NV70X Clie marks a welcome shift in the PDA landscape from the Pocket PC, with a few firsts up its sleeves. Initially this looks like just another Clie, but it is the first PDA on the market to combine the new Palm OS 5 with a StrongARM processor. Not only is Palm OS 5 a sexier and more robust operating system, but also the processor ups the power from the PEG-NR70VG's 66MHz Motorola Dragonball Super VZ (September 2002, page 43) to an Intel 200MHz StrongARM.

Palm OS 5 is a long-awaited release, especially for users of 4.1. While there have been application cross-compatibility issues with the older OS (in particular applications designed for the Dragonball chip), the shift to version 5 is a highly welcome one. Palm OS 5 includes support for sound and video recording and 802.11 and Bluetooth wireless connectivity depending on what extras you purchase. While the Sony PEG-NV70X Clie does not have Bluetooth or 802.11 built-in, it does come with MemoryStick and CompactFlash slots for adaptors, plus it has a mic and a 310,000-pixel CMOS camera on a swivel fixture that lets you record video (either in MPEG-4 or Sony's MoviePlayer format of up to 192 variable bit rate) or take still photos up to 640 x 480.

The Clie's design is exemplary: a twistable colour reflective TFT screen converts the PDA from a clamshell-with-keyboard into a standard flat PDA. The keyboard is small, but a pop-up section on the screen can be best used in the PDA form for Graffiti input. Most Palm OS 5 PDAs only support 320 x 320 screen real estate, but the Clie ups this to 320 x 480 with its pop-up Graffiti section, offering more features when this section is hidden. The Clie also comes with a remote and headphones for playing MP3s; has a lovely graphite body; is light; functional; and solidly built.