Re: Anyone got a Sharp Zaurus PDA ??

["Dean Barrett" <dean@xxxxxxx>]

Thanks for the info everyone, i'm in two minds now...

I've got an iPAQ H3630 at the moment and would like something other than
PocketPC. previously had a PalmPilot and a Handspring. So i thinks it a no
to the Dell.

Most people already seem to have discontinued the Zaurus, there's a few on
eBay though i'd have prefered to buy new at that price.

Once i've added a WiFi card its looking nearer £300, though open source
appeals to me, which is why i like the Slimp so much.

For £340 i can get the new Palm Tungsten C with inbuilt WiFi and little
keyboard, plus it has a bigger 320x320 screen, and i guess its going to
have
more support and longer lifespan.

Choices, choices...

I know there's a couple of guys on the Slimp list working on a suitable PDA
skin for the web  interface - so which ever it is it'll look great.



Dean.





-----Original Message-----
From: patricklidstone [mailto:patrick@xxxxxxx]
Sent: 26 April 2003 10:26
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Subject: [ukha_d] Re: Anyone got a Sharp Zaurus PDA ??


>   Looking for a low cost WiFi Web access machine for my Slimp.
>
>   The Sharp PDA comes in around £200 + the WiFi card, so works out
at a good
>   price.

The Zaurus absolutely is terrific - and fantastic value following the
recent price drop. It includes a "real" web browser (Opera) which
copes with the Slim server admirably - *much* better than Pocket IE
explorer. A third party app does screen rotation from portrait to
landscape. I have a linksys compact flash 802.11b card which works
fine. It is smaller and lighter than most iPaqs (with the exception
of the latest just-released HP model). The screen is front-lit like
most PocketPc devices - but suffers from a slight shadow in
comparison with the world-beating iPaq displays. I haven't seen a
Dell display yet, so I can't comment on that.

PIM apps are not (IMO) as bad as reviews would have you believe, and
if you're looking for e-mail on the move, it's fantastic - the e-mail
client knocks the PocketPC into a cocked hat - especially with the
slide down thumb-board. Syncing with Outlook works fine, whilst
syncing with the sharp supplied desktop app is a bit hit and miss.
Both hardware & software is rock steady - no reboots/resets required.

Battery life - about 1.5hrs on full pelt continuous use - ie. about a
week of casual PDA use between charges. You can use it whilst it is
charging, it charges in 2 hrs.

Good remote connectivity support via IrDA. Bluetooth (via a CF card)
is a bit hit and miss and very card-vendor specific. Not for the
faint hearted.

Has both SD and CF slots so you can listen to MP3s and use the CF
card for real world connectivity concurrently.

Those with geeky inclinations can also get a kick out of running
mysql, apache and php on the local device! There is a vast array of
third party apps and there is an active developer community.

Summary: highly recommended, even in the subjective PDA world. I
can't understand why the Z. hasn't taken the world by storm, it is
that good.

PS. Getting WiFi working is not as straightforward as it should be. I
strongly recommend getting a known-brand, known-to-work card such as
the Linksys.

Patrick



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