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Handhelds Hardware

PDA Buyer's Guide Reviews The Sharp Zaurus SL-6000 154

Posted by timothy from the deep-pockets-in-both-senses dept.
Tong Zhang writes "PDA Buyer's Guide has published an in-depth review of the Sharp Zaurus SL-6000. If you like livin' large, this super-sized Linux PDA may be just the ticket. Sharp targets the enterprise rather than consumers with this Zaurus model, which looks like an SL-5600 on steriods. It has an amazing VGA display, a 400 MHz processor, thumb keyboard, WiFi and more. Read the full review." This adds just a bit more information to the previously mentioned review at BargainPDA.
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PDA Buyer's Guide Reviews The Sharp Zaurus SL-6000 More

PDA Buyer's Guide Reviews The Sharp Zaurus SL-6000

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  • Someone's gotta say it (Score:4, Funny)

    by Roland Piquepaille ( 780675 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @07:04AM (#9257306)
    Yes but, does it run Windows CE?
    • No it runs Linux. Ain't it great !
    • No is doesnt run Windows CE - and thank god! Ive used both WinCE and now Qtopia, and the Qtopia environment is MUCH more akin to a desktop environment. For example, in WindowsCE, you have to get a task manager add-on in order to switch between running apps. In Qtopia, you have a panel at the bottom of the display - just like in Gnome, KDE, or Winblows.

      Ive had my Zaurus 6000 for a month, and its honestly the coolest 'gadget' Ive ever had.
    • I'd be interested in your success rates if so... who needs a gameboy / ngage if you can play all your roms (come on we know you have them)

  • Correct Link (Score:4, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @07:07AM (#9257314)
    Rather than the empty link (href="") in the story, this is the correct link to the previous story on the Zaurus SL-6000 [slashdot.org].

    Also, the BargainPDA article, directly, is here [bargainpda.com].

  • This thing is the future of mobile computing now. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @07:07AM (#9257315)
    I'll trade my 2.0ghz pentium4-m Laptop for one of these with a extra USB keyboard and flashcard in a heartbeat (or external USB drive if possible).

    The thing that makes it worth it?

    Linux OS + decent screen + 10-12 hour battery life.

    WTF am I suppose to do with a laptop that can only run for 1.75 hours before needing to be plugged in again? It's not nearly as usefull as I thought it would be.
    • 3-4 hours battery life, tops, according to the review
    • Work's buying me a new iBook. 6 hour battery life. More than 6 hours and I'd need a break anyway.

      My current Vaio has about 2 hours of battery. It's running Gentoo with the 2.6 kernel, and I've managed to get it to flip the speedstep processor down. It really only makes the computer run slower. The backlight on the display is what chews battery like gum.

      For my purposes, I need a full keyboard. I actually find the back of a municpal transit bus the ideal place to code. I get on the bus at the first stop,

      • I have an iBook. Granted, it's a few years old now, so maybe things have changed, but I get nowhere near 6 hours of battery life. I typically get around 3, 2 if I'm using the CD/DVD drive extensively. But then again, that doesn't bother me. The things are really well built. Just the right number of ports, a well built case that is tough enough to withstand all kinds of light bumps, and the great OS X software.

        I had a PDA that I used on occasion, but now that I have this, I haven't turned it on in y

      • Here's a thought...how about a kernel hook to automatically bump up processor speed when there's more than one process waiting to execute, and knock it down when there's only one?
    • WTF am I suppose to do with a laptop that can only run for 1.75 hours before needing to be plugged in again?

      I would agree with you. Escpecially since I own a Zaurus SL-5500, and an IBM X20 whose battery no longer holds any charge whatsoever.

      However, I also just bought a Pontiac Vibe (twin to the Toyota Matrix), and it has a passenger seat that converts into a desk and a 115-volt AC outlet in the dash (I think the Honda Element has like features). Suddenly, that laptop with its DVD player is a lot more us

  • A Year and a half (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Pine UK ( 769262 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @07:10AM (#9257321)
    "the terminal application (it comes on the CD), allows you to issue Linux commands, edit config files and all that great stuff." Yeah, Ok, that's great, but won't it take like a year and a half to enter a command with one of those stupid hand writing recognition things?
  • Nice to see it runs Linux. But then, Linux dominates in so many area's and runs so efficiently that its invisible to most users, despite what other desktop OS producers would have you believe. Although probably out of reach this year, it will be tomorrows tech soon enough, and that 480 x 640 LCD will be AWESOME for pretty much any app you can imagine.

