Slashdot Mirror
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. "
"To fully experience the Sharp USA site, you need to have Version 4 or above of Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator Version 4.x."
Great way to make the customer feel good about buying their product.
Quoting from the spec page: "Edit text or e-mail effortlessly with a standard QWERTY keyboard."
I searched and searched, but somehow couldn't find the option to purchase the 1-foot tall man add-on module to assist in data entry. I would have bought it, but the keyboard's so small...
The irony of this is that the Zaurus has Opera built in to it..
Got Wisdom?
Nuff said.. Maybe they fixed it?
Well, at least Sharp's web devs aren't too thorough in their browser bigotry, er... detection; Opera spoofing as IE works just fine (but identify as Mozilla 3.0, 4.76 or 5.0 and you're out of luck).
I have no special gift, I am only passionately curious. --Albert Einstein
I picked up one of these at Fry's a couple days ago and am very impressed with it so far. The form factor is very nice, and the Linux OS powering the PDA is very peppy (running on a 206 Mhz StrongARM, a very fast chip compared to the competition).
What I love most about this PDA though is its openness. Need to get a file onto the PDA? Use NFS, scp, ftp, http, etc.. Want to develop an application for the PDA? Use Java, Qt, or C, all with open API's and no NDA nonsense.
Some good places for more information:
Zaurus Zone has some nice (but often too busy) forums. And of course the Sourceforge project for Zaurus.
In short, I love this PDA. I will try to answer any questions people may have here about it.
The thing is nice, though not the hacker's dream that I hoped for. For example, the apps are rough around the edges and source code for them doesn't seem to be available.
My biggest gripe about the hardware is the stylus is too small. I'm using an iPaq stylus with it which is a lot better.
Also, it's not clear whether there's audio input. There's a voice recorder program that says plug in a mono mic with 3.5mm plug, but there's only one jack that size and it's intended for stereo headphones. I've never heard of multiplexing a jack between headphones and a mic. I'll try it with a mic but I think the software and docs were written for some different piece of hardware.
If you're using Opera, set it to identify itself as MSIE 5 and the Sharp site should work for you. It did for me.
for $299! Came with 802.11 wireless card as well. Would have been a nice 'toy', but hard to justify. My PalmVII just collects dust now.
Ummm.. Konqueror is available for the Zaurus here along with many other GPL utilities.
Please do some research before painting with a broad brush.
Well, actually, they try to lock you in 2 browsers, and somehow, Konq on my NetBSD/macppc displays the pages fine. No UserAgent tweaking. Maybe they fixed that 'problem' after seeing that browser-upgrade page being hit hard so much from this place?
Note that it's the developer version (SL-5000D) not the retail SL-5500D. The main difference I can notice is the dev. version has 32M of RAM and the retail version has 64M.
Yeah, but where's Mozilla?
My point is really that this sort of thing has gone on long enough... I'm tired of these half-assed linux implementations. If (god forbid) there was a Linux Corporation, they'd sue the hell out of the Zaurus for Dillution of Trademark. Since we can't sue em, the only recourse we have as consumers is to simply deny them any congradulations for their product.
This device isn't pro linux, it's just contributing to Linux's non-homogeniuty. The average person will see this and thing _this_ is linux, even though it doesn't even run Mozilla.
Ludicris.
The SL-5500 is on display at Fry's Electronics (I saw it in Fountain Valley, CA).
If you buy one there, don't let them make you suffer the Final Indignity.
They are aiming this product at the general public and guess what the general public uses Internet Explorer or Netscape.
You said Netscape? Sharp blocks Netscape.
I am using the web browser whose codebase will become either Netscape 6.3 or Netscape 6.5. For practical purposes, I am using Netscape, even though it has an M instead of an N in its throbber.
My neighbor is using a web browser with the same codebase as the one that Sharp ships with its device. He is using Opera. How hypocritical of Sharp to make a web site that its own device cannot access.
Will I retire or break 10K?
... reporting itself as MSIE 5.0.
