Sharp PC-Z1 MID/Smartbook – Not that impressive after all – Quick Look

At the IFA, Sharp unveiled a small Smartbook that is much smaller than the regular netbooks that we usually see in the market. The Sharp PC-Z1 is very small, even more compact than the now obsolete, EEE 701. Not only its dimensions are smaller than the EEE 701, but it’s much lighter too (just 400gm).

Hardware-wise, the Sharp PC-Z1 does not has good keyboard. Well, you cannot have a compact device with touch-type-able keyboard. Can you? Moving ahead, the screen is great. It packs a lot of pixels (1024×600) into its 5-inch display, which is at par with the Fujitsu U810/U1010 that was released a couple of years back. However, unlike Fujitsu, this does not run Vista or Windows XP. In fact, it cannot even run one even if you wish to as it is not an x86 device.

Ubuntu is there to save us, but given the unpleasant fact that it took 10 seconds just to launch Firefox, it is disheartening for many of us. Openoffice writer took 40 seconds to load! So, although you will be able to enjoy great battery life (Sharp claims 10 hours), you will have to adapt yourself to slow performance.

It will be on sale in Japan later this month for the price of 350 Euros.

Commentary: From the looks of it, I’m sure, it is gratifying, but once you start using the device, it is then you realize the mistake you did when buying such a slow piece of hardware. I confess, I’ll call this device a pass

ASUS P835 now official [Windows Mobile]

ASUS has unleashed its WVGA beauty, P835. Sporting a huge 3.5-inch WVGA (800 x 480), this new Windows Mobile device promises to give HTC some strong competition.
It looks like past mistakes have taught ASUS a bitter lesson. The previous flagship model, ASUS P565, which although had the zippy 800Mhz CPU lacked on the software front. It did not even include Opera Mobile. The built-in IE mobile does a sloppy job of rendering web pages. But, in the ASUS P835, the ASUS has included Opera Mobile which is absolutely great to use on the WVGA screen.

Here are its specifications:

• Windows Mobile 6.1
• Quad-Band GSM
• new and improved Glide user interface
• 528MHz Qualcomm 7201A processor
• 288MB RAM
• 256MB ROM
• 4GB internal storage
• USB 2.0 connectivity
• microSDHC card slot (yay!)
• Bluetooth 2.0
• aGPS
• 5 MP AutoFocus camera

Also, the ASUS has finally upgraded to the USB 2.0 standard. ALL the earlier models came with only USB 1.1 support, which made the transfer painfully slow. Another noticeable improvement is the inclusion of the 5MP camera, which makes it the first ASUS mobile phone to sport a 5MP camera and that too with autofocus capability.

READ ASUS P565 REVIEW

more..

Quick Look – Lenovo IdeaPad S10

READ full review here I’d a chance to play with Lenovo Ideapad S10 at the International Trade show, New Delhi. After my introduction with their product manager at the booth, I used the unit for nearly half-an-hour. Unfortunately, I had not previously decided that I would be going to the Trade Show so I was [...]