Sl-c3000 Vs. Sl-c1000 Vs. Sl-5500

[microsoft/linux]

what's considered nonintensive work? like word processing? or just checking calendars? Listening would be considered intensive? Does anybody have any links comparing the screens of the C series and the 5500? Other thoughts?

[bluedevils]

I think most of those are considered non-intensive, but a battery extender would help.  You can also buy extra batteries and switch them on the fly.  The internal battery will keep your data for a limited time while switching the li-on battery.

At 16 I remember not having alot of money and I think that if the Z is not truly for you, then you lose less.  If the Z is for you, then the 5500 is still a very capable machine.  A jump to a clamshell at a later time will be more of a sure thing (and cheaper) once you decide to graduate from the 5500.

[microsoft/linux]

yeah, I don't have a whole lot of money. I live in a rural area, so it was easy enough to find a job. However, I bought a purebred Newfoundland a couple of years ago, and purchased a laptop about a year ago. Now I need[/b] to start saving for college. I'll probably go w/ the 5500 for now...

[gdog]

I traded my 6K for a C1K, and I already owned a 4gb microdrive and 1gb SD card. For me the bottom line was, what happens to my data if I have to ship the device back to someone for repair? First and foremost I can't do my job in IT without it because the documentation I keep there is critical (what with my bad memory and all ;o) ). But I also have personal info on it (eg Resumes, passwd files, household inventory, etc), that I don't necessarily want anyone to be reading. With the 6K and the C1K I can keep all of my data in such a way that if the device needs to be worked on, it can be sent off without my data on it.

Loved the screen on the 6K, but the C1K is far better for me because of it's form factor and better keyboard.  

My prediction (fantasy?), is that Sharp will reenter the US market with a C3200 that has the screen from the 6K in the form factor of the SL-Cxxxx devices. They know where the orders that folks like Streamline/Trisoft, Conics, PriceJapan and Dynamism are making with them end up....

Regards,

gdog

[microsoft/linux]

My prediction (fantasy?), is that Sharp will reenter the US market with a C3200 that has the screen from the 6K in the form factor of the SL-Cxxxx devices. They know where the orders that folks like Streamline/Trisoft, Conics, PriceJapan and Dynamism are making with them end up....

I'm with you on that one:) Would I be able to send a 5500 anyplace? Sharp doesn't support them anymore do they? I'll probably get a memory card, for expansion mostly. But also for some of the reasons mentioned above. Other thoughts?

[Ragnorok]

- I've owned a SL-5500 for three years now, and it's been a simply amazing little unit.  With some SD to boost it's storage, and a swap file to boost it's "RAM", I have nothing bad to say about it, considering its age.  I ran the screen on *minimum* brightness and routinely got 6-8 hrs of runtime, plus I have a spare battery, for another 6-8 hrs.  Since the SL-5500 doesn't reboot on a battery change, that works like a charm.
- I put everything on Cricket: MySQL, Apache, KOPI (IDE), PIM/PE suite, Opie apps ... you name it, and sometime in the last three years I've installed it, it seems.  Thought nothing of dropping to the command line and completely re-organizing the directories with symlinks to maximize internal storage, not something you can do with just *any* PDA.  For it's time, Cricket was "the" PDA I've always looked for.
- I used Cricket to listen to MP3s all the time ... just blank the display and it easily runs for at least two full albums.  Hours of Asteroids or Kpacman, command line stuff, etc, at low screen brightness.  WiFi is a different story; I ran an hour or so typically, enough time for lunch at the local hotspot/cafe.  (wink)  MAME pegs the CPU the entire time a game is running, and it drains the battery in about two hours, but it also doesn't run well!  (drops frames)  I don't recall doing anything else with it that would push Cricket that hard for any length of time.
- The biggest thing you'll notice between the SL-5500 and the C-1000 screen is the resolution; the newer unit has four times as many pixels as the older one, so a lot more info fits on it.  The other thing is the illumination ... it's just done a whole lot better on the newer one.  But the screen is certainly usable, and was very high resolution for its day.  That means even three years later it's not pathetically low.  Battery drain from the lighting arrangement is its major drawback.

