I bought mine (serial number 2704254Y) from Dynamism.com. You can read up on it at that site, as well. There are also some excellent screenshots there that show what the screens look like (and, yes, it is a 640x480 screen). "Normal" PDAs have a 320x240 screen, meaning that it would take screens from FOUR of those PDAs to fill a Zaurus SL-C700 screen!
Oh, nooooo! I had to send in my unit for warranty repair/replacement. On May 2, 2003, I noticed that there was a defect beneath the surface of the screen that appeared that day. This defect caused a noticeable blemish on the screen that was visually irritating. The blemish size was small (about 2mm x 3mm), but on a unit that was primarily purchased due to its screen, I consider any defect to be significant. The unit was about two and a half months old. I called Dynamism, and within the hour they faxed me an R.M.A. and a FedEx label to send the unit back at NO COST to me. I was able to bring my unit to FedEx the next afternoon (Saturday), and I expect a replacement unit soon. I will update this site with the results, to include turn-around time, replacement unit condition, and warranty status for my particular problem. I am not 100% convinced that Sharp will consider this a defect, instead of a "cosmetic blemish".
I called Dynamism Wednesday morning, and left a message for the Service Department asking for information on my unit. I did not receive a call-back all day.
I left a message (before start of business for them) Thursday morning. By 10:00am (my time, which is one hour after they open), I got a call back from Jerry. They see the blemish on the screen, but have no units on-hand to ship me an immediate replacement. This is going back to the motherland (Tokyo, Japan) for evaluation/replacement. I don't expect I will have a Zaurus in my hands for about a week now. [sigh] I will update this site as I get word from Dynamism.
It is now Tuesday afternoonon the 13th of May. Ten days have elapsed since sending my unit back to Dynamism. I called (again) and talked to a real person. I was informed that thier internet had been down, and they would need to call me back. I gave them my phone number. Jerry called me within 20 minutes, and he confirmed that Japan received the unit today, and he expects a two-day turnaround for repair/replacement. I now make a mental note to call again on the 16th...
I use SimpleTech 128MB SD cards, SanDisk 10MB Compact Flash (CF), Kodak 8MB & 16MB CF cards, and Lexar 16MB CF cards with no problems. No driver load/install is needed.
For wireless ethernet at home, I have a NetGear MA701 802.11b (Wi-Fi) card. Again, no driver or config worries. Plug it in, and it immediately worked for web browsing.
Earphones to listen to MP3s are a must! The built-in speaker is good for little else than system sounds. Yes, you can hear the songs through the built-in speaker, but you really don't want to. Trust me on this one; even a cheap pair of earphones is a good investment if you want to listen to MP3s.
Screen Protection! I cannot say enough about this one. If you value your $700 investment, it is worth the extra $20 to go to Best Buy, or other store that sells PDAs, to get a pack of these clear, self-adhesing sheets. Just don't expect to find any that exactly fit. I use sheets for an IPAQ, and trim the side down a bit to fit.
The AC Adapter is of a great design! The head that plugs in has fold-down prongs that seat entirely within the 2" x 1 3/4" x 3/4" (less strain relief) plug. Small package + no prongs sticking out = very convenient! The 5V DC end is of a standard round type, nothing proprietary here!
The CD-ROM is Japanese, but is needed to get Windows XP (and I assume other Windows versions, as well) to be able to connect to the Zaurus as a network device through the supplied USB cable. There are four driver options on the CD-ROM, and through trail-and-error, I found that only ONE worked. I just tried one after the other until I was able to connect. I have not connected my Zaurus to my Linux machine yet, except through telnet...
The manual is completely Japanese, as well. If you read Japanese, it may useful. I don't.
Finally, the unit comes with a plastic cover for the PC connection port. After about a day of replacing it when not connected, I gave up and have it stashed away. Pretty much the same thing for the dummy card for the CF slot. I leave either my CF mem card, or my Wi-Fi in at all times, so the dummy is stored, too.
Can you say sloooow?
The speed of the 400MHz X-Scale is not evident at all. I would think that the performance was somewhere around that of a 166MHz machine. This is something that Dynamism says they are working on to improve. Video clips look more like a slideshow. The built-in applications have a lag on launch, and opening a small file takes time to open.
Screen Darkens in Direct Sunlight.
The CG technology in use here reminds me too much of my old Compaq 2015c. It relies on BACKLIGHT to be readable. The trans-reflective screens on most PDAs out there (IPAQ, etc.) are much better in direct sunlight. My unit is readable with effort in direct sunlight at my standard brightness. Turning it up to full brightness helps improve readability.
Originally, the Address Book did not alphabetize for me!
In my correspondence with Dynamism, they mentioned that they are still working on this, and plan to either fix the Sharp address book, or use an alternate (3rd party) address book.
However, I found out how to get the address book to alphabetize on my own... It is using the 'pronunciation' field, of all things! I saw this as redundant information, and cleared this field when entering names. I think that items like this underscore the need for documentation on this unit! Hmmmm... maybe a project for my free time...
IR Port
Although it seems to work in transferring data with a PocketPC PDA, there seemed to be some problems. I would not rely on this for large IR transfer needs.
Documentation
Currently, Dynamism ships NO documentation with the unit. Not even a single page start-up guide. There are a few things that gave me problems, that a quide would have helped with. See my reference page for my version of a quick start guide for more info. On the positive side here, Dynamism commits to sending a guide when the software is finalized. Plus the unit really is pretty easy to work without instructions.
Synchronization
There is no ActiveSync or HotSync program that comes with the unit. However, the Zaurus is browsable as a network device and supports drag and drop copies of any files or folders.
Wi-Fi (802.11b) Power Usage
Well, of course using Wi-Fi will use more power than Bluetooth for networking, but I already have 802.11b at home, so I decided to use it on my Zaurus, as well. While the power management of the SL-C700 will turn off the network card if you just do a quick email scan, using it to actively browse the web will require that you connect the power supply after a few minutes. No fault of the Zaurus, I think, something to think about if you want wireless networking.
Battery
User-replaceable batteries are a good thing. A fully charged battery will last me all day in nearly constant use.
Size
The Zaurus fits as easily in the hand as most typical PDAs. Even with what the specs said on the unit's size, I was nervous that it would be bulky when compared to other PDAs. Not the case. In PDA mode, with the screen flipped back over the keyboard, it is easy to hold and use.
Flexibility
Being able to switch the unit from 'laptop' mode with the keyboard, and in 'PDA' mode is very convenient. In PDA mode, there is a up/down scroll lever and an OK/Cancel pushbutton combo for thumb use.