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Portables Hardware

Sharp Zaurus C-7x0 Reviewed 164

Posted by CmdrTaco from the size-matters dept.
jwr writes "The fine folks at BargainPDA have a full-length review of the latest Sharp Zaurus C-7x0 handhelds. " We've covered this PDA in the past but this is a much more in depth review on this solid looking device.
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Sharp Zaurus C-7x0 Reviewed More

Sharp Zaurus C-7x0 Reviewed

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  • Looks like... (Score:5, Funny)

    by jpetts ( 208163 ) on Thursday September 04, 2003 @04:38PM (#6873492)
    they are^Wwere running their site on the Sharp Zaurus C-7x0

  • I was excited about Zaurus (Score:5, Interesting)

    by stratjakt ( 596332 ) on Thursday September 04, 2003 @04:40PM (#6873509) Journal
    Until I played with one at Office Depot.

    I found navigating it was awkward and non-intuitive. It just reeked of "desktop computer" crammed into the PDA.

    PalmOS is just so much easier to deal with on such a small device.

    • Re:I was excited about Zaurus (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Blasphemy ( 78348 ) on Thursday September 04, 2003 @04:47PM (#6873582)

      If all you want is a date and address book, you should stick with a palm. I love being able to ssh/vnc/rdp from anywhere and compile my own kernel to include some features the manufacturer left out.

      If you want a "Personal Mobile Tool", nothing out there beats a Zaurus. Keep in mind that you played with a 5x00 series model. the 7x0 models are currently only available in Japan (and are far superior).
      • I have run ssh from my palm, do some minor data-type functions, but its mostly just a date/address book. I have a laptop for everything else.

        I wouldnt want to have to go through a kernel compile or editting sendmail.cf armed with only a stylus and a magnifying glass. I dont want a full featured PC that small.

        And having to recompile the kernel for any reason whatsoever is pure idiocy and one of my main beefs with linux. Jebus. A monolithic kernel in a "modern" OS. It's like putting a steam engine in a

        • Re:I was excited about Zaurus (Score:5, Informative)

          by Blasphemy ( 78348 ) on Thursday September 04, 2003 @05:02PM (#6873740)
          Hey, steam engines are far more efficient than internal-combustion engines, don't knock them.

          It's obvious you haven't read the article, or you would know that the Zaurus has a keyboard. The screen swivels to hide it when in portrait mode, but it is far more useful in landscape mode.

          Compiling the kernel is never necessary, but it can be fun to unlock hidden potential in your new toy. e.g. the Zaurus' touch screen is actuall pressure sensitive. A new kernel with the correct patch will allow you to make some pretty sweet drawrings (it that's your thing).
          • It has a keyboard, but a remarkably useless one, for anything other than poking in someones last name with one finger.

            I cant stand using a laptop keyboard let alone one of those things.

            It's like I said, if I want a full-featured PC I'd get a new laptop, or look into those tablet PCs (which I'm doing right now). I dont want a PC crammed into a gameboy. The only reason I'd consider one would be for the "toy" factor, and I dont have that kind of cash to pay for a toy.

            (Oh, and a touchscreen thats pressure
            • You've already made up your mind, which is fine. It would be a boring world if everyone liked or was interested in the same thing. However, for those out there who might like a toy or tool like the Zaurus, you can run VNC on your computer and access the Zaurus. This allows you to use your regular keyboard for doing complicated stuff that involves a lot of keying.

              If you're a hacker and like to tinker, there isn't a better machine out there. If you just want a PDA, there might be better options although
              • Actually, the Newton really should be considered the best hacker's PDA. The Zaurus is a OK for a Unix-biased hacker, but for the hacker who actually wants to have a complete view on what is going on with the system- and have the power to play with and modify it- the Newton was really killer. You could open up an object browser and inspect all of the variables and code (code!) of all of your running apps and the system itself. A lot more fun for an old school hacker. I used to inspect my way into the spre
            • The keyboard is not useless. It looks extremely awkward, but I've found you can actually type quite quickly on it thanks to the standard QWERTY layout. Use both thumbs, not one finger. It works.