- Having said all that, I got a C-1000 two months ago.  It is a wonderous machine!!  I can mount the "ROM" in read-write mode and re-arrange things to my heart's content, which I've done.  (wolfish grin)  The display is awesome ... it washes out a bit in sunlight, but imho it's not nearly as bad as the SL-5500 did.  The keyboard is significantly better ... and the battery life!  Astounding!  It seems like it runs forever by comparison.  Hiroshi is everything I wanted Cricket to be, but the technology wasn't there three years ago.  It's also expensive, even more than Cricket was three years ago, but you get what you pay for.

- If this is your initial foray into Linux PDAs, I'd go with the others' recommendation and get an SL-5500.  It's easily an usable device, and there is still lots and lots of software available for it.  I've got 607MB of it on my hard drive!  (snicker)  And they're much more cost-effective than a C-1000, particularly for someone on a limited budget.

- If you don't mind used, and circlip doesn't respond real soon, Cricket is for sale.  See the "For Sale/Wanted" Forum for details...

[microsoft/linux]

is the low brightness readable? I'm assuming it's like the low brightness on a laptop screen, you get used to it. 8-9 hours? that's substantially more than I've been hearing. This is w/ the stock battery? huh. I don't have the resources right now, or I would probably be interested in Cricket. Other thoughts? Do different roms affect the battery life?

[Ragnorok]

- Six to eight hours with the stock battery, not 8-9.  (wink)  Depending on what I was doing, but I have noticed the three year old batteries don't *appear* hold up like they used to, now that I think about it.  More like 5-ish tops in normal use, now.  Again, with two of them, I didn't notice any degradation in usability because I'd just suspend, swap, and go.  After using Hiroshi for a while, though, it seems like Cricket runs out of power almost immediately!  (bemused grin)

- I found minimum brightness a bit hard to read at times, but I got used to it.  I used Cricket indoors, mostly, so that level was adequate.  In bright light, the display is actually *more* readable if you hold it at the right angle to catch the available light, and don't even bother with the backlight, which isn't strong enough to overcome bright light no matter what level it's at.  I did this on airplanes ... turn off the backlight and use the one above the seat.
- BUT my eyes are very light-sensative.  Things that most people consider merely bright, I consider to be painfully bright ... literally ... as in I have hard time keeping my eyes open because they hurt so much.  So I may find the minimum level usable, where you may not.  It certainly did help with the battery life, though!  (snicker)

- I have no experience with alternate ROMs, so I can't address that one, but there are a lot of others on OESF that should be able to help in that regard.  On the surface I can't see how an alternate ROM would soak up signficantly more power than the stock ROM, with the possible exception of pdaXROM.  This is pure conjecture based on the assumption that any X implemention would have to execute more code to do the same thing as Qtopia, which would have to draw more power.  Three things about this:
1. It could easily be wildly inaccurate
2. You get what you "pay" for ... X should be significantly more robust than Qtopia.
3. If I'm not mistaken pdaXROM isn't available for Collie, anyway.  (wide grin)

- Hope this helps...

[microsoft/linux]

Thanks to everyone for their help. I'm planning on buying a 5500, when I have the resources. Other thoughts? Anyone care to offer an opinion?

[microsoft/linux]

one other quick question. Is it possible to put the entire system on an sd card in openzaurus? I've heard that you can do it w/ cacko, but I wasn't sure about the other roms.

[TsingTao]

Thanks to everyone for their help. I'm planning on buying a 5500, when I have the resources. Other thoughts? Anyone care to offer an opinion?
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=86125\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

 I just recently sold my 5500, and even more recently purchased a C1K.

 That answer your (original) question ?  

 No ?  I'll continue...

 I don't really have a differing opinion, you've gotten some pretty good advice (generally true in these forums) but maybe some points that haven't been specifically mentioned.

 If you think of this potential purchase as an investment keep in mind depreciation.  With the C1K you can expect that if you sell it 2 years from now you'll take maybe a $200  hit.  With the 5500 you'll take maybe a $50 to $70 hit if you can sell it at all.  But you probably CAN'T take more than $100 loss on it because it probably won't cost you more than $100 to buy it now.


