Sharp Zaurus SL-C3000 4GB Linux PDA
By Dan Wu 
posted Dec 1st 2004 2:10PM
posted Dec 1st 2004 2:10PM
I4U has plenty of pictures and a short commentary on the Sharp's new
Zaurus SL-C3000, the first PDA with a 4GB hard drive (and which also happens to runs on Linux and come with a QWERTY
keyboard). There's plenty to like about this Zaurus, which can be used in tablet mode or like a mini-laptop, but the
downers are it doesn't include onboard Bluetooth or WiFi options (these can be remedied with an add-on SD or CF
wireless card, but still).
A very neat idea, but the lack of any wireless is a bit of a bummer.
I think I'll wait for the next revision and see what comes.
Need the wireless .... will wait also to see what comes next.....
My biggest complaint with this is the processor. The 637mhz xscale has been around for awhile now. Why hasn't sharp started using this for the zaurii? I would love to have one of these with that proc. It would be fantastic for any kind of travel. Plus, with the usb hub now, I could plug in well ... anything. I'm almost sold. Make sure that I can play full screen divx at 29.97fps, and I'm sold. Except for the fact that I can get a x50v, slap on debian, and do the same thing, effectively. And for a third of the price of the 860.
No wireless in a portable device is just missing the point. Don't these people do any market research?!
Please remember that this unit is ONLY designed for JAPAN, where demands and expectation are different from US or EUR.
Here in Japan we don't use bluetooth, and for the Wifi, we don't care to have a CF for that.
In Japan we use different way of communication rather than you, what we care the most is to be able to plug our AirH in any PDA or PC, AirH is a CF card working on the mobile phone network in flat fee at 128kbps. I am daily using it and swapping it on either my laptop or my PDA. Since we need a mobile phone line for that it is trouble some to implement it on each devices (PC or PDA) so the Zaurus is perfect for a Japanese user.
Also including Wifi/Bt and a MD of 4G... your battery will last only few hours
if you want wifi built in you can get an sl6000 on amazon for about $380. its got more built in than the slc-3000, but the keyboard isnt as nice, and it is bulky (barely fit in my front jeans pocket) it also doesnt have the 4gb drive, but thats probably a good thing for battery life. you can use cf and sd for storage.
Every time Sharp releases a new Zaurus it is behind the tech curve in one area.
The previous models didn't support SDIO, for instance. Don't know if this one does. They were really slow to get onto the XScale processors, and now they are not offering a 624mhz option.
They were the first with VGA, though. The clamshell formfactor is great, and the built-in HD must be really nice. But they just can't manage to offer it all.
What I'd like to see is a wallet-like thing for the current VGA PDA crop that lets you have a Zaurus-like keyboard (NOT a foldout) and the screen oriented in landscape. Is anything like that available??
Can the sl c3000 easily replace a psion 5mx and import all the files from it? Thanks Barry
The posting about the usage of the zaurus in Japan is mostly correct. However, the usage he describes is that of a salary man. For a salary man his humble usage is fine. No intelligence required for operation.
We techies here in Japan want to see real value in an item and since I purchased the c3000 I have mixed feelings. The biggest drawback of the c3000 is that there is no "innovation" at all in it. As for why Sharp didn't add the bluetooth, wireless, etc. It is simple, why improve on something you don't want to support in the near future?
This is why;
Over the past several years Sharp Japan as rolled back the department responsible for the Zaurus. The fact is, when Sharp left the US it also changed the management here in Japan - again and downsized the department as well.
Sharp Japan does not see the PDA as a viable market any longer. It see's it's demise. So, intead of wasting resources on the PDA market, Sharp Japan has been quietly moving its resourse s into the "mini-computer" markets. Sharp Japan and many other Japanese companies now believe that the small (or mini) computer is the last baston of the PC industry. So in Japan we have for the last 3 years seen a mushroom of the mini-PC market.
So for those of you that think Sharp is comming back, "Don't Hold your breath". Japan is retreating from the PDA market. That is why the current Zaurus is not innovative.
In terms of technology - it is junk. All the engineers that built it should be fired.
Sorry, but do you really think the Zaurus has not innovate at all?
The Zaurus series was the first PDA (yes it's a pretty mix of PDA and mini-laptop, but still function correctly as PDA) with HDD included, the first with mini-VGA (yes, before iPaq and Axim include it), and again the first with usb-host controller.
Just got it from Japan, and loving it. The wireless card also works in the US, by the way... at least the one I got. - I created a non-commercial user groop for the SL-C3000, check out http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sharp_zaurus/