              Surprisingly, the built-in recognizer works well, so I find myself rarely opening the keyboard unless I'm composing a long email or something. I've used Palm OS & Graffiti for six years, and I was quite happy with the Zaurus' handwriting recognition. There is also a Graffiti recognizer available, but I have
          • Yes, the C760 has a keyboard. However, the keyboard is of a limited usefulness. As a thumboard, it is a ton better than the pretty crappy thumboard on the 5x00, but it is still just a thumboard. But then again, my primary computer and PDA before the C760 I now own was a Jornada J720, which had an actually touch-typable keyboard build-in.

            I am writing this (and all posts in this thread) on my C760- but on an external keyboard, the Pocketop. Doing it on the built-in thumboar would take way too long.
      • I love being able to [...] compile my own kernel to include some features the manufacturer left out.

        If only it were that simple. The critical feature that they've omitted here is builtin Bluetooth. I have two Zauruses, and it's the one feature they're missing. Not including it on these new models is little short of criminal, and it's not something that can be fixed with a kernel compile :-(

        • Re:No Bluetooth (Score:3, Informative)

          by swillden ( 191260 ) *
          Don't they have a compact flash slot? You can buy a CF Bluetooth adapter.
          • You can buy a CF Bluetooth adapter.

            Yep, that's what I do currently. But I'd much rather it was integrated like the iPAQ, so that I could use the CF slot for other things, like extra storage, for example.

      • Ah, it's that time of the month again where I point this out... :)

        You can do pretty much all of that "Personal Mobile Tool" stuff on WinCE, and these days most of it on PalmOS. I've been telnetting and sshing in from my Newton and WinCE boxes since before the Linux-based Zaurus existed. On WinCE, I never had a problem: having a Unixish CLI environent, running apps remotely with VNC, running apps remotely- and a few locally via X11 (yes, there is a XFreeCE), going wardriving, admining via ssh and telnet,
        • I agree totally. I would strongly consider buying one of these if they were really usable as a PDA. (e.g. do everything my palm does, simply) Until then, I would need a palm for the datebook and the zaurus for the remote admin stuff. (no 802.11/cell/etc on my palm)

          Until then, I'll consider a laptop any day over this. Especially for the cost. Granted, I don't know what the cost is, as I can't get at the article, but in the last review I saw, the cheapest I could find was about $700, or enough for a halfway d

          • I too am a poor college student. However, I'm a poor college student with a cool self-run research project [sf.net] that happened to get the attention of a one of the coolest people in CS today... As a result, I was donated a C760 as encourageent that my project continue. The website is crappy and out of date, but a new release will be coming very soon The C760 is an awesome platform for Dynapad, my project- a new PDA operating environment/system largely in the design spirit of the NewtonOS.

            The C760 is $800, at
            • I saw your project, and actually emailed you but had it rejected. Basically, I was asking a: what your project did specifically, and b: aside from the project, how were the PDAs used by UMDers. For example, did they just track assignments on them, or did many of the students actually hack on them, as you do with your Zaurus? I was just curious because this seems like a great suggestion to the UMTC CSci folks (my current home.)
              • The email was rejected? Curious- which account? Sorry for the long response, but anyway-

                First, my project does many things. It is not done, so it's not a matter of what it 'did,' but what it is doing and will do. Dynapad [sf.net] is a PDA operating environment written in Squeak Smalltalk. [squeak.org] It runs on Linux and WinCE/PocketPC PDAs, no PalmOS support until PalmOS itself is more like a real OS. Some features:
                • Fully written in Smalltalk, extensions in C if needed
                • The entire environment is object oriented, from arit
    • What PalmOS lacks is intuitiveness. Playing video on it is awkward and retrieving files more OS-like is not possible. I want something more like an OS but Linux PDA's are expensive, which is just so damn odd to me. JAV .
      • Check out PocketPCs. Lots of software and stuff that really does impressive things.

