Zaurus Software Reviews

Steve Emms writes "The Zaurus SL-5500 PDA represents a new frontier. Here Linux is not an afterthought shoehorned onto a windows product - the Zaurus is a PDA that comes configured with Linux out of the box. And it's a good fit, Linux works well on relatively low spec machines like PDAs. But it's the software that makes the machine. So LinuxLinks has started a series of reviews of commercial Linux software for the Zaurus." Little thin right now, but a nice start for anyone interested in the PDA.

Comments

Links

[Taylor_Durden]

Nice summary by O'Reilly
Sharp USA site
Zaurus user's site
Sharp Developer site
ZDNet UK review
cNet review
Linuxdevices.com review
ZDnet review
TechTV review
ThinkGeek review
PC Magazine review
IT Reviews review
Cnet shopper latest prices
Buy @ Amazon

Re:Links

[Capt. Beyond]

You forgot the two most important links:
http://opie.handhelds.org
http://openzaurus.sourceforge.net

Hardware, not software, is what the Zaurus needs

[charlie]

Speaking as a [new] Zaurus owner, the one thing I'd give my right foot for is a Think Outside folding keyboard, or equivalent. Just something I can plug the Zaurus into and use for touch-typing.

The Zaurus keyboard is better than nothing, but it's not good enough -- and handwriting input isn't what I want. 90% of what I do with a laptop when I'm on the move is concerned with text, and the Zaurus with a folding external keyboard and a spare battery would actually replace a laptop for most purposes. So where are the hardware add-ons?

Lots of Software

[HomerG]

There are over 550 programs for the Zaurus at the Zaurus Software Index. Also the Zaurus is more than just a PDA, it's a complete computer in a very small case.

Re:Windows look and feel ?

[zulux]

Honda use to only make motorcycles. They decided to make cars one day, and low and behold - Honda made a car just like Ford! It had four wheels, engine up front with a stearing wheel in the same place. Hell, even the controlls were roughly in the same place.

The point being, asiide from me being a sarcastic twit, is that people are getting use to XP and it's 'tarded telletubies interface. They, as all smart developers, are giving people (the consumers) what they want.

And, to me, it looks like the "XP Team" copied Gnome - Gnome had rounded-large-colorfull icons well before XP did.

Re:Console Only Mode

[ForceOfWill]

Yes, it does. You have to press '/' then 'a' at bootup, when it gives the 'Wait' prompt. The options when you press '/' are:

q (x): Qtopia
a (e): Linux Console
e (e): init 3 (ttyS0:-free-)
r (e): init 4 (ttyS0:terminal)
t (e): init 5 (ttyS0:pppd)

Zaurus Rough Spots

[Greyfox]

I've encountered a few rough spots with my Zaurus. The original ROM image had this nasty tendency to create an endless tree of "Document" directories on your CF card. That seems to have been fixed in a later ROM image you can download off Sharp's site. The image I'm currently using likes to create an assload of files in the Documents directories with names like "Up" and "Down". Strange.

The GUI shells you can get for the machine work pretty well, as do X and the C compiler off the Open Zaurus web page. The X package seems to be made to install in RAM and doesn't like being relocated to install on a CF or SD card. The C compiler is not a package file and can be detarred anywhere, though making all the links to get it working right can be tricky.

Oh yeah, and battery life sucks. That kinda goes without saying. I get about 2 to 3 hours of powered on use out of a battery. I keep a spare on hand, and that helps a little. Palm users will have to modify habits (And take that AC adaptor with you on business trips.)

You can also replace the initrd with a build of your own. So if you want to completely build your environment from the ground up (or try Debian's build) that's pretty easy.

All in all a nice little machine, though it could benefit from fuel cell technology.