OESF Portables Forum
General Forums => New products and alternatives => Topic started by: zmiq2 on April 14, 2008, 05:38:16 am
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Hey, take a look at this Sharp device !
Specs:
At just 470g and with a size of 84x188x25.9mm, here's a stunning device running 1GB of RAM, 40GB of HDD, a Centrino Atom Z520 (1.33GHz), 5” touch screen (1024x600) LCD with LED Backlight, a full keyboard with PHS support, as well as Wifi B/G and Bluetooth 2.0 EDR. Our D4 also has a 2Mpix video camera and runs Windows Vista Home Premium.
http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news-15825...wered+UMPC.html (http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news-15825-Willcom+D4%E2%80%A6+The+Tiny+ATOM+Powered+UMPC.html)
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spectacular!
I hope they don't simlock it the way they did with the sharp em-one (whose wifi was unusable if you don't own an active(contract) em-one SIM card).
Any info about availability?
eeerrr... any info about price?
(is sooooooo nice! )
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The form-factor looks almost perfect to me. I hope they will sell also it outside of Japan. Any chance to see to get this in a regular store in Europe?
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Here is a spec page from umpcportal: http://www.umpcportal.com/products/product.php?id=191 (http://www.umpcportal.com/products/product.php?id=191)
Akibahra says it runs a little slow with Vista.
Now if only it could run linux too, it would seem near perfect to me.
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Put me down for 2.....
More info on Sharp's site:
Sharp Willcom Site (http://www.sharp.co.jp/d4/index.html)
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What are the chances of them releasing it internationally? (ie with GSM)
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more on engadget
http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/14/willcom...nto-our-hearts/ (http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/14/willcoms-d4-mid-pumps-vista-on-intel-atom-into-our-hearts/)
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- This is EXACTLY what I've been waiting for!! Soon as ANY Linux distro is ported to this thing I'll be hocking whatever I have to to get one. I wouldn't even boot it with winbloze on it ... waste of a stunningly awesome piece of hardware.
- Ooooo. I'm all shivvery!
- SIM lock sounds like a buzz kill.
- Ooooo. I'm still all shivvery!!
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I'm suprised by the excitement over this.
The dimensions on this make it a full third longer than a c1000/3x00. The thinkness is about the same as those models which in my opinion was too thick in the first place. It weighs ~170g more than a C3200 and ~190g more than a C1000.
Vista is a horrible choice for the OS and is going to cause a ton of problems for the consumers, Willcom and Sharp. I bet there will be many returns of these once the consumers see the glacial performance that Vista will give them. A MID should be running a lightweight OS not desktop bloatware!
For Sharp to impress me, they are going to have to do better.
Next time Thinner, Lighter, Smaller, Linux; you got it Sharp?
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coverage has hit The Register:
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/04/14/sh...com_atom_first/ (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/04/14/sharp_willcom_atom_first/)
it does look a bit chunky, now the figures are in. despite what The Reg say, the N810 has little to fear, this is a very different beast! It looks to be a sub-ultra-portable rather than a pocketable - the n800 *will* fit into my coat inside pocket, just. This thing would probably rip the pocket out before smashing to the ground!
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coverage has hit The Register
This thing would probably rip the pocket out before smashing to the ground!
The reg is calling this a "handset"
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http://dfj-store.com/product_info.php?products_id=923 (http://dfj-store.com/product_info.php?products_id=923)
a mere US$1540 with free worldwide shipping.
the fujitsu U810 seems better value!
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hi all !
i know this site ( www.dfj-store.com )
My sharp ZAURUS Sl-C3200 come from this site. Amazing service ! (4 days shipping !)
And very friendly people.
ADMINS NOTE: the person who posted this is not independent. please read follow-up posts.
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hi all !
i know this site ( www.dfj-store.com )
My sharp ZAURUS Sl-C3200 come from this site. Amazing service ! (4 days shipping !)
And very friendly people.
You mean "own" this site ... . Speaking of a new way to spread spam ...
Be careful what you buy there !!!
I ordered a u810 and received a U50X (no bluetooth and no camera).
Then I was promised a partial refund, I even removed negative feedback on ebay, but never received anything ...
People may be friendly, but not honest ...
Chero.