        Linux PDAs have alot to catch up to a PocketPC.

        For example MS provides a input method call Transcriber. Its based on this;

        http://www.paragraph.com/calligrapher/index.html [paragraph.com]

        • Pocket PC 2002 is very nice indeed, but when you get bored with it you can go to www.handhelds.org and move on to better things
          • I second that.

            Having used M$ PocketPC 2002 for a while, I decided to try familiar linux on my Ipaq 3850, and I'm glad I did.

            Installing the bootloader is a bit risky, but I had no problem. Whith that installed you can load virtually anything you want in the ipaq's flash. I'm currently using OPIE, for its nice PIM apps, but will be probably switching to GPE when they get decent PIM support (e.g. beaming cards trough Irda/OBEX).

            The main advantage of linux over PocketPC is its ability to read/write anything
        • I use a Zaurus C760 now myself, and the biggest thing I miss from the Newton and Windows CE is some method of real handwriting recognition like Transcriber or CalliGrapher. If I had that, I wouldn't need this built-in keyboard- I could do 40-50 WPM on my Newton, and no way I get even close to that on the Zaurus' built in thumboard.

          Better be careful, Goof- you reccomended PocketPC, damn near suicide on slashdot. :) But really, you can do all of that "LUG show off stuff" people do with their Zaurus on WinC
      • Use a different media player or software. PalmOS has nothing to do with what you just said.
      • If you think Palm OS is unintuitive, I weep for you. I think the Zaurus desktop is well done, but Palm OS couldn't be simpler and more obvious. What do you mean "retrieving files more OS-like"? Files basically don't exist in Palm OS, only application databases, so if you get your jollies from copying files and navigating directories...get a Zaurus.

        Expensive? I got a used Zaurus 5500 for $160 from EBay, a Beylkin 802.11 CF card for $29, and a 256 MB SD card for $70. This little bugger is nearly as usef
    • Yep. I played with one a while ago as well, and well, Qtopia is really not a good fit for the PDA form factor.

      On a PDA, I interact with one application at a time. I _really_ don't need a WM taking up space. I don't need a title bar. And I don't want a really big row of sundry buttons taking up the bottom - or a gigantic scrollbar taking up space on the right for that matter.

      A PDA is not a small laptop. It is not used as a small laptop. Please make allowances for this.

      • A small toolbar, I can handle. But it needs to be paired with a simple and intuitive UI and be able to replace a palm's PDA simplicity for it to gain market outside of the gaggle of geeks out there. Of course, if Sharp is happy with a very finite market, have at it.

        If they could make this a good PDA, get a cleaner UI, and pair with a phone, I would be willing to spend this kind of cash on a PDA/"palmtop computer." I'm still thinking a truly "all-in-one" device is still a pipe-dream though.

        • I agree.

          The hardware is absolutely top-notch. I was drooling after about five minutes of trying it out. I absolutely worship the screen-orientation function. And, of course, having access to a shell (a _real_ shell) with ssh and so on is a huge, huge benefit.

          Unfortunately, Qtopia lets the device down. it is slow, clumsy and - obviously - memory innefficient. It also precludes any hope of porting any gtk apps to the device (and well over 95% of all apps I'm interested in are such).

          Far better would be usin
    • Awkward and non-intuitive?

      What?

      The default Zaurus desktop is nearly identical to the Palm OS launcher. If "single-click on the big icon" or "push the Mail button on the unit" are awkward, then have your personal assistant do it for you. And while there could be a bit more consistency among the Sharp apps (hint: install OpenZaurus and opie-1.0 instead), it's pretty damn obvious how to use them. If you think the Zaurus reeks of "desktop computer," you've clearly not used Windows CE.

      I've owned:
      Palm 500
      Pa
      • Sorry, I have to agree.

        The zaurus was an awesome idea, but a piss-poor implementation. The device is uncomfortable for me to hold, has no side toggle (ala HP 54x), and the micro-keyboard is some kind of ridiculus joke.

