Customer Reviews
The best PDA? As close as you can get! 
2005-09-16
The Sony Clie PEG-TH55/U (otherwise known simply as the TH55) is my third PDA. After upgrading to the TH55 after one year with the Clie PEG-SJ22 and six months before that with the Palm Zire, I am not going to switch anytime soon. All of the features I ever wanted in a PDA are crammed into this thin package. The huge screen, tiny profile, and great memory capacity are only the beginning.
With 32 Megabytes available RAM, the TH55 does not skimp on space. The 7 MB ROM is nothing to sneeze at, either. And the processor is fast enough for almost anything - and it slows down automatically for easier tasks to save the battery. I could go on and on, but here are the key points:
* Battery life - I have run experiments, and after a week at my daily use (which averages at least two hours daily, much more than the average user) the battery never falls below 60% if I play no games or music, and it stays above 40% if I play my mp3s or my favorite games. That rivals my Zire, which has no backlight and is greyscale. My Clie PEG-SJ22, in comparison, has a smaller screen (320x320 vs. 320x480) would go down to 75% battery life in a single day.
* Screen - HiRes+. The best available so far for Palm PDAs. Great, great, great. Plus, the backlight is brighter at its lowest setting than the SJ22 at medium brightness.
* Palm OS 5.1 - Frankly, the only bonus I get out of this is the compatibility with newer games and apps, plus more HiRes apps. If the HiRes+ came with OS 4, I would be fine with that.
* Jog Wheel - After having the SJ22 with the side jog wheel, it took a few days to get used to the jog wheel and buttons on the back, but it was time well spent. The ease of use is incredible!
* Wi-Fi, Baby! - As a true geek, I love wireless gadgets. Sure, there's no bluetooth in the U.S. version, but the 802.11b wireless is great for around the house and at the local Starbucks. Sure, full-size pages get a little cramped on the screen, but there are hundreds of palm-sized pages out there for you to choose from.
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Then again there are a couple problems with the TH55, none of which is hard to fix. The two problems (with remedies) I have found are:
* Graffitti 2 - Call me nostalgic, but I got used to the original Grafitti with my other two PDAs. If Graffitti 2 were configurable (I miss the old T), that would solve all my problems. Luckily, Sony included Decuma. You can customize it fully, which makes it a heck of a lot easier to use than Graffitti 2 - which I have gotten used to, by the way.
* Power Button - The placement of the power button is unfortunate. I cannot turn the TH55 on one-handedly. There are some "hacks" to fix that, but I get along fine.
THE BOTTOM LINE: With numerous pluses (only some of which I have mentioned), and only two major problems, both with easy fixes, the Sony Clie PEG-TH55/U is definitely my favorite.
Clie Disappointment 
2005-05-31
I was excited by the features on the PEG-TH55 when I bought it. No other device offered more for the price. But in less than a year, I have had two problems with it. First, the screen failed after three months, Sony said it must have dropped and charged over $100 to fix and return it, even though I'm sure it hadn't. Now the camera software doesn't work and I have to return it to Sony again, incurring more cost. To top it off I cannot setup the return online but must call to arrange it.
Sorry but for me it's not worth the headache. My old Visor ran for years with no problems at all. Needless to say I won't be buying another Clie!
Swansong for sony PDA's 
2005-05-04
The TH55 was/is a great PDA, no doubt about it.
The battery life has to be the best around and that includes the multitude of PDA's that have been launched since it came to market.
Great display, Best implementation of PALM/OS I've seen.
(I've never been a fan of the stunted implementations of Windows on the IPAQ and similar. You may as well use your laptop!)
Slightly quirky buttons and an average camera but so what!
Show me another PDA that can run for 7 days plus ,despite what you throw at it!
It ranks as a classic along with the Palm V and Palm Vx for its compact size and stylish design.
It's a Shame, Really... 2005-02-21
that Sony decided to drop out of the PDA market (at least in the USA), because the PEG-TH55 would be my choice for PDA of year. It does absolutely everything except make phone calls, and does it with great style and ease of use. The display is simply breathtaking, and while the processing speed could be faster given the price tag, it's hard to pitt an additional 5-sec load time (when displaying thumbnails of 150+ graphics) against the clarity of the images. A good set of ear buds will deliver beautiful sound, and the camera is more than adequate for the type of spur-of-the-moment pictures one would take with such a device. I also love the ability to play videos in widescreen mode. I favor the standard Palm OS datebook, address book and memo pad just because I'm used to it, but the Clie Organizer adds a nice touch of wimsy for those who lean in that direction. I'm also a big fan of the Free Notes utility. Nothing beats the ability to write directly on the screen like a tablet when you're in a hurry.
I want to add that the documentation states .wma and .wmv formats are not supported, but there is an updated Image Converter download on Sony's support site that will take care of it, so you can drag and drop files in Windows Media format as well as Mp3 and Quicktime.
