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Handhelds Hardware

Zaurus SL-6000 Prototype Revealed 122

Posted by michael from the drop-test dept.
Gudlyf writes "The Zaurus User Group has a short piece (with pictures) on the newly revealed prototype of the Sharp Zaurus SL-6000. Among the many new features are integrated wi-fi, integrated bluetooth, a larger screen and possibly more RAM. Word is that this unit *will* appear in U.S. markets."
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Zaurus SL-6000 Prototype Revealed More

Zaurus SL-6000 Prototype Revealed

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  • Alien probe (Score:4, Informative)

    by konichiwa ( 216809 ) on Saturday October 25, 2003 @04:30PM (#7309582)
    We will now transport you to our home planet of NFQ-9882... [zaurususergroup.com]

    • Mod Parent Up (Score:3, Informative)

      by sakusha ( 441986 )
      That was a link to a photo of the unit, Mr. Offtopic Moderator. If you look in the same level of that directory, there are about 15 photos of the unit, showing the nice internal keyboard and even screen shots. You can even load them despite their server being slashdotted and returning a 500. So mod that parent up.

  • Integrated Bluetooth... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by heironymouscoward ( 683461 ) <heironymouscowar ... m minus caffeine> on Saturday October 25, 2003 @04:31PM (#7309588) Journal
    Simple wireless ssh terminal when combined with my Nokia Bluetooth phone. Oh yes, this is nice.
    • {Well, yeah, but can it {use scp | run linux... oh wait | make coffee | run xwindows} | Imagine a beowulf cluster of these things... | In soviet Russia, a Zarus wirelessly sshs you! | ...}
      • As someone once said, an egg is best eaten fresh.

        Reading second-hand humour (and in your comment, sorry, it's like 10,000th hand) is like reswallowing a tomato and cheese omelette that someone has eaten the night before and vomited out along with a pint of Guiness.

        Adding 'ssh' to is it just like reheating the whole mess with a little more salt.

        Nasty.
    • Bluetooth just plain rocks! Listen manufacturers, we need more Bluetooth crap.

      Speaking of which, anybody notice that the new Hybrid gas/electric Toyota Prius is the first Bluetooth enabled automobile in the US market?

      Anyone know of a factory bluetooth enabled car that predates this?

    • Why don't you just use the communicator and SSH directly on it? http://www.f-secure.com/wireless/symbian/nokia-ssh .shtml
    • Heh. It's funny- it's almost like most folks don't know that you can't do SSH on anything but the Zaurus. You can. Hell, you could do it for a helluva lot cheaper as well.
  • Does anyone own a Zaurus? How useful are they really?

    • Re:I've never owned a PDA (Score:4, Informative)

      by superbondbond ( 718459 ) on Saturday October 25, 2003 @04:59PM (#7309747)
      I find it very useful. The zaurus is my third PDA, after both a PalmOS and a WindwosCE device.

      The Zaurus has all the same functionality as the others with regard to PIM applications, but I was sold on some of the unique features of the SL-5500. The integrated keyboard is a godsend when entering large amounts of text at one time. It supports most wireless cards right out of the box. both a SD and CF card slots make it very flexible, and I won't go into the whole "it runs Linux" thing, but we're thinking that anyway. On a sidenote there are a variety of modified ROMs that can be flashed onto the unit (more flexibility).

      On the down side, the battery life is somewhat disappointing (something which I'd hope will be vastly improved on the upcoming models). I have to say that my old HP Jornada had an unbelievable battery life, and it's taken some effort to get used to charging my Z so often, but overall I like it better the other PDAs that I've tried.

      • Re:I've never owned a PDA (Score:3, Informative)

        by Lumpy ( 12016 )
        I cant speak for the 5600 but my 5500 has FANTASTIC battery life if you turn the damned backlight off.

