I recently purchased a Zaurus for $199 from TigerDirect. I also purchased a SMC EZ Connect CompactFlash Wireless 802.11b card so I could jump on my wireless home network from the PDA.
The Zaurus is pretty impressive. The reason I chose the Zaurus is because it runs Linux which is my operating system of choice, so I knew I’d be in more familiar terrority and have better luck hacking the device.
There are hundreds of reviews of the Zaurus you can google for, so I’ll spare you the usual stuff, mostly. I’ll just say that my favourite features are the pullout keyboard, the two expansion slots (SD and CompactFlash), and the fact that it runs Linux. On the one hand, there are more applications out there for the PalmOS and WinCE devices, but on the other hand the apps I’m familiar with are more readily available and I’ll have an easier time hacking and writing my own apps in Linux than PalmOS.
As for downsides to the Zaurus, I’d say the biggest are the poor support for syncing with Linux desktops right now. It’s currently much more difficult than it needs to be. Hopefully I can get a more elegant solution working than what is currently offered for syncing with Evolution, for example. Another minus is the relatively short battery life, particularly when using the wireless network card. But I can easily overlook and get around these relatively minor shortcomings.
Someone is already working on Mono packages for the Zaurus so hopefully I’ll be able to run my .NET/Gtk# apps on my PDA soon. The feed is currently available here
And now for the obligatory screenshots:
Chatting on IRC
Browsing the web
Browsing using a smaller font
Browsing using AvantGo
Installing apps via an internet feed
Adding a new feed
Ah, I feel so at home on the command-line
Listening to an mp3 using xmms
Playing Froot, an addictive little game
Playing chess
Playing a classic arcade game
That’s it for now…
Tags: Zaurus
