Royal Linux PDA Finally Coming To Market

An anonymous reader writes "According to LinuxDevices.com: 'After a false start and a delay, Royal appears ready at last to ship its Linux-based PDA, the Linea LX. The Linux LX is now expected to arrive this quarter, priced at $399. The device will be based on a 200MHz Motorola i.MX1 MDragonBall processor equipped with 64MB of SDRAM and 32MB of Flash memory, and will include Trolltech's Qtopia graphical framework and PIM suite.'"

Good idea, but....

[DR SoB]

"with Microsoft Outlook synchronization. "

I hope that's not all it sync's with?? I was hoping I could finally have an all-encomposing Linux solution at home, that I could PDA on the road with, but apparently this Linux solution still wants me to have Windows installed at home..

Worth the price?

[dalamarian]

I love the idea of more Linux in my life, but the hardware seems a little less than stellar compared to something like an Ipaq for the same money. I believe you can get an Ipaq with a 400mhz Intel X-scale processor for 400 dollars also. Unless this Motorola has some sort of different rating...

The price always surprises me.

[NerveGas]

A 200 MHz processer, 64 megs of ram, and 32 megs of flash. For $400.

For the same price, I could put together an AthlonXP 2500+ with 512 megs of memory, a real hard drive, and a cd-burner.

I know, there are vast differences in manufacturing strategies, supply and demand, and all other items that dictate how much these handhelds will cost. But it's still a kick in the pants when a very low-powered handheld costs as much as a fairly powerful workstation.

steve

Video Playback

[vlad_petric]

I don't know about the Dragonballs, but an Intel StrongArm at 200MHz can't do 320x240 mpeg4 at 30fps, while a 400MHz one can ...

Yes, real performance is more important than MHz, but more MHz of the same model usually means more performance.

What will this

[Stopmotioncleaverman]

actually offer in the way of improvement over current, non-linux handhelds? Surely most people that buy handheld pcs aren't likely to care what it's running, so long as it gets the jobs done that they want?

I know you could code your own handheld distros and so on and so forth, but let's face it - as long as it acts as an organiser, has a nice display that's not too cluttered, accepts input well and doesn't fall over too often (which describes my last handheld perfectly well), why does it really make a difference whether or not it's Linux-based or not? Is this simply a release for those Linuxheads that hate microsoft? Or does it have some other benefits that I have overlooked?

It's always been that way...

[sczimme]

between desktops and laptops/notebooks, too: for a given class of machine (CPU, RAM, HD, display) the laptop would cost significantly more than the desktop.

However, in recent years the gap has narrowed: now a 2.4GHz Celeron laptop with a 14" display can cost under $700 [dell.com]. (Scroll down to the Inspiron 1100) The laptop still costs more than the same class desktop, but the gap isn't nearly as wide as it once was.

I believe that - as the PDA/handheld market matures - the price gap will close a bit. There will always be expensive stuff on the high end, but the entry- to mid-level stuff will offer pretty darn good performance.

Day late and a few hundred too expensive?

[stienman]

You can get a dell axim with more memory (and a faster processor, but it doesn't matter how fast it is if the software is inherently slow) and throw linux on it for $200. Pay another hundred or so and you've got wireless built in.

What, exactly, is the upside to this new portable, and is it worth the premium? It seems to me that the extra money is for a supported linux handheld, but is there really going to be much support beyond reflashing the handheld and re-syncing with the computer? If not, is there some other reason to look at this?

-Adam

"a false start and a delay"

[MyFourthAccount]

No offense, but this will probably become a false second start.

The specs are sorta last year's (well, 2002 really), maybe not the CPU but the amount of RAM & Flash, the enclosure looks clunky and really, it's nice it runs Linux, but that's not going to sell a product. (and of course there's nicer devices that run Linux)

Unfortunately, this device does not belong on frontpage /.

The problem with creating stuff like this is that time to market is everything. Not only that, competing on consumer electronics with HP and the likes is pretty much impossible in the long run. The biggest problem is that most companies do not plan this far ahead and think they can get a piece of the pie and stay there. They sometimes do for a little while, but at the end of the day you need the infrastructure to produce VERY HIGH volume consumer electronics, which ALWAYS means extremely low margins.

Sorry to sound so negative. I still think people should try, I'm just saying that most of the time the best approach for these companies is to plan to be bought by the likes of HP or Sony.

For my part...

[irokitt]

Personally, I'd rather have a slimmed-down notebook than a PDA. Something with a Transmeta processor, a quiet fan that doesn't try to light my thigh on fire, and a combo drive. I hate the BIG notebook trend, i.e. Dell and the larger Powerbooks. I spend most of my time at my desktop anyway, that's what I *do*, so I would want a light notebook to fill the gaps in.
Most of the guys I know with a PDA use it because it's fun, which is to say they don't really use it at all, they just play with it. And how many executives buy a PDA so that they can impress people at the business meetings?

I'll wait until the HHGttG catches up to us and we all have computers in our wrists. Then I think I'll hitch on to the PDA trend.

what does the underlying OS matter?

[rtphokie]

What benefits does this PDA runs Linux under the hood provide? The only mention of synchronization is Outlook.

Is Royal trying to appeal to the mass market by supporting synchronization with Outlook and the geek market with touting it's Linux basis?

Did they choose Linux for the "it's Linux, therefore it's cool" factor or did they choose Linux because it's a good kernel to develop this
kind of hardware on?

Seems aweful, but depends where it is marketed...

[Shados]

Yes, it seems rather awful compared to the Zaurus and the like...but it depends where they plan on selling these, too... Its hard to tell if they are going to be better or not than Win Mobile's pocket pcs, different processors, different optimisations, different drivers, etc...but comparing to the zaurus...it depends... It does seem worse...but...Sharp doesn't really market their zaurus everywhere... For exemple, I can't get one in Canada without importing from the US...rather awkward, and makes the device quite expensive, unless I get my fiance in Pittsburgh to get it for me from Amazon (who will not take international cards for it, might I add). Heck...the Zaurus models sold in the US, are rather pathetic compared to the C860, for exemple... So it definately depends how/where/when/what it will be marketed, before we can tell if there's going to be a market.

Too little too late too expensive

[110010001000]

Color PocketPC's and PalmOS devices have now reached the $199 price point. There is no market for this device.

Re:What will this

[woobieman29]

I currently use a Zaurus 5500 and there are certainly a number of advantages to a Linux handheld. HOWEVER.... Most of these are advantages that mean very little to your average PDA user. I feel that my Zaurus is more of a handheld laptop replacement than a PDA, and as such the ability to install and run thousands of Linux applications is very appealing. I use my Z mainly as a portable terminal to VNC/SSH/SFTP etc into other devices to manage them. This is not something that an average PalmOS user is interested in, so we really are talking about two different markets here I think. My experience has been that the majority of Zaurus users are using their Z's for much more than just PDA/PIM functions. Flexibility is what Linux gives you on a handheld.

Re:Compares well with my Zaurus 5500

[Lumpy]

I also agree. I have a 256M sd card in the side of my Z and use the CF card for many different devices. Most of the time doing something that the iPaq owners here in the office dream of like replacing the $13,000.00 Fluke network analyzer with my 100baseT CF ethernet card, my Z and a few typical linux apps (ntop is AWESOME for this)

I see royal dying a miserable death with this one if they dont instantly cut the price in 1/2.

I can buy SL-5500's all day long at $179.99 from retailers all over. sothey have to be less than that to even get any interest from most buyers.