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Portables Hardware

Sharp Zaurus SL-C750 English Conversion 106

Posted by timothy from the palm-of-your-hand dept.
DavonZ writes "I have just released a small review/information on the Sharp Zaurus SL-C750 and the Dynamism English conversion. This is one sweet unit. You can check it out at nvmax.com."
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Sharp Zaurus SL-C750 English Conversion More

Sharp Zaurus SL-C750 English Conversion

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  • Borken dynamism link (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 04, 2003 @06:29PM (#6119418)
    Try this [dynamism.com] instead.

  • Dynamism link... (Score:4, Informative)

    by AntonyL ( 159816 ) on Wednesday June 04, 2003 @06:30PM (#6119429) Homepage
    Dynamism link should be http://www.dynamism.com/index.shtml

    (hope I got that right)

  • But wait, that's not all... (Score:5, Funny)

    by cyt0plas ( 629631 ) on Wednesday June 04, 2003 @06:32PM (#6119441) Journal
    It has been announced that they have decided to follow in google's footsteps. The Pig Latin, Hacker(h4x04) and Klingon translations are coming soon.
  • ...for letting you override that abysmal colour scheme.

  • The real question is... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by malocchio ( 678917 ) on Wednesday June 04, 2003 @06:35PM (#6119473)
    the real question isn't how much better the 750 is, but how good is the translation?

  • Older Zaurus more innovative ... this 1 promising (Score:5, Interesting)

    by adzoox ( 615327 ) * on Wednesday June 04, 2003 @06:35PM (#6119474) Journal
    I wish they'd have kept the innovative design of the previous Zaurus [adzoox.com] rather than gone BACK to the Mini Laptop. (The previous version just made me feel like I had the Newton of my dreams) Hiding the keyboard quickly was great if you want to "printtype" (handwriting recognition & typing for special characters quickly), plus there's a balance and weight issue in the hand since the back of the new unit will weigh more leverage wise.

    Still, the Zaurus IMHO is now superceded by the Sony Clie NZ90. When the new Clies hit the street this summer (an NZ90 slimmer version with integrated 802.11b and 400Mhz Xscale) I'm a buyer.

    About the only thing I think exciting about this model is its ability to possibly run a scaled down version of Mac On Linux or the Mac System 6 emulator that already exists. Using Photoshop and REAL Word on a PDA is pretty neat!

  • Bunny? (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    What's with the... uh... bunny on the left of the page [dynamism.com]?

    What kind of company is this?

  • more info (Score:5, Informative)

    by loomis ( 141922 ) on Wednesday June 04, 2003 @06:41PM (#6119514)
    Here's another minor review and pictures via brighthand [brighthand.com].

    Also, a user at externe [externe.net] has posted about his first impressions in the Zaurus forums.

    Good info in case the importer's/converter's website gets slashdotted.

    Loomis

  • The Zaurus line (Score:5, Informative)

    by Daimaou ( 97573 ) on Wednesday June 04, 2003 @06:44PM (#6119538)
    I have owned several Zaurus machines (both the English SL-5500 as well as several Japanese versions). I have also owned an iPaq and several Palm devices from both Palm and Handspring.

    The Zaurus line is by far my favorite. I have really enjoyed the functionality of the SL-5500 and the flexibility of the Japanese versions I owned. I especially like the expansion modules available for my DBII machine.

    The Zaurus machines seem a lot more sturdy to me as well. I was a bit concerned regarding the SL-5500's sliding keyboard cover before I purchased it, but it has proven to be sturdy and well made.

    I really like the looks of this new offering from Sharp and look forward to using one.

    • Re:The Zaurus line (Score:2, Informative)

      by antiMStroll ( 664213 )
      For those interested, Tiger Direct is selling 'recertified' 5500s with a three month warranty for just under $300 CDN. I had mine long enough to just fully charge the battery before upgrading to the latest Sharp ROM (5600 equiv)from the My Zaurus site. Very sweet, and a ridiculous steal at a quarter the C750's price.

  • official site (in Japanese) (Score:4, Informative)

    by mblase ( 200735 ) on Wednesday June 04, 2003 @06:58PM (#6119620)
    While they obviously lack the English conversion, you can also see the SL-C750 and SL-C760 at the Japenese eZaurus.com [ezaurus.com] site.

  • Is it just me.... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by technoviper ( 595945 )
    ... or is $800 too expensive for a handheld ? For that price you can get a halfway decent notebook (in English no less!)

    • Re:Is it just me.... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by SomeOtherGuy ( 179082 ) on Wednesday June 04, 2003 @07:50PM (#6119894) Journal
      $800 ? They must be smokin crack. Is this what we have come to in order to use PDA's that run Linux? I can get a Dell Axim (That has to pay the Msoft tax for PPC 2002) and the same specs hardware wise (CPU, Memory, Expansion Slots, etc.) sans the keyboard for about $500 dollars cheaper. I could buy a nice thumboard for $500!! And as the message I am replying to already stated -- I could get in on a good laptop for about $900. I bet I could get a lot more out of a 40 Gig HD, Full Screen, 256 Meg $800 laptop than I could a 64 meg "pocket" device that costs the same.