        I use the zaurus in my day to day work, but I rely on it for my travel log/diary when on extended back-country backpacking or biking. I can use the zaurus 5500 about 2 hours a day for 3+ days without needing to recharge it from my solar charger or my modified motorola freecharge hand crank charger.

        in semi decent light the zaurus can be used without that backlight, and outside it certianly doesnt need it

    • Re:I've never owned a PDA (Score:4, Informative)

      by Psiren ( 6145 ) on Saturday October 25, 2003 @05:00PM (#7309748)
      I own one. I don't use it as a PDA that much, but as a network testing device it's very handy. If I have problems with switches or network points, I can just stick it in my pocket with a CF network card, and off I go. I can use ssh, nmap, tcpdump and all the other linux tools I use on my desktop machine. The screen is a little small, but it's certainly readable, and the built in keyboard is handy too. The only thing that really bugs me is the lack of seperate numeric keys, which is a pain when you're entering ip addresses. Usually I use the on screen keyboard for that.
    • I just bought a SL5600 after having my 5500 stolen. I wish I could convice myself that I don't need a 6000. I think the price may do that for me though.
    • I have an SL5500. It's great but in terms of usefulness it's low. As a PDA that is. I'm not a PDA person though. I previously had a Psion Revo but the hassles of using that with Linux and the geek factor made me go for the Zaurus.

      I might use it more if I had it integrated to my phone but my old mobile doesn't have the facilites to connect and I don't use that enough to justify a new one really.

      I'd prefer the Revo still because of its keyboard.

      The question on usefulness can only be answered if you have a

    • I have one. Its useful... sorta. Relative to Palm 3.0 (I havn't tried 5.0 yet) the PIM is just as simple. The Office Suite is far better out of the box. It even has Power Point which I have found very usefull at getting ready for presentations, and for studing notes before a test(all my teacher post note in PPT format now, I don't know why). Excell spreadsheets work well, and so do MSWord .doc's.
      Now I orginally bought this thing so I could play around with the software on the linux side, but I lost i
      • Heh. Comparing the Zaurus to the simplicity of a Palm. Wow. Not sure if I should take that as an enthusiastic exageration on the quality of the Zaurus or the dirty lie of a cheerleader. Likely the former, as you were able to admit the lack of decent apps.

        • Re:I've never owned a PDA (Score:4, Insightful)

          by Ilan Volow ( 539597 ) on Saturday October 25, 2003 @09:02PM (#7311146) Homepage
          You said it, brother. Then again, you usually do have pretty good posts about PDA-related stuff.

          The linux zealots constantly inflate the miserable usability that most linux things currently have, and it just gets ridiculous when you see something like PDA's that require ten times the user interaction saavy needed for a desktop.

          Trolltech in no way did any of their homework regarding PDA UI design, and it shows in the Qtopia widget borders that gobble up vast amounts of valuble screen real-estate, and in the fact that I have to do twice as many taps to accomplish the same task I was doing on a Palm.

          Ergonomica Auctorita Illico
          • Trolltech in no way did any of their homework regarding PDA UI design

            Oh, I could believe they did a little, but not enough of it. They also didn't do much of their homework on PDA API design- Qt/Embedded and the Qtopia libraries fall short for creating stylus-driven apps. For most apps what they've provided is passable, but they really have nothing in there for others. I mostly am referring to events, getting input, etc. For instance, someone wanted to write a package to allow people to do full screen
            • You also run into the problem that Sharp's hardware is half-assed in it's design. Powerful, I'll give it that, but incredibly half-assed. My 5500, which I purchased back in my "I'll give linux a second chance even after I was dumb enough to buy an agenda" phase, has the power button on the outside of the PDA, unprotected by anything. More than once I've pulled my zaurus out of my pocket only to find it's already turned on. You would have thought that at least one engineer at Sharp would have momentarily con
              • Like you said, the Zaurus hardware may be powerful, but it doesn't go beyond anything you can get in the world of WinCE/PPC or Palm hardware. These days, everyone has a device with a 400 MHz XScale or something very close. The Zaurus models all have a 100 MHz bus, which is still faster than most in the PPC/PalmOS world, but it's not like you really get to take advantage of this- it's a required part of the design to get the Zaurus apps to launch in under 30 seconds. Most apps take 2-7 seconds on my highest
          • The linux zealots constantly inflate the miserable usability that most linux things currently have

            usability is a myth. it varies from one person to the next greatly. for some people that term means "purtty" for others it means "bloat" or "features" yet for others it means "it just works".

