It would seem that Sharp's UK marketing is still broken/asleep and they are unlikely to sell it over here in the UK. Such a shame, we'll have to keep importing them at vast expense:-(
Re 640x480 - I have an imported SL-C760 and I don't know how anyone can manage with a lower resolution - PocketPCs look really primitive by comparison, although in fairness I think they are starting to get there now with better screens.
At current charging rates you can probably spend a months wages in about 3 minutes on a 100mbit cellphone data connection.... sigh.
Oh no, I just worked it out, it's actually just over a minute.
I was thinking of toner cartridges retailing in the UK at least for perhaps UKP70+ (maybe $130?). I gave up on inkjets a long time ago as for occasional use they seemed to need on average an entire cartridges worth of cleaning (blocked nozzles and all that) before printing a single sheet. If not for the cost (and inconvenience of having to obtain another cartridge) the waste of time infuriated me. If you've got a colour laser device with 4 toner cartridges, if you can shave ukp10 off the price by part filling then that makes a small but noticeable difference at the bottom end of the market.
Your point is well taken regarding buying more consumables though, it does fit the cynical and devious, low up front pricing model as discussed elsewhere quite well.:-) I was thinking (with your example) if they can save say even $3 (in manufacturing costs over 2 not full $30 cartridges) then that cost reduction can be passed right on in a sub $100 printer.
Perhaps another issue is again back to colour lasers. If you take a bottom end model that retails for ukp 450 and it contained, 4 x ukp70 full toner cartidges for a start, it is probably well worth your while to buy new and strip the printer and sell it for parts and spares and you'd make a profit even at second hand prices, which presumably the manufacturers don't want as they've got another line in "somewhat uncheap" replacement parts!
I believe it is fairly standard practice to provide third to half filled toner cartridges on laser printers nowadays, not sure about inkjets.
Half filling shaves a small amount off their cost and thus selling price that they need to compete. If a printer is slightly more expensive because it has decent supplies of ink/toner then it doesn't have the same "look at this it is really cheap" headline price factor. If all the manufacturers do it then it promotes low printer prices accross the board which means everyone wants to buy more printers because they are so cheap. Slightly sharp practice (no doubt mitigated by some terms and conditions in a microdot somewhere in the documentation) but it is the way of the world so we'd better get used to it.
I'd say it's horses for courses. I'll bet the ux50 makes a far better PDA (I admit I haven't seen one), but the Zaurus (I have a C760) makes a far better linux pc for your pocket.
I find the PDA apps pretty weak and syncing can be a bit random too (that'll be the entertainment of japanese drivers/pc software!). If you start to look at it as a very small notebook running linux then it makes a lot more sense. Some very clever folks have got X windows running on it which opens up a whole different world of applications you can build and run. As more of the community gets behind it and more development is done, it gets better and better.
Things I personally find it useful for are as a GPS (with a CF gps card), watching films (divx) when trapped in waiting rooms/planes, mp3 player, occasional network security tool (nessus client, kismet etc.), surfing the web (not too bad on the 640x480), pop mail client, occasional games and just generally having a very portable terminal which can often save having a laptop with you.
If you want a pda that just works, get the sony, but if you want a very flexible miniature talking point, get a Zaurus.
The keyboard isn't much to look at and is essentially a membrane with lumps to define the keys, doesn't sound great but works better than it sounds. It isn't as good as say the psion 5mx and is more in line with the psion 3 series (although it is a few years since I last saw one) but despite that is actually pretty usable and more practical than the keyboard on the treo 600 (being bigger). I can touch type on mine *just* although prefer either a one handed action if it is on a surface or a 2 thumb technique if you are holding it work reasonably well. I am faster with the keyboard input on the Zaurus than I ever was with grafitti on the palm, if you want to do any serious work though you'd ssh in from something with a real keyboard OR just write your novel on a PC!
Sharp's marketing seems to be broken in that despite the thriving user community and demand for a zaurus model with that form factor in us/europe they seem reluctant to actually release it over here. Companies such as dynamismor shirtpocket import them or better still get someone visiting japan to bring you one back. They can be easily re-flashed to remove the japanese software and instead start speaking english which I for one find a whole lot easier to deal with;-)
There is an iminent (nobody knows quite when due to the brokenness of sharp's marketing dept.) launch of a model in the states called the Sl-6000 which is a similar (well slightly improved) set of innards and screen to the sl-c860 but in a more conventional pda form factor, very like the sl-5600 as released in the US.
