On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

Hmmm!! Sharp Zaurus! Good pick ArchiMark. I'll search for those on eBay and post anything interesting I find. I'm liking this game

Always glad to try and be of help around here....

FYI, if you want to find good source of all things Zaurus, well at least the Linux based models.....go to OESF.org forums. There's a ton of info there for all the models, ROMs, etc...as well as some helpful and knowledgeable folks there.

https://www.oesf.org/forum/index.php

Both the Synergy OS of the original Zaurus and the Linux versions of its successor are a ton of fun to play with. Though the Linux Z can do amazing things, its screen size ultimately, IMO, makes real work difficult to do. The screen is TFT, nice and crisp, but every time I think I'm going to settle down and get something done, I don't; it just can't hold enough readable text.

Mark's ZR-5800 is a larger device, a muddier screen perhaps, but I used to compose docs and email even on the smaller ZR-3500x.

Jake

Agree with all of your points, Jake.....

Overall, the ZR display looks pretty sharp overall as compared to the HP200LX display, which to my old eyes was a bit muddy in certain types of light....which is main reason that (sadly...) I parted with my 200LX.

I would say that the type of lighting in the room does impact how these type of monochrome displays appears. In certain lighting conditions, mostly dimmer light, they are harder to read than more modern color displays that we are more used to now.

[CLARIFICATION] Just checked display, and I find that visual clarity of display depends a lot upon the angle I tilt the display at. If I tilt it back at about a 40 degrees angle (up from the desktop surface) I find the display to be very clear, sharp, and easy to read. If I tilt it up to be almost vertical, then it looks dim to my eyes.







Edited by ArchiMark 2022-11-22 11:22 PM

Hey guys, thank you so much for all your tips and advices. It was fun! I ended up deciding what to get and bought an Omnibook! I had my mind focused on the broken 300 and forgot that there are other interesting Omnibook models as well. Indeed I really wanted a monochrome 386 that can run on AA batteries, but the only Omnibook 300 listed on eBay is broken and it is hard to tell if it is fixable or not, not to mention that $150 for a possibly dead device is quite a lot. So instead of betting on that one (literally) I decided to search for an Omnibook 800ct instead. The 800s look very similar to the 300/400 line, but with a color screen, lithium batteries, and a Pentium inside. All the working units are listed for about $1000. That’s outrageous, but I guess that’s the price you pay for a rare device. After digging a little bit further I found this one:
For less than half the price of the other ones, I didn’t think twice and hit the “buy” button right away!

Congrats on the Omnibook!

I came close recently to buying one, but ended up getting the ZR instead for some reason. Probably should have gotten one given the larger, color display, and thus larger keyboard and ability to run a lot of useful programs...

Great choice and think you should have fun with it!

Maybe Santa will be good to me too.....

Let us know what you think about it....

Enjoy!

Congratulations!

I hope Santa will be good to me this year too!

-stingraze

Hello friends,

We had the illustrious visit of Santa Claus this weekend. My kids are going to Brazil to spend Christmas there with their grandparents, so we decided to have our own Christmas at home a little earlier. And as our traditions dictates, I hid my Omnibook under the tree in the middle of the night, along with some unexpected gifts for my wife as well. Saturday morning was a delicious surprise as me, my wife and the kids unwrapped the presents. I obviously made the same surprise face when I got my Omnibook. My kids said “another old computer dad?”. It was very exciting. I restrained myself from playing with the Omnibook until “Christmas day” so it would be more authentic when I get it. The device is in great shape, everything works except the battery. Has anyone tried to recell Omnibook batteries? As far as I read online they seem to be hard to recell. I confess the device is a little bigger than I wanted it to be. Pictures can be a bit misleading sometimes. It is almost 3x bigger than my 200lx. Here is a nice picture for comparison (both are running windows 3.0 + word):



But overall I like it. It will be great as a portable DOS/Win3.1 gaming machine. I will keep you guys posted about what I do with it.

Edited by ntware 2022-12-04 6:33 PM






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Thanks for sharing your early present....Looks good!

Yes, the Omnibook is a lot larger than a 200LX, but it is a laptop and with a much larger display and keyboard. So, should be much easier to view and type things....just not a pocket computer.

Look forward to hearing more about it after you have used it a bit.

Don't know about re-celling this one.....maybe others will have some experience with it.

Wow! Nice machine! Congratulations!

-stingraze

One more update, but this time not about the Omnibook. Have you guys heared about the Gateway Handbook 486? I wish I had found about this handheld earlier. I think it would've been a better gift than the Omnibook. It seems super portable, runs on AA, and has a 486 inside! Just the screen that looks awful...

Here is a nice article about it: https://jeff.mulb.us/articles/gwhb/gwhb.php

Yes, I heard about it, but besides the display, it has issue that it won't power on unless a battery is inserted.

Meanwhile......you might find this thread regarding the 800CT interesting:

https://gadgets.notjakob.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=280&sid=9828...

Re: Omnibook battery re-cell. I tried it with my 425, started not one but two fires. I now use only tenavolts. But have at it, and keep an extinguisher by your side.

Jake

Edited by Jake 2022-12-06 2:49 AM

Wow, fire? Why? Did you puncture the batteries by accident or was the heat from the solder iron? Also, how did you manage to open the battery enclosure? What kind of cells does the battery use?

Edited by ntware 2022-12-06 6:11 PM

Yeah, and the OmniBook ain't bad either.