Customer Reviews
Great item does everything perfect 
2004-02-26
I have had this Clie for 3 months and love it! I wish it would do email but that is the only thing bad about it. Great product!
Wonderful and Innovative product by Sony! 
2004-02-15
I recently upgraded from an SJ33 to the TJ25, and there are many improvements, and a few drawbacks. The first noticable improvement is the slim design. The case is made out of aluminum on the front, and sturdy plastic on the sides and the back. It would have been better if they would have made it all aluminum, or at least the back aluminum as well.
It has a decent amount of memory on it. 16 MB with 11 MB user accessable. Don't even ask me why they don't just make all 16 user accessable. They were able to make it all accessable in the TH55. Hell, the SJ33 had 15 MB user accessable.
The provided Clie Launcher has replaced Z Launcher, which is what I used to use as my launcher. The Clie Launcher is well desigined. If it had a card icon when a memory stick is inserted, that would be nice.
The lack of software is another issue. It doesn't come with any from of Documents To Go or anything else that is really good. It comes with a trial version of Intellisync Lite.
It boasts a nice color screen, that when viewed in sunlight, is terrible, as with all of the screens I have seen. My GBA has a better screen in sunlight than this does.
It DOES have a really fast processor. 200 MHZ. It is FAST. Of course, with a 200 MHZ processor, it also runs Palm OS 5.2.1.
The battery life is good. I haven't tested it without charging it, because I charge it every night. But after a days' use, it is down to about 30%. Keep in mind that I am constantly accessing LARGE applications off of the memory stick. I'd say if I didn't use the memory stick like I do, it would go about 3-4 days on a single charge.
This is a wonderful PDA and I would really suggest it to those who are new in the PDA market or want to have basic functions without all those extra features.
Pros:
1. Full color screen.
2. Slim design, less than half-an-inch thick.
3. Fast processor.
4. Aluminum front.
Cons:
1. Lack of software.
2. Hard plastic everwhere but the front.
3. Terrible screen in sunlight.
Hope I helped you in your decision in the PDA market
-neenach2002
If you can get it at the right price, it's perfect! 2004-01-10
I'll begin by saying that I timed this one right! I got it for 160 before the rebate, so the price (140) was perfect.
I upgraded from an 8mb Visor Deluxe and this is AWESOME! The hi-res color screen is very sharp. My wife has a Zire 71 and we both agree mine is sharper. Palm OS5 is pretty cool too, though you wind up only getting 11 mb useable out of the 16. I fairly quickly bought a memory stick.
This thing is FAST! It's noticeably faster than my wife's Palm and faster than any other PDA I've seen (then again, I don't look if it's over 250). The lack of multimedia capabilities was a bit of a bummer, but I didn't think paying 70-100 was worth it when I have computers just about everywhere I go.
I've read the complaints about the lack of a cradle, but I personally like the little sync adapter. It only needs one of the USB cables with a "digital camera jack" to work. Since I have 5 of them, I took one to work. Now, I just grab my Clie and the 1-inch square adapter and I can sync at work and home. I actually even put the charging cord in the bedroom, so I can keep it on the nightstand charging for those late-night "honey do's" :D
Overall, I'm VERY pleased. Battery life is a bit of an issue, but the LiIon battery has no "memory effect" so I just charge it each night. I can get a solid 5 hours at a lower screen brightness (still easy to see) even using the memoery stick and running CPU-intensive apps.
I'd definitely recommend this if you can find it for less than $170. Totally worth it in my opinion. The cover is a weak spot and the stylus takes some getting used to, but these are the only drawbacks (IMHO) and are quickly eclipsed by speed, "look" (The Clie Launcher is awfully cool) and overall value. Put some pix of your kids, family, vacation, etc on it and show your friends and you'll be hooked! Buy with confidence.
PS Sony extends the warranty to one year for free when you register.
A few follow-ups:
1. Apparently Sony is closing this out to make room for the TJ-27. The Tj-25 can now be found as low as 120 (if you time it right).
2. The cover issue was easily fixed with a dab of superglue on each "hook". Quite solid now (fold cover back to get it out of the way (it's made to do this)).
3. Battery life has been measured more accurately at 4:30 on "medium-low" backlight setting.
4. The sync adapter is still quite handy. A tad bit larger than a postage stamp and quite portable if you already have the aforementioned cable where you're going.
5. I've had it for 30 days now, and aside from wishing I'd caught it at 120, I'm still quite happy.
6. To clarify "lack of multimedia" I mean "even your old Nokia phone had more tones". On the other hand, I always have the sound off anyway (as does my wife who has a multimedia-capable Zire 71) so I didn't need one in the first place.