Slashdot Mirror
It would seem that Sharp's UK marketing is still broken/asleep and they are unlikely to sell it over here in the UK. Such a shame, we'll have to keep importing them at vast expense :-(
A pertinent thread on the Zaurus User Group
Re 640x480 - I have an imported SL-C760 and I don't know how anyone can manage with a lower resolution - PocketPCs look really primitive by comparison, although in fairness I think they are starting to get there now with better screens.
At current charging rates you can probably spend a months wages in about 3 minutes on a 100mbit cellphone data connection.... sigh. Oh no, I just worked it out, it's actually just over a minute.
I was thinking of toner cartridges retailing in the UK at least for perhaps UKP70+ (maybe $130?). I gave up on inkjets a long time ago as for occasional use they seemed to need on average an entire cartridges worth of cleaning (blocked nozzles and all that) before printing a single sheet. If not for the cost (and inconvenience of having to obtain another cartridge) the waste of time infuriated me.
:-) I was thinking (with your example) if they can save say even $3 (in manufacturing costs over 2 not full $30 cartridges) then that cost reduction can be passed right on in a sub $100 printer.
If you've got a colour laser device with 4 toner cartridges, if you can shave ukp10 off the price by part filling then that makes a small but noticeable difference at the bottom end of the market.
Your point is well taken regarding buying more consumables though, it does fit the cynical and devious, low up front pricing model as discussed elsewhere quite well.
Perhaps another issue is again back to colour lasers. If you take a bottom end model that retails for ukp 450 and it contained, 4 x ukp70 full toner cartidges for a start, it is probably well worth your while to buy new and strip the printer and sell it for parts and spares and you'd make a profit even at second hand prices, which presumably the manufacturers don't want as they've got another line in "somewhat uncheap" replacement parts!
I believe it is fairly standard practice to provide third to half filled toner cartridges on laser printers nowadays, not sure about inkjets.
Half filling shaves a small amount off their cost and thus selling price that they need to compete. If a printer is slightly more expensive because it has decent supplies of ink/toner then it doesn't have the same "look at this it is really cheap" headline price factor. If all the manufacturers do it then it promotes low printer prices accross the board which means everyone wants to buy more printers because they are so cheap. Slightly sharp practice (no doubt mitigated by some terms and conditions in a microdot somewhere in the documentation) but it is the way of the world so we'd better get used to it.
I'd say it's horses for courses. I'll bet the ux50 makes a far better PDA (I admit I haven't seen one), but the Zaurus (I have a C760) makes a far better linux pc for your pocket.
I find the PDA apps pretty weak and syncing can be a bit random too (that'll be the entertainment of japanese drivers/pc software!). If you start to look at it as a very small notebook running linux then it makes a lot more sense. Some very clever folks have got X windows running on it which opens up a whole different world of applications you can build and run. As more of the community gets behind it and more development is done, it gets better and better. Things I personally find it useful for are as a GPS (with a CF gps card), watching films (divx) when trapped in waiting rooms/planes, mp3 player, occasional network security tool (nessus client, kismet etc.), surfing the web (not too bad on the 640x480), pop mail client, occasional games and just generally having a very portable terminal which can often save having a laptop with you. If you want a pda that just works, get the sony, but if you want a very flexible miniature talking point, get a Zaurus.
The keyboard isn't much to look at and is essentially a membrane with lumps to define the keys, doesn't sound great but works better than it sounds. It isn't as good as say the psion 5mx and is more in line with the psion 3 series (although it is a few years since I last saw one) but despite that is actually pretty usable and more practical than the keyboard on the treo 600 (being bigger). I can touch type on mine *just* although prefer either a one handed action if it is on a surface or a 2 thumb technique if you are holding it work reasonably well. I am faster with the keyboard input on the Zaurus than I ever was with grafitti on the palm, if you want to do any serious work though you'd ssh in from something with a real keyboard OR just write your novel on a PC!
Sharp's marketing seems to be broken in that despite the thriving user community and demand for a zaurus model with that form factor in us/europe they seem reluctant to actually release it over here. Companies such as dynamismor shirtpocket import them or better still get someone visiting japan to bring you one back. They can be easily re-flashed to remove the japanese software and instead start speaking english which I for one find a whole lot easier to deal with ;-)
There is an iminent (nobody knows quite when due to the brokenness of sharp's marketing dept.) launch of a model in the states called the Sl-6000 which is a similar (well slightly improved) set of innards and screen to the sl-c860 but in a more conventional pda form factor, very like the sl-5600 as released in the US.