Retail Sharp Zaurus Released

Arminius writes "It looks like Sharp has finally released the Linux based Sharp Zaurus SL-5500 for retail sale. This thing is so awesome! Other than only being able to listen to mp3's thru my headphones only, this thing blows away my iPaq 3835! It even has Opera as the web browser. "

Comments

Works fine in Konq here on NetBSD/macppc...

[CoolVibe]

Nuff said.. Maybe they fixed it?

Here's a sample letter

[yerricde]

I just guessed the address webmaster@ because it's common for administrators of web sites to use this address. Even if it isn't, a competent postmaster will see the flood of bounces from webmaster@ and set up the appropriate forwarding.

Here's the letter I sent:

To: webmaster@sharpelectronics.com
Subject: Blocking web browsers is counterproductive

By blocking Netscape 6, you're throwing away
potential sales.

Many of the people who would buy your Sharp Zaurus
PDA are the same people who use more recent
browsers such as Netscape 6.2. If you track
Referer:, look in your server logs for hits coming
from a site called slashdot.org. Many of
lashdot's readers use Mozilla, an open-source web
browser that's essentially identical to Netscape
6.x. Users of Netscape 6 and Mozilla would prefer
even a text-only information page to the empty page
you are providing.

Heck, you block Opera, the very browser built into
the PDA. This strikes me as highly hypocritical.

Please remove the browser blocks.

and once you've bought it...

[Capt. Beyond]

You can grab enhanced versions of some of the apps, http://opie.handhelds.org

wait till Open Zaurus rom has been released
http://openzaurus.sourceforge.net

and or roll your own rom and flash away...
:D

I got mine two days ago

[jmorse]

This is a great little machine. Embedix 2.4 with both CF and SD/MMC slots (the DRM on the SD is not enabled on the Zaurus). The screen is pretty good (320 x 240) and the apps run very smoothly with 64MB of memory. About 30 people her ein my ofice bought the developer edition at JavaOne, and they're all a bit jealous now. Of course, I did pay a whole lot more than they did.

I was a bit dissappointed that there's no GUI bash shell on the consumer edition (there was a Qt app shell on the developer edition). I suppose that can be remedied with a software install, but I haven't found the installer yet. It works well with the Linksys WiFi card...but the battery life goes straight down the tube when you're surfing.

Overall, I'd say it's a very good unit. The Embedix platform has a great chance to overtake PalmOS. I can't wait to see these things evolve over time. I hope they take a cue from Sony and improve the screen res, add nice metal cases, and add a remote control for the audio.

[OT] A shame that the web don't support Mozilla

[CondeZer0]

Hi, here is what I wrote, just in case anybody finds it
useful, BTW, I thought that the Zaurus was pretty cool,
and was thinking of maybe buying one, you can be sure that
now I will think it twice before doing so... I'm really
pissed of...

And for some one who said that it was the fault of the web
designer and not the company itself, a company should take
care that *his* web site follows the web standards and
support all platforms and browsers, of course they are
free to don't do it, but then they will piss off people
like me that instead of promote their cool products will
spread as much bad press for them as possible...

- -

To: webmaster@sharpelectronics.com
Subject: Can't access sharpelectronics.com with Mozilla, Netscape 6 or Opera

Hi

I was interested in the new Sharp Zaurus SL-5500,
but my access was denied to sharpelectronics.com
using any of the following browsers available for
my platform(FreeBSD): Mozilla, Netscape 6 and Opera.

Internet Explorer and Netscape 4.x don't exist for my
platform, so I'm completely unable to access the your
site.

Please, fix your site so it's accessible by any
browser that follows the web standards(http://w3.org)

Thanks

\\Uriel

- -

And don't forget to report this kind of problems at
http:\\bugzilla.mozilla.org as "Evangelism" bugs,
visit http://mozilla-evangelism.bclary.com/ for more
info...

And here is the bug for "http://www.sharp-usa.com/"
(that seems like it's the same as sharpelectronics.com):
http://bugzilla.mozilla.or g/show_bug.cgi?id=63915

Best wishes

\\Uriel

P.S.: And I know that seems that Konkeror is supported, and
that I can change the user agent, but I shouldn't need to do
that! If a web site follows the w3c standards it should work
on all browsers that also follows the standards, and
there is no excuse to not follow the standard, period

Another letter.

[Lethyos]

I think it's important that we all write and hammer this company and make them accept the very open standards and technologies they're selling!

To: webmaster@sharpelectronics.com
Subject: Your Website Baffles Me

Dear Webmaster,

I am highly surprised that you are offering a Linux-based PDA on a web site that blocks open source browsers and even recommends (or requires?) a Microsoft product. I am trying to view http://www.sharpelectronics.com/ using Galeon (which uses the Mozilla engine, and is Mozilla for all intents and purposes, but with only a lighter interface) to read about this great product. It is highly ironic that you could not view this web page with the very product the page is meant to promote.

I have been very excited and enthusiastic about the Sharp Zaurus and have been looking forward a purchase. Now I'm afraid I cannot hold much faith in a company that puts no stock in technologies (open source software) that act as a crucial component to their product. I will be happy to reconsider if the web site is designed and implemented bias-free, with open standards in mind (such as those used by the Zaurus itself).

Thank you for your time.

Who knows? Maybe we'll get a special offer for our toils to keep us as customers. :)