(Rant on) What if I don't want to "fully experience the Sharp USA site"? What if I just want some damn information? And I can read... imagine that, you don't have to put up all kinds of pretty little pictures so I know what you're trying to say. Yeah, yeah, I know, use lynx. Actually I often do. (Ok, rant off)
The product looks pretty slick. I'd want some hands-on time (would that be "thumbs-on time"?) before I gave up TRGPro. My next PDA with probably be the Handera anyway. I don't need color or to be able to play MP3s. It's a PDA, not a laptop.
That being said, I do like the option of the thumboard for input, but I can live without it.
War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength. - George Orwell or George Bush?
Just use madplay, ssh, rsync or whatever other Linux/Unix tool you like.
They probably don't mention them because they think people (i.e. Windoze user) might get confused.
Have a look at linuxdevices.com for reviews.
***Quis custodiet ipsos custodes***
Look man, evaluate the product not their web site. You can still go get specifications for the Zaurus just run Netscape and be a little forgiving. And don't be such arses when it comes to their choice of Opera. Opera is lightweight and has already been used in many embedded products and has itself been proven. No doubt it was a ignorant thing but the product has some good qualities. I picked up mine and have the 802.11b CF card and it is amazing. Don't knock till you try it and talk about merits and faults of the product not advetisments. Ho
It might have an Opera web browser, but I have the latest Mozilla and Galeon and it tells me to upgrade.
YAY sharp!
How is a system without mozilla not a Linux system? It uses the linux kernel, what more do you want?
Spencer Ogden
Folks who want the Sharp product because it runs Linux which I assume makes the price point lower due to (lack of) licensing issues. I'm willing to bet that the makers of Opera made a sweet deal to Sharp to include their browser for cheap.
Maybe developers want it because the development is easier because of the Linux base and Java support? At any rate, the developer that would be most interested in the Zaurus is one which already has *nix code to port, is familiar with *nix, etc. For web content, it would definitely be easier to run Opera on the desktop for the purposes of checking URLs for correctness/compatibility before having to check them all on the Zaurus. Ditto for page developement (edit->save->reload).
The target audience includes folks who use IE, but it also most assuredly includes users of Opera and other "alternative" browsers and users of *nix platforms.
- I don't need to go outside, my CRT tan'll do me just fine.
I have XP and Linux, that has nothing to do with using IE, people who use IE usually dont have alot of experience with open source, linux, or anything of the sort.
I'm betting taco is an IE using Windows only kinda guy.
If you use Linux, please help development of Autopac
Erm, Konqi works just peachy....
If we ever want linux on the desktop, we all have to present a _unified_ front for the user. We can't have these semi-functional systems. My question for you is: How is a system that can't run mozilla equivelant to a linux system?
Dunno what browser you guys are using, but Konqi works fine..
I'm sure this device wasn't designed yesterday and frankly Mozilla wasn't ready for production until recently. On the other hand Opera has been going strong for a long time and has a proven track record. Sure, Mozilla may have been just great on your box, but that doesn't mean it would have done well on a handheld.
Opera has been proven to work GREAT as an EMBEDDED browser, while Mozilla is great, I'm not sure it is as good as Opera in the embedded marked. Just because it's open source doesn't mean it's better, even when you're using Linux.
Dunno what all the crap about browser problems is, but I'm getting in, and have been getting in, just fine with Konqueror 2.2.1.
User Agent String: Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Konqueror/2.2.1; Linux; en_US, en)
So, what's up? Does Mozilla send something radically different?
Opera has the embedded market outside winceworld almost entirely to themselves. The browser is turning up in all sorts of phones and other devices.
This isn't because they've got some sort of monopoly, it's because they produce a well engineered, well targetted product.
Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park
here is the little piece of code on Sharp's that is preventing Moz from entering. Why they would even do this is beyond me.
//BROWSER DETECTION for 3
var threeNum = navigator.appVersion.substring(0,1)
if (parseInt(threeNum) location.pathname = "/browser.html";
}
If you really want to see the Sharp site, turn off Javascript in Moz for Navigator, and you're in.
They are trying to switch Netscape users to Internet Explorer and i bet Microsoft paid them to do it.
You dont see a Link to download Netscape.
