Updated Sep. 29, 2003 — Sharp announced the addition of two new Zaurus “personal mobile tools” to its Linux-based PDA lineup in Japan today. The new models — the SL-C750 and SL-C760 — appear nearly identical in most respects to the SL-C700 announced last November. Significantly, however, Sharp's announcement boasts that its newest PDAs are “twice as fast” as the SL-700 — which apparently results from a combination of multiple factors.

Sharp Zaurus SL-C760 (left) and SL-C750 (right)

Twice as fast?

The increased performance is not one of raw megaherz, as the new models, like the SL-C700, have 400MHz XScale processors. However, a the new models use a PXA255 in contrast to the PXA250 of the SL-C700; additionally, the new models also come with more Flash and RAM memory — 128MB/64MB (Flash/RAM) for the SL-C760 and 64MB/64MB for the SL-C750, as compared with 64MB/32MB for the SL-C700.

Improved software may be another factor contributing to the faster speed of the new units, as implied the following statement in Sharp's announcement of the new devices: “With the latest Intel XScale CPU (PXA255, 400 MHz) and upgraded software, applications start twice as quickly (compared to SL-C700). And 64MB of SDRAM means instant response to all operational commands and thus improved operability.” (emphasis added)

Another interesting, but subtle, change noted in the SL-C750/C760 specs concerns the name of the operating system platform: “Embedix” has now been replaced with “OpenPDA”, reflecting the impact of the acquisition of Embedix by Metrowerks; and, apparently, affirming Sharp's intention to stay the course of its Zaurus software stack subsequent to the demise of Lineo.

Other differences between the new and earlier models appear to be in areas such as battery and bundled application software.

Detailed specs of the new Zaurus models are available here.

Reviews of English-adapted versions are available from InfoSync World, BargainPDA, NVMAX, and BrightHand.

 
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