The first is using WiFi or BlueTooth was horrible battery life without the clip-on battery, about as thick as the Clie itself. The second is – as someone noted – complete loss of data if battery went too low. There was also the confusing memory specs, it had different internal memory partitions; 7 MB ‘handheld’ RAM and 30.2 MB “internal’ storage memory. The internal stylusette was so small as to be unusable, but Sony sold a CLie pen like the Rotring model.

And it was buggy, suppose you backed up to internal RAM, then the unit went dead. After charging, you attempt to restore from backup – guess what – she no work! Also it wasn’t really a mini-tablet, as that implies vertical screen orientation; without (those glorious) 3rd party hacks the screen didn’t change landscape to portrait.

A beautiful gem like device that listed for $750 when it came out; bought my first one for $300 Sony refurb, 2nd (after camera cable died) for $75 brand new of eBay.

You also missed the fact that the camera shot video as well! Supported up to 2 GB memory stick, Can’t find the link, but Sony showed a thicker demo model with a phone integrated.

Had a lot of fun back in the day, I used to use a Mac OS ‘skin’ and had an Apple logo sticker on the Clie lid. A lot of people saw me using it in airports etc., I think I single-handedly started the ‘mini Apple tablet with keyboard’ rumor of about 5 years ago…

I’ve owned many handhelds prior to the smartphone, so I was familiar with their operations. First I eliminated any Windows device. I need a serious device that didn’t sacrifice organizing for the sake of entertaining. That really only left me with Palm OS. And in my experience, Sony did Palm better than Palm did Palm.

I always wanted the UX-50 but in my opinion the TG-50 was more solid in design and just seemed to be a better choice for my need, besides, I already owned one but my wife (then my girlfriend) lost it.

So I searched eBay and found a new TG-50 for $150.00. I think I paid nearly $400.00 for that first one back in ’03.

In any case, it’s been about 7 years since it came out, however, I didn’t have a bluetooth anything to pair it with then, I do now. Memory is cheaper now. I found a very large capacity battery for something like $7.00, not to mention the fact that I didn’t even own a computer back then (I surfed the web with wifi pocket pc’s back then).

So grabbing one of those old devices in good condition at a great price isn’t a bad idea.

Funny thing is that a lot of these Blackberry users who think they are ahead of the curve ask me “what’s that’s?”. not recognizing the old Sony Clie that seemed to be in everyone’s hands just a short time ago.

I had a TG-50 and I was always so jealous of the UX50. The Clie line was awesome. By the end I had a wifi memorystick and was using it to watch converted tv shows on my train ride. I miss that form factor!

The biggest problem, however, was with software. Sony tweaked the Palm OS software to get something decent but as it weren’t “official solutions” (that is, from Palm) it didn’t work very well with third-party applications.

It was especially true with the UX-50: at that time, Palm OS devices weren’t usable in “landscape” mode at all. Thus Sony hacked something so it would work with the UX-50 but, well, as mentionned before, it was more problems with third-party softwares.

In short, Sony Clié PDAs were truly great PDA at “out of the box” state, using included software. But on the long run they were a pain in the ass because they didn’t include very well in the whole Palm OS ecosystem.

A shame that there is no Linux to be ran on these devices as it would have been a perfect modern replacement of Palm OS, if you ask me…

The only one that Sony finally brings back is the C1 picturebook form factor -> today is the P series.

beyond that i think the closest one can get right now is openpandora or the ben nanonote from qi hardware.

As a G1 and Milestone owner, I agree with you. If there was an Android smartbook equivalent of the ux50 or u810/u820 I would buy two. One for me and one for the lady.

It’s a great reminder that the current wave of gadgets isn’t bringing the futuristic into our grasp so much as implementing, usually not very thoroughly, great ideas from quite some time ago now that the hardware is powerful and cheap enough off the shelf that even the unimaginative, inertia-crippled major manufacturers are willing to take the risk.

It’s also a good example of something I’m always trying to explain to people: my fear isn’t that no one will think up genius ways to use technology but that someone will popularize something potentially truly groundbreaking but in a half-finished form and turn a generation off and relegate it to niche platforms that don’t benefit from the price-lowering effect of mass production like the iPhone and Rock Band peripherals has (wireless digital instruments? kids toys in consumer shops long before it’ll ever end up in pro gear catalogs!).

Multi-touch interfaces and gestural commands are what always gets me irked. Two-finger navigation and pinch-to-zoom? That’s all that a half-dozen monolithic corporations could manage to push out the door? Please…

What chip does the UX50 have? Judging from the graphics resolution it must have been a calculator by today’s standards, yet if it works better than that released in the interim that’s a great compliment to it’s designers.

I myself am working away here on UIs for a handheld with an 720p camera, WiFi and Bluetooth with .3ds and Cairo support so I appreciate the reality check.