  • Looks cool but.. (Score:1, Insightful)

    by tfbastard ( 782237 )
    Sure, it looks cool, but I've given up on PDAs a long time ago. A regular wallet-sized calendar works better for me. OTOH, I rarely have more than 3-4 meetings per week, but still.

    • Re:Looks cool but.. (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Ianoo ( 711633 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @07:17AM (#9257348) Journal
      Try keeping a diary when you have a large number of repeating events every week/month. Entering those in time and time again gets rather tedious, especially if your schedule is changeable (and with a paper-based diary it's quite difficult to drag and drop an event to one hour earlier without judicious use of tipex and biro). PDAs are a lifesaver for students and business people with lots of regular meetings and deadlines.
      • An added advantage is the ability to sync with whatever shared calendar system your company is running, so that colleagues can immediately see my work schedule and make plans without having to continuously ask me what I'm up to three weeks on Friday.

      • . . . without judicious use of tipex and biro

        Wha?! I tried to Google on both terms and drew goose eggs. What are biro and tipex (beside the former being the trademark for a type of ballpoint)?

        • Tipex is the non-American word for White-Out. Biro is another name for ballpen, one of those brand names that became generic

        • Re:Looks cool but.. (Score:4, Informative)

          by Ianoo ( 711633 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @08:01AM (#9257501) Journal
          Is this a case of English vs American English slang?

          A "biro" is what most people call ballpoint pens here in the UK (the same most people say "hoover" instead of "vacuum cleaner").

          Tipex is an obnoxious white semi-liquid substance than comes in a small pot or a pen or a tape form than you can "paint" over the top of text you've written with most kinds of pens to erase it.

          • Re:Looks cool but.. (Score:3, Informative)

            by Ianoo ( 711633 )
            Oh, and it seems it's spelt "Tipp-Ex", not tipex. Here's the official site [bicworld.com].

          • Tipex is an obnoxious white semi-liquid substance than comes in a small pot or a pen or a tape form than you can "paint" over the top of text you've written with most kinds of pens to erase it.

            Or, White out to us Yanks. Which leads to the obligatory "why was the blond's computer screen covered in white out?"

          • That would be Bic and Liquid-paper in the States. You British and your wierd terms. Calling cookies, biscuits; elevators, lifts; and car trunks, the boot. :-)

            • That would be Bic and Liquid-paper in the States. You British and your wierd terms. Calling cookies, biscuits; elevators, lifts; and car trunks, the boot. :-)
              ...and we mispronounce "the Innerr-ned" as "the Intah-net".
              • "Hallo this is Beel Gates, und I pronounce weendows as ... WEENdows"

                Greetings sir,
                I would just like to inform you that your hilarious sig almost made me spit up a healthy portion of water at a most inappropriate time.

                Thank you, that is all.

        • Tipex is a specific name brand of white out that in many other countries has become the defacto name used to describe it (much like Band-Aid is used to describe addhesive strips and J-ello is used to describe those coloured jelly deserts)

      • students ... with lots of regular meetings

        Things must have changed at college since my day, or are you talking about reminders for your favourite daytime TV show?

    • Re:Looks cool but.. (Score:2, Insightful)

      by topdogqqq ( 780537 )
      I have to agree, I looked in depth into PDAs and even the really expensive ones still don't have enough ram to carry big databases or do much heavy lifting. Also, they are a real pain to use with that tiny stylus. They basically are still in beta from my point of view. Short battery life, not enough ram, hard to navigate, no real file system, hard to backup preferences. I won't use one if it's given to me.
    • until my little book ended up in a mudpuddle. Palms are dirt cheap on ebay, and they have that ever-handy "sync" feature. ..they still all suck for drawing with though :(
    • Yea I totally agree with you... besides the mobile phones are getting bigger and more PDA-ish. The latest phones from Nokia are pretty out there - Why not go for something which was built to handle phone calls, and then some? I guess the PDAs and Mobiles are morphing to the same thing, from opposite directions, though..
      • It would seem to make sense, until you need to talk on the phone and check your calendar at the same time.

        I've already got a 5500 that serves as my calendar, address book, ultra-portable notebook, wifi sniffer, and media player. What I want NOW is a tiny, cheap, monochrome, tiny, tiny, tiny, cheap, cheap phone. The Zaurus can go in my man-purse, but I really want a phone that will fit comfortably in the front pocket of a pair of Levi's 501s.

