What’s the ultimate PDA? Who cares? We’re too busy coveting Sony’s CLIÉ PEG-UX50, which has more in common with an ultraportable laptop than the rest of today’s souped-up organizers. This Palm OS 5 handheld has everything: a Web-friendly landscape display, a wide-pitch keyboard, built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, plus a digital camera that captures stills and video.

At first glance the 6.2-ounce UX50 looks a lot like a pocket-sized Tablet PC, especially with its sleek flip-and-rotate design. Like a Tablet, you have your choice of either stylus- or keyboard-based input. Sony throws in its patented jog dial navigator, which comes in handy when navigating the sometimes-dizzying main menu. When you highlight an icon, a swirl of dots dances around it.

We connected via Wi-Fi with ease, thanks to Sony’s smart Sniffer application, which automatically detects and connects you to the nearest hot spot. The CLIÉ worked seamlessly with our 802.11g router. The only downer is that the Wi-Fi connection conks out if you exit the browser, say, to check your next appointment.

Not only does the UX50 load Web pages quickly (we never waited more than 10 seconds), we were blown away by how long it kept going on a single charge. The device lasted 4 hours with its Wi-Fi radio turned on. If all you’re doing is music playback and looking up the occasional to-do, you can expect up to 16 hours of longevity.

The key to the UX50’s Zen-like balance of power and efficiency is Sony’s new Handheld Engine Processor. It’s fully optimized for such bundled multimedia goodies as the MP3 Audio Player, CLIÉ Camera application, and Flash 5 player. You can even play back recorded TV and movies on the go, if you’re lucky enough to own a Sony VAIO PC with a Giga Pocket TV tuner and personal video recorder.

The Handheld Engine’s sheer frugality is what will make you want to always have it in your pocket. The processor features a Sony-developed technology called Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Management, which maximizes battery life by monitoring and adjusting the CPU’s clock speed based on the task at hand.

As for the camera, don’t expect greatness: the CCD sports 310K-pixel resolution. What you can expect are pics and mini MPEG movies good enough to share via e-mail or over the Web. Sharing via Bluetooth proved a challenge, however, as our Windows desktop recognized the handheld but wouldn’t accept our images. We had better luck with a Sony Ericsson T616 phone, which received our photos and sent them over the air.

We can’t figure out why Sony decided not to include a Memory Stick. Sure, there’s 29MB of memory for storing your media files (in addition to 16MB of "nonvolatile memory" for emergency backups) but if you want to listen to a decent number of tunes or tap into the UX50’s myriad other abilities you’ll have to invest in a Stick. For a $699 asking price, that’s a pretty glaring omission.

With every feature under the sun and a convertible design that breaks new ground for handhelds, the PEG-UX50 is a lot more than just the most expensive Palm you can buy. It’s the most portable, most versatile, and most affordable laptop you can buy.

-- Mark Spoonauer

Sony CLIÉ PEG-UX50

Price: $699

http://www.sony.com/cle

Pros:

• Built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
• Landscape display for easy surfing
• Long battery life

Cons:

• Pricey

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