04-06-2004, 04:00 PM
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Swami
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 4,303
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Zaurus SL-6000 Linux Wi-Fi PDA Released in US
We previously posted about the Zaurus SL-6000 Linix based PDA last October. Well, the Register reports that it�s now been launched, or at least it has in the US (there are no current plans for a European Launch). The unit features an integrated slide-out QWERTY keyboard and comes in a "stylish yet durable" rugged case, apparently designed to survive a drop from up to a meter above the ground. Which is just as well, as that is *exactly* what I generally tend to do to Linux PDAs. :wink: As well as that, �The new - well, four-month-old - model contains a 400MHz Intel XScale CPU backed by 64MB of SDRAM and 64MB of Flash ROM, but Sharp is particularly proud of the PDA's 4in 480 x 640 colour display.� Well they would be, wouldn�t they!
Slide away!
The Sharp Press release says: �The SL-6000 makes Web page and spreadsheet viewing easier by switching from portrait to �VGA landscape� view at the touch of a button. It has a crystal clear, four-inch, transflective, high-density TFT LCD screen. This larger CG Silicon VGA display with 640 x 480 resolution shows up to four times the information than the average handheld product with a 320 x 240 resolution can display.� Fancy that. VGA is four times as much as Quarter VGA you say? Whatever will they think of next? :razzing:
�The SL-6000 also features integrated 802.11b wireless networking. Expansion comes courtesy of CompactFlash and SD Card slots, and Sharp said it will offer a cellular data card for the unit. However, the unit lacks Bluetooth support, unlike its Japanese counterpart.� So all in all, it�s quite a well packed unit. It�s good that there are decent, well specified non-PPC PDAs coming on the market. It should keep Dell, HP, Asus, Toshiba etc on their toes with their new PPC designs. Competition � don�t you just love it. 8)
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04-06-2004, 04:11 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 276
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Give me this device with PPC OS on it for $400 and I'd be a happy guy 
If it came in at $400 I'd seriously consider dropping PPC. $700 is way too much...
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04-06-2004, 04:13 PM
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Thoughts Media Review Team
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 1,004
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Now now Jonathon - put those claws away
I really liked the form factor of the earlier Zaurus SL5xxx series PDA and this one also seems to have a lot going for it. It is hard to tell from photos, but I do not think that the keyboard looks as usable as the one on the earlier Zaurus PDAs, but it is still a very innovative design and one that I just wish one of the Pocket PC OEMs would emulate. A four inch VGA screen in what looks like a more tidy package than the Toshiba e800s has to be applauded.
All that said there is still one thing that continues to stop me jumping ship to either the Zaurus or any of the latest Palm devices and that is the lack of what I consider "real" handwriting recognition. I want to be able to write anywhere on the screen using normal characters and at the moment Transcriber/Calligrapher is just about the only thing that will allow me to do that.
__________________
...waiting for the arrival of my Axim x50v...But I still love my Newtons!
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04-06-2004, 04:27 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 182
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I think the keyboard is as good or better than the Treo 600 or HP 4xxx keyboards. If you are comfortable with Linux this is really nice. 8)
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04-06-2004, 04:31 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 713
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by uMP2k
A four inch VGA screen in what looks like a more tidy package than the Toshiba e800s has to be applauded.
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I'm not sure if by tidy you mean small, but this thing is much bigger than the e800. An inch longer (6.3" vs. 5.3" for the e800) and slightly wider and thicker. I thought the e800 was huge - this thing must be enormous. I hope those are the specs with the keyboard extended!
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04-06-2004, 04:50 PM
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Oracle
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 974
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$700!?!?
:roll:
Just goes to *prove* the claim that buy using an open OS - like Linux - you will be able to save tons of money on a full featured, less costly PDA.
*cough* *bulls$%t* *cough*
:lol:
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04-06-2004, 04:55 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 118
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It appears that this device is only going to be offered to businesses. I am still the satisfied owner of a Sharp ZR-3500x which I purchased refurbed in 1998. At that time I think it had been discontinued. I still keep it charged up to use as a backup should my Toshiba e-740 finally fail me (and I'm sure it will, just as soon as my extended warranty runs out) 
The 3500-x came with embedded access to Classic Compuserve and works very nicely. It is not too much larger than the SL-6000 (6.25 x3.5 x.9). Only phone access, of course.
Brad
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04-06-2004, 04:56 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 173
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I like it but for now I'll just sick with my Linux powered iPAQ 3835! :wink:
__________________
Regards,
Qman...
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04-06-2004, 04:57 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 182
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That darn econ
It also goes to show that lower volume in a smaller market, in general econs of skale, makes a difference too :!:
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04-06-2004, 05:09 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 302
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Kind of long but I really like the integrated keyboard design. Wish more manufacturers would do that. My handwriting stinks.
Oh and $700 is too much.
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Linear Mode