        On the other hand, I've got no use for a phone at the moment, a

        • Check out the motorola v66. Flip phone, so little chance of accidental button pushing (and power is under the cover, where it should be!). Monochrome, been on the market for a couple years now, so you can get one for $20, battery life is great, and it gets great reception. I carry it in my front pocket all day, every day.

    • Re:Looks cool but.. (Score:4, Insightful)

      by LilMikey ( 615759 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @10:28AM (#9258580) Homepage
      I was in the same boat. I bought in to each generation. I had an old Palm IIIxe, a Compaq Aero, and they're running around here with iPaqs and e750s. None of these devices are capable of replacing my trusty, although quite huge, laptop. The PDAs floated around in my pocket for maybe 6-8 months each before realizing I don't know enough people or have enough appointments to waste my time with these devices.

      However, I bought a SL-6000L over the weekend. It's amazing what these devices will do. These 2 reviews cover the hardware pretty comprehensively and the included apps ok but they only allude to its true capabilities. It's surely everything my laptop did for me and it fits in my (larger) pockets. I admit, the USB host and VGA screen are what pushed me over the edge. Check out ZUG [zaurususergroup.com] for a better idea of what people are doing with these machines.

  • But it's HUGE (Score:4, Insightful)

    by drizst 'n drat ( 725458 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @07:10AM (#9257325)
    The darn thing weighs in at 10.5 ounces and with the plastic screen cover closed, it measures 6.2" x 3.2" x .9". Come on now -- almost an inch thick? You're not carrying this thing in your pocket; not even if it runs Linux! No thanks ... I'll stick to my Compaq 8350.

  • A killer feature (Score:4, Informative)

    by Ianoo ( 711633 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @07:12AM (#9257329) Journal
    A really amazing feature of this PDA is that it can act as USB host (since the Linux kernel includes excellent support for USB). This means, presumably, that we can plug pretty much any Linux-supported USB device into it. A USB hard disk, CD-ROM drive, networking adapter, printer? That sounds nice!

    Another completely different question - as mentioned in the article, the PDA uses a combination of Flash and SDRAM to mirror the secondary/primary disk/memory model that you see with most normal computers running Linux. This is different to Windows CE, which uses the same memory for both running programs and storing them and their data, although I believe this memory is dynamically divided between memory and storage and programs are still copied across the divide when they're actually run; different again is PalmOS, which as far as I'm aware simply runs a program "in place" since programs are both stored and run in the Flash RAM on a device.

    Is there anything that can make Linux work like this? I can imagine a hack involving boot-time RAM disks and loop mounting, but it doesn't sound like an terribly optimal solution.

    • PDA with HD? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by ciroknight ( 601098 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @07:25AM (#9257370)
      I know I've posted this before, but how long will it be until Apple realizes what they're missing? Slap that LCD on a current generation iPod (or iPod mini if you really want to make a lightweight device), port QuickTime video to it, and poof, a pocket sized multimedia device that will put most anything else on the market to shame.

      I think it's the logical progression to see PDA's start to take on parts from laptops/desktops. PDA's are really the Laptop's of our generation. A USB host controller is awesome because of all of the USB devices that exist. USB Networking is a definite plus, but most everything is going to Bluetooth/WiFi anyways.

      Either way, this is a damned cool PDA, even if hella expensive, and I can't wait to see something like this, but cheaper, or any of the improvements from above are added (micro hd, minus usb host controller, plus wifi AND bluetooth, plus quicktime/some movie player).
      • Ahh, but you forget...
        Apple *DID* have PDAs once upon a time. They were called Apple Newtons.
        Something from that whole experience left a bad taste in Apple's mouth (maybe not getting a good enough penetration in the windows world) and they ended up pulling the plug.
        One of the developers could even see the writing on the wall. Palm (US robotics, whatever) had a bigger penetration in the pda complimenting a mac than apple did. He committed suicide. (Of course, I'm grasping here, and there could have

      • The Zaurus has a CF slot so you can just plug in a one of IBM's CF MicroDrives.
      • Well, the Archos and the Lyra have already done this. The Archos especially has a great screen on it but both are around 3.5". The newest Archos is even rumored to be using an embedded Qt similar to the Zauri. The 20gig Lyra is only 399 which is the same price as the audio-only 20gig iPod.

        However, these devices won't be 'sleek and elegant' (aka pretentious) enough to consider until Apple makes one.

