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Sharp Zaurus SL-5500 Today?
TheAdmin writes "A few years ago the first Linux-based Zaurus, the SL-5500, was released for some $600 by Sharp. Today, it only costs $140 in some places online. This article at TuxTops reviews the 5500 from the point of view of trying to figure out how this model fares against today's PDAs and if it's still a good purchase after all these years, especially at this low price. And so I bought one recently because I needed a full-fledged pocket Linux at my workplace where I work as an admin. I just added a $30 Linksys WCF12 WiFi card (works out of the box after upgrading the SL-5500 ROM to version 3.10) which I use with SSH and by utilizing Zaurus' thumb-board. Works great and it's much more portable than a laptop, especially when all you need is some email and SSH on the go."
Frankly, for remote ssh and email, this does not seem like the best choice. The windows mobile, symbian or even palm-based platforms are definitely just as able (even more so) when it comes to that, while delivering much more bang for your buck. Ofcourse, then you don't get the geek cred for running linux, but, if that is your prime motivator for purchasing decisions, odds are you're throwing a lot of good money down the drain.
I've had one for years and barely have touched it. So cool, so close, but it's flaws are enough to not make it useful at all to me.
No speaker. That sucks. The one guy I found them who sold them took my money and never shipped. (Should have just build my own)
Horrendous battery life.
Want to attach something serial? Bend over for a zcable or don't type.
It would crash every couple of days requiring a reinstall of everything.
The one time I could have used it, (on a cruise with wireless), turns out the ship's internet needed some java crap to set up the ip access. I had called ahead to the company providing service to the ship to see what I'd need and they told me everything would work. Just need an 802 card.
It has a great form factor though.
Better battery life and integrated wifi and it would have been much more handy.
-William Shatner can be neither created nor destroyed.
He used the term 'boxen' !!! Kill him! Killl Him!!!!
The most honest line (and a funny one, too) I've ever read in a Linux review: "[The OS on the Zaurus] is not all that stable. I had 2-3 full crashes in the last few days. Some of them could possibly be solved if you SSH to your Zaurus and kill/restart QPE, but I don't see the average businessman [doing] anything of the like." The image of an exec SSHing to his handheld is priceless. (Although, if an associate had the same Zaurus with a Terminal app, I guess it could happen... :-) )
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
Wow, could this post be a little less insightful? But I guess it's fitting, considering how badly Slashdot has been sucking for the last few days.