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Handhelds Hardware

Retail Sharp Zaurus Released 310

Posted by CmdrTaco from the little-is-better dept.
Arminius writes "It looks like Sharp has finally released the Linux based Sharp Zaurus SL-5500 for retail sale. This thing is so awesome! Other than only being able to listen to mp3's thru my headphones only, this thing blows away my iPaq 3835! It even has Opera as the web browser. "
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Retail Sharp Zaurus Released More

Retail Sharp Zaurus Released

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  • it has the Opera browser? (Score:5, Funny)

    by dat00ket ( 249468 ) on Saturday March 30, 2002 @04:21PM (#3255347) Homepage
    Opera browser, huh?

    "To fully experience the Sharp USA site, you need to have Version 4 or above of Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator Version 4.x."

    Great way to make the customer feel good about buying their product.

    • ... reporting itself as MSIE 5.0.

      (Rant on) What if I don't want to "fully experience the Sharp USA site"? What if I just want some damn information? And I can read... imagine that, you don't have to put up all kinds of pretty little pictures so I know what you're trying to say. Yeah, yeah, I know, use lynx. Actually I often do. (Ok, rant off)

      The product looks pretty slick. I'd want some hands-on time (would that be "thumbs-on time"?) before I gave up TRGPro. My next PDA with probably be the Handera [handera.com] anyway. I don't need color or to be able to play MP3s. It's a PDA, not a laptop.

      That being said, I do like the option of the thumboard for input, but I can live without it.

      • Aye. Best part is, NS4 reads the site just fine.

        What if I just want some damn information?
        Which is why they should just _switch off_ whatever styles or code make it not work on non-ie when a non-ie loads it. That leaves the material readable but not fancy. It's just courtesy.
      • I don't need color or to be able to play MP3s. It's a PDA, not a laptop.

        Heh. The reason I don't bother with Palm OS devices is that I want more than an electornic organizer and toy. To each her own, I suppose. :) (Color is an annoying waste of battery, though. )

    • Re:it has the Opera browser? (Score:5, Funny)

      by BlueGecko ( 109058 ) <benjamin,pollack&gmail,com> on Saturday March 30, 2002 @05:01PM (#3255638) Homepage
      If it makes you feel any better, they're also rejecting Mozilla and NS 6.2. So when you see you need Netscape Navigator 4.x, they apparently mean 4.x PERIOD, not 4.x or better.
    • Tell them why their site sucks.

      http://sharpelectronics.com/global/ContactUsImpr ov eSite/1,1889,,00.html

      (you may have to turn off javascript to get there, of course)
    • It would also help if they would learn how to code HTML

      Validate Check [w3.org]

      For those of you too lazy to look, something like 50 errors. Go Sharp.

  • Great... (Score:3, Funny)

    by redhatbox ( 569534 ) <redhatbox@nOspaM.myrealbox.com> on Saturday March 30, 2002 @04:21PM (#3255354)

    Quoting from the spec page: "Edit text or e-mail effortlessly with a standard QWERTY keyboard."

    I searched and searched, but somehow couldn't find the option to purchase the 1-foot tall man add-on module to assist in data entry. I would have bought it, but the keyboard's so small... ;).

    • I've used the device, the keyboard's not bad at all! Here's a tip though: Drag your Super Nintendo out and get your thumbs warmed up.

      I want one. Compared to a Pocket PC, it doesn't feel like a Fisher Price 'My First PDA.'

      • Darn it all, now I'm gonna have to go buck wild with /. story linking :). A few searches on stuff I remembered from recent history yield:

        More Ergonomic Keyboards [slashdot.org] - Basically bemoaning the woes of uncomfortable keyboarding among us geeks, which leads us on to:

        Thumbs Are the New Fingers for GameBoy Youth [slashdot.org] - Your point, illustrated as well as can be :). I suppose those fortunate enough to members of the video game generation will reap their rewards. Still, improvements might be on the way:

        Virtual Keyboard a Reality [slashdot.org] - This would be my pick for an acceptable solution/workaround. Supporting such devices shouldn't be too difficult, seeing as how the Sharp device is running a Linux variant anyhow.

        Just a few thoughts, mixed with gratuitous linkage...

