Slashdot Mirror

cr0sh asks: "I have a question that I am hoping someone can answer - today I was looking into cheap handhelds - I first looked at Palm, then at Handspring, then at something called LinuxDA, which seems to be a company offering not only an embedded Linux for handhelds, but also a device with it pre-loaded as one of their products. Looking at each of these companies offerings, I began to notice how they all seemed to be identical, hardware-wise (case, processor, button-layout, memory size, etc), so my question is - is there some company in Asia making the hardware, which each of these companies now source from, with the difference being the software on the platform? Handspring was kinda "spun-off" (not in the traditional sense) of Palm, but what is LinuxDA? The hardware they have looks the same, and their software can run on Palm devices. They surely didn't design and built their own hardware, and besides, each of these companies having such similar designs would cause them to lob trademark infringement lawsuits around - but they aren't - that only leaves the option of one of them acting as the source for the hardware, or an outside supplier. Basically, I want to know where I could get the bare hardware..."

PolarCow writes: "Everyone's favorite Linux powered PDA retailer is back. Empower Technologies/LinuxDA are releasing a new variant of Linux-powered PDA. The new one is called the PowerPlay V. Its hardware is comparable to that of the Palm Vx. Thin, rechargable and with an enhanced display. I'm salivating already."

e1en0r writes "My Linux DA PDA finally arrived yesterday. It's a great PDA for under $100. I put up a review of it here. It's very similar to the Palm OS, with a few more interesting features. The most notable being the file manager. You can see where everything is and view all the files in text and hexadecimal mode. It also appears that you can overclock the 16 MHz DragonBall CPU up to 25 MHz. There are some screenshots on their site, which include the CPU Speed application. Unfortunately that application is lacking in documentation." The review is a little thin, but its still cool seeing these in the wild.

e1en0r writes "My Linux DA PDA finally arrived yesterday. It's a great PDA for under $100. I put up a review of it here. It's very similar to the Palm OS, with a few more interesting features. The most notable being the file manager. You can see where everything is and view all the files in text and hexadecimal mode. It also appears that you can overclock the 16 MHz DragonBall CPU up to 25 MHz. There are some screenshots on their site, which include the CPU Speed application. Unfortunately that application is lacking in documentation." The review is a little thin, but its still cool seeing these in the wild.

segoave asks: "It's been a while since this story was first posted. I was just curious if anyone in the slashdot community bought one of these. Does it work well? Did you have any trouble receiving it? I admit I was hesitant when I saw their SDK license agreement." It's always nice to know what others think of a product, especially before you sink hundreds of dollars into it. How well does the LinuxDA live up to its name, and would you recommend them to your friends and peers? Update: 10/18 17:00 GMT by C W : You might want to wait on this one, one of our readers has already reported problems with delivery due to what the company is calling "high order volume". The company expects to ship the units in "early November". More as we get it.

foo_48120 writes in with his ordering experience. You all might be interested in this: "I thought that the idea of running Linux on a Palm like device was a cool idea. The story ran here. I traded some email about the features with their technical staff and despite the fact that their device currently only syncs to Windoze and not Linux itself (supposedly that is coming soon) and despite the lengthy promised delivery date of 3 to 8 weeks, I put my money where my mouth is and ordered two.

My credit card was immediately charged for the order. This did not really sit well with me but perhaps they were shipping imminently and the 3 - 8 week disclaimer was boiler plate for FTC Mail Order compliance. OK, we'll wait a while.

After receiving my BookPool.com order, placed the same day, I decided to inquire about my order. Three or four emails sent to several of their email addresses went unanswered. Finally my most recent email from last Friday was answered. Copy below.

It has now been about 3 - 4 weeks. My credit card has been charged and no shipment is on the horizon before 'early November' which is perhaps another 3 - 4 weeks away. If LinuxDA were honest about shipments, notified Customers periodically about the state of order processing and DID NOT CHARGE YOUR CREDIT CARD 8 weeks before delivery in violation of the FTC Mail Order Rule, I might recommend ordering from them.

Linux DAs Response with my reply to them requesting an immediate shipment or refund:

Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2001 11:23:25 -0700 (PDT)
From: REDACTED
Subject: Re: Invoice #88100527
To: "sales" <sales@linuxda.com>

Please either ship my order immediately or cancel my order and issue a full credit to my credit card immediately. While I agreed to accept a waiting period of 3 - 8 weeks for delivery, I never accepted that you would immediately charge my credit card and then delay delivery for eight weeks. That is in violation of the current FTC mail order rule.

Do you understand the amount of fines that your company can face for its improper treatment of Customers?

Copies of my correspondence will be forwarded to Slash Dot.

David J Sussman

Sales replied:

Dear David Sussman:

In response to your email, the order quoting invoice #88100527 has been received and is in queue for PDA delivery. At this time, due to the high volume of PowerPlay III PDAs being purchased, please allow 6-8 weeks for delivery.