        As for the actual performance, it's ok, I guess. I found that it had a total lack of support for Mac, and as of when I purchased my current handheld (the 4th I've owned), it had no bluetooth support for my phone. The apps were sub-par at best, and who cares about telnet and SSH? All the PDAs
    • "I found navigating it was awkward and non-intuitive. It just reeked of "desktop computer" crammed into the PDA."

      I had similar problems with the first Linux based Zaurus. So many things broken with it. I will say, though, that the idea of doing some scripting etc with it was pretty interesting. That's one thing that drove me nuts about my PocketPC. I want to write little apps for it but the dev environment kept crashing.
      • There are actually a lot more options as far as scripting and writing apps on the PDA itself for PocketPC and vanilla Windows CE than there are for the Zaurus. I must admit, I was a bit disapointed, having used a Windows CE machine pretty much as my main computer for about a year, when I switched to a Zaurus C760.

        What "dev environment" do you mean? There are a lot of developent options for WinCE/PPC.

        On the Zaurus, there are a lot of options for scripting languages yes, but almost none as far as a script

      • OpenZaurus (Score:4, Interesting)

        by SHEENmaster ( 581283 ) <travis&utk,edu> on Thursday September 04, 2003 @06:21PM (#6874458) Homepage Journal
        OpenZaurus [openzaurus.org] is a much better distribution than the default Sharp one.

        If you can't stand the small screen and keyboard, just attach a dumb terminal and away you go.

        I don't have enough storage on it to recompile the kernel locally, but I am using GCC on it to do a bit of work on a project of mine during class. The keyboard is nothing to ogle over, but it's a hell of a lot better than a virtual one.

        If you want an organizer, pick an old palm up on eBay for a few dollars. If you want a handheld computer, check a zaurus out.
      • I want to write little apps for it but the dev environment kept crashing.

        Which environment was that? I have yet to have a problem with the latest iteration of Pocket PC with the mobile framework. Admittedly, I haven't exercised it terribly much, but being able to code in the same environment I do most of my other coding in is quite nice, down to even using the same language set, C#, VB.NET, or any other language that complies to IL.

        I've done other mobile development before, including The Symbol Palm scan
    • -IS a PDA.

      The Zaurus is for handheld computing, not just 'store my schedule, store my addresses.' For some people, the original capabilities of a PDA are enough. Personally, I've out-grown the 'Palm mentality,' organizer PDAs, hence why I picked up an SL-5500 and sold my Palm IIIxe.

      If all you need is provided by a lower-end Palm, great, roll with it and save the money you didn't spend for something else. But for me, the wealth of software available through the Zaurus community, the storage capacity via S

      • Too true- for some of us, including myself, the original capabilities of a PDA are not enough. However, having the ability to do more than just do my schedule and addressbook doesn't mean that the Zaurus has to fall so painfully short in so many of the traditional PDA areas of experise.

        I want/need the functionality of a PDA with a real OS, like WinCE and Linux PDAs provide. However, I do not want to give up the things I want a PDA for. Should I start carrying around three PDAs? A PalmOS device for addr

        • If you want to speedup your PDF viewing, set the "QuickLaunch" option on the viewer, then it will always be resident in ram, just like your Palm PDF app.
          • However, that doesn't actually speed up PDF viewing, simply speeds up launching of the app. It is a matter of rendering speed, not how fast the app launches. Once the app has been loaded on the Zaurus and is running, it makes no difference whether it was launched via QuickLaunch or the regular way.

            As far as launching goes, the Zaurus is also mighty slow. QPDF2 takes around 6 secs to launch, not counting all the time it takes to open a PDF.

            Keeping the app *always* running is the shittiest excuse for a f

    • PalmOS is just so much easier to deal with on such a small device.

      I love the non-laptop-lookalive Zauruses- except I refused to buy one because it's basically impossible to sync them with Linux. That's pretty damn weak from a company which touts non-stop that the thing runs Linux.

      What exactly is the point of a PDA that can't sync with OS X or Linux?