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At the risk of boring, I'd say (again) that all the technical wizardry in the world cramming bling OSs into small spaces is unimpressive compared with instant-on. God knows how long it would take a device like that to boot Windows - and with 1Gb RAM, even unhibernating will be too irritatingly slow to use it as a PDA, like you can use a Zaurus or a Psion, or... We still need the new generation of instant-on super-PDA to replace the Zaurus.
Mark
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FWIW, I've already received response from Conics.net on the new Sharp...sounds like they'll have it available....
But Conics wanted us to be aware that this new Sharp uses special SIM card, so phone functions will not work outside of Japan, but other functions, WiFi, etc will....
Price should be much better than was quoted in earlier post.
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cramming bling OSs into small spaces is unimpressive compared with instant-on
that's more the fault of bad OS + hardware integration. a lot of people have put in huge efforts with the Z to achieve this, bolstered by the original Sharp ROM actually achieving it.
I think this is why PalmOS was successful, especially with its "execute in place" OS architecture that's yet to come to linux.
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God knows how long it would take a device like that to boot Windows - and with 1Gb RAM, even unhibernating will be too irritatingly slow to use it as a PDA
Windows also does suspend to ram/sleep, which isn't so slow.
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Some of you guys must be blind; there's no sense in crying over SIM lock - it's PHS. Do you have a PHS network in your country ? I think not. Have you ever used one ? I have a 128 kbps "best effort" PHS card and anything more than a few emails or very lightweight websites and you'll be waiting an awful long time. With decent wifi though it might make a reasonable skype phone.
So, what are the chances of this getting a GSM version and released outside of Japan ? That would put it on collision course with the iphone, do you think Sharp are going to take on iphone ? Let's face it, no Zaurus since the SL-C700 was released outside of Japan. It's not going to happen.
It doesn't even look that good! It's a brick. I will try to check one out as soon as it's released but my expectations are very low.
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Let's face it, no Zaurus since the SL-C700 was released outside of Japan
the 6000 was sold in the USA before the joint project with IBM stopped and sales were canned; noone knows what happened.
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I agree that instant-on it's a must feature often overlooked by the manufacturarers.
It's not suspend, must be instant-on, with phone/sms functionality and pim alarms and some daemon processes working int the bground.
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Some of you guys must be blind; there's no sense in crying over SIM lock - it's PHS. Do you have a PHS network in your country ? I think not. Have you ever used one ?
The problem is not the simlock by itself. The problem comes if the simlock is like the one at sharp's EM-ONE, which doesn't lets you use the wi-fi capabilities unless the unit is loaded with an active emobile contract sim card. i dont need the sim, but the wifi. i can't have an active emobile sim outside japan (or can I?).
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haaaaaa
I wish I had switched to willcom and not docomo!!
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i dont need the sim, but the wifi. i can't have an active emobile sim outside japan (or can I?).
According to the reports I read, Willcom will offer this device at Y40,000 which is about the same price as a SL-C3200 but you won't be able to purchase it without the Y2000/mo contract. I think this means it is unlikely you will be able to obtain one outside of Japan unless the price is substantially inflated.
I would be very surprised if it has to phone home every time you want WiFi. WiFi is many times faster than PHS which is why they offer both options: why allow your users to connect to the net by someone else's WiFi service when you could be charging them for a data call ? - because PHS is too slow, users wouldn't accept it.
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I would be very surprised if it has to phone home every time you want WiFi. WiFi is many times faster than PHS which is why they offer both options: why allow your users to connect to the net by someone else's WiFi service when you could be charging them for a data call ? - because PHS is too slow, users wouldn't accept it.
The simlock of emobile's em-one has nothing to do with what you've written. You need an active sim to switch on the 802.11g aerial. No PHS calls, no nothing, a pure and simple limitation so it can only be used by active emobile customers. As easy as that.
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well well,
just after i sold my C3000
anyway, about vista, don't worry you should be able to install any linux you want on the D4, perhaps with some tweakings... it should be xp tablet edition compatible too, not?
if you find a totallty instant-on device, the htc shift (windows mobile/vista) might be what you're looking for.
anyway, i find that the fujitsu u810/u1010 is a better zaurus-like device
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US$1540 ... no way! Even if it goes down to something like US$1000 (which is more likely)
I'd rather get a HTC Universal at a small fraction of the price. Although it's released three years back, it features the closest form factor and hardware designs to the Z's. Plus it has full connectivity (GSM/GPRS, Bluetooth 1.2, WiFi 802.11b, USB, IR, WCDMA/UMTS/3G) and a PXA270 520MHz processor. Plus plus it now can run Linux (Angstrom, Poky, and even Debian EABI)! And no SIM lock.
