Dealing with a Japanese Clie

Why get a Japanese PDA anyway?

I purchased a Japanese Sony Clie N600C because I wanted a Clie that could handle Japanese fonts. The Japanese units handle English and Japanese both without much trouble at all. The Japanese version also runs the many free native English applications that are available on the Internet as well.

The only problem that Japanese units have with Roman characters is that they do not handle accent marks correctly, causing a little 'mojibake' (text displayed incorrectly). So far I have only seen this in some Avantgo documents, and some .pdf files I read with Acrobat Reader for Mobile Devices. This is not so bad as to make the unit unreadable however.

In the past I had used a Palm IIIx, and used J-OS, a module for the popular hackmaster, or X-master, to make it capable of handing Japanese fonts without trouble. I contacted the creator of J-OS, and it turns out that he isn't going to develop a version of J-OS for the Clie's high-resolution screen. The lack of a work-around warranted the purchase of a Japanese model. Anyway, I was planning to go to Japan, so it made sense.

Desktop Software Issues

There are some issues that must be dealt with concerning the usage of a Japanese PalmOS device with an English operating system. Aside from the obvious; your manual will be in Japanese, and the menus on the device will all be in Japanese, there is the issue of the desktop software that comes with the Clie.

If you attempt to install the desktop software that comes with the Japanese Sony Clie on a native English Windows OS, you will encounter mojibake. You can attempt to proceed with the install, but even if you attempt to force the install you can run into trouble because Windows will be unable to read the directory names on the CD.

Installing the software on Windows 2000 or Windows XP however will allow you to install without trouble, if you set the default language in the operating system to Japanese. You can do this in the Control Panel, and Regional Settings tool. Japanese fonts will then be able to be displayed without trouble.

If you don't have access to one of the newer operating systems, there is one way I found to be able to sync your Japanese PDA with an English based OS. If you can acquire a copy of the English software CD for a similar device (in my case I tried the Sony Clie n610) you can install that software, and sync without trouble.

Side Effects of syncing J-PDA with English Software

There are a few side effects however. Once I synced with the English software package, I could no longer input Japanese directly on my Clie using Graffiti. It is as if the Japanese buttons have been complete disabled in the Graffiti area. I can still input Japanese via the software keyboard by bringing it up and clicking 'kana'.

Salvage the Dictionary Software!

There is a great Japanese-English, and English-Japanese dictionary available on the Japanese software CD that is worth salvaging. The dictionary is searchable, and has a healthy collection of words. The pdb files are tricky to get a hold of, because the file name is in Japanese, and Windows will not let you even mess with it at all.

I managed to get the file off the CD and rename it, by popping the CD into a Linux machine, which also complained about the file name, but at least let me copy, and modify the filename into something usable. You can try that method for yourself, or go here to grab those dictionary program files for yourself.

Japanese-English Dictionary files for Japanese Sony Clie

These are three different dictionaries, Eiwa.pdb is a English Japanese dictionary, Waei.pdb is Japanese English, and Mix.pdb has both of them included in full.

Easy on the Battery

Be careful plugging in your device. Rechargeable batteries are sensitive, and voltage norms vary between Japan and other countries. If you plug your Japanese Clie into a foreign wall adapter you risk the possibility of harming the battery. It would be suggested to always use a voltage adapter when charging your device.

Memory Sticks

The Japanese Clie is compatible with memory sticks from either country.

More Tips

Also see this document for more tips on how to deal with your Japanese Clie. http://euroclie.free.fr/Uk/multi.html

Dealing with a Japanese Clie: XP/2000 Japanese Input: Wireless in Japan