      • Re:Is it just me.... (Score:4, Insightful)

        by terzyva ( 154478 ) on Wednesday June 04, 2003 @09:50PM (#6120429)
        You can get the original japanese version for $629 at conics.net [conics.net], and convert it to English yourself. Or buy it in Japan directly at a discount shop, and pay less than $500. Still not cheap, but it's rather obvious that you'll pay a hefty premium for a direct import of a product that isn't available locally.

        It's silly to compare it to the Dell Axim, since the C750 has four times the screen resolution (640x480), twice the RAM (64MB), and twice the flash ROM (64 MB, half available for user storage). An external keyboard isn't the same thing, since that would make the Axim much larger than the C750 which already has a good keyboard built in.

        If you want a laptop instead, by all means get one, but don't complain if it won't fit in your shirt pocket...

        -Klaus

        • Also, there is quite a bit of an issue with the core OS of the dell Axiam (windows CE). As i remember, all current versions of the windowsCE family are optimized for the last generation of ARM processor cores (ie the cores that topped out at 206mhz rather than the faster x-scale cores). On the otherhand, since the Zaurus is based upon linux, a recompile of the core operating system to optimize for the x-scale core would be much simpler and doable without microsofts permission. Combined with the parent po
          • To be fair, a simple recompile won't help much. The reason why the xscale is running far below its theoretical speed for most applications is that it spends most of its time waiting for RAM access. This was especially bad on the older PXA250 xscale, since it only has a 100 MHz memory clock, and the 206 MHz StrongArm with its 103 MHz memory clock was even a bit faster for some applications.

            So the only way to make good use of the 400 MHz clock is to rewrite your application to ensure that the 32kB cache is u
            • A correction - after some disappointing benchmarks and some digging on the web, it turns out that only the CPU-internal system bus runs at 200 MHz, and the SDRAM is still limited to 100 MHz for the PXA255. So you'll still need the same cache-efficient tuning as for the older PXA250.

              -Klaus
      • No, this is just the 'latest and greatest'.

        You can get a Zaurus 5500 at amazon.com for US $341.99, or the 5600 for US $454.99. I'm sure other places will be able to do it cheaper.

        The 5600, with 400MHz processor and 64MB flash is still a perfectly respectable machine.

      • It's an English *conversion*, so of course there's going to be a lot of markup. If you're so worried about price you could always buy the Zaurus 5600 [amazon.com] for significantly less, or you could wait until Sharp releases an English version in the United States.

  • Looking Sharp (Score:5, Funny)

    by jabbadabbadoo ( 599681 ) on Wednesday June 04, 2003 @07:13PM (#6119708)
    TrollTech has done a fantastic job with the Qt embedded GUI lib. It's superfast.

    That said, I don't like these small widgets. Try typing

    c.t[j] <<= (m % 2 && i>1) ? sft[i-1] : sft[i]
    on it.

    It hurts.

    • I've had a C700 for about three months now. (has it really been three months?)

      On a normal desktop keyboard, it took me 16 seconds to type the code you pasted. On the C700 keyboard (which is exactly the same form factor as the C750/C760, just different colors) it took me 41 seconds to type that with the unit held in my hands, and 38 seconds to type with it sitting on the desk.

      So yeah, you ain't kidding . . . it hurts. :)

      If it's all you have, though, it's better than nothing. (I'm pretty sure the o

  • I'm just curious (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Chris_Stankowitz ( 612232 ) on Wednesday June 04, 2003 @07:15PM (#6119720)
    Is there is some large untapped handheld market or do people own 2,3 and 4 handhelds? I bought one a few years ago and its not the kinda item that I think needs to be "upgraded" yet. All these gadets look really cool, but I can't justify buying a new one every year, or even every 2 years ( I can jsutify 2 years with a PC). I just always feel left in the dust and like by the time I can get a new one, I'll have missed out one something good. Or maybe just get in on something better.
    • Is there is some large untapped handheld market or do people own 2,3 and 4 handhelds?

      This is the place for Geeks

      I just always feel left in the dust and like by the time I can get a new one, I'll have missed out one something good. Or maybe just get in on something better.

      Most all of us have been playing this same game for years with CPU's, Graphics Cards, Sound Boards, Mice etc., etc.

    • Do what I do, sell your older one on ebay, handhelds don't depreciate as much as full blown computers.
  • I've seen an English market Zaurus 7500. Funnily enough it was at a meeting promoting the Z 5600, and one of the reps was on the sidelines using the 7500...no, he wasn't a marketing-type -- a marketing-type would never have made that mistake :) So, after the presentation of the (nice) 5600 I approached the rep and made him show me the 7500.

    My advice: restrain your impulsive nature and wait a few months (at most?) for the English market version. It will be a very different -- and lower cost -- beast. Well worth the wait, if you are interested in this flipin' mini unit.

    It is cool, that's for sure.

