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802.11b Cards for Handhelds?
bmetzler asks: "I am in the market for a new Palm device. This time I want to buy a device that is capable of connecting to the wireless network in my home. Apart from wanting a monochrome display, the 802.11b feature is the most important one I am looking at. Xircom makes an add-on module for the M500 series and the m125. This might be a possibility because the m125 is one that I was looking at. However, at over $220 this one is a little pricey. Xircom also seemed to have a model for the Handspring, but I'm unable to locate it for sale any longer. Handera claims support for Symbol's CompactFlash card. The Handera has a nicer, bigger screen, but is also more expensive. I couldn't locate a price for the CF card either. In conclusion, I've got to purchase a Palm, and the wireless capability is the most important feature I need. Is there a good way to do this on a Palm, or should I just go for the Sharp Zaurus?" I'm also looking into replacing my old, aging Palm VII with something a bit more modern with 802.11b support. How do the Xircom models perform on Handspring Visors?
Get an Ipaq, they have support for 802.11 through a PCMCIA card if im not mistaken, then you can strip out the crap os that comes with it, and put Linux on it.
"The United States has no right, no desire, and no intention to impose our form of government on anyone else." - Bush 05
My school just got donated a bunch of HP Jornadas, and they've been trying them out in some of my classes. They work well with our 80211b network. I have to say, in general the devices pretty much suck, though. I used it all of twice, even with the convenience of checking my email without having to walk to a computer cluster. There's little use in having a wireless card in that small a device for most people. If you know that you need it, though, it's one to check out.
Ceci n'est pas un post
Get a pad of paper.
They have a very stable architecture, and you can read/write incredibly fast, as well as delete!
"I only speak the truth"
Karma: null(Mostly affected by an unassigned variable)
I have a windows CE device and I've looked at cards made by Orinoco/Lucent WaveLAN. They seem to be very well supported and work with most any version of Windows CE. I know you talked about palm, but unless you have a reason to go palm (I can think of several good reasons), you might want to try windows ce. Simply put, palm needs it's own drivers, where as if you get drivers built-in in some windows ce stuff if you get the right cards.
I've got the above that I nabbed off ebay for $200. I got it because I wanted color, but if you insist on monochrome, you can pick those up for even less. The wireless adapter is like $50 and it works great with my school's wireless network.
If you're not going for the Zaurus, I'd go for the Handera. Look at it this way, you can get a folding keyboard for $40 (new) and many other Palm III/VII based peripherals work. You said you have a Palm VII right?
If you don't get rid of that Palm VII, you'll want to get THIS in-cradle charging kit for it. It's a must have for the Palm VII series. IMHO.
Lob
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
I was a beta-tester for the HandEra 330, so my view of the price is a bit skewed, but it is definitely one *sweet* device. HandEra (the company) had done a lot of specialized stuff for Symbol long before the 330 came out, and they went the extra mile to make sure that the 330 would work with every CF card that Symbol makes.
Nothing for 6-digit uids?
Not a palm, but I remember using an ipaq(hpaq?) at my last job. With it's sleeve, you could use a standard pcmcia card. I remember using a netgear one. Was kinda cool being in the lunchroom reading /. And I vnc'd to another machine once. Was real weird, controlling this machine from the lunchroom. Too bad we junked the wireless lan, it was neat.
Do you see the sig? Do you have it in your sights? Why yes, Miss Moneypenny...
It's for sale via the Intel website (backordered about two weeks).
N T1037&pfid=44&pindex=1&msc
http://www.shop-intel.com/shop/product.asp?pid=SI
Hope this helps.
Polymorphism -- It's what you make of it.
I have a Newton MessagePad 2000. I just use a stupid PCMCIA Lucent card.
Looks like you other handheld folks are still playing catch-up to five-year-old Apple technology...
in a round hole.
What exactly are you trying to accomplish via 802.11? Web Browsing? Email? Controlling MP3's? Email is about the only thing that using a sled attached to a Palmpilot is going to be useful for. Some people will difer on their definition of "useful". I have found browsing the web on a palm pilot to be pretty abysmal (its not that much better with a PocketPC device, although at least it looks better).
The current generation Palm device doesn't really have a good integration of networking. Supposedly the newer ones (post PalmOS 5) will have integrated TCP/IP, and support for a bunch of different wireless technologies.
You mention the Zaurus. You could pick up one of those, and then get a CF Wireless card (for about 80 bucks or so, I have 2 of the d-link ones and they work great).
That really is no different then getting a PocketPC (your lack of mentioning one in your article suggests you want to stay away from Microsoft), as they fullfill the same function.
I have not had a particularly good experience with handheld devices in general, and especially not handheld networking. My last attempt involved a Casio E-200 with the aforementioned D-link card (which worked great until about 30 days after I bought the PDA, when the backlight blew). It was "neat" but not particularly useful.
I really don't have a problem wandering around with my Ibook with an Airport card built in (or substitute that for any notebook or subnotebook).
It just comes down to what your overall goal is
It appears they can be purchased online from Intel for $269. Not cheap, but nice if you really want 802.11b.
On Handspring's website: SpringPort Wireless Ethernet Module. Not cheap; MSRP US$269, but it looks nice.
I hear that they're coming out with a new Linux PDA with a 5GB ultraslim hard drive unit, embedded 802.11 (not sure if it's b), color screen, foldout keyboard, PCMCIA support for one card, and a mini drive for reading a media similar to the Gamecube's (third-size CD). Think it's a Transmeta chip running at 300MHz, no word on battery life yet.
I use this combination at home, and at work. Being able to ssh and irc while in meetings is fun. Don't even get me started on pr0n browsing. it owns for that.