Good basic PDA 2004-01-06
I bought two of them, one for me and one for my wife. I was looking for great basic functionality - contacts, schedule, and some photos. But I'm not a fan of spending hundreds of dollars on a pocket-sized (losable) item.
The screen is fantastic! Photos look great. The basic functions work well. Everything I was looking for in a PDA is there. But here's where I was disappointed:
- the cover frequently falls off - on both the units I bought. It doesn't latch securely to the unit.
- a cradle would have been very useful - but it's not included and it's expensive.
- car adapter is not included and it's expensive.
I upgraded from a 6 year old Palm, 1/2 meg, so I won't even compare its functionality to that! But those old, monochrome PDA's went 6 months on a set of batteries and gave ample warning when it was time to change. Color PDAs like the TJ25 suck batteries dry in less than a week so you have to charge frequently, otherwise you lose any new data along with use of the PDA.
And that little wimpy collapsible stylus is hard to use.
So will I add car power, cradle, memory stick, and case, upping the price by ~$150?? It's a great entry PDA but not looking so inexpensive any more.
A very good PDA 2003-12-29
I also upgraded from a monochrome Visor Deluxe. I was used to Grafitti, and I prefer it to Grafitti2, although I suppose I will like it better after I get more familiar with it. I also find the stylus a little harder to use due to its thinness and tendency to collapse to its shorter length. My biggest dissappointment is the Datebook program. My Visor Deluxe had Datebook+ which has more views, my preference being the side-by-side two week view. The Clie Datebook was missing this view so I downloaded Pimlico Software's Datebook5, which is far superior to the supplied Datebook. I plan to purchase a cradle in the near future as I find the dongle that came with the Clie a little inconvenient to use on my desk. I find the display to be absolutely stunning for photos and hi-res games. The color is brilliant and the picture is sharp. I have a 128 mb Memory Stick and I have loaded about 20 photos onto it and still have 80% capacity remaining. Overall I am very satisfied with the TJ25.
I added this after reading another review about the cover on this model. My cover also kept coming off. I solved this by simply putting a piece of Scotch double sided cellophane tape on the side of the unit. I trimmed the tape with a sharp blade then I poked holes where the tabs on the cover go in. I put the cover on carefully and slid it up to lock it, then pressed it firmly to the unit. I did this two weeks ago and the cover hasn't come off since.
Great PDA if the backlight doesn't burn out 
2005-01-06
I've had my PDA for about a year and never had a major problem however one month after the extended warantee expired my backlight burned out. The color screen is useless without it. This is a chronic problem with the sony Clie's. They offer very little support for this problem if your expensive pda burns out. A know design flaw that cost as much as the pda to fix. Don't buy a sony Clie if you can't afford to replace the unit after a year.
Unreliable junk 
2004-10-10
This is one of the worst products of any kind that I have ever bought in my entire life. My first one lost power after a month, even though it was charged and never came back on. They tried a new battery, but the gizmo was dead. So, I got the replacement. Heck, there can be a bad apple in every barrel.
The new one had a great deal of difficulty keeping the backlight on. For no apparent reason, it would just not be on when the unit was turned on. Usually holding the power on switch up would start it up. That was until the final day, when it wouldn't come on, dumped all my data and died. This was when it was only three months old. The only thing that restrained me from driving my car over it so that it would be really dead, was the thought that I needed to return it.
In addition, if you should be so foolish as to buy this thing, if it happens inadvertently turn on in your purse or if it rings an alarm for a meeting and you don't hear it, it will stay on until the battery dies.
You've been warned..................
Nasriah 2004-05-29
It is one of the best out of sony products that you can get.
Wonderful addition to my life 2004-04-12
I had to retire a palm zire 21 after 2 months because it would reset itself almost every other day. I sent it to the palm guys and it came back in worse condition that before. After reading the reviews on Amazon...I decided to call it quits while I was ahead and search for another PDA. (I had a palm Vx prior to that for 2 years).
WOW! What a jewel the Sony Clie is! It has much more memory than my other two models and for a work at home mom that's using her PDA to keep track of life, recipes, and wants all names and addresses at her fingertips, IN COLOR, this was a WONDERFUL purchase!
For the price (mine was $139), I cannot complain. It is much faster than my other palm pilots, the battery life is great, I don't really care that much about included applications, although the outlook "handler" does a great job (or seems to), and I think Sony really thought out the organization of the main screen on this PDA. A+
Very Solid PDA 2004-02-27
I picked up my TJ25 a few weeks ago, and I was immediately impressed with the clarity of the screen, the snappiness of the interface, and the connectiblity with Outlook 2k3.
After using it for these few weeks, I have had no problems yet. The battery life is excellent, although i never let it get below half-drained, and it is nice and small, so it can fit in my coat pocket easily.
Very good product from Sony, and, as always, great service from Amazon.