    • It's a nice concept, but I really can't see much need for linking a PDA to a hard disk, CD-ROM drive or whatever. Surely the "killer feature" of any PDA is that you can carry it about and get common tasks such as organisation done as quickly as possible. Anything more than this and a PDA will quickly become cumbersome due to the small screen size and limited input.

      If you need to print something or save something big enough to require a hard drive, then surely you would be better off using the laptop or dek
      • No - the Hard Disk in the end is what makes the thing valuable.

        People who do real work need access to large stores of data - without the cost of parsing what to bring and not.

        I'm going somewhere - I bring a. My Laptop or B. My PDA-HD with a verbatim copy of "My Docs" folder.

        Do I need everything? No.

        But Do I have the time to go through everything and sort out what is it I don't need?

        What's wanted here is a small screen - which = long life.

        Small size - for weight and pocketability

        minimal utility - for
        • Laptops are delicate and easy to steal. If you have one outside your fortress - you are shackled to the thing. You cannot put it down - check it - put it in overhead storage, or under the table.

          In public places it will evaporate faster than spilled vodka.

          Travellers want to carry less of the computer and borrow a big display and keyboard at the hotel destination if necessary.

          You can give a presentation from a small box with a big HD.

          You can get email on a small box with a small display.

          You could edit /
    • A USB hard disk

      You know what would be sweet? Imagine sitting at some airport with you pda, waiting. You decide you need a file from home/more space/whatever. You mount the hd of your home computer with samba over a ssh tunnel over wifi... :)

      Just wish it was smaller & cheaper... :/
    • There are a couple of compactflash usb host controllers on the market (that you can use with an iPaq or Zaurus 5k series), but they are around $200.

      Also note that all PC card USB controllers are 32-bit cardbus cards, and will not work in the 16 bit PCMCIA sleeve for the iPaq.
    • I don't see any of these two features new or non-existant on the PocketPCs. Some existing PockePC devices already can act as a USB host, but you need a special cable to connect other devices to them. Also on a PocketPC device you can install the program in the flash memory of the device (e.g. iPAQ files store on an old 3970 is 18MB). I install some critical programs like eWallet in the flash and also put their data files in the flash memory too so if the battery goes flat they'll be safe.

  • Cost? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Marxist Commentary ( 461279 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @07:13AM (#9257331) Homepage
    $699? Ouch...

    I think I'd rather have a cheap used laptop for that price. More functionality, about the same weight.

  • Another PDA for ya.. (Score:5, Informative)

    by tarunthegreat2 ( 761545 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @07:34AM (#9257397)
    and this one's much cheaper, and yes, it runs Linux. Simputer [amidasimputer.com]
    • I like this. Its a nice idea. I must tell the manager at my local Indian Restaurant about it.
      With one of these and a mobile phone I could enjoy a quality meal almost anywhere - if I could speak Hindi ;-)

      And yes before anyone says anything I know you can type in English as well as Hindi on the Simputer but I did RTFA after all.

      Hopefully the website is playing down its full potential so as not to scare off the target consumer for this product.

      Good luck to them I say.

  • Pricing ? (Score:5, Informative)

    by polyp2000 ( 444682 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @07:38AM (#9257412) Homepage Journal
    The one thing I dont understand is the high cost of certain Linux based PDA's. Given the cost saving on the operating system licensing surely that should be passed onto the consumer. The hardware itself isnt radically different from PocketPC based devices which in general cost less. Sooner or later I'll be in the market for a PDA but i dont think I should have to pay extra for the privelege of not having to use a Microsoft based one.

    The real question is out of the newer specification PDA's which ones can be re-flashed with Linux and work as well as the sharp offering ? I suppose a palm based device might be an alternative but i want my bash shell and dev tools to boot .

    • Re:Pricing ? (Score:2, Insightful)

      by torpor ( 458 )
      One thing that you have to take into consideration is that Sharp probably doesn't expect to sell a whole lot of these things ... its fair to say that their treatment of the Zaurus product line (I have an SL-5500, love it to death...) is pretty much an afterthought, for the consumer market.

      Instead, you'll see these things being used a lot by sytems integrators for business/commerce systems, and that explains the average higher cost for the Zaurus PDA's over other, equivalently featured products from competi
    • The real question is out of the newer specification PDA's which ones can be re-flashed with Linux and work as well as the sharp offering ?