The only problem I have with the wireless nic is that it's really wide, so I'm probably going to have to file down the edges so I can get at the audio jack/stylus when the card's in the slot.
I have no complaints otherwise.
I've never understood this fascination with the wireless world on a PDA anyway, but here's my two cents:
If you've got an 802.11b wireless network card going, it's going pretty much all the time. And battery life suffers horribly, especially if you're using a high-drain PDA anyway, like a bright color screen. My boss has an iPac with a Xircom wireless LAN PCMCIA card, and it destroys his battery life - it goes from maybe 5-7 days between charges to maybe 5-7 *hours*.
So here's my advice. Either get an adapter that has it's own little battery pack and won't cripple your PDA proper, or get one that's hot-swappable, tiny, and convenient to slip in and out when needed.
That's if you really think you're going to get that much use out of the thing. Myself, I'm happy to just get in the habit of syncing every time I'm at my computer, and letting the information exchange happen then. Honestly, though, I still don't see the attraction.
GMFTatsujin
Why not get a GPRS card and forget about the 802.11? They are expensive... But you can take them anywhere.
01=my two bits,
You can charge the Palm and the sled at the same time, by plugging the Palm cradel charger cord into the sled. Since I got it, I've been hot-synching over the net and don't use the clumsy Palm cradel any more. However, I don't think it's as fast as hot-synching over USB, because of the serial interface.
-Don
Take a look and feel free: http://www.PieMenu.com
I'm not sure the Zaurus would be a good choice. Compaq supports linux on the iPaq, and the iPaq is where things are really going these days. The zaurus is bulky and unlikely to succeed in a big way. Better to choose a supported platform. Especially since the iPaq is going to have (iPaq only) 144 kbps both ways worldwide(hah) internet for 40$ a month in the near future. DSL is dead >:)
You won't be able to read porn on it anyway.
Karma: Good (despite my invention of the Karma: sig)
No matter what PDA you have, 802.11b is a battery drain. Partially from the radio and partially from the likelihood that your PDA will spend more of it's time actively being used than in standby mode.
The Handera 330 does indeed support the Symbol Wireless Networker Type I CF 802.11b card. The Symbol lists for $180, but there are a few online places that have it for around $150 (including my webstore). None of the other CF wireless cards have Palm drivers (with the exception fo the Socket CF Type I which is an OEM of the Symbol)
As for the Xircom 802.11b Visor and m500 series modules, pricey is the right word. Go to pricegrabber and do a search on Xircom Visor and you will find retailers who still have the Visor module.
The nice thing about the Visor module is that it has it's own battery separate from the Visor, but web browsing from your Visor will eat batteries from the extended continuous usage.
As for the m500 module, I've never used it, but it also has it's won battery.
If you go with a Pocket PC based device, you have more wireless options. Either PCMCIA (Ipaq) or CF Type II and Type I. And you'll be able to run more things that will make having wireless access more useful. Like VNC, Windows Terminal Services, stream MP3s, access windows file shares. Pocket PC devices are meant to be laptop replacements, Palm devices aren't.
...18...19...20 Submit
802.11b works quite well, and I don't see the need for another incompatible, less powerful protocol.
But the main reason I think Bluetooth is a crock, is that it's being heavily pushed by the SAME IDIOTS PUSHING WAP, who are a bunch of unmitigated MORONS and CHARLATANS with their heads stuck firmly up their marketing asses.
-Don
Take a look and feel free: http://www.PieMenu.com
Keep lookin'!
I've seen several posts on the Linux-Aironet mailing list of people using stuff with Linux on handhelds. http://csl.cse.ucsc.edu/mailman/listinfo/aironet
I don't have one but I've read many accounts of the handera's having problems with build quality. Many have complained about the stylus silo cracking or breaking, and i've seen several complaints about the screen failing to responde and black lines appearing on the display. You should probably go check out the handera forums at http://www.pdabuzz.com and http://www.brighthand.com and asking around there before making any big purchase.
Wtf did I just read your message on... am I dreaming or something?
Wrong. A lot of CF 802.11b cards are supported and most if not all of the pcmcia cards the work in the standard linux kernel work in the ipaq also. Linxsys makes a CF 802.11b ( WCF-11 ) that works very good.
A few hours grace before the madness begins again.
With 95 stories on wireless this year so far, /. is very wireless happy, shouldn't this merit it's own category? I notice there's a wireless(apple) topic, but there are so many other wireless products besides the apple airport...
Just curious, why would you only want a monochrome. Seems to me if there was a choice between color and monochrome most people would choose color. Not much of a demand for B&W TVs now a days
According to this review over at Visor Central and one at O'Reilly its a pretty nice card.
But I remember reading another review saying that its speed was nowhere near the 11Mbits advertised. This isn't really surprising considering the speed of the Dragnball processor that runs the Visor. But I'll be it beats the heck out of the VisorPhone's data mode (which is really an analog modem connection to your ISP over the cell network).
Brian
Remember Lexington Green!
Apparently at least two of us posted the link to the Springboard module on Intel, but *I* get modded as Redundant even though I was the first to post it. Check the timestamps, bitches.
More Karma burn! Booyah!
We've played witht the idea off and on of putting a wireless network out in our plant for ease of our use (the sysadmins). It would be so cool if I could just whip out my iPaq (or whatever) and use many of my often used admin utilities over the network, such as Windows usermanager (playing with those stupid permissions) or a shell to see what my 'nix server is up to and if that damn 3Ware card has barfed all over itself again or running one of several custom apps that we've developed in house. I could see this being *extremely* useful in this situation, rather then having to either a. find a nearby computer to kick a user off of to login as admin or b. walk all the way back to your office because you need a utility there.