      • Palm OS is definitely well suited for small devices, but also limiting.

        > it's basically impossible to sync them with Linux

        Using Sharp-supported software, yes. Using other free solutions, no. It's not going to void your warranty, but if downloading and installing a perl script or an application from Trolltech scares you off, then definitely stay away.
        • >> it's basically impossible to sync them with Linux

          >Using Sharp-supported software, yes. Using other free solutions, no.

          This isn't entirely true. With the SL-5500 you can sync it using QtopiaDesktop as long as you're running one of the old ROMs. If you've upgraded your SL-5500 to version 3.1 you're screwed. If you bought a SL-5600 you're screwed. I assume that you're also screwed with these newer models. You'd do much better syncing Linux with a run of the mill Palm. This thread [zaurus.com] is info
    • They're totally different beasts. Let me translate for you:

      I was excited about Oranges
      Until I played with one at Safeway

      I found peeling it was awkward and non-intuitive. If just reaked of giant kumquat.

      Apples are so much easier to deal with, you can eat the skin.

      Anyway, the Zaurus _is_ a desktop computer crammed into a very small form factor. If you're seriously getting a PDA, sure, get a Palm. If you want a very small linux computer that can also do PDA functions half-assed, get a Zaurus.

    • Until I played with one at Office Depot.

      I found navigating it was awkward and non-intuitive. It just reeked of "desktop computer" crammed into the PDA.
      PalmOS is just so much easier to deal with on such a small device.

      Actually, FWIW, I've not had major complaints vis a vis the software. My two greatest annoyances with the SL-5500 have been 1) the case design (the cover is too flimsy to protect the exposed screen, and the whole thing is too big to easily carry in a pocket), and 2) the lack of a backs

  • /.ed (Score:1, Offtopic)

    by lilricky ( 632829 )
    Not bad, 3 minutes and their server is already filled to capacity. Way to go slashdotters! :)

  • Article text anyone? (Score:4, Funny)

    by mao che minh ( 611166 ) * on Thursday September 04, 2003 @04:41PM (#6873520) Journal
    That was the fastest Slashdotting ever. Seriously. I clicked the link right after the article became available to non-sunscribers. It just goes to show, even though you can get complex applications like Apache to run on a PDA, it isn't always the brightest idea.

  • OOOOO - It looks so GOOD (Score:5, Informative)

    by greymond ( 539980 ) on Thursday September 04, 2003 @04:42PM (#6873543) Homepage Journal
    I totally love my SL-5500, I use it mostly for phone/address stuff and quick notes from meetings and calls, but even as an mp3 player with a 64mb SD in the side and a good headset it's great even at the gym . Looking on the Ezaurus.com page looks like there is a higher end version called the C760 (the article reviews the C750) - I'm sure by the time they actually start selling in America (what maybe 2 years from now) my 5500 will just start "feeling" old.
    • All that you say is true... However, the battery life is not the greatest in my experience.
      • Battery life- worst I've seen on any PDA. I mean, if I thought 1.5 hours of battery life with the screen brightness on only 50% and using wifi was acceptable, I'd buy a old PowerBook or p133.

        Not to mention the 5x00's screen- easily the worse screen I've ever seen on a PDA, greyscale or color. At it's brightest, it is still fuzzier and dimmer than the Dell Axim at the lowest setting.

        Not to mention the sad excuse for PDA software. Etc, etc.

        Although, the C7x0 models have a much better screen, largely bec
    • I have a C760. It is basically the same unit as the C750, but with double the flash storage (128Mb vs 64Mb) and a bigger battery (1700mAh vs 950mAh). I spent the long-weekend with the in-laws and didn't have to recharge, despite showing it off quite a bit.

      The drawback of the C760 is that it is slightly thicker to allow for the battery.

  • Question.... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by JoeLinux ( 20366 ) <joelinux@ g m a i l . c om> on Thursday September 04, 2003 @04:44PM (#6873559)
    Does Palm show any interest in Linux hand-held interoperability? It seems to me it would be in their best interest...They are still manufacturing hardware after all...decent stuff at that.