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I'd rather get a HTC Universal at a small fraction of the price. Although it's released three years back, it features the closest form factor and hardware designs to the Z's. Plus it has full connectivity (GSM/GPRS, Bluetooth 1.2, WiFi 802.11b, USB, IR, WCDMA/UMTS/3G) and a PXA270 520MHz processor. Plus plus it now can run Linux (Angstrom, Poky, and even Debian EABI)! And no SIM lock.
that would be my choice, but AFAIK it misses usb-host (correct if I'm wrong)
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I'd rather get a HTC Universal at a small fraction of the price. Although it's released three years back, it features the closest form factor and hardware designs to the Z's. Plus it has full connectivity (GSM/GPRS, Bluetooth 1.2, WiFi 802.11b, USB, IR, WCDMA/UMTS/3G) and a PXA270 520MHz processor. Plus plus it now can run Linux (Angstrom, Poky, and even Debian EABI)! And no SIM lock.
that would be my choice, but AFAIK it misses usb-host (correct if I'm wrong)
AFAIK the processor has USB host (or on-the-go?) support. Maybe some hacks are required.
Even if USB host is not there, there is not much need for that as there are all sorts of wireless connection functionalities.
In fact I don't really use the usb host on my Z that much. Basically I use it only for reading USB sticks...
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The simlock of emobile's em-one has nothing to do with what you've written.
I think you missed the point.
Their business model is to make money from their network service (as should be clear
from their Y2000/month contract, I guess em-one is similar).
If you have a valid SIM in the slot then it's fine, it doesn't need to phone
home, you just have to get the SIM - they won't let you have one unless you can sign
the contract, they won't let you sign the contract unless you are resident in Japan.
I've spent a long time looking at the em-one and Willcom stuff in local stores and
although it would be nice to have the option, I still prefer my Z. Today I looked
at an N810, hands on, for the first time. If I had to ditch the Z I would get the
810.
I've also looked at the Kohjinsha (tacky) and Eee (better but still ugly). I still
much prefer the power:size ratio of a Z. The other 2 are too big if you mainly want
PIM and a little bit of coding.
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I have to admit that I am tempted by this new device now I've seen a bit more. Although its a bit big, is probably not too big for me as I carry my zaurus and other things in a gadget bag (actually a camcorder bag), and I almost never carry my Z or Nokia in my coat pocket. As long as the wifi and bluetooth worked, and I could install linux and get instant-on, I'd be very happy, so long as battery life wasn't stupidly low. What particularly appeals is the keyboard looks quite useable, and the screen is quite high rez for the size.
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Seems a bit big to me too. I prefer some flavor of linux on something like this for speed and the ability to choose only the applications I want. Why would I want to cram all of Vista in something this small and lose all the performance I could have on a much leaner OS? Still, the keyboard looks very usable and the Sharp screens have been unbeatable.
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Although its a bit big, is probably not too big for me
- Same here. I've already checked the dimensions against my butt bag and it'll slide in like a well-fit glove, where Hiroshi almost rattles around in there. Weight is a non-issue afaic; I'll gladly take a measly 170g 'extra' for these capabilities.
As long as the wifi and bluetooth worked, and I could install linux and get instant-on, I'd be very happy
- I'm right der witcha, speculatrix. Like "Happy as if I knew what I was doin'" happy. (happy smile)
What particularly appeals is the keyboard looks quite useable, and the screen is quite high rez for the size.
- Oh yeah. I'm still all shivvery. Been looking for a nice keyboard for some time now, and a better screen, and faster hardware with more memory. This has it all.
- Price is real buzz kill, though. Be some time before I can toss even what a C3200 costs on a new uber-tiny computer, assuming WiFi/BT aren't locked. Phone integration would be spiffy but is definitely not a requirement for this geek. I want a better computer in my pocket that's easier to type on. (grin) I'm never where I can do data with the cell phone, anyway, here in the hinterlands of New England.
- Hiroshi definitely has nothing to worry about just yet, alas...