If you use Linux, please help development of Autopac
...seem to be very similar to those of the standard PocketPC PDAs:
-3.5'' Reflective TFT LCD Screen 65,536-colors
-Front light
-240 x 320 pixel high-resolution color screen
-Built in SD and Compact Flash(TM) Card Expansion Slots
-206 Mhz Inte®l StrongARM® Processor
-64MB of memory
-Rechargeable Replaceable Li-ION Battery
-MPEG-1/MP3 Player
-12 Navigation Keys, Programmable Quick Buttons
Looks almost the same as iPaq 38xx series, plus some interesting extras (replaceable battery, both CF and SD slots).
It will be interesting to see how well it will fare on the market, considering it is a bit cheaper than iPaqs and Jornadas, but still more expensive than Palms....
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.
Will I retire or break 10K?
Hmmm...works fine in Konqueror 3.0 RC3.
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
-- "Perceptions create reality. By changing your perceptions you change your reality."
Hold on. Let me get this straight. First you say that Linux is about choice, and then you bash Sharp for using Opera instead of Mozilla?
And what is wrong with selling GPL'ed software for money? Even the FSF does that.
To get something done, a committee should consist of no more than three persons, two of them absent.
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.
"You done taken a wrong turn."
-Bill McKinney, in Deliverance
Here's where to go to to make a "formal" complaint abot Netscape/Mozilla/Opera being blocked.
r ov eSite/1,1889,,00.html
http://sharpelectronics.com/global/ContactUsImp
Notice the little comment above the Upgrade your Browser blurb it says:
"Be Sharp"
Apparently not
Help fight continental drift.
Watch for these on eBay. I'll be posting my extra one in a day or two.
"You done taken a wrong turn."
-Bill McKinney, in Deliverance
(Yes, I know, they should allow all browsers, but who really thinks here that the Sharp Zaurus team made those web pages? Anyone here ever work in a real company? The web page people are very often *not* the hardware (or even software) development people.)
:)
Okay, now that we're past that, the Zaurus is a kickass little PDA. (I've had the Developer's Version for months now.) Some things to note:
* Runs any Linux app that can be (re)compiled for a StrongArm processor. Currently running are:
Python
Perl
SSH
Telnet
Konqueror
Opera
Seminole Web Server
Jikes
BitchX
NMap
...and others, just to name a few.
* The handwriting recognition isn't that bad. It requires you to train the device for certain characters if you want your own handwriting to work, but that doesn't take much time.
* IBM MicroDrives work with no problem. I have a 340MB version, and several other Zaurus owners have reported the 1GB version working. (Though they drain the battery quickly.)
* The keyboard is really easy (and actually kinda fun) to use!
* The synching for Windows should be up to snuff by now. Someone has already patched the 2.4.x kernels to allow USB networking over Linux in order to connect it to a Linux box, so it is now Linux friendly.
* The "Word Game" that comes with it (like Scrabble) has been very addicting!
* It is easily 80% of the size of a typical WinCE handheld, and includes two expansion slots (one CF and one SD) by default.
* It has Java, so you can write Java apps for it.
* The UI has been greatly improved, and the Zaurus people have taken very seriously feedback from the developers who have had the Developer's model.
Overall, once you get past the web browser thing, you'll find that with the possible exception of the price (which, incidentally, is similar to other high-end PDAs), it's a kickass little device.
libertarianswag.com
Or you can put Embedix on it:
http://www.handlelds.org.
"You done taken a wrong turn."
-Bill McKinney, in Deliverance
Pity it's shit, slow, fat, and four years late. As you say, it's just as well we have a choice.
TWW
"Encyclopedia" is to "Wikipedia" what "Library" is to "Some people at a bus stop"
Looks to me Sharp is trying to milk open source for its advertising value, but somehow they just don't get it.
Thanks, but I'll have a look at the new Sony instead. Commercial developers don't have to pay money to develop for the Sony, and it's a cool piece of hardware anyway.
I got tired of Mozilla's half-assed browser implementations some time ago.
thing _this_ is linux, even though it doesn't even run Mozilla.
So? Are you worried that people might think that there are high quality applications available for Linux?