    • Re:Question.... (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Aliencow ( 653119 )
      Getting my brand new Tungsten 2 working on Linux with Kernel 2.4.21 and pilot-link was MUCH easier than getting my Zaurus working on linux.. The thing is the zaurus does TCP/IP over USB...and the desktop app for Zaurus just plain sucks, so I basically FTPed to my PC from the Z and uploaded/downloaded instead of doing a sync.. I guess setting up rsync would be the best on the zaurus, desktop app sucks way too much..

  • Yearning for info (Score:1, Redundant)

    by Faust7 ( 314817 )
    We've covered this PDA in the past

    Yes, and I can't access that review, either! :-) Moreover, a Google search for "Zaurus C-7x0" yielded only three results, only one of which was in English! I'm starving here!
  • that PDA's are no longer needed, with mobiles which can do alot of a PDA's job (and in the next 5yrs certainly all) and a laptop doing the rest. laptops can be as small as you like now, the price is going down, performance is getting better, compatibility is ofcourse, great with all other types of input devices. i don't see a PDA niche anymore.
  • Don't forget this is the PDA of choice for sexy geek Catherine Bell [jagextreme.com] (of JAG fame, as well as at least one men's magazine--the name escapes me now).

    Maybe all you /.ers out there could increase your sex appeal by getting one, too.

    Yeah . . . cats like milk, I like milk, therefore I am a cat.

  • this guy is funny (Score:2, Insightful)

    by psylent ( 638032 )
    After calming down enough to turn the device on, the next shock is the quality of the 640x480 display. It's stunning. The OS and applications respond quickly and smoothly. The device does not crash or freeze. My co-workers stand and stare in awed silence. As the effect propagates out from midtown Manhattan, taxi drivers become strangely calm, and dogs stop barking across the city.

    ... he will happily compete with Terry Pratchett :-D

  • Hard to get in the US (Score:3, Informative)

    by dagnabit ( 89294 ) on Thursday September 04, 2003 @05:00PM (#6873723)
    Too bad Sharp decided not to sell these devices here in the US. The only way to get them now is from Dynamism [dynamism.com] or The Kompany [thekompany.com].

    But I saw one my local Sharp rep had and they are nice!

  • You can get these in the US now..... (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 04, 2003 @05:00PM (#6873727)
    theKompany.com now carries these in the US. They're importing them. Here they are [thekompany.com]

  • How to get one (Score:5, Informative)

    by Blasphemy ( 78348 ) on Thursday September 04, 2003 @05:08PM (#6873813)

    Dynamism sounds like a good company, but if anybody wants to save $100 (and forgo the free shipping if something goes bad) you can get your Zaurus from conics.net [conics.net]. Check the forums [externe.net] for recommendations and localization instructions.

  • Deep Psigh (Score:3, Interesting)

    by G4from128k ( 686170 ) on Thursday September 04, 2003 @05:24PM (#6873958)
    Another nice clamshell, too bad its worse than the 3-year-old Psion 5mx. How come nobody can make a PDA with:
    - A decent keyboard
    - A screen you can see in full sunlight
    - Battery life of at least 20 hours (my 5mx regularly gets 30+ hrs)
    - A light set of applications for basic office work?

    I'm not saying the Psion 5mx is perfect, but you would think that with all the miracles of modern technology that someone could have made a device at least as good. Maybe Moore's Law is being bested by Gate's Law -- new products must have every feature imaginable, even if that makes no feature actually usable.
    • Um, it's called an emate.
      • Yes, the emate is a very nice machine and makes my point again. The emate is another example of "obsolete" hardware besting newer products. But the emate is not pocket-sized like the Psion or Zaurus

        I can only hope that some future PDA will be both truely portable and truely usable. I fear the current penchant for full compatibility with MS Bloatware means that PDA makers will continue to shoehorn hot, power hungry processors into their machines. Why does a PDA need a 400 MHz processor??? So it can d
        • You ask why a PDA needs a 400 MHz CPU?

