Sharp PC-Z1 Netwalker

cstross · 10-01-2009, 08:02 AM

I just acquired a Sharp PC-Z1 Netwalker.

For those who don't know, it's the second coming of the Sharp Zaurus.

Form factor is similar to those nifty pocket dictionaries/translation tools that are so big in Japan, only with a colour screen (1024x600) and an ARM Cortex A8 clocked at 800MHz running Ubuntu 9.04. (RAM: 512Mb. Storage: 4Gb FLASH SSD, plus microSDHC slot -- mine's occupied by a 16Gb card -- and two USB ports. Wifi, no bluetooth.)

I can confirm that FBReader is installable via "Add/Remove applications" (i.e. nearly idiot-proof). There's an outdated version of Calibre in the Ubuntu repository; I'm going to try building 0.6.14 later today (it needs some dependencies fixing first).

The screen is pin-sharp and very bright, and while the official battery life of 10 hours is unlikely, reports of 7.5 hours with wifi are probably true. The real attraction is a pocket netbook that can run OpenOffice, Thunderbird, or Firefox ... but it's promising enough as an ebook reader to be worth a look.

(Grey market imports available via conics.net; mine came from a different source, although I've bought from Conics before and my experience of them was good.)

m26k9 · 10-05-2009, 11:42 AM

How is the mouse navigation?
I tried one in a shop and it felt very inconvinient handling with one hand because optical mouse tracker is on the top right and the mouse buttons are on the top left. Is there another way to navigate and click?

jimscraft · 10-08-2009, 04:08 PM

cstross- I just got my Netwalker from Conics today, charged it up and tried to get things going, but I don't know Japanese and can't get past the first two screens. It is supposed to be easy to switch to english, but I haven't figured it out and there wasn't any instructions (in english) to accomplish this. Can you help???
Thanks, Jim

cstross · 10-09-2009, 04:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimscraft

cstross- I just got my Netwalker from Conics today, charged it up and tried to get things going, but I don't know Japanese and can't get past the first two screens. It is supposed to be easy to switch to english, but I haven't figured it out and there wasn't any instructions (in english) to accomplish this. Can you help???
Thanks, Jim

Conics have a video showing how to do this: instructions here (I don't know how to embed videos using bbcode).

jimscraft · 10-09-2009, 08:39 AM

cstross- Thanks for the info- works perfectly!!! Have a great day!

XE1UFO · 02-03-2010, 09:51 AM

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/s...guid=219196859

10-01-2009, 08:02 AM	#1
cstross Cynic Posts: 86 Karma: 514 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland Device: Lots, started with a Psion 3 circa 1998	Sharp PC-Z1 Netwalker I just acquired a Sharp PC-Z1 Netwalker. For those who don't know, it's the second coming of the Sharp Zaurus. Form factor is similar to those nifty pocket dictionaries/translation tools that are so big in Japan, only with a colour screen (1024x600) and an ARM Cortex A8 clocked at 800MHz running Ubuntu 9.04. (RAM: 512Mb. Storage: 4Gb FLASH SSD, plus microSDHC slot -- mine's occupied by a 16Gb card -- and two USB ports. Wifi, no bluetooth.) I can confirm that FBReader is installable via "Add/Remove applications" (i.e. nearly idiot-proof). There's an outdated version of Calibre in the Ubuntu repository; I'm going to try building 0.6.14 later today (it needs some dependencies fixing first). The screen is pin-sharp and very bright, and while the official battery life of 10 hours is unlikely, reports of 7.5 hours with wifi are probably true. The real attraction is a pocket netbook that can run OpenOffice, Thunderbird, or Firefox ... but it's promising enough as an ebook reader to be worth a look. (Grey market imports available via conics.net; mine came from a different source, although I've bought from Conics before and my experience of them was good.)

02-03-2010, 09:51 AM	#6
XE1UFO Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2010 Device: Sharp Netwalker	RE: NEW NETWALKER USER GROUP ON YAHOO http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/s...guid=219196859

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10-05-2009, 11:42 AM	#2
m26k9 Enthusiast Posts: 29 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: none	How is the mouse navigation? I tried one in a shop and it felt very inconvinient handling with one hand because optical mouse tracker is on the top right and the mouse buttons are on the top left. Is there another way to navigate and click?

10-08-2009, 04:08 PM	#3
jimscraft Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Cereal City USA Device: none	cstross- I just got my Netwalker from Conics today, charged it up and tried to get things going, but I don't know Japanese and can't get past the first two screens. It is supposed to be easy to switch to english, but I haven't figured it out and there wasn't any instructions (in english) to accomplish this. Can you help??? Thanks, Jim

10-09-2009, 08:39 AM	#5
jimscraft Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Cereal City USA Device: none	cstross- Thanks for the info- works perfectly!!! Have a great day!

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