Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Cheap Linux PDAs

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the stuff-to-hack-on dept.

An anonymous reader says: "With all the talk of the dreamcast port I figured I'd post a link to This deal - a "developer" model Agenda Linux PDA for $179 -- a bit more expensive than the DC, but it'll fit in ya pocket ;)" Apparently a soon-to-be-released color version of this PDA was being shown at LWCE (I missed it). I finally got my hands on an iPaq, so hopefully I'll have time soon to try PocketLinux (which sadly lacks a calandering app), as well as getting X11 on it. I still want to use an iPaq as a wireless X11 terminal. But first I must complete my MAME cabinet. One project at a time ;)

6 of 127 comments (clear)

  1. I'm not proud of this, by Shoeboy · · Score: 4

    But I'd like to get 8 PDAs and install linux on them.
    Then I'd configure them in a wireless beowulf cluster.
    It wouldn't be useful for anything, but can you imagine the bragging rights?
    Most of my friends would look at me with newfound respect.
    Which says more about my friends than it does about beowulf clusters of PDA's, but hey, what can you do?
    This idea really appeals to me.
    Maybe I should seek professional help.
    --Shoeboy

  2. My Review by Kristopher+Johnson · · Score: 4
    I've had mine for a little over a week. Here are my impressions:
    • The size is nice. You can't tell from the web site photos, but it's about the size of the Palm m100, but with a larger screen. The screen provides 160x240 pixels.
    • The kernel (2.4.0), device drivers, and basic utilities are still under development. But it's good enough to use as a development platform--very stable in my experience.
    • It's "real" Linux, with an X server, TCP/IP stack, etc. It's not a dumbed-down "embedded Linux".
    • It's slow. Part of this is due to lack of FPU. The developers are working on this.
    • FLTK is the primary API for doing GUIs. There is an FLPDA library that provides common look-and-feel across apps.
    • The handwriting recognition is not usable. You'll have to use the on-screen keyboard (or telnet in from a desktop machine).

    There's a SourceForge project, http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/agtoys, that will provide an area for developers to post their stuff. You may want to pay attention to see what people are doing. (The site is new, so there's nothing there yet.)

  3. Re:It's an organizer? by MustardMan · · Score: 5

    So you can use it to run X applications wirelessly, and easily display anything from a monitor for your seti@home progress, to a instant message session, to the GIMP, to anything else that needs more processor power than a PDA has, but can still be used in a pinch on a small screen.

    In my personal experience, one thing that I plan to use something like this as is a portable monitor for the simulations I have running on a remote supercomputer, doing nonlinear dynamics calculations for my senior research. I can easily use X to display a progress monitor/dialog/error popup box on something I can take with me, so I can monitor my simulation at lunch, or while in a class, or on the bus.

  4. I have a helio now... by SurfsUp · · Score: 4

    Simple, cheap. I paid $140 and they cost less now. 8 MB, 2B flash, re-flashed with linux+kaffee. Specs here. Java is just wrong for this - it takes about 30 secs to start, and 15 secs to load an app. I want to put in Python instead and see if that makes it usable. I can think of a lot of things I'd do with this, with a decent software infrastructure. Java is a dead weight holding this thing down, I hope that Python will be more like wings.
    --

    --
    Life's a bitch but somebody's gotta do it.
  5. Since the posted link doesn't go anywhere... by PhatKat · · Score: 5

    Here's the site:
    Agenda VR3.

  6. Agenda VR3d by Rambo · · Score: 5
    I got one of these units back in December, and it is a nifty little gadget... However, anyone who buys these should go into it with their eyes open. At this point, I don't consider it ready for the masses by any stretch of the imagination, so please don't buy it to replace your Visor/Palm/etc with the thought that it will be ready "out of the box". Current units (with the help of the community) are now able to auto-sleep, although there is still no way to meter the battery voltage or have it shut itself automatically when the batteries get low. Speed is still an issue, as is handwriting recognition, etc.

    I'm not trying to knock the unit, but I would hope that people who are serious about developing for the device would purchase it (hence the "developer edition"). It seems like a lot of people show up on the mailing list expecting a fully functional unit, when there is still a lot of work to be done.