TWW
"Encyclopedia" is to "Wikipedia" what "Library" is to "Some people at a bus stop"
Bugzilla says:
"Sorry, links to Bugzilla from Slashdot are disabled."
.sig: file not found
"Doesn't" is not the same as "can't". A system that can't run Mozilla is either not Linux or just less than 1Ghz+512M RAM. A system that doesn't run Mozilla is simply showing good taste.
TWW
"Encyclopedia" is to "Wikipedia" what "Library" is to "Some people at a bus stop"
Do you have to plug in the mic, record, then unplug the mic and plug in a headphone in order to listen to what you recorded? What a pain, if true. I wonder if you can use a Y adapter to plug in the headphone and mic simultaneously (even if you can't use them full duplex--I don't see how you could).
I begin to wish they'd left out the slide-out keyboard and put in normal audio hardware (built in mic and speaker plus the jacks). The keyboard is a little faster to enter text with than the on-screen keyboard, but the keys are stiff enough that it's more effort, so I use the on-screen one.
I hope most folks are like me and refuse to set the Opera browser to anything other than Opera. We will never get rid of this IE only crap if we use workarounds. ITs off topic I know but I am at the max so mod me down. Wish Slashdot had a Meta Mod function, that you could set since often very interesting side discussion emerge that the Newbees proudly mod down as Off topic.
Help fight continental drift.
Not true. Identifying as Mozilla 5.0 works fine with Konqueror
As for a review, I wrote a long review of the SL-5000d (the developer edition of the SL-5500) back in January. Linkage below.
http://www.infosync.no/show.php?id=1292
--GrouchoMarx
Card-carrying member of the EFF, FSF, and ACLU. Are you?
Its called advertising.
If you use Linux, please help development of Autopac
I found this in the Galeon FAQ, I set mine to "Netscape/4.0" and it works but only if I turn on Javascript. The ridiculous thing is that Netscape 4.78 which is *allowed* to see the page does not actually render it correctly while it looks perfect in Galeon!
/apps/galeon/Advanced/Network/user_agent
/apps/galeon/Advanced/Network/user_agent --type=string "XXX"
/apps/galeon/Advanced/Network/user_agent --type=string default
--------
How can I change the User Agent string that galeon uses?
This feature is already implemented. It is not in the UI because there was a mozilla bug that made galeon to crash at startup with some strings.
You can set the user agent from the command line using GConf:
1. To get the current user agent:
gconftool -g
2. To set the user agent to XXX:
gconftool -s
3. To restore the default user agent:
gconftool -s
The Z has two expansion ports, a CF port and SD port. It has an IR port
that can connect to my Nokia cell phone and treat it like a modem.
Originally Compact Flash was only for memory cards, now there are cameras,
ethernet, modems, wireless modems, wireless ethernet, 1GB hard drives (5GB
coming soon).
The Secure Digital port currently only has memory cards, but all the other
goodies are coming within the year.
I got a 128MB SD card and a 802.11b CF card.
and I don't think you can plug a headphone into a cell phone. The plug is the wrong size. Interesting thought though.
Z = $499
iPAQ = $499, $600, $650
Z = Linux kernel 2.4.6 plus Qtopia GUI
iPAQ = Microsoft Pocket PC 2002
Z = 16 bit color - 65536 colors
iPAQ = 12 bit color - 4096 colors ($499 model)
Z = 64MB ram, 206Mhz StrongArm
iPAQ = 64MB ram, 206Mhz StrongArm
Z = SD and CF
iPAQ = SD only
- Requires expansion pack for CF ($40)
- Need to use "sleave" with CF cards
- Other expansion packs are > $100
Z = Trainable handwriting recognition (Use Palm gestures if you want)
iPAQ = Not trainable
Z = Linux based, with SWEET gui (QTopia)
- Many applications already available
- Very active user community, mailing lists, wikki
- bash
iPAQ = MS Pocket PC
- You can install Linux, procedure is hard
- Your purchase still counts as MS sale ups market share
Z = Very cool and useable built-in keyboard
iPAQ = 3rd party external keyboard $100
Z = No built-in speaker, must use headphone and/or mic
iPAQ = built-in crappy speaker
Z = Builtin integrated Java
iPAQ = No Java
Z = Desktop software for Windows, Mac, Linux
iPAQ = Desktop software for Windows
Z = Included browser is Opera, Konqueror available
iPAQ = Pocket IE
Hi, here is what I wrote, just in case anybody finds it
r g/show_bug.cgi?id=63915
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.o
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
"When in doubt, use brute force." Ken Thompson
s/to be able to blame someone/to be able to have competent support without having to invest in the non-profitable area of building their own expertise or relying on the so-called "Linux community" (that may be fine for individual users, but no company with any regard for its own existence would rely solely on that community for support.)/. In other words, just because there are free (as in price) alternatives to those they chose, that doesn't mean there are no associated costs. The basic equation would be "if price(service contract) + price(licensing fees) < salary(programmer)*n + salary(support)*m + projected loss due to late market entry; then buy from Lineo/Trolltech/Opera; else DIY", where 'n' is the projected number of programmers necessary to duplicate any specific effort already done by companies such as Lineo or Trolltech that have not been made freely available and 'm' is the projected number of support personal. Both of these are above and beyond any current programmers or support employees.