      With the exception of the cool screen (4" VGA!), all kinds, there are lists out there for those who want to look. But if you want that cool screen, there's the Zaurus SL-6000 and the Zaurus SL-C7xx/SL-C8xx lines. And the price [dynamism.com] for this is in line for those. I suspect that screen alone is a significant cost element.
    • Before I bought my 6000 I looked at the prices of PDA's and found that to get a similar device (not including the 640 x 480 VGA screen) I was going to spend about $550 USD. The choice for me was easy, for less than a couple hundred I could get exactly what I wanted. -punjester

  • I've got SL-C860 (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @07:40AM (#9257419)
    I've ordered an 860 from shirtpocket(.co.uk). This is clamshell model sold only in Japan, but Shirtpocket guys have made really good job on translating it to Engslih. However, I've moved to Cacko ROM. It is an amazing PDA, best of everything I had or still have (such as Garmin iQue, an superb Palm OS PDA + GPS). Simply put, this *is* a laptop you can put in your pocket (although a bigger one). It's got 640x480 screen, SD and CF slots (I have a WiFi card there), and it connects via USB to act both as USB host and P2P network interface. There's a LOT of software there and several flavors of ROM images. You can even make your own Linux distro for it. There's that PDAXROM for geeks: you get the login prompt, log in, then type startx to get GUI, the real GUI with moving, resizeable windows, just like you on your PC. I have perl and python there, there are several IDE environments, Java and GCC. It can be overclocked, in which case you can use mplayer to view full-screen movies in 25fps. The keyboard is small, but you can get used to thumb typing in a short time. Yes, you can make swap files to get extra memory as well. While the PDA functions aren't quite impressive, you can put Korganizer there and get pretty decent results. If the mail app isn't worth it, install Mozilla Thunderbird and have a go. Yup, you can put GIMP there, Apache as well. PHP just goes with that. And what would it be without MySQL? You can install it too...


    This really is a Geek dream come true. :) It isn't for the faint of the heart, for it does need some knowledge to hack it, and flashing ROM in a wrong way can render it unusable, and you get no support outside of Japan. This is a hacking toy, the best I've seen so far.


    Oh, and the geekiest of the geeky things: I've shown it to Ken Coar while he was wisiting Croatia, and guess what - he was jealous! :-)

  • looks nice, but.... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by zogger ( 617870 )
    ... for that kinda loot, it needs a built in camera. All kinza cellphones have that now, seems they missed that.

    but.. it also looks like maybe something we were discussing with regards wifi, some sort of low power remote relay for doing homebrew line of sight jumps to get wifi to remote areas. Small enough to be stashed someplace out of the way, low enough power that a solar panel and batteries might make it work. Although most likely there is a cheaper pda-like device with even better power management/low
    • As for the camera... I doubt enterprise would be very interested in it and if they were, there's a camera addon for the 5xxx line that is rumored to work fine in the 6000.

  • A Geek's Toy (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Linux + non-volatile + fits in your hand. I'm pretty sure customizing and tweaking this pda would be alot easier and fun for us geeks.

    With that in mind it makes it appearant why it's not targeted for consumers.

  • comparison survey of all SHARP Linux PDAs (Score:5, Informative)

    by wehe ( 135130 ) <<gro.libomxut> <ta> <ehew>> on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @08:20AM (#9257598) Homepage Journal
    Here is a comparison chart of the SHARP Zaurus Linux PDA series [tuxmobil.org]. The survey contains also the internal code names for the PDAs, which are taken from dog races (Collie, Boxer, Poodle, ..).

  • I have one of these SL-6000Ls and ... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @08:54AM (#9257805)
    I have to say that I'm shocked, just shocked, that people are posting the following drivel without reading the article or learning anything about this machine:

    1. ... year and half to enter a command with handwriting recognition ...

    When I use Konsole (tabbed terminal---better than the default), I do it in one of three ways: (a) built-in keyboard, (b) Happy Hacking Keyboard Lite 2 (with control key in correct position) attached to the USB connector, or (c) ssh from another machine with a full-size keyboard, since the SL-6000L is usually on the network when I'm around other machines.

    2. ... given up on PDAs ...

    It's not a pda, it's a small Linux machine I wear on a camera strap around my neck and use while standing up on a totally wifi campus where I need to be mobile.

    3. ... You're not carrying this thing in your pocket; ... I stick to my [Windows-tax-paying, Linux-fighting] Compaq

    I previously used a Clie, about the size of your Linux-fighting Compaq, and found it was no fun to carry in a pocket, either. Plus, it didn't do enough to replace my laptop.

    4. ... rather have ... laptop for that price. More functionality, about the same weight ...

    If you can find a 10.5 ounce laptop for that price, get it. I dare you to.