I know there is a vnc client for WinCE.
Anyone know of other useful admin type utilities that would make this venture worthwhile to us?
Run. I like water. Push My rutabaga.
I would've said "Get an HP Jornada," but the idiots at SRCAM are discontinuing them. They're just as powerful and half the size of an iPaq, and they have a REAL PCMCIA SLOT. iPaqs require that you put your handheld into an enormous sleeve to plug PCMCIA into them.
This has been another rant about Carly getting everything she can get her hands on utterly wrong.
--Dave, yeah yeah, score: -1, Offtopic
Hi, I have a Handera and I was pleasantly surprised when I went into a London Drugs (Canada computer retailer) and saw a open box Linksys cf wireless card. I asked the clerk to try it and because I already loaded all the software upgrades in my handera for a demo a while ago, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I had no troubles loading up and connecting at all.
:)
One thing you should keep in mind is if you can use your keyboard after you plug on the 802.11b sled from the Palm Models. It sucks chatting with graffeti.
So I think you should get a Handera because they seem to work with more models then just the symbol card. Although I'd get it because of form factor. I wonder if you put it into a CF Card reader if you could use it in a PCMCIA slot? Also your batteries will die fast because of the power drain from the card so a Handera with all it's superior battery life is ideal. (i.e. 4AAA or Li-ion battery pack extra) Sorry but Pocket PC's just don't have Batter life. Even Palms too. Although the palm 802.11b sled I think has it's own battery pack.
Paul
The Xircom springport for the visor is very, very buggy... the user interface to setup the SSID, DHCP, Ip, Routing, DNS, etc is all over the place. It took a good three hours to set the thing up correctly with linksys wireless router... then it actually crashed the router! no other 802.11 device could connect after getting a connection from the visor.
On another router that didn't crash, the palm OS would hang at random, or disconnect for no real reason.
Save your money if you have a visor, and are thinking about getting the xircom spring port 802.11 adapter.
If you go Zaurus, make sure you get the SMC compact flash card, it's the only one I've found that has an antenna that is only as wide as the CF slot. Why is this important? All the other cards I looked at block either the headphone jack, the stylus slot, or both.
-mudge
Remove the non-food to email.
I would caution you to stay away from it if you aren't certain beyond a reasonable doubt that it'll work with your equipment (e.g., borrow one and test it with your access points).
:>
Here's the deal with the WiFi Springboard module: It contains what is essentially a Cisco wireless card. The card is a fairly nice one (from what I've read), but it communicates to the Prism as if it were a PPP serial device. In other words, it emulates a modem under PalmOS. That means that you're limited to the highest speed the device can do -- and trust me, that's relatively slow.
It's not all bad... Two nice features of the unit:
1) It has a built-in Lithium Ion battery that powers the module itself when the wireless is active (in other words, it doesn't drain the Prism's internal battery).
2) It has a bit of built in flash memory that you can use to load utility programs on -- I have the Blazer browser loaded into its memory so it's immediately available to be launched when I pop the unit it the slot.
Beyond that, be aware that I've had problems getting the unit to work with most Linksys access points with WEP enabled. Trust me, folks, I know I got the settings right because I have other cards configured the same way that work fine. I've also had some oddities with D-Link access points.
I've even tried to use an ad-hoc mode with the unit and a Linux-based wireless router. I can get a wireless link up (WEP included) and get a DHCP address, but after a while, the card starts ARPing for the router and _ignoring_ the replies that it gets. That pretty much wraps up your browsing, trust me -- when you can't see the router on your segment.
Your choice of web browsers is pretty paltry, too. There's Handspring's Blazer, but it forces you to browse through the Blazer proxies that compress everything for you (and log everywhere you go, most likely). Then there's EudoraWeb, which doesn't support images. And a few more that are mainly forgettable, including a "screen scraping" browser client.
On the other hand, when I was using the unit with VNC via the Cisco wireless APs in the office, the thing worked like a champ (albeit a slow one). And when I used it with Lucent APs, it worked very well, too.
The combination of other problems and the fact that it seems that Intel (the owner of the product line now) doesn't intend to release any updates to the unit have made me move to a Sharp Zaurus and a Dlink CF 802.11b card.
in statements issued earlier this year (pdabuzz.com had it a while ago) Palm said they would have bluetooth and 802.11b palms shipping by the end of the year. they also will be switching (at least some models) to an ARM processor. From what i know, this will take the Palm OS to a whole new level. i have been waiting to see what this is before i replace my IIIxe. personally i have no interest in wince/pocketpc and can wait to hold out. if you are not in a hurry i suggest the same. the ARM chip will be so much more powerful, and frankly i wonder how much a current palm can really do over 802.11b to take advantage of the connection. obviously a lot, but in a few months it will do a lot more. they ran a demo of the upcoming Palm os for the ARM and the reports were very positive. guess something woke them up, they've been resting on their past breakthroughs for quite a while now (though i dig the i705).
You should get a PocketPC. Not only does it have the largest software library (seeing how it runs Windows programs such as Pocket Word and Pocket Explorer), but it also has the largest industry and peripheral support, not to mention better handwriting recognition and a bigger display. Use the best tool for the job!
Imagine a beowulf cluster of these!
http://www.handhelds.org/pipermail/linux/2001-July / 01236.html
Sorry. I just started looking into it last week, and all I saw was bluetooth.
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Get an IPAQ H3100. They have a monochrome screen and 802.11b support via a PCMCIA 'backpack'. They are cheap and useful.
