Replacement for the c860 coming soon..?

[shinoSetsuna]

hi all.. considering purchasing my first Zaurus clamshell very soon, but was curious whether anyone thought there may be a replacement for the c860 on the horizon perhaps? i am not very familiar w/ the product line so not sure how long it has been in the past between the various models, and would hate to buy one now only to find it outdated in a month...

any input or opinion on this matter would be great, thx in advance all..!

[rebski]

I am in the same position; my 5500 went missing a few weeks ago and I intend to replace it with an 860.

The 760 was out this time last year and the 860 was available around February 2004 so if any development is to happen then it should be announced soon.  There is hope that CEATEC 2004 in October will provide the venue for this - as it did for the 700 in 2002.

On the pessimistic side, tkc is of the opinion “I seriously doubt Sharp is going to come out with any other Zaurus units, I know there is nothing planned through the end of the year.” Also Sony has pulled out of the pda market.

On the optimistic side Pocket PC manufacturers such as Toshiba, Dell, Fujitsu, HP, Asus are all bringing out pda’s having 3.7”/4” VGA screens, up to 624MHz processors, dual slots, built in Bluetooth and WiFi. Check out the Dell Axim X50 High on http://www.pdafrance.com/ and the Toshiba Genio
http://k-tai.impress.co.jp/cda/article/event/20352.html

So Sharp has to either keep up or get out.

My own gut feeling is the latter but maybe Sharp will surprise us. With that vain hope I shall hold back on the 860 purchase until the CEATEC line-up is announced.

Of course it wasn’t for Sash and Cacko I wouldn’t even be considering buying one.

[Zuber]

The thing to keep in mind is what market you are talking about.

Sony is pulling out. But not out of the Japanese market.

Sharp have been selling huge numbers of Zaurus units in Japan. That is what led to the Sony UX50 model, if I remember rightly.

So with that in mind, I'd be surprised if Sharp pulled out of the Japanese market. And to stay in the market, I would expect a new model at some point. Not sure when though...

[rebski]

That is very interesting information, I had no inkling that the Zaurus is quite so popular in Japan.

That alone gives hope that a new model should be just round the corner.

[PDAgal]

I've heard rumors from a vendor that there will be a new model by the end of this year. However, I have NO idea what new features it will add.

[nevarrie]

I noticed an artical at PDAbuzz that says:

The new Sharp Zaurus! The flagship of Linux-based PDAs will be shown at the WPC Expo 2004 in Japan.

No new details though the artical at http://akiba.sorobangeeks.com/news_8756.html has two pictures but I can not tell if it is a new one or a pic of an older Z.  Anyone else got news?

[ashikase]

nevarrie:

This has been discussed in another thread:
https://www.oesf.org/forums/inde...?showtopic=7262

- ashikase
  anpachi, gifu, japan