            you attaching the tag zealots to something proves the point that you know little-to-nothing about which you speak. the zaurus was never marketed to "average joe user guy". as such it shouldnt be compared to things
        • If you never go beyond the standard package, exactly what makes using the zaurus more complex? I mean how much more difficult is taping on the "Notepad" icon on the Z any more difficult then tapping on the "Memo" icon from the Palm? The only real differnce in usability for basic functions is you have to choose a input method at the bottom of the screen. Instead of just defaulting HWR I have to choose between HWR, a onscreen keyboard, or the thumbboard.
    • I have an SL-5500, I use it all the time.

      I admit the fact that it does need some work and some feature changes which I beleive they adressed with the SL-5600.

      The distro they use on those is rather out of date. I installed openzaurus on it, works about 10x better. There's a few bugs, overall I like it and wouldn't trade it for a windows based handheld.
    • I'm not much of PDA guy, but I bring a 5500 to work and use it to back up my Contacts and Calendar from the Exchange server daily. The QTopia apps work well enough. Keychain holds my passwords and logins in Blowfish safety. Never had a problem with the Hancom Office apps. Battery life in normal sleep mode is pretty good, it goes days without charging. Samba and NFS work perfectly. If my cell phone (Nokia) were data-capable the Zaurus could talk to it IR and use it as a modem. Moving contacts to and from the

    • I do. (Score:5, Informative)

      by oGMo ( 379 ) on Saturday October 25, 2003 @05:11PM (#7309801)
      Does anyone own a Zaurus? How useful are they really?

      I own a Zaurus SL-5500: the "original" US market unit (as opposed to the original developer's unit, the SL-5000, which was basically the same thing with half the RAM). I'll say this: you can have it... when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers.

      Two reasons it rocks:

      • The keyboard. The primary reason this is 10x more efficient than (most) palm devices: I can type very quickly on the build-in "hidden" keyboard. Yes, the Zaurus has something like PalmOS's Graffiti. In fact, the Z's recognizer is more sophisticated and accurate, and can learn any strokes you teach it. I still use the keyboard.
      • Linux. No, I do not use my Z as a "hacking tool" or "geek toy" primarily. I've written a test app for it or so, but that's it. (Doing so is incredibly easy, actually, but I haven't had a lot of time to spend on it.) I bought my Zaurus as a PDA, and that's what I use it for. Since I use Linux exclusively on the desktop, having it on the PDA is extremely natural, not to mention making things extremely flexible. I find syncing silly. I prefer ssh, scp, or (with the newer ROM) smbclient (which is like a braindead ftp, but it works). If I needed syncing, I would use rsync. It just fits very naturally into my work environment.

      Some people complain about the PIM apps; the quality varies. The Todo List and Address Book aren't great, but I don't use the former and the latter is sufficient. The Text Pad, however, is pretty handy, and Opera (which even renders slashdot well!) and Hancomsheet (a fully-blown spreadsheet!) are killer apps for me.

      The only reason I don't upgrade to a CL-760 is the fact I can't justify the cost: my Z works great as-is. With the work on OpenZaurus [sf.net] and Opie [handhelds.org], the PIM issues are being solved, and I have little chance of being left with a "dead" platform.

    • I have a 5500. It's a neat little toy but now currently useless.
    • The hardware is quite nice, the software is damned near unusable for day to day PDA features.