          In the case of the Zaurus, it is an attempt to make up for the incredible slowness of the Qtopia/Linux combination. Even with the nice and fast 400 MHz XScale in my C760, Qtopia is still quite sluggish.

          Read this post, it has some app launching benchmarks. [slashdot.org] comparing my C760 to a 206 MHz iPAQ 3650, whose CPU is about half as fast.

          Actually, the Zaurus can't show Flash animations. Well, I can play some in Squeak Smalltalk, which has a limited player which plays up to

    • Re:Deep Psigh (Score:3, Informative)

      by timeOday ( 582209 )
      Poor battery life and poor outside visibility are simply explained: people want color. Personally, I'm not at all convinced. I preferred the screen on my palm V to the one on my m515 - it was sharper, thinner, and the battery lasted forever. But people want color screens for whatever reason.

  • If Slashdotonians would RTFA (Score:3, Funny)

    by DA_MAN_DA_MYTH ( 182037 ) on Thursday September 04, 2003 @05:29PM (#6874007) Homepage Journal
    Dynaism would be overflown with orders...

    The so-called "clamshell" design means that the PDA opens like a tiny laptop. If cigarettes weren't so unfashionable, I'd prefer to call this a "cigarette case" design, in the style of the multi-functional gadgets used by James Bond. I showed the C750 to a number of people, geek and non-geek, and everybody liked it. It was unusally [for a computer] popular with the ladies.

    Finally Sony has developed a chick magnet for geeks.

  • google cache version (Score:2, Informative)

    by DOsinga ( 134115 )
    The site already seems to be cracking. google [216.239.39.104] has a cached version.

  • Bad Apples (Score:4, Insightful)

    by IceFox ( 18179 ) on Thursday September 04, 2003 @06:36PM (#6874571) Homepage
    An essay I wrote after leaving Sharp that I thought you all might like: http://www.csh.rit.edu/~benjamin/articles/bad_appl es.php [rit.edu].

    Bad Apples and how commercial companies should utilize Open Source with in-house development.

    Open Source software is for most a new and unknown idea whose time has finally come. Many managers who have never even heard of Linux are finding themselves attempting to integrate it into their in-house development. They hear all of the wonderful benefits of utilizing Open Source software and want to be part of that. Unfortunately too often the projects fail for what seems unknown reasons. The majority of the time the problem stems from the false idea that Free Software means no cost across the board. Projects are done on a shoestring budget and the idea of interacting with the community is forgotten. The community is a large asset at the companies disposal that should not be ignored. A successful Open Source project within a company must incorporate developers within the community into the project.

    John Macintosh owned an apple tree farm. The vast majority of his apples were shipped out by the ton to a company that made apple cider. After seeing a local farm open its fields to those who wanted to hand pick their own apples with fantastic success he decided to do it also. The margin for selling hand picked apples is much better then selling apples by the ton so why not give it a shot he thought. Come the next spring he put out a sign by the road stating that anyone could hand pick apples. As the summer wore on he found a few customers stopping by, but due to the infrequency he mostly found them to be an annoyance and considered stopping the program all together. Near the end of the August he had a friend over whom also ran an apple farm. The topic turned to John's field and the his lack of customers. His friend quickly pointed out a number of problems that John had overlooked:

    • Customers were given little help when picking the apples. Basics such as ladders, apple grabbers, and bags or crates were not provided.
    • There was no one officially hired at the farm to deal with customers. John who was often busy with other things made the customers feel as though they were not his top priority (it doesn't matter if they really were or not).
    • Getting customers to know about his farm was nothing more then a sign down near his driveway. Because of the success of other farms he incorrectly assumed that this is all he would have to do.

    Each one of these were a problem that in the end hurt John's apple farm.

