Slashdot Mirror
New Zaurus Linux PDA Available In the U.S.
pdawerks writes "The Sharp Zaurus SL-6000L handheld, which runs Linux in the Trolltech's Qtopia environment, has finally made it to the U.S. at a pricepoint of $699, according to a PDALive.com article. It has a 4-inch 480 x 640 CG Silicon reflective screen that is much larger than the one in the 5x00 models, and the screen supports rotation on the fly (portrait and landscape modes). Sharp has also incorporated a sliding thumb keyboard into this model."
It also can apparently survive being drenched with water, provided that you dry it out before turning it on.
Friend of mine had one next to a leaky air conditioner. Well, six feet. The thing really needs replacing. Got soaked, got dried, still works.
STOP MISUSING APOSTROPHES, YOU MORONS!!!
Does anyone else notice that these Sharp PDAs are less-than-beautiful in case design?
:)
I'm not highly impressed with either the case design OR the OS design, but the case in particular.
Look at the Sony Clie NX series modles, the Tungsten E, etc. Those are some nice looking handhelds. The Sony Launcher also LOOKS nice.
Sorry, but when I see pictures of these Sharp PDAs, they just don't excite me. The only upside is the VGA screen.
I'll definitely be looking out for VGA Palm units in the near future though, those should be great
Really, what is the demand for a product like this? The price alone sets this way above what the average consumer should be willing to pay. Sure there are the "power users", the technophites and the "too wealthy to cares" who this is perfect for, but what about the rest of us? Seems like another case of a product with too high a price for the features that will be frequently used.
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:
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.
main(0)
I recently purchased a Zaurus SL-C860 from Dynamism, and it is truely a device I can't live without. Sure, it was pretty expensive at around $850, but no other pda I've ever used can touch it in terms of speed, style, and overall "coolness." Hell, I'm running an X11-based ROM on it now, and nearly all X apps can be recompiled to run on it.
I think I like the clamshell layout better than the traditional vertical PDA layout of this and the 5X00 series. Being able to quickly convert between mini-laptop mode and PDA mode is more useful than I'd ever imagined it would be. If I were to suggest a PDA to anyone, I'd say the SL-C760 is the better bet, as it costs the same as the 6000 and is nearly identical to the 860 (the 860 has a slightly larger screen, all-silver case and better default software, which is only helpful if you are japanese!).
Sure, the 7XX and 8XX series do not have the built-in wireless, but the coolness factor of the design, and the fact that almost nobody in the US has one, make it the better choice (IMHO).
--- At my sig, unleash hell.
I loved my SL-5500 PDA from sharp for about 2 weeks, and then tossed it in a drawer along with my Palm IIIx and Newton. I am sure that there are many out there that love PDAs, but my cell phone has done everything I have ever needed out of a PDA. I'd rather spend the $700 and get the Sony Ericsson P800 phone with the megapixel cam, etc!
Maybe when we have star trek like PDAs that will analyze everything about my surroundings i'd be more receptive.
-------
artlu.net
I must agree... I cheated however, and purchased the developer model because I just *had* to have it as soon as it was available. Once I slotted in my 256mb SD card and 512mb flash the thing proved it's worth many times over. I used to hang out on the #zaurus channel an awful lot until I basically had the hang of it. In conjunction with the serial adapter + minicom it's a quick console into most of my gear, my Intel (aka symbol) lowpower Wifi allows me great flexibility while waiting for my cofee at the local hotspots and I'm thoroughly impressed with my CF modem while in those horrible 56k only spots.
Blah blah not a plug etc. The reason I am so stuck on it, is because (in part) with a bit of practice one can reflash on the fly betwixt firmwares in notime using only a CF card and a few shell scripts.
PS. for those with laptops the CF cards are dual use, with a nice 15$ CF to PCMCIA adapter.
Anyone know how long the 1500mAH Lithium-polymer battery will last on this thing? I had the SL-5500 and the battery on that thing would only last 8 hours max. Is this one any better?
To be honest, I'm not highly impressed with overall package anyway, but it was the case in particular that got my attention.
For example, look at the Palm Tungsten serieis, the Sony Clie NX series, etc. Those are some *really* nice looking handhelds. The Sony Launcher also looks nice (but is let down by its practicality).
When I see pictures of these Sharp PDAs, they just don't excite me -- it is suicidal from an advertising perspective. If anything, its only redeeming feature is the VGA screen (I cant wait till a VGA Palm unit is released).
No FLTK, no Gnome, no Gtk+, no Tcl/Tk, no wxWindows, no Mono/Gtk#, no X11, no Firefox, no R, etc. The thing doesn't run any software that I use or develop for. Sorry, Sharp, until the thing ships with X11, it's no more than a PDA, and as a PDA, Palms are more usable and mature. Not to mention that I can develop commercial and free software for Palm without paying anybody.
I'm a die-hard LInux user, but my PDA is a Palm--Palms even work better with Linux than Zaurus. My Zaurus is gathering dust--it's useful neither as a PDA nor as a Linux handheld.
Sharp could easily fix this without changing their product much: replace Qt/embedded with Qt/X11. That won't make it a better PDA and it won't make Qt less of a resource hog (Qt/X11 is worse than Qt/embedded), but it would make the Zaurus a better Linux handheld.
No the problem continues to be price. Oddly enough, that's the one thing Linux should have helped keep down; even in the PDA market. Unfortunately, the PDA market appears to be oblivious to this.