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Which Linux/Developer's PDA is the Best Buy?

Posted by Cliff on from the getting-a-good-deal dept.

benzdesignz asks: "I have been researching Linux PDAs and have enough to get pretty much any of them (Sharp Zaurus, iPaq, Yopy), but I am unsure of which one is the best. I am most likely going to get the Sharp unless otherwise advised. Links have not been included in this post since I am hoping to get answers from people already knowledgable about the Linux-PDA choices.". As an add-on to this question, Hellraisr would like a PDA for the developer: "I am in search of a PDA designed with the developer in mind. What I'm looking for (and I'm sure many others are as well) is a PDA that's probably running embedded linux, and allows simple compiles of not only Java, but maybe C/C++ and a few other languages. It would be great to have one of these in school where you could test out something real quick right in a lecture. Does anyone know of anything like this?"

2 of 12 comments (clear)

  1. Re:The one with the primere post by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    go with sharp. It seems to be a good deal. j2me, qt, these tools work well and are well established.
    plus you get to have linux on your PDA. the possiblities are endless :)

  2. /source/dog$ make && make install by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    >I am in search of a PDA designed with the developer in mind.

    There's your problem. PDAs are not general computing devices, nor are they development platforms.

    >What I'm looking for (and I'm sure many others are as well) is a PDA that's probably running embedded linux,

    Why is having embedded linux important if you're just compiling simple stuff?

    >and allows simple compiles of not only Java, but maybe C/C++ and a few other languages.

    What you're looking for is a PC in a smaller form factor. Powering enough DRAM to load the compiler/linker/debugger (unless you're doing this on a CF card [shudder]) almost means that you'll be tethered.

    >It would be great to have one of these in school where you could test out something real quick right in a lecture.

    If they're "simple compiles" and you can't answer the questions asked by _students_ based on material you're teaching, you probably shouldn't be lecturing about it. If you're in a programming course, you'd get a better answer sooner by asking the prof.

    >Does anyone know of anything like this?

    Sony, Hitachi, and others make uber-small and expensive form-factor x86 laptops...