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Zaurus SL-6000 Review

Posted by timothy on from the bit-pricey-though dept.

Bill Kendrick writes "BargainPDA has done a full review of Sharp's Zaurus SL-6000L Linux-based PDA, which was recently released to consumers in the US. There are six pages of review, lots of pretty photos, and comparisons with previous Zaurus models."

28 of 230 comments (clear)

  1. Could someone review the review by Neil+Blender · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's pretty long. Please rate on the Slashdot scale where 8 = teh suck, 9 = OK and 10 = good. Thanks.

    1. Re:Could someone review the review by phalse+phace · · Score: 4, Funny

      You mean you actually want/expect someone to read the article? What are you thinking?

  2. The screen! by Mr.+Darl+McBride · · Score: 5, Interesting
    640x480 (480x640) LCD.

    That is ALL that I needed to see. This is finally a PDA I want!

    1. Re:The screen! by Mr.+Darl+McBride · · Score: 4, Insightful
      640x480 (480x640) LCD. That is ALL that I needed to see. This is finally a PDA I want!
      I mean seriously -- that it's running Linux is an excellent plus. But for a pocketable display like that, I'd still have bought it if it ran Tandy Deskmate!

      I'd run this damned thing with Lindows^H^H^H^Hspire!!!

    2. Re:The screen! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      Unfortunately, users of UNIX-based operating systems occasionally see "^H" appear when they hit the backspace button. This has to do with their "termcap," a primitive text file mechanism that governs which function keys are made to work in a given terminal.

      Modern operating systems such as Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition are not affected by this flaw.

    3. Re:The screen! by G27+Radio · · Score: 5, Informative

      The ASCII code for backspace is 8 which is equivalent of control-H. ^H is shorthand for control-H. Back in the ole BBS days if you didn't have your terminal settings properly configured you'd see ^H instead of backspace.

      Some systems would let you intentionally insert backspace characters into your posts. At 300bps you would actually see the word Lindows, then the cursor would move back four spaces in it would recomplete the word as Linspire.

    4. Re:The screen! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      Actually, modern operating systems such as any modern operating system are not affected by this flaw. It's used as a joke. I think you are a troll^H^H^H^H^Hmoron.

  3. "Bargain"PDA by jargoone · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I know running Linux is cool and all, but does anyone really spend $650-700 on a PDA? I'm not being sarcastic, I'm really curious.

    1. Re:"Bargain"PDA by foidulus · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Well, I am not so sure there will be a huge market in the US, but in Japan(Where the zaurus debuted), where people(even people with a lot of money) spend a lot of time on trains, and where there is a reasonably reliable wirerless data network, a lot of people like these. You can get a lot of the functionality(but maybe not the horsepower) of a laptop so you can do you work on the train(Japanese trains are notoriously crowded). I guess it all depends on what you want to do with the PDA and to a lesser extent, where you want to do it(versus having a laptop)

    2. Re:"Bargain"PDA by notyou2 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Would you ever spend $650-700 on a laptop? Why?

      I'll answer that myself: you'll spend that money if it increases your productivity enough to justify the investment.

      The same goes for an expensive PDA like that. For some, they really make use of it, and they really will/do get $650-700 of value out of it.

      --
      DiscDividers tabbed plastic CD dividers: divider cards f
    3. Re:"Bargain"PDA by sargon · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Actually, yes, they do. I refuse to carry a laptop with me 24 hours a day when on call. But a Zaurus C-860, with a CF WiFi card and CF 10/100 Ethernet card, is another matter. I can carry this equipment in a small camera bag and actually have a life on the weekends instead of sitting at home waiting for the pager to scream. When I get paged, I find a hotspot, ssh into the access server, then connect to the troublesome router, switch, or firewall. Problem (usually) fixed in a few minutes. Wife is happy (we can actually go out during "on-call" weekends), which makes me happy.

      Yes, they are worth every penny.