    • Re:I've never owned a PDA (Score:4, Informative)

      by swv3752 ( 187722 ) <swv3752@hotm[ ].com ['ail' in gap]> on Saturday October 25, 2003 @05:31PM (#7309899) Homepage Journal
      I have a SL-5500 for about two months. I also have but no longer use a VR3 [softfield.com]. I also am a technical support rep for one of the major Palm OS pda manufacturers.

      The Zaurus is great. It is reasonably fast. I run the majority of the Apps off the SD card, so that slows things do a bit. If you make use the ram drive, as it is setup in the default Sharp ROM, it is very fast to run off the ram drive.

      There is a fair amount of software and one can also make use of Java apps. Besides the PIM apps, I primarily use it as an ebook read and a check book. For those that are interested The Kompany [thekompany.com] makes several apps for the zaurus including Kapital, a Quicken like program. the Zaurus Software Index [killefiz.de] should give a good idea of what is available.

      The screen is a reflective tft so it is fully usable in Bright light including sunlight. The battery will last a couple of days with normal use, much like any pocket PC device. There is also a NiCAD backup battery, though you will need to suspend the device before you lose total battery. If you do not save to the Ram drive, then everything will be restore if you lose all power as it will be saved to either internal flash, SD, of CF.

      The buttons are reconfigurable, and if held for a sec or two have another function. I have sucessfully beamed between a VR3, PEGSJ20, Visor, Ipaq, and a Palm V. I have synced on both Win2k and Mandrake Linux 9.1-9.2.

      Oh and the media player works nicely. The sound through the headphones is great. The built in speaker is a crappy piezo though. I personally prefer using the embedded XMMS, but there are several options.
      • I primarily use it as an ebook read and a check book

        What software do you use to read ebooks? I tried using the kpdf port, but it would take several minutes to load a page with a large file.

        • Opie-reader [uklinux.net]

          Most of the books I have been reading were from Baen Books. [baen.com] BTW, if you haven't already, you should really give a try. [opnzaurus.org]
        • While you didn't ask me, allow me to put my vote in for JustReader+. Works great. Neither it nor any of the other ebook readers do PDFs, just the Qpdf app. There is a newer version called Qpdf that isn't the easiest to find, but it's a lot better tan Qpdf 1.x. Although, I definately would not use it for read ebooks, the PDF reader sucks too much for that. I would look into converting it to HTML or TXT and reading it in an app like opie-reader or JustReader.
    • Does anyone own a Zaurus? How useful are they really?

      I have an SL-5500 and I don't find it too useful as-is.

      All the stylus-based input methods suck. The region-based letter recognizer is unusable compared to Graffiti. It will also go to the Unicode input table when you hit some key combination, which is very annoying as you can't do anything with that and you have to reset it back to another input method. The upside is that you can write your own input system. I downloaded a version of QwikScrip

    • Does anyone own a Zaurus? How useful are they really?

      I own a 5500 and I couldn't live without it! As a PDA it's so-so and the battery life is nothing to write home about, but the other features are what make it so great. Being able to ssh into my Linux box at work while in a meeting to do actual work takes the cake. As someone metioned above, the Opera browser is very very nice. The fact that it has both a CF and an SD/MMC slot means no losing my MP3s while on the network; I can put them on the SD an
    • I've had two Zaurus models, the SL-5500 and the new and flashy SL-C760. Both have been very disapointing, mostly from the standpoint of software, although the SL-5500 had a lot of problems in the way of hardware.

      The SL-5500's hardware was pretty mediocre. It was a good deal when I got it, as it was less than $200. The worst part was the screen, very very dim and not sharp. Worst screen on a PDA in its class (320x240 color). And it's not like Sharp doesn't make good screens- the screen in the Dell Axim
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Already getting slow (Score:4, Interesting)

    by holygoat ( 564732 ) on Saturday October 25, 2003 @04:33PM (#7309605)
    Wow, and there's only one comment!