Shipping of the PowerPlay III PDAs is to commence, at latest, in early November. The PDAs will be shipped by our company's contract courier.

Please contact us if you have any additional questions or concerns. We appreciate your patience, and thank you for your interest in Linux DA.

Best Regards,
Linux DA Customer Support Team

As it is, I cannot recommend their company at all. I am wondering now if I need to contact my Credit Card company to obtain a refund of $191.98 for the two units I never received. LinuxDA cannot tell me today definitively what date this product will ship."

If any others have had similar experiences with this company, please state so in the comments.

segoave asks: "It's been a while since this story was first posted. I was just curious if anyone in the slashdot community bought one of these. Does it work well? Did you have any trouble receiving it? I admit I was hesitant when I saw their SDK license agreement." It's always nice to know what others think of a product, especially before you sink hundreds of dollars into it. How well does the LinuxDA live up to its name, and would you recommend them to your friends and peers? Update: 10/18 17:00 GMT by C W : You might want to wait on this one, one of our readers has already reported problems with delivery due to what the company is calling "high order volume". The company expects to ship the units in "early November". More as we get it.

foo_48120 writes in with his ordering experience. You all might be interested in this: "I thought that the idea of running Linux on a Palm like device was a cool idea. The story ran here. I traded some email about the features with their technical staff and despite the fact that their device currently only syncs to Windoze and not Linux itself (supposedly that is coming soon) and despite the lengthy promised delivery date of 3 to 8 weeks, I put my money where my mouth is and ordered two.

My credit card was immediately charged for the order. This did not really sit well with me but perhaps they were shipping imminently and the 3 - 8 week disclaimer was boiler plate for FTC Mail Order compliance. OK, we'll wait a while.

After receiving my BookPool.com order, placed the same day, I decided to inquire about my order. Three or four emails sent to several of their email addresses went unanswered. Finally my most recent email from last Friday was answered. Copy below.

It has now been about 3 - 4 weeks. My credit card has been charged and no shipment is on the horizon before 'early November' which is perhaps another 3 - 4 weeks away. If LinuxDA were honest about shipments, notified Customers periodically about the state of order processing and DID NOT CHARGE YOUR CREDIT CARD 8 weeks before delivery in violation of the FTC Mail Order Rule, I might recommend ordering from them.

Linux DAs Response with my reply to them requesting an immediate shipment or refund:

Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2001 11:23:25 -0700 (PDT)
From: REDACTED
Subject: Re: Invoice #88100527
To: "sales" <sales@linuxda.com>

Please either ship my order immediately or cancel my order and issue a full credit to my credit card immediately. While I agreed to accept a waiting period of 3 - 8 weeks for delivery, I never accepted that you would immediately charge my credit card and then delay delivery for eight weeks. That is in violation of the current FTC mail order rule.

Do you understand the amount of fines that your company can face for its improper treatment of Customers?

Copies of my correspondence will be forwarded to Slash Dot.

David J Sussman

Sales replied:

Dear David Sussman:

In response to your email, the order quoting invoice #88100527 has been received and is in queue for PDA delivery. At this time, due to the high volume of PowerPlay III PDAs being purchased, please allow 6-8 weeks for delivery.

Shipping of the PowerPlay III PDAs is to commence, at latest, in early November. The PDAs will be shipped by our company's contract courier.

Please contact us if you have any additional questions or concerns. We appreciate your patience, and thank you for your interest in Linux DA.

Best Regards,
Linux DA Customer Support Team

As it is, I cannot recommend their company at all. I am wondering now if I need to contact my Credit Card company to obtain a refund of $191.98 for the two units I never received. LinuxDA cannot tell me today definitively what date this product will ship."

If any others have had similar experiences with this company, please state so in the comments.

rgarcia writes: "CNET has this story: Panasonic announced on Monday its first handheld computer, the Toughbook 01, which is designed to complement its notebook line of the same name. The consumer electronics maker has been selling into a niche in the notebook market by focusing on durable laptops that can withstand the shock of a fall and can resist moisture, dust and scratches. I know Ive dropped a few in my day. Damn things are fragile. Cool design, though I dont know if its actually better." And an unnamed reader points out that DALinux now has hardware available: "They claim it is Palm compatible, but it won't run palm apps - so what 'Palm compatible' means is anyone's guess. But it is a cool gadget, it runs Linux, and, most importantly, it is affordable." "Palm compatible" better at least mean painless address-book import.

Jacob writes: "I just ran across an article about a new Linux-based PDA called the Powerplay III Linux PDA. The PDA is manufactured in Taiwan but is being sold by Canadian Linux company, Empower. This PDA is Palm IIIxe compatible (dragonball processor), is shipped with Empower's Linux DA O/S, and get this: its only $89! I'll be getting one..." We mentioned this operating system a few weeks ago. They now have some sort of source download available, which seems like a step in the right direction.