How funny is that? Handhelds probably recognize the damn things out of the box! Which is more than Mandrake 8.2 and RH7.3 will do! Oh, excuse me...my Mandrake 8.2 knows it's a wireless card, asks me to input all the settings, then promptly ignores it. RH7.3 just fails to see it at all. Nice to see how robust the new distro's are becoming. We should have full support sometime around the same time 802.11a is in every house.
PDABuzz said it actually a year or two ago. No new info, and no developer's program means it ins't going to be out for 6 months. Not worth waiting when you can get it now on a Zaurus, or a *wince* WinCE unit.
For web pages you can use a free service like avantgo to sync web pages. Everything else you can sync with the cradle. I am setting up a home wireless network and just could not justify the expense of getting the card and jacket for my ipaq.
You can get it here for $147. Symbol Wireless Networker
I have a Xircom 802.11b module for my Handspring.
General impressions:
Throughput sucks. You're stuck at serial speed because that's the interface to the module. That's great when you've got nothing else but it's worse than a 14.4 dialup.
Connectivity is spotty. Generally I've had no problems with getting connected at home or work, but last week I was attending Networld+Interop and the damn thing locked up my Handspring.
Tight. I had to reset. After the second time this happened (yeah, shoot me for being a glutton for punishment), I lost all my data. Yes, it was backed up, but that's not the point.
Now, in the past I've had no issues. Blazer (the browser that comes with the Xircom module ) is sweet and if you've got a Visor the color is great and the quality is decent. I liked it, until last week.
But after last week I'll not likely be using the module again. I just can't afford to lose everything on the road like that.
As always, YMMV.
I don't have a solution, but I certainly admire the problem.
Okay, the rest of your post is debatable, but this is just dumb. Sitting here on the shelf are an iPaq and a Zaurus. The Zaurus is a little thinner and shorter (not much, quarter inch at most, but still). Don't forget that the Zaurus has a CF slot and a keyboard built-in, while the iPaq requires a bulky sleeve to use CF and for a keyboard you would have to use one of those folding jobs.
TO BUY A NEW CAR WOULD MAKE YOU SEXUALLY ATTRACTIVE.
I've got my Handspring Visor Prism setup on the home network with a DLink Access Point and a LinkSys router. The access to the internet is via DSL.
It works and works great - particularly for email, NNTP and wireless hotsync.
The transfer speed is nowhere near 10 mbps, but I think that is due to the DragonBall 33Mhz processor. The reason I think this is because last week I installed AfterBurner 3.1, which overclocks the CPU and I saw a very noticable improvement in the speed of browsing and of downloading messages from the news server.
Comparing bluetooth to 802.11b is like comparing USB to 100bt ethernet. They are not intended to fill the same niche at all. When was the last time that you saw an 802.11b headset, keyboard, or mouse? Now when was the last time you saw a bluetooth gateway for your LAN? Bluetooth is intended to replace cables between small, low-power devices (PDA > cell phone, MP3 player > headphones, etc.)
"Prefiero morir de pie que vivir siempre arrodillado!"
D-link offers a 11 mbps wireless CF card that is 802.11b (model # DCF-650W). They offer it on their website for $99. I've been using it on my Audiovox Maestro that runs Pocket PC (as long as you don't mind using M$ Outlook) and it works well. Good luck.
The Zaurus SL-5500 supports the D-Link DCF-650W out of the box. Just plug in the CompactFlash 802.11 card, and configure the SSID and WEP settings in the standard config app, and you're off and running.
The included Opera browser does a good job of scaling pages to the small PDA display.
And, since it's Linux, there is no end to the cool apps you can run on it. Check out Kismet. It's an 802.11 sniffer program, great for "War Driving". Between my office and home, I picked up 80 different 802.11 networks on one trip. I am in Silicon Valley, so your results may vary. But, it's great for finding public access points too (whether they are intentionally or accidentally public).
I've browsed the web on the Palm, iPAQ and Zaurus. They ALL suck for the all in one web browsing thing you're looking for. If you want to really do web browsing, wait a bit and get one of those oQo devices that are coming out later this summer. (Hopefully someone will gut the OS on the thing and get it to run Linux). Having said they all suck, they suck in varying degrees. Mostly it's the power consumption. The developer Zaurus absolutely sucks down the batteries big time. So does the iPAQ running WinCE. Believe it or not, the iPAQ running savaJeOS can browse the web for a Loooooong time. The other thing is that things just won't render the way they will with a "real" web browser. You can get the info from most pages, but some pages won't come up at all. (And clearly, something like Flash will just not work). having said all that...if all you're looking for is something to have to use during those boring meetings, just about anything will do. Just be aware of the limits all these devices currently have. They're not quite there yet. Oh yeah, one more thing. The Blackberry. Hands down, the best device out there. Problem with that is, no 802.11. And it's quite expensive (more than $50 per month just for the e-mail version, higher with the cell-phone e-mail combo). If they had one with 802.11, it'd be time to sell the Palm stock, they'd blow Palm away. It's that good. They're probably making money with the cell-phone networking stuff they have now, but it would pale in comparision to what they could do if they had an 802.11 device.
Going wireless is a godsend for me. My Kyocera Smartphone allows me to sign onto the mainframe anywhere as a terminal, and I have been reasonably satisfied with the text-only Eudora browser and Blazer or Vagabond for pictures (although no darn online comics, proxy rendder servers screw them up).
Yeah the juice gets sucked out, but 5-7 hours on a phone beats hell out of 4-6 from a laptop, plus I don't have to leave the game to fix an easy problem at work.
Since I've been toting this around at work, most of my coworkers have been motivated to check into webphones. I don't know about the particular combination asked about in this article, but the demand for webphones will go through the roof.
Hey, maybe the webphone will finally be the NC (Network Computer) Ellison, IBM and the rest have been lusting for.