Check out www.myzaurus.com and www.thekompany.com/embedded for the most available stuff.
You might note the entire blurb was from Arminius - CmdrTaco didn't even add a pithy comment this time. As has been pointed out a number of times before... Slashdot editors obviously don't check all the URLs submitted.
Numerous people, some from Mozilla.org, have been sending them e-mails and feedbacks from their website telling them about the problem. They've been told this off and on for something like two months now.
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
The good:
- Excellent screen. Sharp and great response.
- Good suite of apps. I didn't get to test the MPEG and MP3 players, but I liked what I saw otherwise.
- Good 'heft'. .
.the unit felt solid in my hand, and appeared well made.
- Its ZIPPY! The OS has been well tuned for this device, and there's more than enough power under the hood.
The bad:- I really, REALLY don't like the slide-out keyboard!! I can understand why it's included, but the buttons are tiny and it seems useless for anything except painstaking data entry where accuracy is absolutely essential. If I was going to type on a pda, I'd get a portable fold-out keyboard like they have for the palms.
- As was mentioned previously, the stylus IS a bit small for those with larger hands. Reminds me of using a pencil thats been sharpened too much.
Overall, the appeal of this device for me is the OS, not the hardware. Its a nice unit and should really help the 'linux is ready for mainstream use' cause, but the ability to ssh into a server from my pda sounds great. I don't know if I will buy one, but were I shopping for a PDA I would consider this unit carefully.- - - - - - - -
Don't worry, being eaten by a crocodile is just like going to sleep in a giant blender.
This should work with Mozilla http://www.sharpplace.com/product.asp?sku=1904166
Darn it all, now I'm gonna have to go buck wild with
More Ergonomic Keyboards - Basically bemoaning the woes of uncomfortable keyboarding among us geeks, which leads us on to:
Thumbs Are the New Fingers for GameBoy Youth - Your point, illustrated as well as can be
Virtual Keyboard a Reality - This would be my pick for an acceptable solution/workaround. Supporting such devices shouldn't be too difficult, seeing as how the Sharp device is running a Linux variant anyhow.
Just a few thoughts, mixed with gratuitous linkage...
If the 5500 uses the same screen, I don't think I'm interested.
I am using Netscape Communicator 4.78 under Linux and the pages do not work correctly for me.
Why would I buy a handheld pc device from them that I can't even use to properly browse their website when I need tech support?
They can take their microsoft centric website and shove it.
'No Sharp for you!' - The Sharp Nazi
This link should work
That which does not kill me only makes me whinier
The keyboard is just something to make up for the flaw of not having real HWR. I used to use a Newton 2100u for everything. I had a keyboard, but almost never used it. Why? A smallish keyboard (the Newton's was a lot bigger, and more useful than the Zaurus' kb) is a helluva lot slower than using real HWR like on the Newton, or CalliGrapher on a WinCE device. No, real HWR isn't character recognition like Graffiti or on the Zaurus.
Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
Blows the IPaq away, huh? Other than the two-slots, Linux OS and mini-keyboard this seems to be exactly the same as the IPaq. And, yes, you can load REAL linux with REAL X-Windows on the IPaq.
My dream PDA :-
.. runs Linux and supports Java
.. will interface with my desktop & notebook PCs via wireless ethernet
.. has trainable handwriting recognition and voice control with voice->text capabilities
.. will open my garage door, (dis/en)able my home security system & replace my tv & stereo remote controls
.. contains an integrated multiband cell phone
.. has an integrated GPS
nearly there!
Soon? I'm running it now. There are some items that are Zaurus only, but there are also some OPIE only features. You dont get to run Opera (unless you manage to get your hands on a copy), but Konquerer is available
welp, that's a sale lost from me, at least. Idiots.
You're right. Anyone still using Netscape Gold 3.0 would almost certainly still be running some old 386sx/33 with 4MB of RAM. Can't be many of those left.
So the "upgrade recommendation" is really something else isn't it?
PS. I hope whoever marked your post as a troll gets spanked hard in meta-moderation.
Just wondering how long the Zaurus last. My Palm can go for weeks constantly used but my Yopy needs a recharge every 4 hours of heavy use (play Mp3, mpeg, use calender, etc) How long is the Zaurus' battery life? Or the IPAQ for that matter? Is it worth it to have a color PDA only to recharge every 6 hours or so?
Captain of the USS Red October Starfleet Command
Who knows? Maybe we'll get a special offer for our toils to keep us as customers.
Why bother.
What was *not* redundant was the fact that the developer application was in *.doc format. It does rather seem that Sharp isn't targeting us at all.
They didn't save the company by killing it. It appears that Steve simply had some grudges, and generally thought it was worthless. Newton was spun off as a seperate company (Newton, Inc) and the MP2100 was finally turning a profit. Apple bought it back, and killed it. Hardly to save the company. :(
I've been using an iPAQ 3150 to replace my Newton. Having CalliGrapher helps some, but the size of the screen, and general lack of consistency in PocketPC (man, I can't understand how people used WinCE 2!) really detracts from the experience.
Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
PDA Stands for Personal Digital Assistant. One of the key things such an assistant needs to be able to do is remind you about appointments and other things. And the Zaurus doesn't have a speaker???
:-)
From the user manual: "Volume setting allows you to adjust the volume of the stereo headphones to listen to the Media Player and Voice Recorder files, or the alarm, keyclicks, and screentaps." So no tactile feedback, no reminders, no nothing, without headphones. Man, they blew it on this one feature. I'd probably buy one, otherwise. The poor mute little beast.
If this is true, it has to be one of the first units that ever billed itself a PDA, that did not have a speaker on it. I'm not about to wear my earphones all the time to be reminded of things.
Can someone at least tell me that this thing can go "beep beep beep"? If not, doesn't anyone else see this as a showstopper, despite all of it's other coolness?
(Heh, heh, heh, I smell a Microsoft conspiracy; hey, Sharp, we won't cancel your PocketPC licenses for your other products, as long as you severly cripple your Linux Zaurus in a non-obvious way
-me
Love many, trust a few, do harm to none.
Considering that Sharp's let the info out sufficient to roll your own distribution (not reccomended for the novice) and that there is people already about working on doing the same- it could be considered superior to the iPaq because you can have all the slots, the keyboard and all that the current iPaq distributions bring to the table. The ONE thing that the Zaurus brings to the table that buying an iPaq doesn't offer is that you don't end up paying for a WinCE license (and thereby making it a little cheaper...)
Since it IS cheaper, has a keyboard built in (no need to buy an external one) with no need for a papoose type dock for slots, etc. I'd say that if it had the same performance and could be done up the same way as the iPaq as far as Linux distributions go, well, the Zaurus wins by leaps and bounds.
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
Thanks.
I don't think a Palm Pilot has a speaker (as opposed to a beeper) either, FWIW.
Actually there's the developer version with 32MB instead of 64MB of ram. I just got one for $199 at the Java One conference where they were selling them. I think they're more over the web, but still less than $499.
You listed the iPAQ as having 64 MBs of memory. You neglected to mention that it also has a 32 MB flash rom.
