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MSNBC Reviews the Sharp Zaurus
Khalid sent in a link to this review of the Sharp Zaurus. They only noted a few flaws, such as the synchronization being harder than necessary, and generally seemed to like it, at least better than the Wall Street Journal columnist did.
I've been looking for a cellular wireless internet solution for a while (Palm VII didn't cut it) and the Zaurus seems very expandable. Does anyone have any experience with the Zaurus and/or Verizon 3G (or any other cellular internet service?).
I mean - c'mon. I only want a few things:
1) GBA type game functionality
2) An address book that synchs with my desktop and email system
3) Functional, worldwide, wireless broadband (this isn't really a part of the PDA itself, it just doesn't exist yet)
4) A way to input text that is private and equally fast to touch typing
#2 and 4 are already well past developed, 1 has no business implications, and 3 isn't going to happen until god knows when - but in all reality (and I mean wireless broadband scattered across Alasakan wilderness) I don't see it happening for another 20 years or more.
So it runs Linux. Great. That Samsung box that lets me remotely administer unix boxes looks even better - but until all my requirements are met, I'm not upgrading from my POS Palm III.
Why bulky? (I have a Zaurus and have seen it together with Pocket PC's and Palms.) The Zaurus is about the same size.
Most people don't care if they run Linux or some other programs on their PDA as long as they get their work done.
*I*, however, *do* care because that means that I can use the same programs on the desktop and the handheld. My (Windows-using) techie collegues are amazed when they see that I can VNC into the Zaurus, or ssh into it and manage files with MC, or make backups with ssh+tar+bzip2.
You find lots of software. IPSEC kernel? Apache with PHP so you can develop wherever you are? Vim? Python? MC? mplayer? ogg player? Doom?
Everything there.
Computers. You can't live with them, you can't live without them.
If you don't understand why people are using Linux in embedded products then you don't really understand what's good about Linux.
Anyway, it's not just Linux on a PDA though, they have taken the core of the Linux OS and combined it with a custom PDA interface that supports Java.
Linux is open source which allows such things to be created without license fees. Can you imagine them trying to get hold of WinCE and alter that code base? the license costs would be in the millions or billions.
I would buy a Zaurus immediately if I could run PalmOS programs on it, because all my friends run PalmOS. Since it runs Linux, I recon it shouldn't be too hard to program a Palm emulator, should it?
After browsing the replies here, I found that most slashdot users have little, or no, idea
:) Now the "future is truly here". ;)
of what the zaurus really can do.
1) It is cheaper than similar (hardware-wise) PDAs from compaq, etc
2) The sync application is not so good, but since being open source, lots of people are developing alternative versions. But IMOHO syncing is inecessary. I use a wireless-LAN CF card when I am in school/home/work, and I will get myself a bluetooth card later for wireless internet "on the go": Zaurus ("Z")->Bluetooth->Ericsson T39m->GPRS/3G->INTERNET. With Internetaccess I can use my central (web)calendar, todolists, and access email/IRC, without the need to sync or fiddle anything at all. The whole concept of syncing is
wrong; It is much better to have a central copy on a server (wich is backuped).
3) With the Zaurus you get an powerful Linux system right in your pocket. Possibilities to run apache, PHP, mysql, LOTS of games, LOTS of other programs (such as media players, etc), you can mount samba/NFS partitions and much more!!
Before you say "Zaurus runt linux, so what, it sux", go and have a read at: http://killefiz.de/zaurus/
4) The support is, since being opensource, GREAT, Just headover to www.zauruszone.com and ask whatever you want. The community is often more competent than the average support personel, and you WILL gett answers to your problems and a solution (please contribute and answer to other peoples questions later when you have knowledge).
(Like in communism - From each according to his ability, to each according to his need)
IHMOHO the "Z" is the best thing that has happend since, I dont know what, color graphics?.
in our household, we have a zaurus, running linux (bought last week) and two cassiopeia e-125's (bought several months ago) ...
... why? well, you've got more options.
... just don't.)
... you're all set (how did they not get sued?) You can also shrug off the help of a GUI, and use your favorite gcc, with cross-compilation support. You can also install all sorts of interpreters on it. You can install a webserver and php, for example. Python, perl ... whatever. Recompile, and push to the pda. Or even better, install gcc on the pda, and compile there! (okay, maybe not -- it's not the fastest thing around.)
