Handhelds/PDAs - Palm vs Zaurus vs others - Opinions?
Experiences?
mike miller
k4ghp at comcast.net
Wed Mar 21 22:08:18 EDT 2007
When my aging Handspring Visor disappeared down a well about 18mo ago I had
to find a replacement. I had already decided that I didn't want a combined
phone/pda. The Dell Axim looked pretty good at the time so I spent the
bucks and got it. It did all kinds of neat stuff that I couldn't do on my
old pda BUT with windows mobile 5 it took a couple of minutes to boot if you
shut it off and ate batteries if you put it on standby plus some of the
software that I had didn't work on WM5 and the developers had no plan to
adapt it. The Axim has now been lying on my desk for over a year, buried
under a pile of junk and I carry a Palm Tungsten E that I bought at Sams for
$67. It does the basics just fine and if I want to listen to MP3 files I
just plug in headphones and an SD card.
Mike Miller
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ben Scott" <dragonhawk at gmail.com>
To: "Greater NH Linux User Group" <gnhlug-discuss at mail.gnhlug.org>
Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2007 4:11 PM
Subject: Handhelds/PDAs - Palm vs Zaurus vs others - Opinions? Experiences?
> Hello, world!
>
> So, I'm thinking about getting a new handheld computer (AKA PDA),
> before the one I have now finishes crumbling into dust. (For purposes
> of this discussion, let's assume my handheld and my mobile phone will
> be two different devices.) I'd like to hear people's opinions and
> experiences on brands, models, etc.
>
> I've been a Palm user since forever. I used to be a big fan of
> Palm. But the limitations of the Palm OS are getting rather old,
> development has stagnated, and Palm Inc has decided to go swimming
> with a ball-and-chain named "Windows Mobile". So I'm thinking it may
> be time to get off this ship.
>
> I'm especially interested in the Sharp Zaurus. I understand that,
> while it's nominally not sold in the US, it's pretty easy to find
> vendors importing it, and that the manufacturer support picture is
> pretty good (for the immediate future, anyway).
>
> One thing I want from a handheld is that it has to be a good PIM
> first -- good calendar, contact, task list, and notepad functionality.
> Not Emacs, but something easily usable with one hand while I've got
> my head stuck inside a computer cabinet. This is one thing the Palm
> always did *very* well. What about the Zaurus?
>
> My handwriting sucks. I've managed to train myself to Graffiti, but
> that's about it. If all the
> Zauruses... Zauri... Zaurus models have built-in keyboards, I guess
> that's moot. Right?
>
> The Zaurus runs Linux, which is uber-cool, especially for more
> sophisticated things. Can anyone comment on how Linux software
> translates to the Zaurus platform? Is it just a recompile, or is it
> mostly incompatible? Does it use X for graphics, or something else?
>
> What about sync'ing with a desktop Linux PC? I ass-ume, since it
> runs Linux, that basic interoperability is a no-brainer. Is there
> anything like jpilot for the Zaurus?
>
> Any other handhelds people like these days?
>
> Comments, suggestions, flames, dopeslaps, etc., welcome.
>
> --
> "One day I feel I'm ahead of the wheel / And the next it's rolling over
> me"
> -- Rush, "Far Cry"
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