Sharp's PC-Z1 NetWalker takes the inevitable unboxing journey

Sharp's PC-Z1 NetWalker conjured up all sorts of love and hate-filled emotions when we toyed with it earlier this month, but for fans of unorthodox handhelds, minor details like a wonky optical pad and frail keys aren't apt to put a damper on the excitement found in this moment. The cool kids over at Pocketables were able to procure a unit over the weekend from Japan (right on cue, might we add), and predictably, they've broken out the camera in order to let you relive the unboxing experience and see it side-by-side with a UMID mbook M1. The read link folks, that's where it's at.

[joihan777 Posted Sep 29th 2009 9:44PM]

Form factor looks alright, EXCEPT for the massive-thick bezel!.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 29th 2009 10:23PM]

and the slutty hooker name..

[Radukk Posted Sep 29th 2009 9:40PM]

UMID's mbook 'M2' OEM.

[Radukk Posted Sep 29th 2009 9:42PM]

Well, I'm sorry not compare two cafefully. It's diffrent one from M2.

[CiZiN Posted Sep 29th 2009 9:52PM]

This thing just looks so cool in my opinion..
Its too bad it has shortcomings like bad keys and too big of a bezel or I would have gotten one.
Keep perfecting it, i'll be interested in future iterations of it.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 29th 2009 10:09PM]

Funny thing is their Zaurus C860 was bulletproof, and that was many years ago. Sharp has been wandering lost in the wilderness since they killed off the Zaurus line, looking for some product to reignite the geek-lust fires. I can't wait around for it anymore--probably going to take an N900 when it comes out to replace my Z.

[MikeMc Posted Sep 29th 2009 10:06PM]

This thing looks 10 years out of date right out of the box. I'm not sure of what Sharp is trying to accomplish here.

[SaintAndrew Posted Sep 29th 2009 10:43PM]

i love it when you guys say wonky.

[Bash23 Posted Sep 30th 2009 12:05AM]

So sexy!

[MNeko Posted Sep 30th 2009 12:16AM]

Remember, these guys were making handheld computers well before Asus or OLPC came into being. Remember the PC-10 from Radio Shack? That was their design.

[djad Posted Sep 30th 2009 1:06AM]

Yeah they need to slim down the screen bezel.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 30th 2009 1:34AM]

Is this really pc? so cute keyboard. but thick screen frame.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 30th 2009 1:34AM]

So cute keyboard. Is this really PC! wow. I hate only thick frame. --;

[DarKlar Posted Sep 30th 2009 6:45AM]

I prefer the look of the M1 to this... and it's smaller with what looks to be almost the same size screen.

[DirkDickbutt Posted Sep 30th 2009 7:14AM]

The M2 seriously dicks this. I like the design of this a lot better though. The mbook feels... Chinese.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 30th 2009 7:29AM]

Sinclair 1000 with attached monitor.

[wceend Posted Sep 30th 2009 7:29AM]

Been playing around with this thing at Yodobashi in Tokyo. Felt clumsy, more like a V-tech than a real computer. Form is just a little too small to be useful. I tried typing some, but stopped because I made more mistakes than intended key punches.