I suggest you purchase an aluminum hard case made for this model for extra protection.
perfect for school 2005-01-10
Some things I find it very useful at school for:
Zap notes off whiteboards with the built-in camera.
Record lectures in high-quality digital with built-in recorder.
(I have dedicated recorder for this, but have used my clie as backup once and it worked very well).
I like the built-in wireless especially, so I can hang around outside at the edge of the library hotspot and check email and radar weather without having to go in, dig out my laptop, etc.
The camera is good for copying office hours from professor's doors, and also library hours.
The basic PDA functionality is simply palm OS, so rock solid. I like the IRda hotsync so don't have to mess with messy cables.
The high resolution screen makes reading ebooks very easy, and displays photos and web images with near laptop clarity.
Internal memory is big enough for a major bookshelf of ebooks. I have about a dozen books in mine. Great for while waiting in lines. Memory stick pro capability means 512K and 1gb capacity for MP3 tunes. Easy to switch out MP3 sticks for my lecture sticks. Lately I heard Sony stopped making clies. Thats too bad! They really are nice. I suppose I will get a pocket pc or something similar next. What I really would like is built-in GPS with moving map display...and perhaps walkie talkie or cell phone capability to boot. Aloha!
After 5 years and I STILL love it! 2007-11-04
There's other detailed reviews, so I won't review the capabilities, but I'll just say that I absolutely LOVE my Sony Clie PEG-TH55. I've had it for about 5 years now (bought it brand new as soon as it was released from Sony in Japan) and I still haven't outgrown it. I've done everything with it. Music, movies, photos, freenotes (I wait tables, so instead of paper, i use the freenotes application), memos, address book with photos for my entries, date book, alarm, and added software and games. I love it. I love it. I love it. I will literally use this until it falls apart. I'm just a little disappointed that Sony let go of their line of PDAs and don't service them anymore.
Best PDA I've ever had 2007-04-14
This PDA tops any I've ever had. Extremely long battery life, very attractive, intuitive back keys, etc. Theres also a software .prc file you could add in to turn it into a camcorder. The screen is amazing, its crisp and huge, reminds me of my PSP's screen.
Only con I can think of is it lacks a keyboard. If it had an i-phone like keyboard it would be untouchable.
** for the person whos having the slow wifi problem:
switch the wifi power save switch OFF in the prefs menu for wireless connections. It goes about 5 times as fast but sucks more power.
Still on top 2007-01-12
It's been a while since these machines have been off the market and still there is nothing that can do it all with ease and consume so little battery power. I own a lot of PDA's and have played with a lot of others, but believe me no one tops sony. They are the Porsche of PDA's. Buy this one, the TH55 and you probably would not ever replace it. I can play MP3's and surf the web for hours at the same time and still have loads of battery life for the rest of the week. I've done several test and have gotten (with the screen off) 17 hours of MP3 playback using the sony player. And I get 5.5 hours of video playback with full back light and 7 hours with the screen at half brightness. A quick note to mention is that if anyone ever needs a new battery you can contact Sony and order a new battery. I have tried new batteries from other supplyers and they just do not last the same. So I always replace with sony parts and for this PDA sony hase supplied me with everything I have asked for so far and have offered great tech support. Hopefully I will have this machine to the end and look forward to new technology from Sony in the future
Great PDA!! 2006-06-02
This is the best PDA i have ever owned! It is versatile, with its unique jog dial, I can select and scroll thru documents with ease, it has a long battery life - between 7 to 12 days for me, if I do not surf the net. The screen is good sized with great colors and resolution.
I am sorry that Sony does not make any more PDAS..
Good product, problems over time 
2005-11-08
I have had the PEG-TH55 for almost two years now. I have to say that it is a great product, but over time I have had some very frustrating problems.
First of all, the PROS:
- Clie Date Book is far superior to the Palms that I have owned in the past. I don't know if the latest versions compare or not.
- The organizer menu is great. I love the tabs instead of the icon driven menu. The address book allows you to add pictures of the person with the information. To Do list is also very functional, but does not integrate well with MS Outlook (I lose data).
- The Free notes are the best feature. You can freehand notes in any color. My wife uses it to draw pictures.
- Lots of extras, like the voice recorder, headphone slot, memory stick, and wireless LAN feature. It comes with an MP3 player, but you cannot use VBR files, causing the file size to be very large. The camera is a nice feature, but takes OK photos. Not very useful for preserving great memories. But that leads me into the...
CONS:
- Camera is broken and it will cost at least $140 to fix.
- The Clie Organizer for PC crashes before even starting up on any of my computers. When I tried to get help on line, I was told to reinstall the software, even though I told them I already tried to do that. They told me to try again and let them know if it worked. (It didn't.) Support is not very useful and there are no updates for any of the software.
- Wireless LAN is s - l - o - w, but functional.
BOTTOM LINE: Great features, frustrating problems in the long term, no support. I have not done much shopping for a new one, but for the price, I would look for one of the newer PDAs, such as the Palm TX. I will keep my Sony for a while, but I would not buy another one.
