Zaurus SL 5600 It may be heresy but...

[Stephen Beesley]

Boy do I wish there was a Pocket PC that looked like this!


http://www.infosync.no/news/2002/11/12/gfx/zaurus_sl5600_01.jpg

I have just been reading the review of Sharps Zaurus SL 5600 over at http://www.bargainpda.com/reviews/sharp_zaurus_sl_5600.html and I have to say that I am pretty damn impressed! I am leaning toward a Toshiba e 750 as the eventual replacement for my trusty HP 568, but I would love to have some hands on time with one of these. I know pretty much nothing about Linux but I could be tempted.... :devilboy:

Goldtee

[Crystal Eitle]

That is a neat form factor. I like the recessed keyboard.

Is there a jog wheel?

[Stephen Beesley]

That is a neat form factor. I like the recessed keyboard.

Is there a jog wheel?

Unfortunately not - but one thing that I do like about it is that it has protected flash memory (something I remember fondly from my Newton days :D.

IN A FEW notable ways, the Zaurus SL-5600 betters its main rivals. It has protected flash memory, which means data files and programs don't die when your battery does. (I consistently suffer this setback with Pocket PCs.) The Zaurus provides a nicely hidden QWERTY keyboard. And thumbing out an e-mail doesn't disable the touch screen; you can type and still use the stylus.



Goldtee

[rhmorrison]

I am leaning toward a Toshiba e 750 as the eventual replacement for my trusty HP 568, but...WHY? What is wrong with your hp Jornada 568?

[Stephen Beesley]

WHY? What is wrong with your hp Jornada 568?

I guess the honest answer to that is nothing but I feel the urge for the latest greatest technology coming upon me again :evil:

That said I have no real plans to replace the Jornada at the moment. I suspect that it will be another six months or so before I seriously start looking around.

Goldtee

[FredMurphy]

I does seem that the most interesting form factors aren't Pocket PCs. It's be great to see what Sony could do...

[Stephen Beesley]

Ohh yeah and did I mention that it has a screen cover :D

Goldtee

[Jimmy Dodd]

I don't know exactly what the difference between the SL-5500 and the SL-5600 are, but I have seen the SL-5500 as cheap as $240 at a local Office Depot (on close out, just this past Saturday). At $240 you might be able to take a chance on one without risking too much $$$. I know the form factor is pretty much the same.

[Stephen Beesley]

Hmmmmm finally got to see one in action (only briefly) but I liked what I saw.

Damn I hate decisions...

Fortunately it is going to be at least six months before I can realisticaly think of upgrading my PDA. Maybe by then there will be a killer PPC on the market - the cost of a second hand SL 5600 will have come down enough for it to make a nice Christmas present to myself!

Goldtee

[Ratel10mm]

The latest Zaurus series look even better - but sadly they aren't really pocketable - one of the deal breakers for me. Take a look here http://www.dynamism.com/zaurus7xx/index.shtml
for the details.

Personally, I would be very interested in a SL5600 form factor with the same internal spec as the SL-C760, a CF slot, and a SDIO slot (thumbwheel as well, of course), as long as I could get it to work with Windows 2000 without having loads of conduits cluttering up my PC a la Palm (possibly my main reason for not sticking with Palm) Has anyone connected a Zaurus to Windows? How does it work?

[Stephen Beesley]

Yep this would definately be my dream form factor for a PDA (if you discount the interesting Ipaq design mock up discussed here: http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=11345&highlight=

Ahhh if only....

For me pocketabliity is not such an issue - I have big pockets and, after all, I used to carry a Newton Mp2k around everywhere with me :D.

Still I think I would prefer it if some OEM would come up with something like this with PPC 2003 on it.

Goldtee