    4. Re:"Bargain"PDA by stuffman64 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Hrm. I dropped about $850 on my SL-C860. And is sure isn't because I have the money (as I am currently paying my way through school with a part time job and many many loans). The functionality of this device approaches that of a laptop, but its form factor is what most strongly influenced my purchase. Not to mention laptops are still too expensive for ones that don't fall apart after a month's use.

      With the Zaurus, I can easily carry it in my pocket, use the campus' WiFi, and take notes in class (granted, a full keyboard would be optimal, but I can easily sketch notes on this thing). With a laptop you have to lug around a big bag that screams "steal me." Laptops also do not fit on univerity "desks." The battery life of a laptop would not last me through a day of class without recharging. I can go on, but I think my point is clear: laptops are bulky, especially if you are always on the move.

      Not to mention that I can easily pull it out of my pocket and play a few minutes of Final Fantasy III on the bus ride back to my apartment.

      --
      --- At my sig, unleash hell.
  4. My favorite thing about my Zaurus... by MarkWPiper · · Score: 5, Insightful
    ...is that it isn't instantly obselete. The open-source nature of the software gaurantees that people will always be tinkering, improving, and interested in any genuinely useful piece of hardware (which, with a WiFi card and a spacious sD card, it certainly is).

    I love being able to know that many of the advances people make for the new SL-6000 will be equally applicable to my SL-5500, because the source is open!

    In contrast, my roommate's older WinCE PDA, even though it has some nice hardware, is stuck with old software. There will never be anything new that he can do with it, because there is no upgrade path.

  5. Re:First postings.... by ItMustBeEsoteric · · Score: 4, Informative

    The answer would be: "Yes, yes you can." I've used my trusty old SL-5500 (with CF wi-fi) to ssh into my desktop many-a-time.

  6. what really matters by Kiro · · Score: 4, Insightful

    no Zaurus is complete without Zaurus Freeciv on it!

  7. Google Cache by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Click Here

  8. Re:Did the full review include... by geekbox5 · · Score: 4, Informative

    I ran my SL-5500 as a web server for a few days just to test it. There is an apache distribution for it, with php included, but it does tend to run a little slow, probably due to the lack of physical ram on it.

  9. Free Zaurus by amitofu · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I hope that OpenZaurus/OpenEmbedded get their act together soon and release a new version that supports the SL-5600/SL-6000. The current version of OpenZaurus is unstable on my SL-5600 and the Sharp ROM is crap. I am thinking about trying Gentoo for Zaurus.

    Are there any other free Zaurus distros out there?

    1. Re:Free Zaurus by sirReal.83. · · Score: 4, Informative

      Yes. the Debian Zaurus Project is headed by Debian Developer Matt Zimmerman. From what I know, he pretty much just had to make a custom kernel and build a ROM image, as Debian officially supports the ARM architecture. No massive recompiling necessary. Just hijack someone's WiFi connection and apt-get whatever you want ;D

  10. it ain't no pda by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    i use my sl-6000l in ways i could never use a pda: actually computing while standing, in some cases while walking; no bothering with pda-friendly websites

    the transflective screen alone makes it useful in many situations where my laptop will fail: outdoors in different lighting; the ruggedness (survives much droppage) is another reason i can take it outdoors ... i just hang it around my neck like a japanese tourist with a camera (and the japanese usually bow in deference to my techno-bob aura)

    just local.google.com makes it worthwhile at my new home at carnegie mellon, where there is wifi everywhere and i can find all essential services on a map quite easily

  11. $699? by goldspider · · Score: 4, Funny

    So if we order it with Linux pre-installed, we get the hardware for free?

    --
    "Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
  12. Lack of decent up to date software. by Sadiq · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'll probably get some flak for this but what the hell.

    I own both a Palm PDA and a Zaurus (Treo 90 and SL-5000), the former is a perfect organiser whereas I hardly consider the latter to be. My Zaurus is let down by many things, firstly the fact that there exists relatively little up to date organiser software for it that even comes anything close to many of the free Palm apps out there.

    Secondly, installing some of the more interesting applications on the Zaurus requires you to jump through herculian hoops to get things working.