  • I tried clicking on the link in the story, and got

    To fully experience the Sharp USA site, you need to have Version 4 or
    above of Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator Version 4.x. Download
    Internet Explorer

    The irony of this is that the Zaurus has Opera built in to it..

  • Works fine in Konq here on NetBSD/macppc... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by CoolVibe ( 11466 ) on Saturday March 30, 2002 @04:25PM (#3255387) Journal
    Nuff said.. Maybe they fixed it?

    • Re:Works fine in Konq here on NetBSD/macppc... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by ttfkam ( 37064 ) on Saturday March 30, 2002 @04:35PM (#3255472) Homepage Journal
      Have you changed your browser agent string into making it think you have IE?

      Not that I'm saying for sure that you have (I'm not) but as a general message for the folks who read this post, DON'T CHANGE YOUR USER AGENT STRING! It only makes IE look more common than it already is. If all of the users of Mozilla, Opera and Konqueror pretend that they're IE, webmasters will have no idea that anyone other than IE users come to their site and be more inclined to write IE-only content.

      Can't see their site without changing the user agent string? This is where your principles come into play. Do you actually care about and support the "alternative" browsers or do you not really care at all. There is very little middle ground here. The choice is of course yours, but principles are not important while they are convenient. They are only important when you stick by them when they are significantly incovenient.
  • Well, at least Sharp's web devs aren't too thorough in their browser bigotry, er... detection; Opera spoofing as IE works just fine (but identify as Mozilla 3.0, 4.76 or 5.0 and you're out of luck).

  • I love mine! (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 30, 2002 @04:27PM (#3255400)
    I picked up one of these at Fry's a couple days ago and am very impressed with it so far. The form factor is very nice, and the Linux OS powering the PDA is very peppy (running on a 206 Mhz StrongARM, a very fast chip compared to the competition).

    What I love most about this PDA though is its openness. Need to get a file onto the PDA? Use NFS, scp, ftp, http, etc.. Want to develop an application for the PDA? Use Java, Qt, or C, all with open API's and no NDA nonsense.

    Some good places for more information:
    Zaurus Zone [zauruszone.com] has some nice (but often too busy) forums. And of course the Sourceforge project [sourceforge.net] for Zaurus.

    In short, I love this PDA. I will try to answer any questions people may have here about it.

    • How fragile is the display? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Kaiwen ( 123401 ) on Saturday March 30, 2002 @07:39PM (#3256769) Journal
      Per the website this thing uses a color reflective TFT display, apparently similar to the iPAQ, which scares me a bit. I've gone through two iPAQs. The first display broke when I dropped it. Despite being much more careful with the second, I took it out of my jacket pocket one day and found the display cracked anyway -- despite its being kept at all times in a custom case with protective cover.

      If the 5500 uses the same screen, I don't think I'm interested.

  • Other links (Score:4, Informative)

    by phr1 ( 211689 ) on Saturday March 30, 2002 @04:27PM (#3255403)
    I got the developer version of this machine for $199 at Java One last week. Specs and info are at developer.sharpsec.com [sharpsec.com].

    The thing is nice, though not the hacker's dream that I hoped for. For example, the apps are rough around the edges and source code for them doesn't seem to be available.

    My biggest gripe about the hardware is the stylus is too small. I'm using an iPaq stylus with it which is a lot better.

    Also, it's not clear whether there's audio input. There's a voice recorder program that says plug in a mono mic with 3.5mm plug, but there's only one jack that size and it's intended for stereo headphones. I've never heard of multiplexing a jack between headphones and a mic. I'll try it with a mic but I think the software and docs were written for some different piece of hardware.

    • You have to plug into the headphone jack to record.
    • I've got the Developer model (SL-5000d). Yes, the headphone jack and microphone jack are the same thing, I've tried it and the quality both ways is excellent. I don't know if it does full duplex, though, as I don't have the right equipment to plug into it to find out. If it is full duplex, though, a GSM CF card would make a highly interesting addition.....
      • It looks like the unit has no internal speaker.

        Do you have to plug in the mic, record, then unplug the mic and plug in a headphone in order to listen to what you recorded? What a pain, if true. I wonder if you can use a Y adapter to plug in the headphone and mic simultaneously (even if you can't use them full duplex--I don't see how you could).

        I begin to wish they'd left out the slide-out keyboard and put in normal audio hardware (built in mic and speaker plus the jacks). The keyboard is a little faster to enter text with than the on-screen keyboard, but the keys are stiff enough that it's more effort, so I use the on-screen one.

    • Re:Other links (Score:3, Informative)

      by treke ( 62626 )

      The source for many of the applications (or at least the code they were based off of) is available from the QPE website. http://qpe.sourceforge.net [sourceforge.net]

      There are two related project to improve the applications and replace closed source applications with open source equivalants: OPIE [handhelds.org] and Open Zaurus [zauruszone.com].

      For the time being OPIE will only run on Ipaqs, but OpenZaurus will be using it as the environment in the future

    • Re:Other links (Score:2, Informative)

      by sl956 ( 200477 )
      For example, the apps are rough around the edges and source code for them doesn't seem to be available.
      OpenZaurus [openzaurus.org] is a community version of the root filesystem / romimage for the Sharp Zaurus SL-5000d PDA (the developper version you could buy at LinuxWorld or JavaOne prior to the official launch of the Zaurus). The current release is beta 2.6 and it is fairly useable. A SL-5500 version will probably be released soon (there are very few hardware differences).
      On a side note, you should have a look on the Zaurus-general mailing list archive [geocrawler.com] for all your questions about this fabulous PDA.

      Disclaimer : I'm probably biased as I bought one at LinuxWorld, and I'm in loooove with it. ;-)
    • My biggest gripe about the hardware is the stylus is too small. I'm using an iPaq stylus with it which is a lot better.

      Hold up here. The Zaurus has a *smaller* stylus than the iPAQs? Man! The iPAQ's stylus is too small, for me. Then again, I prefer a stylus that is the size of a real pen, not a toothpick. Like on the Newton. But I don't want to carry an extra stylus in my pocket, too high of a risk tha I'd loose it. Perhaps I use a PDA differently than most people, and that's why I prefer a real stylus... I actually take notes and write on a PDA, program, use it like a computer, not a hideiously overpriced organizer. To each her own! :)

  • If you're using Opera ... (Score:3, Informative)

    by e1en0r ( 529063 ) on Saturday March 30, 2002 @04:27PM (#3255405) Homepage
    If you're using Opera, set it to identify itself as MSIE 5 and the Sharp site should work for you. It did for me.
    • I hope most folks are like me and refuse to set the Opera browser to anything other than Opera. We will never get rid of this IE only crap if we use workarounds. ITs off topic I know but I am at the max so mod me down. Wish Slashdot had a Meta Mod function, that you could set since often very interesting side discussion emerge that the Newbees proudly mod down as Off topic.
    • Pretty stupid that it doesn't recognize Mozilla as being >= Netscape 4.x. You'd expect a bit more from these guys, seeing as they have a Java/Linux handheld out and all.
      • Actually Mozilla is >= to Netscape 4.x in name only.

        It uses a significantly different Document Object Model so it's not merely a matter of sending the same codes to it that you would to Netscape 4.x.

        Navigator 4.x used a Netscape proprietary [LAYER] tag for DHTML while Mozilla conforms to the newer HTML specs.
  • for $299! Came with 802.11 wireless card as well. Would have been a nice 'toy', but hard to justify. My PalmVII just collects dust now.
    • The 802.11 card was $100 extra, not such a great deal. I bought mine for $199 without the card.

      Note that it's the developer version [sharpsec.com] (SL-5000D) not the retail SL-5500D. The main difference I can notice is the dev. version has 32M of RAM and the retail version has 64M.

  • Weirdness. Mozilla gives me the infamous "upgrade your browser" page, but NS4 and, surprisingly, Konqueror display it just fine!

    And I didn't even change the default user agent, or add an IE ID for sharp's site!

  • Available at Fry's Electronics. (Score:3, Informative)

    by e_n_d_o ( 150968 ) on Saturday March 30, 2002 @04:34PM (#3255456)
    The SL-5500 is on display at Fry's Electronics (I saw it in Fountain Valley, CA).

    If you buy one there, don't let them make you suffer the Final Indignity [accesscom.com].
  • Look man, evaluate the product not their web site. You can still go get specifications for the Zaurus just run Netscape and be a little forgiving. And don't be such arses when it comes to their choice of Opera. Opera is lightweight and has already been used in many embedded products and has itself been proven. No doubt it was a ignorant thing but the product has some good qualities. I picked up mine and have the 802.11b CF card and it is amazing. Don't knock till you try it and talk about merits and faults of the product not advetisments. Ho
    • Look, man, I don't have Netscape 4.x installed here, let alone any Micro$loth products. They lost a potential sale because I can't even look at their product. Idiots.

      What really kills them is the fact that they are selling a linux-based product, yet turning away probably the most popular browser on linux today (that would be mozilla).

  • It might have an Opera web browser, but I have the latest Mozilla and Galeon and it tells me to upgrade.

    YAY sharp!
  • Dunno what all the crap about browser problems is, but I'm getting in, and have been getting in, just fine with Konqueror 2.2.1.

    User Agent String: Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Konqueror/2.2.1; Linux; en_US, en)

    So, what's up? Does Mozilla send something radically different?

  • Their lame Javascript. (Score:5, Informative)

    by thesolo ( 131008 ) <slap@fighttheriaa.org> on Saturday March 30, 2002 @04:57PM (#3255615) Homepage
    here is the little piece of code on Sharp's that is preventing Moz from entering. Why they would even do this is beyond me.

    //BROWSER DETECTION for 3
    var threeNum = navigator.appVersion.substring(0,1)
    if (parseInt(threeNum) location.pathname = "/browser.html";
    }


    If you really want to see the Sharp site, turn off Javascript in Moz for Navigator, and you're in.

  • Hardware specs.... (Score:2, Informative)

    by R3 ( 15929 )
    ...seem to be very similar to those of the standard PocketPC PDAs:

    -3.5'' Reflective TFT LCD Screen 65,536-colors
    -Front light
    -240 x 320 pixel high-resolution color screen
    -Built in SD and Compact Flash(TM) Card Expansion Slots
    -206 Mhz Inte®l StrongARM® Processor
    -64MB of memory
    -Rechargeable Replaceable Li-ION Battery
    -MPEG-1/MP3 Player
    -12 Navigation Keys, Programmable Quick Buttons

    Looks almost the same as iPaq 38xx series, plus some interesting extras (replaceable battery, both CF and SD slots).

    It will be interesting to see how well it will fare on the market, considering it is a bit cheaper than iPaqs and Jornadas, but still more expensive than Palms....

  • and once you've bought it... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Capt. Beyond ( 179592 ) on Saturday March 30, 2002 @05:02PM (#3255651)
    You can grab enhanced versions of some of the apps, http://opie.handhelds.org

    wait till Open Zaurus rom has been released
    http://openzaurus.sourceforge.net

    and or roll your own rom and flash away...
    :D

  • I got mine two days ago (Score:4, Interesting)

    by jmorse ( 90107 ) <joe_w_morse&nospYAHOoam,com> on Saturday March 30, 2002 @05:12PM (#3255714) Homepage Journal

    This is a great little machine. Embedix 2.4 with both CF and SD/MMC slots (the DRM on the SD is not enabled on the Zaurus). The screen is pretty good (320 x 240) and the apps run very smoothly with 64MB of memory. About 30 people her ein my ofice bought the developer edition at JavaOne, and they're all a bit jealous now. Of course, I did pay a whole lot more than they did.



    I was a bit dissappointed that there's no GUI bash shell on the consumer edition (there was a Qt app shell on the developer edition). I suppose that can be remedied with a software install, but I haven't found the installer yet. It works well with the Linksys WiFi card...but the battery life goes straight down the tube when you're surfing.



    Overall, I'd say it's a very good unit. The Embedix platform has a great chance to overtake PalmOS. I can't wait to see these things evolve over time. I hope they take a cue from Sony and improve the screen res, add nice metal cases, and add a remote control for the audio.

    • Re:I got mine two days ago (Score:2, Informative)

      by Samus ( 1382 )
      I've had mine for a little over a week now. You can get the bash shell by copying the .ipk files on the install cd. I think the directory is applications. There is a file manager and also some program to run their digital camera CF-plugin. Also tell your friends with the developer version to pick up a couple cf cards or I guess SD would work and search around on http://zauruszone.com's forums for RAM upgrade. It isn't really an upgrade but moves a lot of the stuff in the ROM to a CF card and gives you almost as much RAM as the consumer version.
  • Here's where to go to to make a "formal" complaint abot Netscape/Mozilla/Opera being blocked.

    http://sharpelectronics.com/global/ContactUsImpr ov eSite/1,1889,,00.html

  • Okay, use Netscape... (Score:4, Informative)

    by bc90021 ( 43730 ) <bc90021&bc90021,net> on Saturday March 30, 2002 @05:22PM (#3255800) Homepage
    (Yes, I know, they should allow all browsers, but who really thinks here that the Sharp Zaurus team made those web pages? Anyone here ever work in a real company? The web page people are very often *not* the hardware (or even software) development people.)

    Okay, now that we're past that, the Zaurus is a kickass little PDA. (I've had the Developer's Version for months now.) Some things to note:

    * Runs any Linux app that can be (re)compiled for a StrongArm processor. Currently running are:
    Python
    Perl
    SSH
    Telnet
    Konqueror
    Opera
    Seminole Web Server
    Jikes
    BitchX
    NMap
    ...and others, just to name a few.

    * The handwriting recognition isn't that bad. It requires you to train the device for certain characters if you want your own handwriting to work, but that doesn't take much time.

    * IBM MicroDrives work with no problem. I have a 340MB version, and several other Zaurus owners have reported the 1GB version working. (Though they drain the battery quickly.)

    * The keyboard is really easy (and actually kinda fun) to use!

    * The synching for Windows should be up to snuff by now. Someone has already patched the 2.4.x kernels to allow USB networking over Linux in order to connect it to a Linux box, so it is now Linux friendly. :)

    * The "Word Game" that comes with it (like Scrabble) has been very addicting!

    * It is easily 80% of the size of a typical WinCE handheld, and includes two expansion slots (one CF and one SD) by default.

    * It has Java, so you can write Java apps for it.

    * The UI has been greatly improved, and the Zaurus people have taken very seriously feedback from the developers who have had the Developer's model.

    Overall, once you get past the web browser thing, you'll find that with the possible exception of the price (which, incidentally, is similar to other high-end PDAs), it's a kickass little device.
  • When I visit their site with Mozilla 0.9.9, I get an error message that they only support IE and Netscape4. And for their handheld, they chose a window system that excludes most open source toolkits from co-existing on the same screen.

    Looks to me Sharp is trying to milk open source for its advertising value, but somehow they just don't get it.

    Thanks, but I'll have a look at the new Sony instead. Commercial developers don't have to pay money to develop for the Sony, and it's a cool piece of hardware anyway.

  • Galeon: How to view Sharp web site using Galeon (Score:3, Informative)

    by rkswamy ( 453509 ) on Saturday March 30, 2002 @05:42PM (#3255938)
    I found this in the Galeon FAQ, I set mine to "Netscape/4.0" and it works but only if I turn on Javascript. The ridiculous thing is that Netscape 4.78 which is *allowed* to see the page does not actually render it correctly while it looks perfect in Galeon!

    --------

    How can I change the User Agent string that galeon uses?

    This feature is already implemented. It is not in the UI because there was a mozilla bug that made galeon to crash at startup with some strings.

    You can set the user agent from the command line using GConf:

    1. To get the current user agent:

    gconftool -g /apps/galeon/Advanced/Network/user_agent

    2. To set the user agent to XXX:

    gconftool -s /apps/galeon/Advanced/Network/user_agent --type=string "XXX"

    3. To restore the default user agent:

    gconftool -s /apps/galeon/Advanced/Network/user_agent --type=string default

  • My Z (Zaurus) (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    The Z has two expansion ports, a CF port and SD port. It has an IR port
    that can connect to my Nokia cell phone and treat it like a modem.

    Originally Compact Flash was only for memory cards, now there are cameras,
    ethernet, modems, wireless modems, wireless ethernet, 1GB hard drives (5GB
    coming soon).

    The Secure Digital port currently only has memory cards, but all the other
    goodies are coming within the year.

    I got a 128MB SD card and a 802.11b CF card.

  • Z vs iPAQ (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 30, 2002 @05:54PM (#3256038)
    Z = $499
    iPAQ = $499, $600, $650

    Z = Linux kernel 2.4.6 plus Qtopia GUI
    iPAQ = Microsoft Pocket PC 2002

    Z = 16 bit color - 65536 colors
    iPAQ = 12 bit color - 4096 colors ($499 model)

    Z = 64MB ram, 206Mhz StrongArm
    iPAQ = 64MB ram, 206Mhz StrongArm

    Z = SD and CF
    iPAQ = SD only
    - Requires expansion pack for CF ($40)
    - Need to use "sleave" with CF cards
    - Other expansion packs are > $100

    Z = Trainable handwriting recognition (Use Palm gestures if you want)
    iPAQ = Not trainable

    Z = Linux based, with SWEET gui (QTopia)
    - Many applications already available
    - Very active user community, mailing lists, wikki
    - bash
    iPAQ = MS Pocket PC
    - You can install Linux, procedure is hard
    - Your purchase still counts as MS sale ups market share

    Z = Very cool and useable built-in keyboard
    iPAQ = 3rd party external keyboard $100

    Z = No built-in speaker, must use headphone and/or mic
    iPAQ = built-in crappy speaker

    Z = Builtin integrated Java
    iPAQ = No Java

    Z = Desktop software for Windows, Mac, Linux
    iPAQ = Desktop software for Windows

    Z = Included browser is Opera, Konqueror available
    iPAQ = Pocket IE

    • Re:Z vs iPAQ (Score:3, Informative)

      by RevAaron ( 125240 )
      ...Or you could buy an iPAQ 3150... 206 MHz CPU, 16 MB RAM, 320@240 B&W scren and a CF sleeve including a 128 MB card for $200. Perfect for someone who doesn't want to waste a $500+ on a Zaurus or a higher-end iPAQ.

      And you can still install Linux, and run OpenZaurus on it, if you want to settle for a substandard Linux distro on a PDA.


      Z = Trainable handwriting recognition (Use Palm gestures if you want)
      iPAQ = Not trainable

      Not quite. The Zaurus has trainable HWR, yes. But the iPAQ has many recognizers available, some trainable. Including Transcriber and CalliGrapher, which are real handwriting recognition, not just the crappy *character* recognition that comes with the Zaurus. Until Palm OS or Linux/PDA gets real HWR like the Newton, or CalliGrapher, there's no way I could rationalize spending $500 on what amounts to be just a toy.

    • Re:Z vs iPAQ (Score:2, Informative)

      by Toxxy ( 231886 )
      In your scattershot approach to explaining why the iPAQ (one of many Microsoft Pocket PC organizers) is inferior to the Zaurus, you've managed to glaze over many details.

      The baseline iPAQ unit is $399, not $499. More robust models are available for people who want extra. The prices are $499 and $599 for the 3765 and 3835 respectively. If you want to purchase a Zaurus unit, you're stuck at the $499 pricepoint and cannot get any more or less advanced units, no matter what.

      The Zaurus's display has 16-bit color and iPAQ's unit at the same price has 12-bit color. I defy anyone to show me a difference between the screens that I can clearly and distinctly notice.

      You listed the iPAQ as having 64 MBs of memory. You neglected to mention that it also has a 32 MB flash rom.

      When you said the iPAQ has SD memory expansion, you were thinking of a different model than the rest. The iPAQ's $499 model (the unit you chose to use for all the other comparisons) has no expansion built in. The extra sleeves available for it enable you to use CompactFlash cards as well as PCMCIA (laptop) cards. There is also an expansion sleeve available for holding two PCMCIA cards. With the Zaurus, you are locked into CompactFlash and the comparitively useless SD card. Sure, it's a little bit extra, but I'll stick with my PC card expandibility.