    I'll be very interested (as a former Zaurus user) to see how this competes against the Axims of this world. It's amazing how prices have fallen since I got my iPAQ 3630 - you can now get a WiFi-enabled Axim for less than $200 (equivalent prices here). That's crazy!

    PocketPCs (largely because of Dell) are swamping the markets at several price points. It will take a very competitive pricing strategy to compete.

    I want one.
    • You know, I was a little surprised to hear this, so I checked Dell's website. The cheapest unit they have is $230, it has a 300 mhz Xscale and only 32 megs of ram, with NO wifi.

      Not bad, I have an old Casio E125 with a 150mhz MIPS and 32 megs of ram.. I get by.

      They have a model with wifi that is the same for $266. If you want the "standard" configuartion today, 400 mhz Xscale and 64 megs of ram plus wifi, it costs $340. Still a good price.

      It isn't $200, but other manufacturers were trying to keep the pri
      • Unfortunately, infoSyncWorld [infosyncworld.com] is down for maintenance at the moment, so I can't check up. I'm sure they've just launched a new range - I thought that it was that low, but I may be wrong.

        Brighthand [brighthand.com] have this interesting snippet about how the Axim X5 (one of the earlier models) affected the industry:
        The Axim X5 Basic offered what had previously been considered high-end features but for an entry-level price, only $200 after a rebate. This put tremendous price pressure on the competition and we're still fee
    • Just a guess, but based on current prices of the Zaurus line, I imagine it will not be anywhere remotely the price of an Axim. I'm guessing $500 MSRP on release. That's what they're expecting for the SL-5600 (a piece of crapola) right now. I can see them shooting for something lower, but I'd say there's pretty much zero change it'd be below $400.
  • Three comments and it's been slashbombed.

    And then Slashdot itself showed a 500 Server Error. Been seeing a few of these in the last weeks. Someone been playing with the system, I guess.

    Anyhow, a mirror - with pictures - would be nice.
  • It doesn't seem to work. I get some joy using IE, but that's a real step back in my view.

    It still doesn't layout correctly though! The page text comes below the sidebars.

    Tip: if it's not working in Safari, bite the bullet and try IE.

    (no, I'm not going to put Mozilla on my iBook.)

    (their MySQL DB is freaking out now... good old Slashdot.)
  • (This is the Zaurus User's Group's terms of service)...

    Article 12b. Anyone caught posting a link to our server to the GODDAMN FRONT PAGE of Slashdot will be kidnapped at midnight by large man in grey jackets and locked in a cellar where he will be forced to listen to Bill Gates reading the entire contents of MSDN at maximum volume.

  • Well, that's just fantastic, I'm geting things delivered so I can run openzaurus on my pda and you slashdot the damn user group *cusses and walks off*

    If in doubt, don't... espically when writing a sig.

  • Pictures (Score:5, Informative)

    by breman ( 683776 ) on Saturday October 25, 2003 @04:50PM (#7309701)

    Zaurus SL-6000 [members.shaw.ca]

  • uh...web site problems... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Tumbleweed ( 3706 ) on Saturday October 25, 2003 @05:01PM (#7309756)
    So is their website *hosted* on a Zaurus? Sad.
  • Hey, I have to run windows to use their sync software. F this crap!
  • There is no final word in the boutique PDA market until you see one for sale. Whether or not it *will* be available in the US is a complete unknown, and I don't care what some V.P. of Product Development for the Left Side of the Western Hemisphere (on Tuesdays and Thursdays) says about it.
  • I've been drooling over the Zaurus SL series since I saw it a while back. They have a lot of neat features, but the one thing that I wonder about is the software availability. I know there is a good amount of software available for it, but nothing like there is for the Palm or PocketPC based PDAs. With PDA's getting so fast (I think the SL-5600 had a 400 mHz processor) and the fact that a PDA OS can't be as complicated as one for the PC, what would be the feasability of creating something like WINE for P
    • There are already a multitude of emulators for the Zaurus line of PDA's. From SNES, Gameboy Advanced, and yes, even a Palm OS emulator. Most anything for linux can be ported to the Zaurus. It is just a matter of recompiling it for the architecture. There is more you have to do depending on the program. But people have made konqueror and Mplayer work on the Zaurus.
    • The Zaurus runs the Linux kernel, but it uses a proprietary window system (TrollTech's Qtopia, vaguely like Qt). That means most Linux GUI development tools and applications won't work on it and you have to pay big bucks to TrollTech if you want to develop anything commercial.

