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New Linux PDA Available

Posted by michael on from the things-to-lose dept.

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.

7 of 182 comments (clear)

  1. Re:6 to 8 Weeks.....SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT by darkPHi3er · · Score: 4, Interesting

    "...makes me wonder if it is real or not...."

    and here, brothers and sisters, is as succinctly as it could be said, the reason why trying to crack an existing market in technolgy products is so tough....

    i (and all my friends) usually expect our "devices" to have a major brand name on them...

    whether that name is Sony or Palm or Compaq or Casio or Nintendo or Atari

    it's up to us to take a chance, roll the dice on the $89, and if it's cool or even just usuable...

    WE HAVE TO TELL EVERYONE WE KNOW

    --
    Ten quid, she's so easy to blind. And not a word is spoken...
  2. Where are the specs? by Robotech_Master · · Score: 3, Funny

    Where on that site is the technical info about the device? i.e. how much RAM, what resolution, what peripherals, and so on? It's nice it runs Linux and all, and is only $89, but I'd like to try to figure out just how many e-books it would hold. :)

    --
    Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
  3. something doesn't seem right by mj6798 · · Score: 3, Interesting
    I downloaded the Linux source from their site. It seems to be some kind of derivative of uClinux. Whether they have made any useful modifications is hard to tell. In any case, they certainly don't seem to be interested in a high quality release or community input: there is no documentation, not even a README. To top it all off, the kernel tarball has a 7.6M core dump from "netscape-commun" in it.

    Altogether, I'd stay away. If you want a nice, functional Linux PDA, take a look at the Agenda. HP also will be coming out with a real Linux PDA.

    1. Re:something doesn't seem right by mj6798 · · Score: 3
      Give them a break. In today's tech climate, even the big, rich guys are having difficulties with funding.

      The company released binaries to a GPL'ed program months before releasing the sources (in fact, they probably have lost all their rights to distribute the kernel because of their GPL violation). There is no documentation, no README, nothing in the source tree, no instructions for building it, no change log, no notes to their own engineers. It is clear that they don't give a damn about people being able to rebuild the software or participating. In fact, I strongly doubt that the sources they ship correspond to the binaries they ship. The huge "core" file is only the last straw.

  4. Re:6 to 8 Weeks.....SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT by RevAaron · · Score: 3, Funny

    If you're looking to waste money on a piece of junk, with your rationale being that it's "still cheaper than any MS license fee," please send me $75, and in return I will send you something fun. It may or may not be useful, but not only is it "cheaper than any MS license fee," it is also cheaper than one of these puppies! With deals like this, how could you even consider passing it up?

    --

    Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
  5. Cheap, but... by kdgarris · · Score: 3, Informative

    ..if you want a real Linux PDA, the Agenda VR3 is the way to go. It's designed from the ground up for Linux, and 100% open-source.

    I just recieved mine a few days ago because I thought it would be a cool toy, not expecting it to to useful as a PDA. Fortunately it is useful for both, however. If you've read negative reviews of the VR3 indicating otherwise, keep in mind that the system has improved greatly since the initial release.

    A few good and bad points to keep in mind if you're thinking of getting one:

    The good:

    • Small form-factor and lightweight (About the size and weight of a Palm V series PDA)
    • All software is open-source and upgradable (kernel, base system, included apps, etc)
    • Regular free updates from Agenda Computing
    • Active development community
    • Easy to use (knowledge of Linux not required)

    The bad:

    • Short battery life (uses 2 AAA's that last about 2 weeks under normal use)
    • Only 3.5 Megs of read-write user space (the 10 MB system rootdisk can be customized, however)
    • Sync software for Windows users not very mature (just released recently)

    -Karl

  6. OK, here is my first impression... by javabandit · · Score: 3, Informative

    I just installed the LinuxDA demo on my Palm IIIxe. Here are some observations.

    First off, The demo is very annoying. About every 15-20 seconds, a message that takes up the entire screen pops up and says, "LinuxDa... a demo copy for limited use... blah blah". I seriously don't think this stuff is GPL. Their license is on their site here.

    Second, the UI sucks. I'm not sure why Linux UI implementations have to be so cumbersome. But this one is no different. The drop-down menus are hard-to-control. Often times, selecting a drop-down menu item requires several taps. The UI is 'Palm-like', but it fails horribly in a few key areas of navigability.

    Third, I have sent an email off to LinuxDA asking them if they have a shell interface to the RAM filesystem. The demo doesn't have one. Their 'full' version doesn't appear to have one, either. I also asked about whether or not LinuxDA has a TCP/IP stack, or ethernet support. Again, I saw nothing like that in the demo or in the specs of their full version.

    So far, my conclusion is thumbs down. I don't like it. Yeah, its Linux, but it sucks right now.

    If they give me a shell. If they give me a TCP/IP stack, and ethernet support... then I'm on board. I'm not sure what good Linux on a handheld is without those three things.