  • Wot No Babelfish (Score:1, Redundant)

    by fastdecade ( 179638 )
    Damnit! When I read the Zaurus had "English conversion", I thought we had entered the era of the babelfish.

  • More information (Score:2, Interesting)

    by terzyva ( 154478 )
    While the information in DavonZ's report is accurate, keep in mind that he was paid by Dynamism to do the English conversion, so this isn't an entirely unbiased review.

    If you don't need a full English conversion, you can buy the units a lot cheaper at conics.net [conics.net]. Then, you can change one line in a config file to set the default locale to English (which changes most of the text, but isn't nearly as complete as the dynamism conversion), or install Debian on it (see my web page at www.w-m-p.com/pocketworksta [w-m-p.com]

  • Pocket PC 2002 (Score:4, Interesting)

    by pXgray ( 464284 ) on Wednesday June 04, 2003 @09:07PM (#6120256) Homepage
    Not to be sarcastic, and at the risk of being nailed to a cross, I wonder if anyone has tried to flash one of these guys with a Pocket PC 2002 ROM. I have used many devices with Pocket PC, and the software, as well as visuals are incredible. It's very responsive with the Xscale processor, as well as on the older ARM 206 mHz processors. I am likely to get one of these Zaurus devices, and probably will enjoy the Linux operating system on it, but still I think that maybe it would be interesting to screw around with Pocket PC on it.

    pxgray
  • What I want to know is this:

    My criteria for a PDA is that it must be expandable, and not bulky.

    Does this come with any kind of wireless built in, or a non-bulky wireless addon?
    • I believe you can buy wifi cf cards.
    • All recent-model Zaures are either bulky or non-expandable. Mostly bulky.

      Sliding an 802.11b card into the CF slot of a Zaurus only adds a little to the overall size (if you choose the right card), but the Zaurus itself is already large. And if you want a longer range connection [sharpmobile.com], you either need a different card with a bigger antenna, or you'll have to plug it into a cellphone.

      For sale in the US are the 5500 and 5600, approximately the same size. Each has is as wide as a regular PocketPC device (like th
  • is if these things support either Citrix's or Tarantella's Java clients. Using that VGA screen with a CDPD card installed would be great for my remote service techs.
  • I've had my 5500 for a couple of months. I've upgraded to ROM 3.10.

    I love the bash shell, the free and easy downloads, the easy ROM upgrades.

    That said, it is:

    - hard to read the screen
    - hard to enter text

    I think what I'm getting from this experience is that the clamshell design is what you need for the usable ultra-portable device.

    Oh, and built-in wifi.
  • I recently have been looking at these units and am pretty positive I am going to buy one. That being said, I would much rather prefer to order from Dynamism rather than conics.net, because of their technical support and English OS. However, you can't argue with the conics price ($629, vs. $699 at Dynamism), so I emailed them and asked them to match. Here's the offers they gave:

    Package (1)
    Zaurus C750 (in Japanese) $629
    Shipping from our Tokyo office (3-5 days) $19
    (you will also have to pay import duti
  • I've been lusting over these things for a long time, and what keeps me interested is the 640x480 screen. I've read some reviews on the older models, and just about everyone said the screen was the best selling point
  • In terms of hardware, I'd much rather see the "B" series coming to the US: they are actually PDA-sized machines.

    In terms of software, I think these machines have their own set of problems. As a PDA, I think the Zaurus lags behind Palm and even PPC. And the lack of X11 support by the default window system means that most Linux GUI applications require a complete rewrite of their UI, rather than just a simple port.

    I have a Zaurus 5500, but I'm probably going to be replacing it with a Yopy.
    • It is possible to install X11 on all current Zauruses (including your SL-5500).
      The killer feature for me is the integral keyboard, which was not available on competitors kit until recently.
      Anyway, what X11 app do you want on the Zaurus?
      • Anyway, what X11 app do you want on the Zaurus?

        A bunch of in-house X11 apps is the most important use.

        Also, Tcl/Tk/expectk, xscribble, Gtk#, lablgtk, Squeak, xloadimage, and others. You know, all the stuff that runs on my desktop and for which a 200MHz 64M machine is plenty fast.

        It is possible to install X11 on all current Zauruses (including your SL-5500).

        Yes, but it doesn't integrate with the existing desktop. The X11-based version of OpenZaurus may help, but that involves a ROM upgrade and you l
  • I've made ipkg's for X on the c700 ( they'll probably work on the c75xx too ). Grab em here;

    http://handhelds.org/~mallum/xpkgs

    There a packaged in OZ's buildroot. Touchscreen and keyboard works fine.

    Some crappy screenshots here ( about half way down the page );

    http://handhelds.org/~mallum/matchbox/screenshot s. html

  • I'm in Japan. Just bought one for 60000 yen (about 300 quid, probably about 450 dollars).

    If you edit /home/zaurus/Settings/locale.conf so that it says "en" instead of "jp", the whole thing, apart from HancomWord and HancomSheet, switches over to English. Dynamism are putting a serious premium on it. I'd avoid them and order direct from Japan.

    By the way, the thing as absolutely fantastic. The screen is unbelievable!

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