      As for running Palm applications, sure, the Palm emulator for Linux should run just fine on those things (in fact, I think it has been ported).
        • That software is software you install by blowing away what the Zaurus ships with. So, no, the Zaurus doesn't "use" that software, but it can be put on there by someone sufficiently dedicated. But, then, you can do the same with a dozen or so PocketPC handhelds.

      • TrollTech's Qtopia, vaguely like Qt

        Actually, from what I've read, it's extremely similar to Qt. I've not actually programmed it yet, though, so I am basing this on what I've read.

        That means most Linux GUI development tools and applications won't work on it and you have to pay big bucks to TrollTech if you want to develop anything commercial.

        If you aim to develop a GUI app, and it's not already written in Qt, then yes, you'll likely have a big rewrite in front of you. If it's in Qt, it'll likely be a

        • If you aim to develop a GUI app, and it's not already written in Qt, then yes, you'll likely have a big rewrite in front of you. If it's in Qt, it'll likely be an easier change.

          That's only a small part of the problem. A bigger part is that I can't even use the development tools I use for everything else.

          Note that the Z also comes with Jeode, a Java VM, so it can run mobile Java apps. A definite plus.

          Java is also proprietary and also is compatible with nothing else, so that puts you in the same boat a

  • Google cache? (Score:2, Informative)

    by BigFootApe ( 264256 )
    Would be helpful, as others have noticed.

    Here's [bargainpda.com] a related article that gives a little more information while we wait.

  • PDA's are a dead end (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Cthefuture ( 665326 ) on Saturday October 25, 2003 @05:39PM (#7309941)
    Don't get me wrong, they are still selling OK (mostly because they're so cheap now). However, I predict PDA usage will die off over the next few years.

    They are too bulky, fragile, and often lack functionality (eg. phone). Modern cell phones are much better suited to the role of a PDA. Most are fairly small, very rugged, and you need your phone anyway, perfect match.

    I have actually been looking for a PDA watch. Although I won't wear it, but I'll take the band off and keep it in my pocket. This what I really want:

    - Something very rugged (like a watch)

    - Very small (like 1" across; like a watch). Something I can put in my pocket and not notice it's there.

    - Standard PIM applications (including an encrypted password/PIN database)

    - Cheap so if I lose it I don't care

    Hmmmm... A watch without the band is almost right but often the device is curved and lacks functionality.

    Hell, I have a 3 MB smartcard sitting in front of me right now (note the chip is about 1mm thick and 5mm across; small!), you'd think they could make a really tiny PDA using the same technology.

  • this is not a pda (Score:4, Insightful)

    by aber ( 141743 ) on Saturday October 25, 2003 @05:59PM (#7310089)
    I think people that compare the Zaurus to the Palm or other PDAs are missing the point. The Zaurus is more of a mini computer than a "digital assistant" (even if Sharp insists in marketing it as a PDA). I say that as an engineer: I would look at the Zaurus to replace my HP48G, not to replace my palm pilot (which has been replaced by my cell phone a long time ago). PDAs like the palm are on their way to extinction, there's nothing they can do a good phone won't do better.