What Palm desperately needs is a fully-rendering browser without the proxy and tieins to other Palm apps. If AOL was smart they would be all over this, but hey this leaves an arena open for a smart developer that ties in the browser with a PDA suite.
Consider that 90% of the bulletpoint features are not used by the average user, there is a lot of room for small apps that make the webphone the laptop.
________________________________________ History Must Not Fall Into The Wrong Hands ___________________________________
Compaq supports linux on the iPaq
Yeah, after you've handed out your hard-earned cash to MS.
The zaurus is bulky and unlikely to succeed in a big way
I take it, you have some kind of proof to back that up? Another poster has already brought up the fact that the zaurus is a relatively small pda ( compared to other ARM pdas )
Especially since the iPaq is going to have (iPaq only) 144 kbps both ways worldwide...
I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you're just clueless. This service is most likely just another GSM/GPRS service. Sure you might have heard it from a compaq/hp rep, but all the wireless providers ( major ones ) are rolling out GSM/GPRS. And the CF cellular modems exist for zaurus, ipaq, journada, and most other pdas.
I say don't buy another MS license, if you don't want too! If you want a linux pda, then get a Linux PDA
Based on upvotes, Ageism is the only "-ism" Slashdotters care about and think isn't SJW
Other than the Palm OS, get an @migo by URThere (www.urthere.com). The unit has a built-in PCMCIA slot (the only handheld that currently COMES with PCMCIA), then slap in a PCMCIA card and you're done.
I originally purchased a Handspring visor, but the wireless card for it costs almost 3 times as much as the pda, and can't be used with other brands.
I got my @migo 2 months ago, it's now selling for $299 at www.mobileplanet. I picked up an Orinoco Silver card for $50. Doubt if you can find any solutions this inexpensive ($350 total). It comes with PocketPC 2002, has a color LCD, and looks and acts just like an IPAQ at half the price. Spend the extra money you save on a standby battery, and you'll have a far superior solution to anything else listed here.
I've used the Xircom card with an m505 and you get max 112Kbps. It would be almost useless except if you're in an area with 802.11b coverage it's faster and cheaper than something like a CDPD modem. Also, lack of browser's a real concern (although I guess Palm's now selling something that might do the trick.)
The iPaq, however, is a useable browser, and performance is good (I've used both the Compaq clone of the Orinoco and a Cisco Aironet 340 in my iPaq.) I have a double PCMCIA adapter, the second slot has a 5GB Toshiba PC Card. Using both the wireless and the card to listen to music I could get about 5 hours of continuous operation (the PCMCIA sleeve for the iPaq has additional batteries to power the slots, and to charge the main battery if necessary.) You generally can plug in to power before you need it.
-- Of course I'm paranoid. I'm a sysadmin.
Spend the money and get the Zaurus. I just purchaced the D-Link 802.11b CF card for $99 at my local Fry's Electronics and it worked flawlessly with my Linksys WAP. The Zaurus is just a good piece of technology all around.
"Keep on Tuxin"
802.11B will be out shortly now the SDIO standard has been finalised. You can get the SDIO Bluetooth Card now and there is suppose to be third party 802.11B and GPS SDIO Cards Shortly. As for PalmOS for ARM this will be supported in PalmOS 5 which is already in beta -> if you go to the palmos web site www.palmos.com you can see a big panel on the right hand side of the site.
'cause 802.11b adapters will suck the life out of your PDA. I've got one for my old Jornada 690 and it only get about 25% of its normal runtime when that thing's plugged in.
What has stopped me from buying, however, is the claim that this card does not work under current Linux drivers because it uses a currently undocumented MAC chip, although the rest of the hardware is supposed to be standard Intersil Prism.
Does anyone know if this problem is still the case? If the hardware were documented I would probably feel comfortable enough buying the chip and adapting one of the Prism drivers to it. (One the other hand, I would use a different card or do without rather than run a proprietary driver.)
By the way, the SMC card the MicroCenter had for $140 looks identical to the Socket card from the outside. I would be intersted in knowing if they are the same, and if anyone has used the SMC card under Linux.
Check this out!
Free network utilities for WinCE! Yay! I think they post it as a come-on for their WinCE telnet client and other utilities. It's a uscessful come-on: I bought 3 copies of the telnet client for my company. Good Stuff(tm)
I'd give them a call to see if you could do the same. Here's who I spoke with
Tracy Adam
Customer Service
Handera, Inc.
2859 104th St.
Des Moines, IA 50322
Voice: (515) 252-7522 Ext. 546
More recently, Fry's has had the Casiopeia E-125 on clearance for $200-225. The E-125 has a CompactFlash slot, a 150MHz MIPS R4000, 320x240 16-bit color display, USB and serial base unit. There is some magic file name my Casiopeia E-105 runs if it is booted with a CompactFlash card in its slot, which is handy for booting Linux, although I have only booted a precompiled binary that I downloaded.
On the other hand, I should warn you that it looks like Linux-MIPS development has been pretty quiet for the past two years, and MIPS-based PDA's seem to be disappearing. Also, I think that you have to go through the base unit to plug it in a USB device, which impedes my interest in possibly using an E-125 as a USB analyzer.
Well, I really don't want it for much, so I'm not expecting to be disappointed any way the shoe drops. If all I used it for was instant messaging, and email, I would be more then satisfied.
That really is no different then getting a PocketPC (your lack of mentioning one in your article suggests you want to stay away from Microsoft), as they fullfill the same function.Yes, you hit the nail right on the head. I had a CE device once, and it was the most frusterating thing I have ever experinced. Applications to forever to load, and once they appeared, ran as slow as, uh, slow. Anyways, not a very good experience, and I sold it after a year to a guy who sold it again after 2 months.