... how many of you actually -love- win32api calls that are broken, the ability to develop -only- under nt/w2k/xp (yes, we're running it, but c'mon ... choices?) and the fact that you pretty much have to use eMbedded Visual Studio to do your work? It's a pain ... but it does work. You just don't have many options. The VB thing is easy to use, but for those of us who hate VB, there's still C++ ... only ... it's really not helpful. At all. It would help if we had a bit more experience with visual studio ... but as we use it only for command-line apps, and run to builder for anything window-y ... well ... we've already got a bias against it.
... insert into CF card reader, mount it (in my case, it thinks it's sda1) and have fun that way.
we're all programmers. each of us with a pda. but i can tell you, if you wanna program on the damn things, linux beats windows
for the casio's, we've got:
-python 1.x interpreter (hey, it's amusing, okay?)
-the microsoft SDK (3.0 and 4.0, more on that later.)
-vb (don't
for the zaurus, we've got:
-everything you could imagine.
let me expand on that -- because the linux pda runs Qt natively, you can use the Qt-[Borland-Builder-esque] designer to build applications. it's great. it's c++, and the framework doesn't suck. didn't take long, and if you're used to Borland Builder
Now, for windows
Okay, so maybe we suck at visual studio. But at least the Zaurus offers a -lot- of options for creating your own programs. No, you won't be able to just port your X apps to it directly (it -is- Qt, not X.)
Did i mention it was cool to just ftp to your zaurus, etc.? Cassiopeia support under linux is this: take the CF card out
I am completely uneducated about Linux, or any of it's variations. All I know that it is customizable, programmable, reliable, and FREE.
:)
I am a medical student, and for our school, we have to have a palm PDA with a palm OS on it. I am very close to buying a sony clie since all my school apps are written for palm os. I came across some palm emulators for linux, and was curious to know how well do they actually funcion, and how fast do they run on a PDA such as Sharp's.
Also, has anyone had a chance to check out the POCKETEC (20, 30, or 40 GB usb external HD's that run with linux). www.pocketec.net
I was curious to know that if I could use such device with the linux PDA. They say that it supports Linux Kernel 2.4+, and all it needs is a USB connection.
If the HD would work with the PDA, and I could run palm OS emulator with some decent speed on it, I think that it would the best thing out there. (40GB on a PDA, I am drooling as I type
Please let me know if what I talked about makes any sense. As soon as I find some time, I would love to learn to program Linux, but until then, I hope that I could get by being able to use this sharp pda with minimal Linux knowledge.
Look forward to your responses.
Thanks.
What UI Guru thinks it a good idea for me to learn how to write letters all over again?
I have been writing legibly for almost forty years now but for the life of me I can't write the letter "V" on a Palm. I usually end up with a "U" and think "OK I'll just know that is a "V" when I read it again later". Or I can stop what I'm doing, bring up the software keyboard, enter a "V", lower the software keyboard, and then get back to the task at hand.
UI experts everywhere are vomiting in their trashcans.
Can't enter a "V" by drawing it on the Zaurus? Teach the Zaurus your own handwriting! Reconfigure the whole darn alphabet to the way you've been writing all your life...
or use the sweet-ass keyboard...
or the pickboard...
or you're some Old Timer V7 admin, how about Unicode?
or really love poking things with that stylus? You've got a software keyboard here too! Only this time candidate words are suggested speeding up your efforts!
Do you have some oddball character that you find yourself entering over and over again? Teach it to the Zaurus and enter it with one keystroke instead of having to navigate the infernal maze of Pilot pop-up windows.
Sharp gives you FIVE alternatives to far and away the worst UI gaffe on the Palm, Graffiti.
On the issue of software UI (excluding data entry) I will agree with you that the Sharp has a bit of catching up to do. Guess what? It's being updated all the time and I can download improvements! Not so with the Palm. Save for minor revision levels a Palm is stuck with the OS it shipped with.
Throw in the hardware though and the overall UI goodness tilts the other way. I mentioned the sweet-ass keyboard before. How about being able to reprogram the hard buttons? That's a nice UI plus.
Office compatibility is another usability draw the Palm will never have.
I know all this because I've owned three Pilots and I have found myself using my Zaraus more than I ever used those Pilots. It is purely the User Interface Goodness has pushed it's usefulness head and shoulders above the Pilot crowd.
Your hysterical slight "It's people like you who keep Linux unusable" begs to be addressed
Over the years I have purchased and installed five linux distos. Because the experience "sucked" I have switched back to windows each time (next I am going to try Ximian Gnome on my laptop). Your broad brushstrokes of people that disagree with your minor positions alienate compatriots in what is obviously your larger war.
Cheers!
Beal
bamph