 For a new toy and intro to the pocket linux world I'd say the 5500 is a better purchase (and it will adequately take care of your PIM needs as well if your phone doesn't already).  

 But if it is going to occupy a perpetual spot in your tech arsenal (ie a spot that will always be filled with SOMETHING ) the C1K is probably worth the long term investment.  It is very modern, very competative with anything out there and will hold it's value long enough for it's eventual sale to defray the eventual cost of upgrading in the future.

 One final note. If you purchase the C1K off ebay be prepared for a very BASIC english translation (if any).  Mine was switched to english, but there are still many little un-renderable boxes in most apps.  Everything works and if you are at all a competant computer user you will at least muddle through, but it's a little annoying (the Jisho is nigh useless).  If you want the device 95%+ english, you'll need to go with Conics or Streamline, and you'll need to pay ~$600.  

 Their translation service is worth the money, but that is what the eBay advantage will cost you.  Plus, most eBay vendors won't do ANY kind of warranty support.  They tell you to go to Sharp, and Sharp tells you to go to h3!!...

 I could be wrong but I think you actually can get help from Streamline and/or Conics (confirmation anyone ?)

 Could be a big deal concerning a $500 C1K.  With a $100 5500 if something really goes bad you just chuck it (or save it for parts) and buy another one...

 That said, I decided to go with the eBay vendor because I actually am learning Japanese and may want to convert it back at some point anyway.

 Plus, progress is being made on a Cacko rom for the C1K (basically the stock ROM translated), so I figure I will be able to get WHATEVER I end up needing...

 Just my $0.02...

 Have fun/Best wishs!

[microsoft/linux]

first of all, I don't have a phone

(and it will adequately take care of your PIM needs as well if your phone doesn't already).

But thanks for the input. I really appreciate everyone's help. Again, I don't have the resources right now, but I'm planning on getting a 5500. My biggest concern is battery life, w/out having to carry too much else around. Thoughts on that? Thanks again

[TsingTao]

My biggest concern is battery life, w/out having to carry too much else around. Thoughts on that? Thanks again
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=86751\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

 Cheapest way to extend power is the previously mentioned battery extender.  $6 to $15 shipped depending on which of the 50 or so routes you go in acquiring it.  Plus whatever you gotta pay for Nimhs (or NiCads, though Nihms are better) and a charger (but you may already have these).

 It isn't the easiest to carry though.  I found it useful for recharging my 5500 while I was on the go but my Z was stashed between uses (like in my backpack, messanger bag, or even in the larger pockets of my cargo pants of travelers vest).  If you're sitting down say in a waiting room or even on a plane/train/automobile (not driving of course) it's not too big an issue and the extender WILL power your Z for hours on end with 2400 mah Nihms ...

 Easiest to carry (and resultingly the easiest to lose) is an extra Li-ion battery.  Figure maybe $30 on-line (google it).  Tiny, tiny, tiny and it doesn't hang out when in use (it also won't last as long as the extender). I don't know how you rig your EDC (Every Day Carry) load, but I will caution you against slipping the Li-Ion batt in your pocket.  Strange and unpleasant things can happen when batts with exposed contacts and keys or coins dance in your pocket.  A cheap case would be advisable.  I picked up a cheap cordura belt tool pouch that just happened to fit my 5500 perfectly and had a second pocket that a CF mem, wifi card, or even a second battery fit into handily.  Got it for $2 at a flea market.  Be creative...it's fun and more importantly *cheap*...

 Hope this helps...

[JoP]

One final note. If you purchase the C1K off ebay be prepared for a very BASIC english translation (if any).  Mine was switched to english, but there are still many little un-renderable boxes in most apps. 
[...]

 Plus, progress is being made on a Cacko rom for the C1K (basically the stock ROM translated), so I figure I will be able to get WHATEVER I end up needing...

[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=86711\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

You can easily flash an english converted backup, too.

And Cacko is a bit (LOT) more than just a translation.  

For the battery pack, I'd say they are small enough to fit anywhere, mine's 2.8x2.8x1 inches. You can even get an AAA batts pack, which is smaller but for less batt life, of course.
You see, many things to think about!  As TsingTao said, be creative, is a good advice.