    Lastly, people'll probably point to webpages chocked full of Zaurus applications (http://www.killefiz.de/zaurus/ being one) but one closer inspection you'll find that many of the more useful applications are either in a half finished state or haven't been maintained in several years and lack features needed to work with newer desktop versions.

    Don't get me wrong, I love my Zaurus. There's nothing like pulling it out of your pocket, firing up the WiFi, ssh'ing into your box and synching your local MySQL server. Just don't buy it if you're looking for an organiser, you'll be bitterly disappointed.

    - Sadiq

    --
    SysWear - Geek T-shirts (UK/Europe)
    1. Re:Lack of decent up to date software. by proxima · · Score: 4, Informative

      Just don't buy it if you're looking for an organiser, you'll be bitterly disappointed.

      As the proud owner of a now obsolete Handspring Visor and having just purchased a "new" Zaurus 5500 on Ebay, I basically agree.

      Everything on a Palm is instant. It may not have every feature you want, and until recently, the screens had pretty poor resolution (Sony is the exception). However, the applications worked well, and had reasonable interfaces so they could be used quickly.

      I quickly abandoned the Sharp ROM for the Zaurus in favor of OpenZaurus, but I've certainly had my frustrations with bugs and missing features. Some small things, like the ability for the application buttons to turn on the device (like a Palm), and some larger things, like having it not reboot properly the second time if you haven't suspended in between (though there is an unofficial fix).

      Why am I rebooting in the first place? Because of the Zaurus' greatest aspect - it's basically a fully-functional Linux system. As such, one can tweak, test, and otherwise poke around (sometimes needing a reboot if something got messed up or you're testing something). Some Zaurus applications I've found I've had no good free Palm equivalent. Zee Cookbook is a great, if somewhat slow (when editing), way to keep a database of recipes on hand. QTJournal is a great way to take notes that are categorized by date and subject. The ability to run just about any console-based Linux software (even the statistical software R) makes it very useful as a sysadmin tool. With a small, cheap wireless card from Ebay, it is often more convenient than lugging around a laptop.

      Some of the things I've wanted to use my Zaurus for before I bought it work, and some don't (yet). I got xmms running and it plays OGG files well (but the included mediaplayer with openzaurus doesn't, and the Sharp ROM's media player has a horrendous interface). I can control the Zaurus remotely via ssh (VERY handy for exploring with a real keyboard) and VNC (with the framebuffer vnc package). However, the latter doesn't offer even basic security (and I haven't gotten iptables to work), so I'm reluctant to use it often, mostly out of principle.

      I got the xvnc server running, but the vncviewer client to view it simply will not connect to it, or any other vnc server. I've seen a few other reports of this behavior but no fix, and most people seem to have no problem. This combo is supposed to allow the use of any X11 application on the Zaurus itself, and more importantly for me, remote X applications (so I can control xmms on my music server with a wireless connection - the ultimate remote). If anyone has a suggestion about this, I'd be happy to hear it.

      My other problem is mail - mailit (included with OpenZaurus) is simplistic, but more importantly doesn't work for one of my domains (not sure why this is). I can telnet manually to port 110 and execute pop commands fine, but this mail client barks about an unknown response from the server. QTmail doesn't work either - it gives host not found or something like that.

      For the price I paid, I get far more functionality than I ever did from a Visor, but the Zaurus definitely has its frustrations. The PIM apps are nothing much to speak of, they function, but are slower than their Palm equivalents (this, again is on OpenZaurus). My greatest desire - the ability to have tree-view tasks, is not implemented on either my Handspring or any version of "todo" on the Zaurus that I've used.

      So it's not perfect, but you can still pry it from my cold, dead hands.

      --
      "The universe seems neither benign nor hostile, merely indifferent." --Carl Sagan
  13. Pretty big review - heres the text of pages 1-4 by rpdillon · · Score: 5, Informative

    Review of Sharp Zaurus SL-6000

    Reviewed for bargainPDA by Ian Giblin.
    Thanks to offroadgeek from The Zaurus User Group for input and discussion.