    Of course John Macintosh and his farm doesn't exist, but if you replace him with a manager and apples with Open Source you suddenly have an interesting situation. Most all business managers when presented with the apple story know the list of problems even before it was listed, but when talking about Open Source they go tripping all over themselves asking why didn't it work? The problem is mostly a lack of knowledge about how Open Source works. They hear about Open Source and Free Software and think that is exactly what it is, something that they can take for free and with very minimal effort get Open Source developers to help. Half of the reason for using Open Source software is to utilize the community, letting them help in improving and developing the software. Managers hear about the army of programmer just working away on code in their free time. They then incorrectly assume that this army of free programmers are just waiting for them to start their project. Managers often times think that very little to no effort will be needed to utilize the community.

    Customers were given little help when picking the apples. Basics such as ladders, apple grabbers, and bags or crates were not provided.

    Developers want to work on Open Source software, your Open Source software! There is no ex

  • It's nice but somethings missing (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Daath ( 225404 ) <lp.coder@dk> on Thursday September 04, 2003 @06:40PM (#6874611) Homepage Journal
    The price is horrendous! I just found a place selling it for 840 EUR - roughly the same as the dollar. That is INTENSE!
    I mean, it's not even got WiFi or bluetooth or anything like that.
    On the other hand, it looks to be one of the coolest PDAs around. Keyboardless PDAs don't do it for me. I have an old Psion Revo laying around, which is pretty cool but outdated, before that I had Cassiopeia and another, but without keyboard they're not as attactive.

    Give me a Zaurus with wireless and a built in tri-band phone, and I am sold. No messing.

  • Wanted to get a Zaurus C760 very much . . . (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Yeechang Lee ( 3429 ) on Thursday September 04, 2003 @07:24PM (#6874961)
    . . . and even placed an order with an overseas vendor. What stopped me?

    • The horrible PIM software. I've used three Palm devices since early 1997, and have been able to easily move my calendar and addressbook data from one device to another. In effect, I have a comprehensive record of my life over the past six years in electronic form. I know I could quite easily beam or otherwise transfer the data to the Zaurus, but what good would it do if the PIM software is too clunky to do anything useful? [1]
    • Lack of Sharp support outside Japan. I don't mean in terms of warranty per se. I mean in terms of things like the non-release of the C700/C750/C760 outside Japan, the recent discontinuation of all Zaurus sales in Europe, rumors that "only three" Sharp US employees are now working on the Zaurus, etc.
    • Size. I know the C760 is just a little larger than my Sony Clie N610C, but even a little bit makes a big difference when you're talking about your pants pockets.


    Thus, I've 95% decided on getting the forthcoming Sony Clie UX50 [slashdot.org]. Smaller than my current Clie and with built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, while the Zaurus comes with no wireless built in and even the Socket model, generally agreed the best and smallest Wi-Fi CF card, would stick out a little bit from the case. Why only 95%? Because of the two big flaws in my mind with the UX50 (the tiny physical size of the screen, and the lack of portrait mode), and because the C760's manifold virtues may yet suck me into its embraces.

    [1] One thing I've thought about is using Jpilot [jpilot.org], which I happily use to sync my Clie to my Linux box, on the C760. Anyone else do this?
  • There is a built-in help system but unfortunately it has not been translated from Japanese.

    pffft...help files! Real Linux h4x0rs don't need help files !

  • Powerpc 405lp (Score:3, Interesting)

    by rshimizu12 ( 668412 ) on Thursday September 04, 2003 @09:47PM (#6875726)
    The Zarus is a good pda but the processor to much of a power hog. Hopefully Sharp will start using the IBM 405lp. Personally I think IBM will sign a agreement to implement the 405lp with Sharp. IBM is well positioned to do a OEM agreement with Sharp.
  • Unfotunatly this link [palminfocenter.com] is just a mock up, but you get the idea.

    Somtimes I wonder if Sony annonced the chipset development just to prevent anyone else from trying...

    Think about the implications for wearable computing.

    PDA+Linux+2_gig_cf_card+UHF_reciever_card+tiny_pin _UHF_transimit_camera

    =real_life_video_log_for less_than_$2000

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