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...

Already getting slow

[holygoat]

Wow, and there's only one comment!

I'll be very interested (as a former Zaurus user) to see how this competes against the Axims of this world. It's amazing how prices have fallen since I got my iPAQ 3630 - you can now get a WiFi-enabled Axim for less than $200 (equivalent prices here). That's crazy!

PocketPCs (largely because of Dell) are swamping the markets at several price points. It will take a very competitive pricing strategy to compete.

I want one.

New item in their terms of service

[heironymouscoward]

(This is the Zaurus User's Group's terms of service)...

Article 12b. Anyone caught posting a link to our server to the GODDAMN FRONT PAGE of Slashdot will be kidnapped at midnight by large man in grey jackets and locked in a cellar where he will be forced to listen to Bill Gates reading the entire contents of MSDN at maximum volume.

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.

Re:I've never owned a PDA

[Psiren]

I own one. I don't use it as a PDA that much, but as a network testing device it's very handy. If I have problems with switches or network points, I can just stick it in my pocket with a CF network card, and off I go. I can use ssh, nmap, tcpdump and all the other linux tools I use on my desktop machine. The screen is a little small, but it's certainly readable, and the built in keyboard is handy too. The only thing that really bugs me is the lack of seperate numeric keys, which is a pain when you're entering ip addresses. Usually I use the on screen keyboard for that.

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.

Re:I've never owned a PDA

[swv3752]

I have a SL-5500 for about two months. I also have but no longer use a VR3. I also am a technical support rep for one of the major Palm OS pda manufacturers.

The Zaurus is great. It is reasonably fast. I run the majority of the Apps off the SD card, so that slows things do a bit. If you make use the ram drive, as it is setup in the default Sharp ROM, it is very fast to run off the ram drive.

There is a fair amount of software and one can also make use of Java apps. Besides the PIM apps, I primarily use it as an ebook read and a check book. For those that are interested The Kompany makes several apps for the zaurus including Kapital, a Quicken like program. the Zaurus Software Index should give a good idea of what is available.

The screen is a reflective tft so it is fully usable in Bright light including sunlight. The battery will last a couple of days with normal use, much like any pocket PC device. There is also a NiCAD backup battery, though you will need to suspend the device before you lose total battery. If you do not save to the Ram drive, then everything will be restore if you lose all power as it will be saved to either internal flash, SD, of CF.

The buttons are reconfigurable, and if held for a sec or two have another function. I have sucessfully beamed between a VR3, PEGSJ20, Visor, Ipaq, and a Palm V. I have synced on both Win2k and Mandrake Linux 9.1-9.2.

Oh and the media player works nicely. The sound through the headphones is great. The built in speaker is a crappy piezo though. I personally prefer using the embedded XMMS, but there are several options.

this is not a pda

[aber]

I think people that compare the Zaurus to the Palm or other PDAs are missing the point. The Zaurus is more of a mini computer than a "digital assistant" (even if Sharp insists in marketing it as a PDA). I say that as an engineer: I would look at the Zaurus to replace my HP48G, not to replace my palm pilot (which has been replaced by my cell phone a long time ago). PDAs like the palm are on their way to extinction, there's nothing they can do a good phone won't do better.

From that perspective, the Zaurus doesn't even have to be too small, I won't carry it around everywhere, just to work or meetings or things like that. It's much more convenient than a laptop, and this model (if it ever really comes out) actually has good connectivity.

Re:I've never owned a PDA

[Ilan Volow]

You said it, brother. Then again, you usually do have pretty good posts about PDA-related stuff.

The linux zealots constantly inflate the miserable usability that most linux things currently have, and it just gets ridiculous when you see something like PDA's that require ten times the user interaction saavy needed for a desktop.

Trolltech in no way did any of their homework regarding PDA UI design, and it shows in the Qtopia widget borders that gobble up vast amounts of valuble screen real-estate, and in the fact that I have to do twice as many taps to accomplish the same task I was doing on a Palm.

Ergonomica Auctorita Illico