    Overview and Introduction

    The new Zaurus SL-6000 from Sharp is a versatile, linux-based PDA incorporating an Intel XScale (PXA255) CPU at 400 MHz. In some respects it is a hybrid of the Zaurus SL-5600, which became available in the U.S. in April of 2003, and the SL-C750/760/860 which is only available as a special import and was reviewed here in September of 2003. The main enhancements to the SL-6000 are a better screen, some ruggedisation, built-in Wi-Fi and/or bluetooth, and a degree of expandability. There's also a USB host built into it using a Mini A connector on the bottom of the device. Oh, and a longer stylus.

    The device I'm reviewing here is the SL-6000L, which has only Wi-Fi. We spoke to Sharp's representative about the other models - specifically the SL-6000N (Bluetooth only) and the SL-6000W, which was billed as the combo product with both 802.11b Wireless and Bluetooth. The representative told us that the only version which will be made available to the general consumer is the 6000L Wi-Fi variant.

    If you put it into Google you can find the SL-6000W but you can't actually buy one yet (May 2004).

    The Sharp Zaurus SL-6000 and You

    You might wonder - what's the target market for this device? It is large, expensive and ruggedised. If you haven't already guessed, the answer is "Enterprise". Sharp collaborated with IBM on this project, but the only evidence on the consumer device is the link to IBM's page when you open the Opera web browser. A little nosing about on IBM's site yields some other interesting pages like this one on cross-developement. But I digress...

    An ongoing aspect of the Enterprise factor is RailDocs, a system "designed to enable users to efficiently design, build, and maintain the fixed transportation infrastructure of a railroad". Not for the average user, obviously, but it speaks volumes for the stability and versatility of the Zaurus product.

    It is something of a surprise that Sharp have made the SL-6000 available to the consumer market, particularly after a Sharp marketing representative originally told bargainPDA "Please keep in mind that this product is designed exclusively for the corporate market and will not be sold through the direct to consumer channel. It will be used by businesses for business applications.".

    Whether the Sharp Zaurus is right for you depends upon the type of role you see for it. The Zaurus is probably the best linux-based handheld computer available, and the software is almost the same across models. It may not be the best PDA, in fact most Zaurus users wouldn't even call it a PDA. Sharp themselves call the Zaurus a Personal Mobile Tool. If you decide to buy a Zaurus you can find one to fit your budget. The table below summarises the features of key members of the Sharp Zaurus range, plus a very rough indication of their current prices. Links will open the bargainPDA reviews where available.

    The C760 and C860 differ only in that the 860 has a Japanese/English dictionary on it, and it has a silver case rather than the white one on the 760. The C750 is like the C760, but has a smaller battery and less memory; reading the SL-C750 review will give you a very good idea of those three Zaurus "clamshell" devices. Some of the software section of this review is just an updated and edited version of the C750 software review.

    Anyone looking at the SL-6000 should consider the alternative of buying an imported SL-C860 or C760 plus an 802.11b wireless card. This would give you the same functionality as the SL-6000L model reviewed here (plus an extra 64MB of internal flash memory), but you may have to risk some major inconvenience if the C model Zaurus breaks down - even when you buy through high-end channels such as Dynamism where the C860 costs $849, or ShirtPocket where it is 565. As well as the currency conversion you're doing in your hea

  14. Re:I do not agree. by MarkWPiper · · Score: 4, Interesting
    The Zaurus both has superior hardware to the Agenda, and a superior community has been built around it (partly due to the fact that they keep evolving by putting out improved models). In some sense, the Agenda fails the 'useful hardware' test that I stated above.

    Agenda, IIRC, was released in 2001, and the company making it soon after went out of business. The fact is, if it weren't for open-source, there wouldn't be anything new you'd be doing with your PDA. The fact that you can still find software for it after 4 years says something.

  15. The rest - parts 5 and 6 text by rpdillon · · Score: 5, Informative

    OS and Basic Screen Navigation

    At the top level, this looks like any PDA OS. The underlying Operating System is OpenPDA from Metrowerks (a company owned by Motorola). The GUI is Qtopia from Trolltech. This is a very well established system and has a good user and developer base. It also benefits from a certain amount of cross-platform portability, meaning that software can easily be translated from other systems to this one.