OTOH, I played with a Zaurus demo at Best Buy, and couldn't be more impressed. The applications popped right up, flew like lightning, and even the graphical demos seemed to have great frame rate. I'd probably go ahead and get the Zaurus, and then use it to its full capacity, but I'm kind of leaning on going the inexpensive route, and using it more of an accessory, like I did my last PDA.
-Brent
Yeah, I've unfortunately continued to buy new PDA's every new "generation", because I keep assuring myself that this time I'll use it.
;)
The end result has pretty much just been a couple of grand wasted on toys, that I never actually use on a day to day basis.
I don't really know what it would take in a PDA for me to actually use it on a regular basis, I just don't know I haven't found it yet.
The zaurus is nice, albeit a bit overpriced unless you really got some good use out of it.
Before my Casiopea's backlight died (which Casio has finally admitted was a problem with the first shipment) I used to sit on my couch IM friends, surf the web, and watch movie trailers from my E-200. It was the pinnacle of "geekiness", but enjoyable nonetheless
early this year the (then acting?) CEO laid out a plan for the year. pdabuzz news doesnt go back far enough to find it right now, but he said something about how it was time they started to inovate again. said by the end of 2002 we would (should) see ARM processors (with the new palm os), BlueTooth (which we have now), and 802.11b access. i would thinkt he 802.11b equipped Palms would be on the pricier side? though i do not know how they would compare to the i705. 802.11b CF or PC cards are not all that cheap, and i am guessing they need the Palm OS to support it better before taking the plunge? anyway if you want a Zaurus or pocketpc then get one. for people that want to stick with a palm, there is an option in the works. i personally would rather wait a few months then switch platforms. then again i do not NEED wireless palm.
in the long run i see this being a nice bonus to those companies using the palms with barcode and mag strip readers.
I'd recommend springing for the Handera 330. I did, and I haven't regretted it a bit. You say: Handera has a nicer, bigger screen, but is also more expensive. I couldn't locate a price for the CF card either.
That's an understatement -- the Handera screen is very sharp and clear. The backlight is bright and clear in the dark, and because the grafitti area is part of the display (instead of being silk-screened on like all the other Palm devices) you can actually see what you're writing in the dark. In bright light, it's fantastic and quick to respond -- no screen artifacts. Folks used to rave about the b/w screen on the Rex units -- this is nicer.
As for the price of the Symbol 802.11b card, I've seen ~$175us. Note that the Symbol card is significantly smaller and less succeptable to damage than the Linksys -- the dongle on the latter is huge. From outside appearances, the Symbol card looks to be the same as the Socket brand 802.11 card. (Anyone?)
There are a lot of other benefits to the Handera 330 -- the battery life with the LiIon batter is great (important if you're using CF devices that require more power such as a microdrive or 802.11 card), the flexibility of the MMC/SD memory slot is great (and I'm hoping to see a bluetooth SD card soon). The power tap can rechange the battery while you're using the unit yet doesn't interfere with a Palm Portable Keyboard. The folks at Handera did a great job on this one; I'm very happy with it.
Handera 330 ($300) + battery ($50) + Symbol card ($175) + charger ($40, or you can pick up a Nokia ACH4U charger for $2 at a discount place or thrift store) and you're set for around $550us.
I think not...(*poof*)
What exactly are you trying to accomplish via 802.11? Web Browsing? Email? Controlling MP3's?
One word, War-Walking as opposed to War-Driving. Can't think of an easier way to look for open wireless networks than putting a wireless PC-Card in an Ipaq and going for a walk around the city. A little less conspicuous and bulky and a laptop, just keep it in a pocket and set it to make a noise when it finds a new network.
I have actually found it to not work that well.
Netstumbler only workes on cards with the orinoco chipset (lucent wavelans), and they don't make compact flash versions of that chipset.
Almost all of the CF wireless cards are prism-chipset based, and I have had very little success getting them to "warwalk".
I have a Symbol CompactFlash Card in my iPaq. It works great in my work environment with Symbol Access points, but I have had problems with it on my home network (Linksys).
I have a Palm m515 and the Xircom 802.11b sled. It works pretty well. It has its own battery, so it doesn't drain from the handheld itself. The biggest limitation is speed; it connects via RS232 serial and basically acts as a PPP "server" for the Palm.
One neat feature is that no software install is required; you simply attach it to the Palm and it installs its driver automatically. I did download and flash a firmware update for it; it corrected a few bugs and limitations of the software that came with it. (main one I noticed was that you HAD to specify a SSID - with the updated software this isn't necessary)
Overall, it works pretty well. Web clipping is a heck of a lot faster than with a Palm VII, and browsing via things like AvantGo and Blazer isn't all that bad. I also setup network HotSync which is obviously slower than USB HotSync via the cradle but works well. I've used it with a few different access points from Linksys and Cisco, and the range is pretty much the same as I get with my laptop.
I purchased mine from eBay for under $200
Matt
I recently got the Xircom Springport wireless module for my Visor (Manos, the Handspring of Fate). It has worked well in most all of the situations I have tried it in, and is a lot of fun. The built-in battery makes things easier too. The only setup I have run into where it didn't work with the default settings was on a friend's Linksys with a Win2k computer acting as a DHCP server. In that case I had to give it a static IP and other information. However, since that same setup gives that friend troubles with his Macs too, I won't blame the module quite yet.
Overall, it was a great buy. By the way, I got it NEW IN BOX!!1! from Ebay for $100 instead of for the $300 or so it tends to be at other places.
Posted from the wireless couch.