The Zaurus also has flash rom, I'm not sure how much but probably a comparable amount.
With the Zaurus, you are locked into CompactFlash and the comparitively useless SD card. Sure, it's a little bit extra, but I'll stick with my PC card expandibility.The SD card isn't useless. It lets you put expansion flash (128 MB SD cards are available) in the SD slot and have the CF slot free for a modem or network card, without needing any bulky sleeves. The iPaq sleeve system is kind of cool but if you use the full sized PCMCIA version (especially the two slot one) and the external keyboard, you're heading toward the bulk of a small laptop. I just don't see much point to that.
You are also correct in mentioning that the Zaurus does not come with a microphone or speaker, and the iPAQ comes equipped with both.
I think it's unfortunate that the Zaurus has no mic or speaker, however it has a mic input port which the iPaq lacks. The iPaq's internal mic is not very good and it's a real deficiency that you can't use an external mic with the iPaq. The Zaurus lets you use an external mic including a cellular phone headset mic. If you want to do speech processing applications (that's why I bought the Z and the iPaq) then a headset mic is a better input method than having to hold the PDA up to your face to talk into it. So I'd have to say the Z's approach is (for my purposes) preferable to the iPaq's. Of course I'd prefer to have a built-in mic and speaker and external jacks, but if I have to choose one or the other, there's a fairly good argument for external-only.
Bzzzt! Sorry, but I've been playing with my new SL-5500 and guess what? Handwriting recognition is one of five ways to get text into the unit. On-screen keyboard (in two flavors), pickboard, handwriting recognition, Unicode selection chart, and that wonderful hardware keyboard.
And that isn't Graffiti that's being used for handwriting recognition, but a trainable algorithm that actually recognizes multi-stroke letters!
Heh, bzzzt! Sorry! You're talking about character recognition, not handwriting recognition. It doesn't matter if it's Graffiti, Jot, something programmable, it's still just character recognition, not real *handwriting* recognition.
Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
Bzzt! Bzzt! And exactly what is the functional difference, hmm? You're not being forced to learn a new alphabet, it learns your particular style, and it keeps up very nicely. The only improvement would be the ability to recognize an entire string of characters at once, and I'd really rather not have to scroll back through an entire line of text to correct a single recognition error at the start of it.
Once you get out of the Graffiti trap, the differences become trivial.
There's a huge functional difference between writing an entire word and writing a character. You've obviously never actually used a real HWR recognition scheme. If you had a PDA capable of using one, I'd recomend one. Perhaps you have a friend with some surplus PocketPC toy, or a Newton to spare for a few weeks? The difference in writing speed between writing it down, char by char, rather than word by word is quite signifigant. The human brain can be trained to break words down into characters, but it's still a lot more natural and fluid to write words.
I've tried many means of getting information into a computer using a pen: on screen keyboards, in Qwerty and Fital; Graffiti; Jot; various programmable single- or multiple-stroke means (no, it's nothing new) using various X11 programs, CharRecog, and Genie before I ever had the pleasure of using real *handwriting* recognition, on the Newton and CalliGrapher.
I'm not trying to make you feel like you wasted your money on your Zaurus. You like it, that's great. It's just a shame that you're being held back by a lack of a better means for using the device, and that the device itself isn't being used to it's full potential.
Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
RevAaron, how else do you write a word other than by one character at a time? Maybe I slept through a class or two in grammar school, but as best as I can recall, there was no training in writing a whole word at once. (There may be a preconception bias at work here: I abandoned "cursive" handwriting ages ago because printing is more legible and precise. This is actually rather common in engineering and other tech-related industries. Now if you're trying to make a case for a system that recognizes cursive writing rather than printing, I'll concede that point, but you're still forming your words one-letter-at-a-time, connecting strokes and fancy swirls notwithstanding.)
"...lack of better means for using the device..." That's what the keyboard is for. I've typed much faster than I could ever write for years, and although this pygmy wonder on the Zaurus is a little tough, I'm already getting a handle on touch-typing with it. This thing has five different ways to get information into it, I can even enter data one-handed while standing -- I'm not being held back from using it at all!