With all of the PDAs on the market today, there is practically one for every lifestyle. If your lifestyle happens to include music, video, and a need for organization, maybe the CLIE PEG-N710C is the PDA for you.

Sony's second product release in the CLIE PDA family, the N710, is a bit brighter and more colorful than its predecessor. No longer enclosed in a steel grey casing, the new CLIE is shiny silver, leaning a bit more towards the Visor look than the Palm look. Still, it is centered around the Palm OS v.3.5 and all of the applications that go along with it: Date Book, Address Book, Mail, To Do List, Memo Pad, Expense, Calculator, Security, and HotSync software. The N710 also comes with a USB HotSync cradle, so you can be sure to keep everything, well, in sync.

As useful as the organizer applications are, they aren't really enough to make anyone's heart race. That's where the multimedia applications jump in. The N710 comes with headphones, which can be taken as an indication that music or sound effects can be played on this device, and they can. Pre-loaded with CLIE Audio Player, developed by Sony, the N710 can record and house up to 8 MB of ATRAC3 and MP3 music on the Memory Stick removable media card. Also loaded on the N710 are PictureGear Pocket and PictureGear Lite for viewing images. Software for gMovie for viewing videos is also included, though not pre-loaded. As for the viewing conditions, you can look forward to a bit higher resolution screen at 320 x 320 pixels with support for 8 bit 256 colors. The screen is a reflective TFT color display.

With these multimedia and power-sucking capabilities, battery life is probably a big concern. Well, since the N710 doesn't run on AA batteries, you won't have to worry about stocking up on those anytime soon. N710 power is generated by a lithium-polymer rechargeable battery, which should yield about 15 days of power with normal use. That means as long as you don't listen to MP3's every day during your commute.

The CLIE PEG-N710C includes 8 MB DRAM, 4 MB Flash, and 8 MB removable Memory Stick memory, and, true to form, the 71 x 118.5 x 16.8 mm device will only add about 160 g to your palm.

Pricing and Availability

The CLIE N710C is currently available starting at $499.99.

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