Curious: What kind of troubles do you have with your 3ware card(s)? I have a few servers with them and no issues. Yet. Maybe I need to keep an eye out for something??
Thanks,
-sid
Network hotsync is slow, but adequate. PalmVNC and Top Gun ssh both work, but they're not usable enough to be more than curiosities on that tiny screen. The only browser I've found that works at all is the one that comes with AvantGo's mobile Internet service. I've never managed to get a static IP address to work, but that's a minor problem; the DHCP client works fine. More serious: the MultiMail email client built into the 802.11b module won't talk to a recent UW IMAP server; it doesn't grok the server's CAPABILITY response.
This is a modified orinoco_cs driver with firmware loader. It supports wireless extensions. I use it on i386 and ARM systems every day without any problems.
Netstumbler only workes on cards with the orinoco chipset (lucent wavelans), and they don't make compact flash versions of that chipset.
True, what I use is a Orinico Based Lucent PCMCIA card in the Ipaq's PC Card Sleeve. Ministumbler works quite well in that configuration.
Whatever you do, don't make the mistake of not buyng a Zaurus. This is the highest quality device of any type that I have purchased in the last five years. The Zaurus is built to last, from the rugged, incredibly cool built-in keyboard (thumb-board) that is exposed when you slide down the bottom cover, to the world-class color screen built by Sharp, to the Linux operating system that comes pre-loaded. I am running my own personal Python applications on my Zaurus right now, form the Bash shell command line. (You can download them for free, their new, their GPL'ed, and their crafted especially for the Zaurus, just go to http://www.awaretek.com ) This device is more expandable than the IPAQ, having both a Compact Flash slot and an SD Card slot. You can buy digital cameras taylor made for it, wireless LAN cards, extra memory (although I am having trouble filling up my full 64 MB RAM with programs, the Linux operating system by Lineo is so compact and efficient that the Zaurus gives a lot more room in RAM than the IPAQ). Running scritps from the BASH shell is way-cool. The machine is based on Trolltech's Qtopia desktop, with full Trolltech QT toolkit developer's platform, plus the standard JEODE JVM Java environment. Not only Python has been ported to the machine, but also most of the Python libraires and also PyQt. This baby rocks!!! Developers all around the world are busy coding new applications for the Zaurus. New apps appear every day! Lastly, why in the world would you want to support Microsoft by buying an IPAQ running Windows CE, even if you do plan on loading Linux on it? Do youself a favor, buy a Zaurus! And then download my Python programs for the Zaurus at http://www.awaretek.com rs
I have been trying to get the Xircom Wireless Module since 5 months ago! and they kept telling me that it's sold out..hey, if u really want to talk to people with good expiernce in using that Module, go to: www.visorvillage.com then on the left side click on whichever Visor Model u have then post a question (i think u have to register first, but it's free and easy) good luck!
http://www.palmzone.net
If you don't mind an MS product, there are several wireless card solutions available for the Pocket PC. My guess is that they'd probably also work on a Palm.
Options include:
Symbol CF card, $179.95
Socket CF card, $179.95
Zircom PC card, $79.95
I got all the prices from www.mobileplanet.com. I use an iPaq with a wireless PC card all the time, and love it. Of course, I'm probably a tad biased...
If you think $220 is pricey, and the HandEra 330 too expensive at $300 (MSRP; it's widely available for less), then there's no way you're going to be able to afford a $499 Sharp Zaurus SL-5500 plus the extra cost of an 802.11 wireless card. Or any of the Pocket PCs for that matter, which can run from the $400 range up through almost $700.
If you want wireless LAN connectivity on the cheap, the HandEra is the cheapest (and one of the best) solutions out there. In addition to a well-designed device, they have great service and support. And frankly, if you don't like the HandEra, your only other option is to spend lots more money.
--Mythos
At the risk of sounding like some kinda company advert man, I'll just point people towards Mobile Planet. No, I don't work for them; I've just bought many fine wireless toys there.
They have various brands of 802.11b CF, such as:
Dlink
Casio
Linksys
Socket
and Symbol.
They also have the Xircom Springboard module that's being talked about in this thread.
We found a stellar deal on a pair of refurb iPAQs at http://www.compaqfactoryoutlet.com (Buy 1, get the second 1/2 off - with a full warrantee).
Two iPAQ 3835 units (very up-to-date) ran us $720
CF adapter sleeve cost $40 each
D-Link DCF-650W 801.11 CF adapters were $90 each.
Total bill was $980, or $490 per unit. Not bad considering that the 3835 iPAQ runs $599 by itself at CompUSA.
So, what did it take to hook up to our 802.11 network at home? Simply attaching the CF adapter to the iPAQ and plugging in the CF 802.11 card! The iPAQ detected our home LAN and brought up the configuration screen, I tapped in our WEP key and was browsing the web seconds later.
Battery life appears to run about 5 hours, more than enough for my needs between home and the office, just plug in the USB charger as needed.
Short, simple and it just works... not Linux based, but well worth the simplicity. Couple that with the availability of networking tools, a built-in Terminal Server client and I can do everything I need to do with no hassles... when someone comes up with a distro that meets everything above I'll happily dump the Microsoft platform.
OK, there's no 802.11b card and you'll have to dial in to your network, but as of last week the Kyocera Smartphone QCP-6035 from Sprint PCS was $149 - cheap just for the built-in Palm. New Sprint PCS subscribers (as of last week at least) also got a $50 rebate on the unit.
I have the same adaptor,also on a Visor Prism.
... ;-)
The device works without any hitches using Apple AirPort base stations. Setup is a bit unclear, so you have to experiment, but once it is configured, you can seamlessly roam over different base stations, and over different network ID's. An enterprising user has been able to connect to his airport card in his laptop, and use the laptop as router. Now he can use his visor to surf in his back yard.
