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Which Linux/Developer's PDA is the Best Buy?
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?"
indeed. as it should be.
>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...
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I don't know, as stated above PDAs are not development platforms in general. StrongARMs etc. are nice CPUs, but I wouldn't compile my Java stuff on them.
IMO the optimal PDA for the developer is the one, with which you can edit textfiles fast and comfortable and compile them later on you PC/Laptop. From this point of view you have several choices:
The new Sharp Zaurus Linux PDA - Besides the cool fact it runs linux, it has this cool mini-keyboard, which is pretty fast to use, so editing should be easy with it.
A Psion PDA - okay, they run epoc R5, which is pretty outdated now, but the keyboard is a pleasure to use and with a little practice almost as good as a normal keyboard. If you don't like Epoc here's the project to get linux run on 'em.
So the third possibility, would be a Palm + Palmkeyboard, but from my experience editing is not really fun on a Palm.
So, I would suggest, that you buy the Zaurus, if you just want a Linux toy to play around with and code a bit and get a Psion, if you want a stable PDA for many things + coding.
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Which Linux PDA is the easiest/best/most fun to develop for (if not develop on)?
May I suggest a Sony VAIO or PictureBook? You get a real display, a real keyboard, a real hard drive, real amounts of RAM in a compact form.
My university is looking at Cybikos. There seems to be an active development community, and best of all, they cost 1/4 of the Zaurus. Plus they come with wireless stuff which should be interesting in lectures. We only just got them so I don't know whether all this will pan out. Maybe ucLinux could be ported? I doubt a full linux OS is really needed though, gcc+newlib should be enough.
Go for the Sharp Zaurus. I am using it on CS classes and came pretty handy to try out grep variations while in class.
:-)
:-)
It feels good to have a command prompt in my shirt's pocket...
But if you want something serious, get the new Fujitsu micro notebook: It has the size of an A5 page (== a "letter" size paper folded in half).
And even has DVD-player built in...
Suprisingly, the price isn't so bad: around $1700
Maybe wait a little(I don't know if these are out yet and if they have VNC clients for the Linux PDAs) and get a PDA with a phone that also has a VNC or Terminal Services client. then you have the full resources of your main system and any other systems.
The Sharp hardware is really nifty, but it doesn't run X11. That greatly limits its usefulness to Linux developers. I'd stay away from it until Sharp has changes over to X11. In the Sharp's favor is that it comes with a Java runtime environment, if that matters to you, although I doubt it comes with a Java development environment.
I have used the iPaqs with Familiar Linux, and they make great little machines. You can ssh in/out, run X11 remotely in both directions, and stuff ports to them really easy. The Yopy looks like an even nicer piece of hardware, since it comes with Linux and X11 preinstalled, as well as a keyboard. For Java, they probably run Kaffe, gcj, and Jikes, which is no worse than what the Sharp likely has.