[ale] Sharp Zaurus SL-5500

[Dow Hurst]

Don't get the 5500, go for the C860 or newer.  The Sharp OS, Linux 
based, has Outlook integration with XP but flashing the Zaurus to OZ 
requires jumping thru hoops.  Not sure if it works well either.  The 
Linux integration is good thru Multisync.  Battery life is good on the 
5600 but the C860 is just as good.  The 5500 had poor battery life.  The 
C860 has a large battery and with a good wifi signal, I've used my C860 
for three hours continuously before and still hadn't lost battery 
power.  Web browsing is fine with Opera under the Sharp OS.  Getting 
Opera to work under OZ is not as easy but is possible.  Konqueror is 
dead for embedded devices and works just okay.  Tends to crash on 
complex non standard websites.  The geek quotient is very high for the 
Zaurus.  OZ and OpenEmbedded need developers to speed up maintenance of 
the thousands of packages available.  You have alot to choose from with 
a Zaurus for software to use and projects to work on.  Don't bother with 
the 5500 as the  SD card driver is closed source and will never be 
updated so is only available under the Sharp OS.  The Sharp kernel is so 
mangled that it wasn't acceptable to the kernel maintainers.  The 
OpenZaurus project has been dedicated to rebuilding from scratch the 
kernel patches and all the applications for the Zaurus.  OZ now has the 
latest kernel available for the Cx series plus thousands of packages in 
the OE based repository.  Many of the kernel patches are in mainline 
now.  The 5600 may get the new kernel by the fall of this year but John 
Lenz, the kernel developer, is the only guy working on that hardware and 
he has a busy schedule as a student.  The newer models such as C1000 and 
C3000 have some support but are in early stages of being hacked.  The 
SL6000 has pretty good support like the C700, C760, and C860.
Dow


Grant Robertson wrote:

>I know there are a few Zaurus users on the list. I'm thinking about
>buying one, and I'm wondering what the concensus is on its usability.
>
>Specificly...
>
>Is anyone using the Zaurus with a CF WiFi card?
>
>How is basic web browsing?
>
>How is integration with outlook?
>
>How is battery life? (with or without the Wifi card, and an SD card installed?)
>
>How hackable is it? (geek quotient)
>
>Any opinions are appreciated. I've not touched one, I've only seen pictures. 
>
>-G
>
>PS. If anyone is interested in the same, Geeks.com has them for around
>170 with shipping included.
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