Zaurus SL-6000 Prototype Revealed

Gudlyf writes "The Zaurus User Group has a short piece (with pictures) on the newly revealed prototype of the Sharp Zaurus SL-6000. Among the many new features are integrated wi-fi, integrated bluetooth, a larger screen and possibly more RAM. Word is that this unit *will* appear in U.S. markets."

Comments

Alien probe

[konichiwa]

We will now transport you to our home planet of NFQ-9882...

Pictures

[breman]

Zaurus SL-6000

Re:I've never owned a PDA

[superbondbond]

I find it very useful. The zaurus is my third PDA, after both a PalmOS and a WindwosCE device.

The Zaurus has all the same functionality as the others with regard to PIM applications, but I was sold on some of the unique features of the SL-5500. The integrated keyboard is a godsend when entering large amounts of text at one time. It supports most wireless cards right out of the box. both a SD and CF card slots make it very flexible, and I won't go into the whole "it runs Linux" thing, but we're thinking that anyway. On a sidenote there are a variety of modified ROMs that can be flashed onto the unit (more flexibility).

On the down side, the battery life is somewhat disappointing (something which I'd hope will be vastly improved on the upcoming models). I have to say that my old HP Jornada had an unbelievable battery life, and it's taken some effort to get used to charging my Z so often, but overall I like it better the other PDAs that I've tried.

I do.

[oGMo]

Does anyone own a Zaurus? How useful are they really?

I own a Zaurus SL-5500: the "original" US market unit (as opposed to the original developer's unit, the SL-5000, which was basically the same thing with half the RAM). I'll say this: you can have it... when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers.

Two reasons it rocks:

• The keyboard. The primary reason this is 10x more efficient than (most) palm devices: I can type very quickly on the build-in "hidden" keyboard. Yes, the Zaurus has something like PalmOS's Graffiti. In fact, the Z's recognizer is more sophisticated and accurate, and can learn any strokes you teach it. I still use the keyboard.
• Linux. No, I do not use my Z as a "hacking tool" or "geek toy" primarily. I've written a test app for it or so, but that's it. (Doing so is incredibly easy, actually, but I haven't had a lot of time to spend on it.) I bought my Zaurus as a PDA, and that's what I use it for. Since I use Linux exclusively on the desktop, having it on the PDA is extremely natural, not to mention making things extremely flexible. I find syncing silly. I prefer ssh, scp, or (with the newer ROM) smbclient (which is like a braindead ftp, but it works). If I needed syncing, I would use rsync. It just fits very naturally into my work environment.

Some people complain about the PIM apps; the quality varies. The Todo List and Address Book aren't great, but I don't use the former and the latter is sufficient. The Text Pad, however, is pretty handy, and Opera (which even renders slashdot well!) and Hancomsheet (a fully-blown spreadsheet!) are killer apps for me.

The only reason I don't upgrade to a CL-760 is the fact I can't justify the cost: my Z works great as-is. With the work on OpenZaurus and Opie, the PIM issues are being solved, and I have little chance of being left with a "dead" platform.