Sharp Zaurus SL-C750 English Conversion

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."

Comments

Dude...

[kotj.mf]

...what were you thinking posting half a meg of screen caps, and then posting to Slashdot?

Good review, though.

Here it is:

NVMAX EXCLUSIVE: C750 Review/Conversion Information

Sharp has recently announced the release of their newest additions to the Sharp Zaurus clamshell line of Zaurii. The SL-C750 and SL-C760 bring a new style and power to the Zaurus line. Using the latest Intel Xscale PXA255, the new units not only feels extremely responsive, but most of the applications are launching in mere seconds. As well, the new units double the amount of RAM eliminating many of the issues with the previous SL-C700. Unfortunately, Sharp also made this unit available in Japan only. Dynamism, again with the help of the Open Source community, has converted the units to English and are now available.

The C750 is a different animal then the C700. First, they changed the color on the units, added the new Xscale processor, doubled the RAM, added a movie player, presentation software, support for the VGA Compact Flash cards (available also from Dynamism), switch the JMV and added VPN support. The downside is the new stylus. I just don't feel as comfortable with it. Since it is lighter, I do feel that I am not pressing as hard against the screen. The biggest plus of the new units it the correction to the screen hinge. It is now very easy to turn to the left and very difficult to move to the right. Many people broke their screens by turning them the wrong way.

The speed difference is amazing. On my C700, I had hacked my kernel to allow for more speed and it doesn't even touch the responsiveness of the C750. They are amazingly fast!

Conversion difference:
In this conversion we have added a multi-language keyboard support and corrected the small font issue. This was a must if Dynamism is going to sell the unit outside of the US. We also took care of the input method switching issues (it now stays in English). As well, we made it easy for users to add back in the Japanese input methods. We also applied some of the same performance fixes that we applied to the C700.

Not converted:
There is still an issue with the tabs in the AddressBook being Japanese phonetics (yet English lettering) and the new MoviePlayer's menu is not converted. The movie player still plays movies quite nicely. That is about it.

Sync:
I was able to sync the C750 using the latest software for the SL-5500. I was able to just unplug my 5500, plug in the C750, install the drivers, change one network setting and sync. This is a great plus for those upgrading their 5500/5600.

The sync software that is on the CD-Rom supplied by Sharp is still in Japanese, but that will also allow you to sync to an English version of Windows.

Java:
Here is the information on the new JVM for the C750.
java version "J2ME Personal Profile for Zaurus 1.0"
J2ME Personal Profile 1.0 (build 1.0_fcs-b25)
J2ME CDC-HI 1.0_v01

Installed Software Size:
Some of the packages that came installed on the C700 are now addons. The JVM (personal-profile) is one of them. It is also rather large. By Sharp placing it in an ipkg allows the user to install it on a CF or SD card.

Note:
Remember that Dynamism is the only company (that I am aware of) that not only fully supports the hardware (they pay all of the shipping costs for fixing or replacing the units), they also fully support the English conversion. There is no need for the user to contact Sharp on these units.

Now for the pictures:

Wot No Babelfish

[fastdecade]

Damnit! When I read the Zaurus had "English conversion", I thought we had entered the era of the babelfish.