    5. ... hardware itself isnt radically different from PocketPC ... should pass on Linux saving to consumer ... I never took Econ 101 ...

    The SL-6000L has a VASTLY better screen than any PocketPC. It is VASTLY more ruggedized than any PocketPC. It has VASTLY more features (USB host, 802.11b) than any PocketPC. It's made in VASTLY smaller quantities than any PocketPC.

    6. ... needs a built-in camera ...

    Thanks to Sharp for NOT including a built-in camera. I need to take it into places where cameras are no longer allowed (thanks Donald Rumsfled, this totally solves the torture problem) for government meetings. I don't want builtin cameras on anything really important.

    7. ... should be feature for feature like a phone and cost $200 and I am an idiot ...

    Well, you got the last part right, but seriously, it's not about features, it's about usability. This thing is usable as a phone, but it's really a laptop replacement for people who want to use a computer in situations other than sitting in one place for long periods.

    Finally, I would like to comment that Opera on this machine is the most impressive example of an application fitting a machine I've seen in a very long time. I use http://local.google.com to find services in my new home at Carnegie Mellon, a very wifi campus, for instance, and this is the fulfillment of the promise of mobile computing.
    • Thank you for summing up all the faulty ppl, I was prepareing to do the same but found your post while wrighting my list. I'm really glad I didnt read this before I picked up my SL-6000; it may have changed my mind. Have you seen any SL-6000 or series specific web sources out there? Community/developer's sites would be neat if I could find 'em.
    • The SL-6000L has a VASTLY better screen than any PocketPC. It is VASTLY more ruggedized than any PocketPC. It has VASTLY more features (USB host, 802.11b) than any PocketPC. It's made in VASTLY smaller quantities than any PocketPC.

      Just a quick nitpick, 802.11b isn't exactly a feature exclusive to these handhelds.

  • Nice ........ (Score:1, Offtopic)

    by NDPTAL85 ( 260093 )
    ....but I'll stick with my Treo 600.

    • Re:Nice ........ (Score:3, Insightful)

      by LilMikey ( 615759 )
      ....but I'll stick with my Treo 600.

      ...as you should. This is a completely different device targeted at a completely different audience.
  • At least not from how it appears on Sharp's own site. I can't find anywhere to actually purhcase a Zaurus of any model.

  • Features: Yes, Sexy: NO! (Score:4, Informative)

    by zapp ( 201236 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @10:32AM (#9258603)
    I'm probably going to be modded troll for this, or just ignored, but it's gotta be said.

    Compare this: set of pictures [newegg.com] of a HP iPAQ 4155/4150

    with this [pdabuyersguide.com] (the article) set of pictures.

    The 4155 can be obtained from newegg for $400, and the Zaurus has a list price of $700 (almost 2x the price), and the only extra thing the zaurus offers feature-wise is a VGA screen. Also, the 4155 is the 2nd-smallest PocketPC right now (with the 19xx series being 1st), small enough to keep it in my pocket all day without it being annoying.

    Yes, i own a 4155.

  • Yeah its a toy, no its not going to replace your desktop, yeah its pretty cool.

    I gotta get the aux input hooked up in my car so I can use it as an Ogg / mp3 player. I've tested it a couple times and thats spiff.

    As far as geeky toys go, Zarus's are hard to beat. If you're all into practicality and that kind of crap then go get a 10 cent notebook from wally mart.

  • Anyone know of any developer resources for the Zaurus line? The official Sharp DevNet [sharpusa.com] is down... and has been down for a long time. Until they get with it and support their developers I don't see how they are going to get many apps.

    JOhn
  • It doesn't mention if this zaurus has the same short "flashspan" as the previous models. Especially for the cost of a cheap new laptop, I'd like a unit that will last.
  • The Zaurus is a tiny linux box. A powerful, tiny linux box. The first thing you should do when you get a Z is wipe the OS and instead install the excellent OpenZaurus [openzaurus.org] (OZ). OZ is better than the original Linux install in nearly every respect. Don't think of your Z as a PDA, it's more like a tiny laptop. Some of the things I do with mine:

    email: I recently compiled Mutt [mutt.org] with a IMAP header cache patch. One of the most powerful email clients in the palm of my hand :-)

    wireless sniffing: As you know, Kismet [kismetwireless.net] r
    • An update, I've actually put a link to some programs on the Zaurus in the Undertow page mentioned above.

      Let me know if there is something specific you'd like to see compiled for the Z and maybe I'll give it a shot :-)

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