    The main functionality is organised into four Home Pages or "Tabs": Applications, Java, Settings and Files. The Java Tab seems completely pointless, and I was glad to find that it disappears if you reset the flash memory as I have done several times while testing the device (if you want it back, you can reinstall from a package on the CD). I won't bore you with describing the three Java "applications " on the SL-6000. Their only worthy feature is that Java apps run in resizable and movable windows, which is a big deal when you have this much screen real estate. One day all windows will be movable and resizable (imagine that!).

    You can add your own Home tabs, including a custom icon from a choice of what looks like hundreds. You cannot edit the system tabs. The pictures below show the four default Home Tabs; clicking on each one will open a new window in your browser showing the actual screenshot. All these screen shots are in portrait mode, but I only did this so they'd fit the review page better. They work just as well with the screen rotated 90 degrees.

    You can change the theme of the interface easily using the Appearance tool in the Settings Home Page; the differences are significant but not Earth-shattering. You can also set a graphical backdrop to the Home Tabs (other than the File Manager). This doesn't seem to slow the interface down, and it has the potential to look great on this display.

    Zoom Zoom

    One feature of the SL-6000 which affects many applications is the "zoom" capability. Using the Qtopia menu items (ZoomIn and ZoomOut you can zoom in and out in most application displays. What this really means is scaling the font and usually some other window furniture (e.g. column markers in a spreadsheet). It is very effective, and only limited by the font you are using. I made an animation of this when I reviewed the C750 last year - click here to see it.

    Help System

    The Qtopia GUI includes a customised help system which offers help on just about anything with an icon. It looks like a basic web browser and would be very useful to someone just starting out with the PDA. Once you've skimmed the manual I doubt it would be much help, but it does provide a good introduction.

    (back to contents)

    Personal Information Management (PIM) Tools

    PIM Applications: Address Book, Calendar, ToDo List.

    The Address book is pretty standard - adding, deleting and editing entries is easy. You can choose which fields appear on the list and their order, as well as the overall sort order. The display uses colour very well.

    Contacts can be beamed back and forth between the Zaurus and any other IR-capable PDA easily, although only one at a time from what I could tell, using .vcf files. I was hoping that I'd be able to hold the Zaurus near a telephone and have it tone-dial a number for me, but it can't do that.

    The Calendar allows a day, week, month and year view and you can set up reminders, repeating events, and so on. In the month view you can have a text format (which soon gets crowded) or graphical, which uses colour coded stripes to show events. This works well. Having used the application for some time on my 5600, I have found a few things which are annoying. For example, setting an appointment to repeat daily results in an entry in the calendar for every day forever. It would be so much nicer if it just updated each day to indicate the next scheduled event.

    The ToDo list, like the Calendar and Adress book, is adequate. It syncs with Outlook or Qtopia Desktop and is fairly useful f

  16. If you have a mac... by madsenj37 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    you can now sync zaurus' with ical and mail, etc. I am extremely happy about this. http://www.dsitri.de/wiki.php?page=Projects

    --
    Choosing the lesser of two evils is a choice for evil.
  17. USB host mode - Add hard drives, other USB devices by Spoing · · Score: 4, Informative
    Most PDAs -- including (all?) previous ones from Sharp -- were USB slave devices. You could connect the PDA to a computer, and that computer could use the PDA, but you could not connect the PDA to a USB device and have the PDA use that device.

    The SL-600 changes that. In theory, you should now be able to connect any USB device that Linux supports to the SL-6000 and use it. So far, unfortunately, I've heard no sucess doing this yet...though the hardware is there.

    Anyone have sucess using random devices with the Zaurus?

    I'd expect that the following should work without much trouble;

    USB splitter

    Keyboard

    disk drives (including flash)

    Some may require software tweaks or added support as the Zaurus is intentionally a minimalist device.

    --
    A firewall can not protect you from yourself. Turn off what you do not need. Do not use the firewall to do your work.