I4U News : Going Online with the Zaurus SL-C3000 Linux PDA

Going Online with the Zaurus SL-C3000 Linux PDA

published: 02/07/05 last updated: 02/07/05

Sharp announced their latest Linux PDA, the Zaurus SL-C3000, in October for the Japanese market. The new Zaurus is the first PDA with an integrated 4GB hard-drive. It is now in stores in Japan. I published my first impressions of the Zaurus SL-C3000 a while ago.
This report is describing my experience with this Linux PDA going online and surfing the web.

The Japanese release Zaurus SL-C3000 sells for $819.00 at Dynamsim. Dynamism ships the Zaurus SL-C3000 configured for English.

Zaurus SL-C3000 Linux PDA with 4GB Hard-drive review

Surfing the Web with Zaurus SL-C3000
I am on the look out since a long time for the idea device to access the web anywhere I am. So I was excited to finally get my Zaurus SL-C3000 online to see if it fulfills my needs. The Zaurus SL-C3000 does not have built-in Wi-fi, so I had to first buy a CF-Slot Wi-fi card. No built-in wi-fi is really a drawback as the card sticks out of the otherwise super stylish gadget. The new Archos PMA430 PVP 'come Linux PDA has Wi-fi built-in. The Zaurus SL-C3000 runs as you know Linux. Wi-Fi cards from Netgear, Linsys, D-Link, Buffalo and any other cards that use the prism chipset should work on the Zaurus.
I got me the Linksys WCF12 which is still only a 802.11b card. Linksys also has now the WCF54G that runs 802.11g.
To connect to a network the Zaurus features a network wizard in the settings menu. The wizard is in Japanese but by selecting the essential keywords are in English to find my way through the settings (e.g.: LAN, ESS-ID, etc.). The configuration dialogs after the connection is configured is then in English, so if you made a mistake during the wizard, it is easy to change it afterwards. The connection manager only supports WEP authentication (no PSA). Once connected a connection icon appeared in the tray and I was online. In the application menu I find the Netfront browser version 3.1.
First I connected of course to I4U.com and I was pleased how fast the site built up and that the site pretty much looked like I was browsing it on a PC. Only limitation is the screen resolution of 640x480 and because I4U is optimized for 1024 I do not see the whole site. The Netfront browser has a scaling mode, but then the fonts get to small, I rather scroll then vertically. As you can see in the screen shots below, Google works like a charm on the Zaurus. Photos look very vibrant on the screen. The text is good readable. Because the Zaurus has a full QWERTY keyboard, typing in URLs is very fast as well. Browsing around on sites by tapping on links with the stylus is also very convenient.
The Zaurus can also display vertically, but I found that its not good for browsing because of the missing width.

The Zaurus SL-C3000 is a good step towards my idea of a portable internet access device, but it is still a bit to big for me to carry it always around in my jacket and the fact that the wi-fi functionality is not built-in makes it a bit of an inelegant solution. Still the big screen resolution and the rather well working Netfront browser make it definitely a usable portable online gadget. (screen shots below).

Screen Shots: