MSNBC Reviews the Sharp Zaurus 122
Khalid sent in a link to this review of the Sharp Zaurus. They only noted a few flaws, such as the synchronization being harder than necessary, and generally seemed to like it, at least better than the Wall Street Journal columnist did.
I guess MSNBC may not be that biased after all... (Score:1, Offtopic)
Re:I guess MSNBC may not be that biased after all. (Score:1)
Re:I guess MSNBC may not be that biased after all. (Score:3, Funny)
Any ideas / experience with Zaurus + 3G (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Any ideas / experience with Zaurus + 3G (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Any ideas / experience with Zaurus + 3G (Score:1)
And the fact that he has to use voicestream.
And that it cost 600 bucks.
But he said the first one had something to do with a limit of the GSM. I dunno about that, literally. Anything. Neither does he.
Re:Any ideas / experience with Zaurus + 3G (Score:3, Informative)
There are several Bluetooth stacks for Linux, and quite a few Bluetooth CF cards, so I would expect that this is feasible on the Zaurus (if not now, then soon). There is a GPRS HOWTO for Linux that can probably be adapted for CDMA2000 - if the latter works like GPRS, you run a PPP connection from the Linux system to the phone, which terminates the PPP there and then routes packets over GPRS/CDMA2000. With GPRS, you have an IP tunnel that stays up, so you keep the same IP address, albeit dynamically allocated, as you move between cells - the tunnel is re-built as you move from one local GPRS node (SGSN) to another.
CDMA2000 has a simpler architecture that may not need all this tunnelling (IIRC) and is more IP centric. It probably has a session concept, like GPRS, in that the wireless operator needs to authenticate you for billing purposes - but you just pay for bytes transferred, not for the time the session is open.
One thing to watch out for is that the PPP session, and hence the CDMA2000 session, is kept open when you turn the Zaurus off - Palm devices are stuck in the 2G world at present and disconnect the PPP & GPRS sessions for no good reason when you hit the Power button. Apparently Pocket PC devices do this better, which makes much more sense for GPRS/CDMA2000 - creating a GPRS session can take 10-15 seconds and sometimes fails, whereas sending a packet on an open session should take less than a second (takes a bit of time to acquire radio medium for the first packet in a while, subsequent packets are faster).
Hopefully some of this is useful background. Linux is probably a great platform for this sort of thing, because it is so open to tweaking and experimentation, and of course has a lot of IP applications already ported. Don't expect to run servers though - all GPRS phones are behind NAT devices due to the sheer volume of always-on users. At least until we get IPv6, which is probably only with much later 3G releases (CDMA2000, and UMTS in Europe/Asia)...
Re:Any ideas / experience with Zaurus + 3G (Score:1)
of course the reveiwer liked it (Score:2, Insightful)
I own one (Score:5, Interesting)
Most people don't care if they run Linux or some other programs on their PDA as long as they get their work done.
*I*, however, *do* care because that means that I can use the same programs on the desktop and the handheld. My (Windows-using) techie collegues are amazed when they see that I can VNC into the Zaurus, or ssh into it and manage files with MC, or make backups with ssh+tar+bzip2.
You find lots of software. IPSEC kernel? Apache with PHP so you can develop wherever you are? Vim? Python? MC? mplayer? ogg player? Doom?
Everything there.
Perl and Apache... (Score:2)
I feel that innovation in PDAs is dead for now.... (Score:2, Interesting)
1) GBA type game functionality
2) An address book that synchs with my desktop and email system
3) Functional, worldwide, wireless broadband (this isn't really a part of the PDA itself, it just doesn't exist yet)
4) A way to input text that is private and equally fast to touch typing
#2 and 4 are already well past developed, 1 has no business implications, and 3 isn't going to happen until god knows when - but in all reality (and I mean wireless broadband scattered across Alasakan wilderness) I don't see it happening for another 20 years or more.
So it runs Linux. Great. That Samsung box that lets me remotely administer unix boxes looks even better - but until all my requirements are met, I'm not upgrading from my POS Palm III.
Re:I feel that innovation in PDAs is dead for now. (Score:2, Informative)
3. You don't really need wireless access in the Alaskan wilderness. There are providers who will definately cover you almost everywhere you'll really go.
Re:I feel that innovation in PDAs is dead for now. (Score:2, Informative)
And regarding games; Since it runs linux and is open source, lots of people have developed games for it. Ex: Doom, Quake, FreeCiv (Civilization clone), scummVM (enables you to run monkey island 1&2, fate of atlantis, day of the tentacle, full throttle, sam & max, etc), and many many more.
Check out: http://killefiz.de/zaurus/ (under ex. "Games" there are 75(!) games)
Syncing is needed (Score:2)
The ideal wireless app, IMO, does background syncing, so that at any time you can (check email/check calendar/find contacts/etc). Vindigo and AvantGo for the Palm work like this (except you need to tell them to sync), meaning you always have Vindigo's database of restaurants/bars/movies (including local cinemas), and Avantgo's news/magazine pages. Very convenient...
RIM's Blackberry email device works like this, meaning you can write emails when out of coverage and it will then send/receive emails as soon as it gets into coverage. I think this is one reason it is so successful - the wireless connection is automatic and it essentially hides any coverage issues from the user.
Walter Mossberg's integrity (Score:1, Informative)
This is a brief excerpt from his previous review of StarOffice (also found at wsj):
"As for ease of use, the StarOffice interface is OK. There are customizable toolbars at both the top and side of the screen, and floating windows to help you navigate a long document or apply formatting styles. There's even a nice feature Word lacks that allows the program to automatically complete words you've used before.
But StarOffice is riddled with extra steps, complex techno-babble and odd behavior. When you first fire up the word processor, you're asked to select an "address data source," which means an address book the program can use to insert addresses -- hardly a daily function. And the choices include "LDAP," a techie term referring to network or online address databases.
Options screens include mind-boggling choices like "memory per object" and "Use OpenGL." My favorite: "size optimization for XML format (no pretty printing)." In my copy, the default settings were set to use centimeters and German, instead of inches and English.
Many things are unnecessarily complicated. For instance, in Microsoft Word, if you want to insert page numbers in a document, you just go to the "insert" menu, select "page numbers," choose where you want them on the page and how you want them aligned, and you're done. In StarOffice, you have to know a page number is a "field" and then, when you find the proper command in the insert menu under "fields," the program just inserts the phrase "page numbers" wherever your cursor is, unless you manually created a header or footer.
Some features worked erratically. Entire toolbars sometimes disappeared for reasons I couldn't deduce. The spell-checker sometimes didn't work."
Re:Walter Mossberg's integrity (Score:2)
You mean it works a bit differently than Office and you had to go learn something!
Consider this take - I hadn't used it either, and my son had a term paper to do. He had never used a word processor in his life before. So he learned on OpenOffice. He thinks that page numbers are fields and that is the way it's suppossed to be! I also went to the trouble of installing OpenOffice on all the PC's in his class room. The teacher thought it was GREAT to get Office software for free!
Now if the rest of the school wasn't covered with old Macs - I'd complete the conversion!
Just Got Mine (Score:2, Informative)
peace...
Synchro software doesn't support Linux! (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Synchro software doesn't support Linux! (Score:3, Informative)
QTopiaDesktop HOWTO [zauruszone.com]
Other option: You can use KDE's KOrganizer on the Zaurus and synchronize it over TCP-over-USB with the KOrganizer on your PC.
KOrganizer and sync scripts [killefiz.de]
Re:Synchro software doesn't support Linux! (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.trolltech.com/developer/download/qto
Why sync? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Why sync? (Score:2)
Sure it does (Score:1)
However, that is not the syncing issues that people have been complaining about. The problems are poor syncing software in terms of its intelligence. The protocol does not support enough variations and causes data to be lost because it can't figure out what has changed in all cases.
Re:Synchro software doesn't support Linux! (Score:1)
and i do agree with my peer poster, sync is stupid when u can just network it like any other computer.
Re:Synchro software doesn't support Linux! (Score:2)
This is bloody strange, since I've been syncing my Z with my desktop for a while now. Getting it set up can be a bit of a pain, but when it's set, it Just Works. How to get the Z syncing under Linux [gllug.org].
My main complaint with the thing so far is that Opera is a bloated sack... really, if I open a 400K HTML document with simple formatting (<p>, <b>, <i>, <h1> through <h3>) Opera on the Z takes 10 to 15 seconds to scroll down one screen. Maybe later I should try Konq-embedded on it, but I've had the device for less than a week...
Plays Vorbis! (Score:1)
--
GCP
Re:Plays Vorbis! (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Plays Vorbis! (link to it) (Score:2)
I don't have a zaurus, but I want to get one so I tracked down the ogg123 port to the zaurus: http://killefiz.de/zaurus/showdetail.php?app=201 [killefiz.de] . I don't know if it actually works, so I guess someone with a Zaurus should try it and tell all of us if it really works (please?).
Re:User Khalid......... (Score:1, Insightful)
Why linux on a pda? (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Why linux on a pda? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Why linux on a pda? (Score:1)
dpkg is included in busybox and works well
i use mpg123 to play shoutcast streams that the built in player can't handle
Re:Why linux on a pda? (Score:1)
my
You don't understand linux then... (Score:1, Interesting)
Anyway, it's not just Linux on a PDA though, they have taken the core of the Linux OS and combined it with a custom PDA interface that supports Java.
Linux is open source which allows such things to be created without license fees. Can you imagine them trying to get hold of WinCE and alter that code base? the license costs would be in the millions or billions.
Re:You don't understand linux then... (Score:1)
the GUI used is Qtopia which is qt-embedded (C++) running on the framebuffer.
however there is also a java vm installed so you can run java apps on it.
Re:Why linux on a pda? (Score:2)
First, make yourself realize what is Linux cause it's easy to understand it only as the incarnations you see most often, like a webserver, or on desktop, or even in a cashier. But then, when you really understand that it is a codebase that you can twist to do about anything, then answer the question: in which purpose it is NOT all that useful. I can not come up with many, maybe - for now - only some cases in which a "really-really" tru real-time extremely-low-latency operating system is needed.
Re:Why linux on a pda? (Score:2)
In more civilized countries we have these things called automatic cashiers [toyocom.co.jp] so the word "cashier" does not anymore mean just human beings. Spooky, ehh?
> Maybe we can install Linux in your penis so it will have a constant uptime and I won't be forced to continually fuck your wife.
Good idea, for you I suggest just lowering your clock speed, seems like its getting too hot.
Re:Why linux on a pda? (Score:1)
Why Not?
I find it very impressive that my PDA is running pretty much the exact same OS that my desktop is, and its not bloated. You can't find that with PocketPC. From a development standpoint it truely shows how versatile Linux really is.
Linux also means Open Source. You now can do whatever you want with your PDA and your not bound by some overweight MS product. Sharp has also been very good with providing docs and supporting the open Linux enviroment.
peace...
abombss
It's too heavy (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:It's too heavy (Score:1)
Re:It's too heavy (Score:2)
An iPaq 3765 weighs 6.7oz. The 3975 weighs 6.5oz.
A jornada 728 weighs 1.1 pounds.
I'm not sure I'd consider roughly 1.5oz (take the cover off the Z) difference between the Z and a Palm as "FAR heavier". The other comparable models are indeed heavier than the Z.
Re:It's too heavy (Score:1)
Manufacturing cost per unit? (Score:2)
Palm emulator for Zaurus? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Palm emulator for Zaurus? (Score:4, Informative)
IMHO Linux on a palmtop makes perfect sense as the palmtop market isn't as strongly under the Microsoft thumb as the desktop PC market. On a level playing field, where vendors must compete on price and features, not "how fast does it run Microsoft Office" the co-operative nature and free licencing of Linux should be a big strength.
Re:Zaurus rocks! (Score:1)
At least I like it... (Score:3, Interesting)
of what the zaurus really can do.
1) It is cheaper than similar (hardware-wise) PDAs from compaq, etc
2) The sync application is not so good, but since being open source, lots of people are developing alternative versions. But IMOHO syncing is inecessary. I use a wireless-LAN CF card when I am in school/home/work, and I will get myself a bluetooth card later for wireless internet "on the go": Zaurus ("Z")->Bluetooth->Ericsson T39m->GPRS/3G->INTERNET. With Internetaccess I can use my central (web)calendar, todolists, and access email/IRC, without the need to sync or fiddle anything at all. The whole concept of syncing is
wrong; It is much better to have a central copy on a server (wich is backuped).
3) With the Zaurus you get an powerful Linux system right in your pocket. Possibilities to run apache, PHP, mysql, LOTS of games, LOTS of other programs (such as media players, etc), you can mount samba/NFS partitions and much more!!
Before you say "Zaurus runt linux, so what, it sux", go and have a read at: http://killefiz.de/zaurus/
4) The support is, since being opensource, GREAT, Just headover to www.zauruszone.com and ask whatever you want. The community is often more competent than the average support personel, and you WILL gett answers to your problems and a solution (please contribute and answer to other peoples questions later when you have knowledge).
(Like in communism - From each according to his ability, to each according to his need)
IHMOHO the "Z" is the best thing that has happend since, I dont know what, color graphics?.
Re:At least I like it... (Score:2, Insightful)
Possibilities to run apache, PHP, mysql, LOTS of games, LOTS
of other programs (such as media players, etc), you can mount samba/NFS partitions
and much more!!
How exactly does one run Apache and mySQL on a PDA? What would be the applications of it in the real world?
I think you're overselling it. While it's a good toy, it's definately not a webserver. Some things are just not meant to be on a PDA.
Development (Score:2)
How exactly does one run Apache and mySQL on a PDA? What would be the applications of it in the real world?
There sure are a lot of geeks that do Linux development. Imagine being able to take your whole development environment, with exactly the same tools you use on a PC, stick it in your pocket and take it wherever you go. Remember the Zaurus even has a small, but perfectly-formed keyboard. Why bother with a laptop?
As for how to run Apache and MySQL, it's simple: just install the packages, like you would on any other Linux system. You wouldn't get much space for the database with the Zaurus' memory, but it would be plenty for most development and testing.
advantages of linux over windows ce for programmer (Score:4, Interesting)
we're all programmers. each of us with a pda. but i can tell you, if you wanna program on the damn things, linux beats windows
for the casio's, we've got:
-python 1.x interpreter (hey, it's amusing, okay?)
-the microsoft SDK (3.0 and 4.0, more on that later.)
-vb (don't
for the zaurus, we've got:
-everything you could imagine.
let me expand on that -- because the linux pda runs Qt natively, you can use the Qt-[Borland-Builder-esque] designer to build applications. it's great. it's c++, and the framework doesn't suck. didn't take long, and if you're used to Borland Builder
Now, for windows
Okay, so maybe we suck at visual studio. But at least the Zaurus offers a -lot- of options for creating your own programs. No, you won't be able to just port your X apps to it directly (it -is- Qt, not X.)
Did i mention it was cool to just ftp to your zaurus, etc.? Cassiopeia support under linux is this: take the CF card out
Sharp RIp-off (Score:1, Informative)
The Sharp is reasonably priced at $380, but for us ( Europeans ) it costs $580 ! ( ex tax )
This is not free-market economics - it is exploitation by cartels, and the EU has just legislated on car pricing.
It is time they did likewise with electronics.
Until then we can simply refuse to buy clearly overpriced goods.
Re:Sharp RIp-off (Score:2)
Glad to see it... (Score:1)
Sharp has done a pretty good job, but it is companies like The Kompany [thekompany.com] that are really making the Zaurus a quality pda.
It hasn't been smooth, but it has been moving forward.
Sharp Zaurus Rocks! (Score:1)
make your zaurus more useful (Score:1)
based on the familiar [handhelds.org] distribution (which also runs on other devices such as an Ipaq)
that runs the open source Open Palmtop Integated Environment [handhelds.org] environment. (which also runs on other devices such as an Ipaq)
I've had no problems syncing. OpenZaurus does contain security patches not in the official Sharp rom, so syncing might not work, untill the sync software catches up.
QNX on Zaurus (Score:1, Funny)
http://qnx.wox.org/qnx/screenshots/eQip/zaurus-
Re: (Score:1)
Different Device needs a Different Journalist (Score:3, Insightful)
He claims 4-5 hours with 802.11b, which I thought was more than I remember hearing.
Being a Java programmer, lots of options really open up for making this device do useful things. There are lots of really cool projects you could do, from controlling your server remotely, managing, and may be streaming your MP3's, run remote X sessions, etc. The thing is basically, as he says, a handheld computer which is not in the same league as most PDA's.
Amazon has them for $439 and change: Sharp Zaurus SL-5500 [amazon.com] (affiliate link, so ya know)
This device is on the list of toys, or tools, I want to get. It is good to see the prices are coming down toward a point I may consider purchasing one, even though I (as of yet) don't have a real useful purpose for it. It's still over $500 equipped with 802.11.
-Pete
my only purchase-killer is lack of hard drive (Score:1)
Yes, I know, it's a PDA, that flash memory is sufficient for many things, that I don't need to carry around the library of congress, etc, but still. I would like to be able to carry around a large collection of music, perhaps a movie in VCD or DivX format, many books, a small Linux image like the Progeny Net (debian) Installer
This would have been a silly complaint not that long ago, but the iPod shows that it wouldn't take *that* much more space to do this
timothy
Re:my only purchase-killer is lack of hard drive (Score:1)
I am running mine with a 64M MMC card (partitioned with a 32M swap) and a 256M CF card. Haven't run out of room yet.
Am I just reading this wrong? (Score:1)
From reading this is sounds like Sharp usually goes with proprietory operating systems, as opposed to the free and open Windows CE/PocketPC and PalmOS? I'm pretty sure Windows CE/Pocket PC and PalmOS are proprietory.
Re:Am I just reading this wrong? (Score:2)
They are far from the only company to do that. I doubt that the setback thermostat, your microwave, your car or your TV uses an open source operating system, or even wince/poktpc or PalmOS. None of them really need that power or overhead.
This may change in the future, though I have no proof one way or the other.
-Rusty
Zaurus for $299 at LinuxWorld Expo at Sharp Booth (Score:4, Informative)
The first line reminds me of... (Score:1)
Mike
iPAQ (Score:2)
--j
CDMA Module (Score:1)
Palm emulator and Pocketec (Score:1, Interesting)
I am a medical student, and for our school, we have to have a palm PDA with a palm OS on it. I am very close to buying a sony clie since all my school apps are written for palm os. I came across some palm emulators for linux, and was curious to know how well do they actually funcion, and how fast do they run on a PDA such as Sharp's.
Also, has anyone had a chance to check out the POCKETEC (20, 30, or 40 GB usb external HD's that run with linux). www.pocketec.net
I was curious to know that if I could use such device with the linux PDA. They say that it supports Linux Kernel 2.4+, and all it needs is a USB connection.
If the HD would work with the PDA, and I could run palm OS emulator with some decent speed on it, I think that it would the best thing out there. (40GB on a PDA, I am drooling as I type
Please let me know if what I talked about makes any sense. As soon as I find some time, I would love to learn to program Linux, but until then, I hope that I could get by being able to use this sharp pda with minimal Linux knowledge.
Look forward to your responses.
Thanks.
Can it handle audio-in? (Score:1)
However, I, out of sheer idleness, would like to keep the process as digital as possible, hence the search for a digital recorder that would upload via USB (recording iPod would be ideal, Archos' box didn't really do it for me)...
If this device could use a USB Audio-In device (say, iMic) then share the music via the wireless network at the office it would be a new breed of big and clever.
Anyone with a better grasp on the Z and Linux audio help?
tia
Why zaurus kicks ass and why it sucks. (Score:5, Informative)
For developing custom applications very quickly, the zaurus kicks booty, but it would be irresponsible to suggest to someone the zaurus as something you could use for phone numbers or schedules, no matter how many other cool features it has.
Note: Right now, the linux community is in hardcore denial about usability problems in general, and any attempt to deny the truth of this post only further proves the truth of it.
It's people like you who keep linux unusable (Score:2)
On the zaurus' datebook, in the single day view I can't click on the lines to immediately start entering the time. And in fact, they're not even lines, they're thinly disguised Windows/KDE text fields (Which is stupid, because the palm's use of lined text fields makes the whole interface feel more natural, like paper. Paper is the most vicious and ruthless ane efficient competitor of any PDA, but I digress).
In order to create the new appointment on the Zaurus I have to go upward (BTW, did I mention people in western cultures read from up to down), to the document icon to create a new date entry, which only further proves that trolltech tried to carbon copy a desktop interface into a PDA one. This is far less intuitive then merely placing your stylus on the line and starting to write like on the Palm. I'll admit the palm does have a button that brings up a time entry dialog (if you choose to do it that way. But you're not forced to, like on the Zaurus), but the button on the palm to do this is not some ambiguous-looking unlabled icon like on the Zaurus but a run of the mill button with the labell "new".. No guessing or risk-taking required. And the "new" button on the Palm is located under the time slots, not above like on the Zaurus, so the Palm keeps in step with the way people read things.
Guess what happens once I get the Zaurus' modal dialog for a entering a new date? The text fields for 'Description' and 'Location' are already filled with "(None)" and "(Unknown)". Why are they already filled? I haven't even decided to write anything in them yet! And if a field is left blank, isn't it already obvious that the value is unknown? What's worse, I have to erase the crap in these text fields in order to write my own stuff in them. Users always expect text fields to only contain stuff that they have actively written in them, and Trolltech has greatly violated that expectation by automatically stuff into them.
To focus the "Description" text field for a Zaurus event I have to tap on it yet again, whereas the palm focused the description field when I selected the time.
To finish off entering a date on the Zaurus I have to go up to the right hand corner of the titlebar (again, the bizarre 'down to up' fetish) and hit "Ok". On a palm, there is no hitting "Ok". You don't need to confirm an entry, the entry is merely just as you left it. The PalmOS UI is stateless, which is the direction that many of the foremost HCI professionals say we should be going in. And stateless UI lends itself very well to devices where everything in stored in ram.
Oh, I almost forgot, on the Zaurus' datebook, not everything fits within the width of the screen (including the widgets). I have to scroll horizontally to manipulate widgets on the edge. On the palm, no horizontal scrolling required. Every single widget fits precisely on the screen.
Tap summary:
Total minimum # of taps requred: 1
Total minimum # of taps required: 4.
I can understand why you like the Zaurus' keyboard--it doesn't handle the stylus half as efficiently as the Palm does.
About my disclaimer:
The first step in solving a problem is to admit that you have one. My point: Right Now, most of the linux community absolutely refuses to admit that they have usability problems. According to them, we don't have usability problems, we just have people spreading FUD about linux being hard to use. If anyone with any interface design background points out these problems, they are immediately met with incredulity and some really nasty denials.
When I say "this product has severe usability problems because we've got so many linux zealots denying that there is a usability problem" and then some linux zealot starts screaming "Bullsh*t, there is no usability problems!", the linux zealot has effectively proven my point far better than I ever could.
Zaurus UI flexibility spanks the Palm (Score:1, Interesting)
What UI Guru thinks it a good idea for me to learn how to write letters all over again?
I have been writing legibly for almost forty years now but for the life of me I can't write the letter "V" on a Palm. I usually end up with a "U" and think "OK I'll just know that is a "V" when I read it again later". Or I can stop what I'm doing, bring up the software keyboard, enter a "V", lower the software keyboard, and then get back to the task at hand.
UI experts everywhere are vomiting in their trashcans.
Can't enter a "V" by drawing it on the Zaurus? Teach the Zaurus your own handwriting! Reconfigure the whole darn alphabet to the way you've been writing all your life...
or use the sweet-ass keyboard...
or the pickboard...
or you're some Old Timer V7 admin, how about Unicode?
or really love poking things with that stylus? You've got a software keyboard here too! Only this time candidate words are suggested speeding up your efforts!
Do you have some oddball character that you find yourself entering over and over again? Teach it to the Zaurus and enter it with one keystroke instead of having to navigate the infernal maze of Pilot pop-up windows.
Sharp gives you FIVE alternatives to far and away the worst UI gaffe on the Palm, Graffiti.
On the issue of software UI (excluding data entry) I will agree with you that the Sharp has a bit of catching up to do. Guess what? It's being updated all the time and I can download improvements! Not so with the Palm. Save for minor revision levels a Palm is stuck with the OS it shipped with.
Throw in the hardware though and the overall UI goodness tilts the other way. I mentioned the sweet-ass keyboard before. How about being able to reprogram the hard buttons? That's a nice UI plus.
Office compatibility is another usability draw the Palm will never have.
I know all this because I've owned three Pilots and I have found myself using my Zaraus more than I ever used those Pilots. It is purely the User Interface Goodness has pushed it's usefulness head and shoulders above the Pilot crowd.
Your hysterical slight "It's people like you who keep Linux unusable" begs to be addressed
Over the years I have purchased and installed five linux distos. Because the experience "sucked" I have switched back to windows each time (next I am going to try Ximian Gnome on my laptop). Your broad brushstrokes of people that disagree with your minor positions alienate compatriots in what is obviously your larger war.
Cheers!
Beal
Palm is a nice interface.... for artificial paper (Score:1)
But of course, Palm devices and the Zaurus/iPaq class of devices are completely separate in terms of design intent. Palm is meant to replace paper. Zaurus/iPaq is meant to make it less necessary to carry that laptop everywhere you go, so their apps and interfaces are designed more like the desktop model.
I'd be interested in your comparison between the Zaurus datebook and Pocket Outlook, for example, and in the amount of time it takes for someone who uses desktop machines regularly to adjust to using a Palm device's byzantine Graffiti system versus a thumb keyboard or the Pocket PC's own handwriting recognition system. I know a few people who opted for a Sharp Wizard (a much cheaper device with a larger thumb board and no stylus at all) rather than a Palm-type device because they couldn't be bothered to learn a bizarre new written language. I doubt they would have gone for the Zaurus as they really were looking for a paper replacement, but Graffiti is Palm's biggest weakness where non-PDA-users are concerned.
Before you start talking about non-intuitive user interfaces maybe you ought to look at the issue through the eyes of someone who doesn't use these things at all rather than your own clearly Palm-biased experience. For what it's worth, I don't use any PDA myself as I find them all lacking. I certainly don't want to use their minimalist interfaces on the desktop, and the designs that are fawned over by usability experts (like Aqua) would seem to bear this instinct out.
Zaurus rocks! (Score:1)
This unit is polished from OS to physical fit and finish. The Zaurus feels great in the hand, very sturdy and the hidden keyboard just plain rocks. Two thumb typing is easier than one would think!
Two complaints that aren't even much to complain about. The synch software doesn't do justice to how the unit was built. However, it is VERY usable and works flawlessly. It doesn't however have that polished feel of the unit. Point 2 is handwriting recognition. The default recognition is rather picky just because the software controlling it has you draw out the whole letter. This, however, is customizable and I plan on copying the Grafitti style from Palm as this is much more useable!!!
G33k factor is definitely up there...
Some of my fellow coworkers, I think, wish they would have gotten the Zaurus over their Palm models. I am quite glad I'm not in their shoes on this occasion, and am very impressed / happy with the unit all in all... Any geek should love one of these!!!
Best Price and My Impressions (Score:2)
I think Sharp has the best PDA hardware out there. It's a great package if you're the kind of person who would want a CF slot on your PDA (size comparisons with the iPaq usually ignore the "sleeve" required for CF). The PIM software, on the other hand, sucks. Someone described it as looking like the result of a class project, and I have to agree. Others in this thread have covered the "hackability" aspect thoroughly, and I agree that it appeals to geeks. But I'm afraid there will be no next gen Linux Zaurus because this one is going to tank in the market. No one buys a PDA for the sexy hardware expecting to install all new software later.
I've played with a few of them in different stores. About half were stuck at the 'lock' screen because someone figured out how to set a code and left it that way. Most are trapped in a anti-theft cage which doesn't allow the keyboard cover to open all the way. The keyboard is inactive until the cover is in the "open" detent, so it appears to be broken. Office Depot appears to have all the accessories out but no *units*. This is a disaster when you can play with 5+ palm devices and 5+ WinCE devices in any store.
Wardialing Platform? (Score:1)
Re:Yeah it's cool (Score:1)