      I cannot fathom how you came up with the idea that the iPAQ has weak input options. For input options, you can write in your regular handwriting, full sentences at a time. Through a single tap you can access an absurdly powerful handwriting configurator, which allows you to set up how you write each letter. Just for the letter A alone, it supports three different ways to write it in uppercase as well as five different ways to write it in lowercase. This is available for all letters and numbers and all the types of punctuation you see on your qwerty keyboard. If you're not comfortable with that, you can use graffiti strokes to enter your text (supporting ALL popular Palm strokes), or -- if you're so inclined -- an onscreen qwerty keyboard. Microsoft put a lot of effort into their text input options, and I am amazed that all you could say about it was "Not trainable."

      "SWEET gui"? I'm supposed to be excited about it because it's... "SWEET"? Is it also TUBULAR? The fact that "many applications" are available is true for both units, if not moreso for the Pocket PC, considering it's been around for about 3 years and is currently available on seven devices that I can immediately think of. I see you also mentioned that it comes with Microsoft Pocket PC and that it is difficult to install Linux on it. I would dare say that Pocket PC handhelds are a lot more accepting of Linux than this Linux handheld is of Pocket PC. Now who's strictly controlling what software is run on their hardware?

      Zaurus's built-in keyboard is nothing amazing. I would strain myself to describe it as being "very cool." There is a full-sized keyboard available for the iPAQ for $100. There are others, too. I have not seen any such accessories for the Zaurus. I personally cannot bear to use a keyboard that is anything less than full-sized, and for hardcore data entry and command line usage, I find it ironic that a product running on Linux cannot accomodate me.

      You are also correct in mentioning that the Zaurus does not come with a microphone or speaker, and the iPAQ comes equipped with both. And in what universe is having Opera built in as the main browser a selling point?

      You are comparing apples to oranges. The iPAQ is just one of many Pocket PC solutions available. If you're really looking for some stiff competition, take a look at Audiovox's Maestro, which blows the doors off anything near it its price point. Or maybe even the HP Journada 568.

      We now return to your regularly scheduled group Linux masturbation.

  • [OT] A shame that the web don't support Mozilla (Score:5, Interesting)

    by CondeZer0 ( 158969 ) on Saturday March 30, 2002 @06:05PM (#3256125) Homepage
    Hi, here is what I wrote, just in case anybody finds it
    useful, BTW, I thought that the Zaurus was pretty cool,
    and was thinking of maybe buying one, you can be sure that
    now I will think it twice before doing so... I'm really
    pissed of...

    And for some one who said that it was the fault of the web
    designer and not the company itself, a company should take
    care that *his* web site follows the web standards and
    support all platforms and browsers, of course they are
    free to don't do it, but then they will piss off people
    like me that instead of promote their cool products will
    spread as much bad press for them as possible...

    - -

    To: webmaster@sharpelectronics.com
    Subject: Can't access sharpelectronics.com with Mozilla, Netscape 6 or Opera

    Hi

    I was interested in the new Sharp Zaurus SL-5500,
    but my access was denied to sharpelectronics.com
    using any of the following browsers available for
    my platform(FreeBSD): Mozilla, Netscape 6 and Opera.

    Internet Explorer and Netscape 4.x don't exist for my
    platform, so I'm completely unable to access the your
    site.

    Please, fix your site so it's accessible by any
    browser that follows the web standards(http://w3.org)

    Thanks

    \\Uriel

    - -

    And don't forget to report this kind of problems at
    http:\\bugzilla.mozilla.org as "Evangelism" bugs,
    visit http://mozilla-evangelism.bclary.com/ for more
    info...

    And here is the bug for "http://www.sharp-usa.com/"
    (that seems like it's the same as sharpelectronics.com):
    http://bugzilla.mozilla.or g/show_bug.cgi?id=63915

    Best wishes

    \\Uriel

    P.S.: And I know that seems that Konkeror is supported, and
    that I can change the user agent, but I shouldn't need to do
    that! If a web site follows the w3c standards it should work
    on all browsers that also follows the standards, and
    there is no excuse to not follow the standard, period

  • Where to find Zaurus software (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 30, 2002 @06:18PM (#3256213)
    Check out www.myzaurus.com and www.thekompany.com/embedded for the most available stuff.

  • Interesting machine (Score:3, Informative)

    by stevarooski ( 121971 ) on Saturday March 30, 2002 @06:43PM (#3256383) Homepage
    A friend of mine got the developer version of this PDA and was showing it around. My impressions based on this brief preview were as follows:

    The good:
    • Excellent screen. Sharp and great response.
    • Good suite of apps. I didn't get to test the MPEG and MP3 players, but I liked what I saw otherwise.
    • Good 'heft'. . .the unit felt solid in my hand, and appeared well made.
    • Its ZIPPY! The OS has been well tuned for this device, and there's more than enough power under the hood.
    The bad:
    • I really, REALLY don't like the slide-out keyboard!! I can understand why it's included, but the buttons are tiny and it seems useless for anything except painstaking data entry where accuracy is absolutely essential. If I was going to type on a pda, I'd get a portable fold-out keyboard like they have for the palms.
    • As was mentioned previously, the stylus IS a bit small for those with larger hands. Reminds me of using a pencil thats been sharpened too much.
    Overall, the appeal of this device for me is the OS, not the hardware. Its a nice unit and should really help the 'linux is ready for mainstream use' cause, but the ability to ssh into a server from my pda sounds great. I don't know if I will buy one, but were I shopping for a PDA I would consider this unit carefully.
    • "I really, REALLY don't like the slide-out keyboard!! I can understand why it's included, but the buttons are tiny and it seems useless for anything except painstaking data entry where accuracy is absolutely essential. If I was going to type on a pda, I'd get a portable fold-out keyboard like they have for the palms."

      I have to say this is the one feature I like with this device (I've been developing for them since last fall). I can "type" much much faster than I can write graffiti or other recognition types, and I can do graffiti quite quickly on a palm device. I have big thumbs and I can still type on the Zaurus with them, with very high accuracy.
  • Blows the IPaq away, huh? Other than the two-slots, Linux OS and mini-keyboard this seems to be exactly the same as the IPaq. And, yes, you can load REAL linux with REAL X-Windows on the IPaq.

  • PDA's of the future... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by nemiak ( 555760 )
    My dream PDA :-

    .. runs Linux and supports Java

    .. will interface with my desktop & notebook PCs via wireless ethernet

    .. has trainable handwriting recognition and voice control with voice->text capabilities

    .. will open my garage door, (dis/en)able my home security system & replace my tv & stereo remote controls

    .. contains an integrated multiband cell phone

    .. has an integrated GPS

    nearly there!
    • and is completely secure and would note get hacked ;-)

      On another note, I cound't see this site, it said I had to upgrade my browser. To nextscape 4. Funny I'm running mozila 9.9, what the f***!

  • Just wondering how long the Zaurus last. My Palm can go for weeks constantly used but my Yopy needs a recharge every 4 hours of heavy use (play Mp3, mpeg, use calender, etc) How long is the Zaurus' battery life? Or the IPAQ for that matter? Is it worth it to have a color PDA only to recharge every 6 hours or so?

  • Another letter. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Lethyos ( 408045 ) on Saturday March 30, 2002 @11:37PM (#3257916) Journal
    I think it's important that we all write and hammer this company and make them accept the very open standards and technologies they're selling!

    To: webmaster@sharpelectronics.com
    Subject: Your Website Baffles Me

    Dear Webmaster,

    I am highly surprised that you are offering a Linux-based PDA on a web site that blocks open source browsers and even recommends (or requires?) a Microsoft product. I am trying to view http://www.sharpelectronics.com/ using Galeon (which uses the Mozilla engine, and is Mozilla for all intents and purposes, but with only a lighter interface) to read about this great product. It is highly ironic that you could not view this web page with the very product the page is meant to promote.

    I have been very excited and enthusiastic about the Sharp Zaurus and have been looking forward a purchase. Now I'm afraid I cannot hold much faith in a company that puts no stock in technologies (open source software) that act as a crucial component to their product. I will be happy to reconsider if the web site is designed and implemented bias-free, with open standards in mind (such as those used by the Zaurus itself).

    Thank you for your time.

    Who knows? Maybe we'll get a special offer for our toils to keep us as customers. :)

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