    From that perspective, the Zaurus doesn't even have to be too small, I won't carry it around everywhere, just to work or meetings or things like that. It's much more convenient than a laptop, and this model (if it ever really comes out) actually has good connectivity.
    • I'll never buy this argument.

      A device that's a comfortable phone will have a tiny screen that's useless for checking a calendar, etc. It will also hav extremely limited input options.

      A device that's comfortable as a PDA is too large and poorly shaped to be a comfortable phone.

      It's a pain to some extent, but the alternatives are more painful.
    • > which has been replaced by my cell phone a long time ago)

      I am very curious, what is your cell phone?

      Pardonne.
  • Since the site is ./ed for good, can someone tell me what's the actual resolution of that thing? Zaurus are very nice, but since they are high-priced I'd like to see them come with 480x320 like Clie's and T|T3 (ok, I know there is a 640x480 model)
  • no sure if i like these keypads ... i recently spent a week with a palm t|c and found the keypad to be nice. but the graffiti2 to be much improved over the the old version.

    that unit is very nice so fast and the tran-whatever screen was very nice. i would love to get rid of the keypad and reposition the buttons and a better joystick thing i would own one.

    previous to that i had a hp5555 and the import for that was horrible one wrong stroke and the recognition thinks you want a yen symbol? it was very unusab
  • My real goal right now is to purchase a C760 [the-gadgeteer.com]...

    IMO this is the Porsche of Linux PDAs.

    The form factor of this is very unique in the PDA space.

    My NewsMonster [newsmonster.org] RSS aggregator already runs on my SL-5500 and the enhanced res and size of the C760 should really make for a great newspaper/memex style device.

    NewsMonster supports the ability to export an article for PDA readability and strips out all non-format compliant content (no tables, images, etc.) All you're left with is just the raw article.

    This would be
  • sorry about that.. damn hosting provider shut down my account because of all the extra traffic! lol enjoy the pics
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • I've just spent two days perusing PDAreviewSpot.com [pdareviewspot.com] and PDAbuyersGuide.com [pdabuyersguide.com], looking at what is out there. I've got my own SL-5500, but i felt like a new toy.

    The things that a "killer" features for PDA's (by my standard) are:

    • Useable keyboard: Ok, this is more approaching a palmtop, but it's a nice feature.
    • Minimum bluetooth connectivity
    • Wifi (or ability to use expansion slot for wifi).
    • Linux/Mac connectivity

    I just discovered the ultra-spiffy Sony Clie UX-50 [pdabuyersguide.com]. This little baby just appeared here in Aust

  • USB! wow, that is really impressive. I tried to get a PCMCIA to CF adapter with a USB to work in a SL-5500, but it didn't recognize. Maybe USB hotplugging wasn't initiated.

    Anyway, this device looks real nice. I'll get one when slashdot posts the reduced prices on HSN.com.
  • A single picture of this came up on one of the zaurus mailing lists about a month ago. Everyone dismissed it as a hoax. It appears now that this is a real prototype.

  • Keyboard - Show me a pocket PC with a built-in keyboard at $250 [amazon.com] and I'll be happy to take a look.

    Multi-tasking - I've been forced to use my Treo 90 for the past few weeks. While it's a sweet little machine single tasking SUCKS ASS!!!

    Software availabillity - In the time since this thing has come out there has been a hell of a lot of software become available for it. Much of it is as good as any Palm/Pocket PC apps but FREEEEEEE!!!!!

    Expandability - I bought a .25 GB CF card for $40 the other day turnin

  • Here are my minimum requirements for a PDA - it's gotta look cool and it's gotta be easy to to add an address book entry when under the influence.

    Here's why - imagine you're out on the town and you meet some pretty young thing. Things are going well so you whip out your Ugly-Ass-PDA with its Retard-O handwriting recognition and ask her name and number. If your potential Mrs. Geek doesn't walk away at the sight of your Dork-O PDA, then between your impaired motor function and weak handwriting recognition y

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