As for network speed, yes it is slow. Also the screen is too small for your average web site, especially if they use frames. In those cases, e.g. the register, you get a couple of pages containing the 'left' frame, before getting to the actual content of the page.
But still, it's great fun in meetings
There are telnet clients available, which opens a wide range of possibilities. A colleage telnets to his bsd box, from where he ssh's to the mail server, where he reads his mails using pine.
Last but not least, we have been known to drive around town and find open wireless networks (in some of the business districts) using the visor.
Do you really need 802.11 for your handheld? The iPaq comes with internal Bluetooth and it can be fitted to pretty much anything else. I found 802.11 useless on an iPaq (a Compaq PC-Card), it just consumes too much power. I have a Bluetooth Access Point for IP connectivity, though I use a direct connection to speak to my servers.
Just a thought...
Don't force a PDA to do the work of a real computer...
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Look at oqo.com and see the most complete handheld that runs windows xp (probably Linux too) with built in 802.11 and Bluetooth, 10GB HD etc.
This should be worth the wait. (Designed by the same guys that are responsible for the Apple Titanium).
;-)
Moritz.
I have a Newton MessagePad 2100 (Monocrome Screen) and a WaveLan Turbo Silver card (802.11b) and it rocks online. I have ICQ, basic Internet, and e-mail.
The handspring wireless ethernet modem is compliant with the 802.11 standards. It's expensive though.
internet like monkeys'
The springboard is available at Intel, and it uses an internal rechargeable LiON - 2h worth, so it won't suck your visor's batteries.
It's funny, though, that at least for the Visors, unless you go to the top-end handheld, the modules cost more than the handheld... 269USD in this case (I probably should have bought a standalone GPS instead of the Magellan GPS Companion).
Just got an orinoco gold wifi card. Using on a laptop/thinkpad...with bigger battery capacity presumably than handheld...heavy drain on power
If using on a handheld be aware its power drain may make it impractical for much use absent frequent recharging.
NC
First off, while the Xircom SpringPort for the Visor series saved me from insanity, I cannot quite recommend it. Here's a few reasons:
* I'm told that other 802.11b cards have the capability of autodetecting SSID numbers floating around, whereas the SpringPort must have its SSID explicitly defined.
* The power saving feature on the SpringPort is broken. This problem has caused problems with many people who assume that their part is simply defective. Basically, when power saving is enabled, the SpringPort experiences difficulties connecting to some base stations
* It's bloody expensive. I was lucky enough to get one on eBay for just over a hundred bucks, which is probably comparable to current 802.11b CompactFlash cards, but it originally retailed for well over three hundred dollars and it'd likely be hard to get one for under two hundred nowadays.
My strategy was to get a handheld with an expansion option that may be found in future handhelds down the line. I originally got the HandEra 330 because it had three expansion options findable elsewhere:
* Palm III compatible serial port
* Compact Flash Type I & II
* SD/MMC
I didn't expect much from the Palm III port (though there is a sled that lets you use PCMCIA in limited fashion for that port). But I had a hunch that either of the CF (which I had also used for storage on my Visor Prism via a MemPlug) or SD/MMC slots would find their way into other PDAs. I did turn out correct: You can find CF on the Sharp Zaurus, which is an interesting option, and the SD/MMC option is standardized on the Palm family now. Some of those Microsoft things also support those expansion types. Anyway, there isn't much out for SD/MMC in terms of wireless communication (save for Palm's Bluetooth card, but that's not the same thing really), but there are several CompactFlash-based 802.11b options.
Here's an idea: The TRG Pro, which is the precursor to the HandEra 330, is a less expensive option that still supports CompactFlash. I cannot be certain, but maybe it'll work with the CF 802.11b cards. It's basically a Palm VII minus the built-in internet crapola but with 8MB DRAM and the expansion port. Perhaps you could get one of those on the cheap and upgrade much, much later to a higher-lever device that still supports whatever CF card you get.
That's all I got for y'all. I wish you best of luck on finding the best option for your needs. ^_^
There is a driver for the socket card.
You can find it at
Zaurus Software Index.
I've been looking around for a USB-enabled PDA that can use a regular USB keyboard. I've found PDAs out there with USB ports, but non of them have USB keyboard support.
+
If you're using the wireless connection to do anything at all you'll want the Zaurus. Palm web surfing sucks beyond belief. And what better networking abilities can you have than a terminal-in-hand?
I think anyone considering a new handheld should very strongly consider the Sharp Zaurus. This unit is very powerfull and very open source. There is a strong and growing community out there and several projects going on including a palm emulator so you can run your old palm apps. All these projects of course are opensource and in alpha or beta stages but there are several full featured comercial applications out there. One such company 'theKompany' makes several comercial apps including a media player that plays mp3/ogg wich has been out since before the first portable ogg player. A Jabber client for connection to MSNM, AIM, ICQ, and yahoo messanger.
I have the 5000 series developer unit and I love it. It is far superior to any palm device Ive seen. The only drawback is is that noone has produced an SD card of more than 128M yet and with the CF slot taken up by and 802.11 device you realy want more memory with all the qpe apps out there.
WooHoo! I can already hook up my Apple Newton MessagePad 120 to any 802.11b network with readily available 5v PCMCIA cards!
:)
10 years old and still ahead of the game!!
KangarooBox - We make IT simple!
here is a page listing some newton messagepad webservers. they are running nHTTPd (a.k.a NPDS). It allows you to access your contacts/diary/notes from any browser. Some of the newtons listed are serving wirelessly through 802.11.