Zaurus

Well.. let me tell u...
I've got a zaurus some days ago (actually a week or so)... and I've installed pdaXrom so I can share my experience with you....
---- MY PERSONAL OPINION FOLLOW.. THIS IS NOT THE ULTIMATE TRUTH ----
I installed pdaxrom since it's based on X... (cacko, Sharp OS, and most roms are based on Qtopia)... I'm a developer (sort of) so I really need X to be there, it's the standard for desktop GUI environments and applications...
Before the Zaurus, I had some linux experience with Redhat for a day or so.. and given it was so easy I inmediatly switched to Debian... I must admit Debian was challenging for me... but I love challenge, so I fell in love with Debian...

With pdaxrom was the same... IS WAY harder than cacko (as far as I've compared and shared experiences with cmonex)... but it gives me more satisfaction (and more frustration too)... Sometimes isn't as great as it may sound... by example, movie playback seems to be way faster on cacko than on pdaxrom....
PIM apps available for pdaxrom takes half of your disk space xD (like the "latest" kdepim package that uses "only" 44MB).. Since most packages are desktop apps directly compiled for the Zaurus with no changes, there's lot of bloat,
tons of libraries to install... and a lot of hand-compiling to do if you want better/faster/smaller software.... (Ive compiles some packages and it's not funny to see compilation fail after two hours because you ran out of storage or your frikin system lacks of a library)..
It has some good things like using the same apps you use on your desktop right in your hand anywhere... It's really like converting the zaurus in a mini debian-like workstation...

But same as cmonex, I would recommend you cacko... seems like you'll get more satisfaction than frustration, you'll get a quite stable and solid system (because of messing with pdaxrom, modules and drivers I've needed to reinstall the whole OS and apps at least 5 times.. sometimes by small details, but I like things being "perfect"

Quick Comparison
---------------------------
Bluetooth: Out of the box with Cacko... Need to install additional modules, libs and utilities in pdaxrom
Wifi: Out of the box with cacko... Untested by me on pdaxrom...
Office: Hancom Office suite with cacko... abiword and xpdf with pdaxrom (no spreadsheet) You can install some made_by_a_user openoffice compilation but will take a HUGE amount of storage space and seems to run slow....
PIM: integrated with cacko..... None with pdaxrom, you can install kdepim (latest version is 44MB or so once installed but I managed to get a really old version that "works" and uses about 6-10MB)
Internet: Netfront and opera with cacko.... pdaxrom comes with Dillo.. additionally you can install Opera and firefox but I've heard that firefox runs slow...

"So? what's good in pdaxrom?! everything you just said make it look like the worse distro ever made!!!!"
Well... the good part is that you get a whole X-based system, so you can get (with some compiling skills and sometimes a bit of tweaking, patience, and lot of work) almost any available linux app working (as long as u have enough space in the zaurus.. desktop apps aren't as lightweight as specially-designed-for-pda apps (like those in cacko and other roms). Qtopia is a whole different world.... I like to have my old well-known linux apps that I used on my desktop right on the palm of my hand... even when that means wresting with modules, libraries and console commands most of time

Conclusion: Are u a linux geek (so-called mazochists)? go for pdaxrom... otherwise the best choice is Cacko. =)

Stupid question:

If you have enough space on the Zaurus can you port XP onto it?

wow, I didn't know you folks are getting in Zaurus. Strangely Sharp never got wifi built in as yet. btw, I believe some of the parts of the kernels can be installed or moved onto the storage card. That should give more space on the ram itself.

I have the Z SL-5500, and with the hentges/opie rom, I had part of the kernel or opie installed on storage card, giving me much more ram space.

EDIT: Talking about which, I should dig it out and give it some attention.

Edited by Snappy! 2006-03-11 6:33 AM

if u are talking about WINE then yes, but I think it's quite slow ((Because it also needs cpu emulation)

Well all in all, I think the Zaurus is a great device for what I am looking for. The only thing that is making me contemplate the decision is that I want to be able to create, edit, view ms office files and get firefox. I want to get those but in no way shape or form am I apt to alter a device of this expense. I might have found a gold mine of apps for the zaurus: Gold Mine

relax is a known resource... btw, any app that I tried from there seemed to be designed for qtopia based roms.... just a few are for pdaxrom...
in the feeds of every ROM you'll found a LOT of apps.... and if u go into the OE forums you'll found even more packages (built by users)

I mean it's not like I want to control the world! I just wantFirefox, AIM, and Openoffice. Is that so much to ask for?

jjaff90,
We prefer our HPCs because of the touch-type keyboard and wider screen. The Zaurus screen will be half the width of a Jornada's (altho with double the pixels), and have a thumb-type keyboard. If you are willing to live with those limitations, you have a lot more choices than Zaurus.

Perhaps you should consider a Pocket PC with keyboard, like the old iPAQ 4350 or the newer iMate Jasjar and K-Jam etc etc. Pocket PCs are much friendlier to normal people, compared to a Zaurus, which is basically the ultimate geek machine. You can find third party applications and support for PPCs more easily too.

On the other hand, if you can't let go of the larger keyboard and screen of the Jornada, you're better off sticking with HPCs.
(This last statement should hopefully prevent the eggs from flying towards my face...)

oh, snappy, SL5500?!
get a Cxx thats so much better hehehe.
anyway, does the 5500 have cacko or at least pdaxrom? i guess not... must be hard work to get stuff to work on it
btw about the ram usage: you can have a swap file on the SD / CF card at least with cacko... the whole ram is for running apps, it is not like CE. so it is the rom you're sparing that way, but why worry with 128 mb of rom lol.
oh and the SL6000 or whatever does have wifi builtin afaik





the killefiz.de site is quite outdated. half of the links don't work, or they have older versions of the app there, you'll be better off by using the official feeds. but if you can't find soemthing in those feeds, the killefiz site is still a good bet.
if you REALLY want firefox & openoffice you *must* have patience. OK? then the zaurus will be your device.
or be content with abiword instead of openoffice at least



takwu, i think the pocketpc is worse for browsing and for office than the zaurus and their screens aren't any bigger. so maybe a zaurus C1000 with a usb keyboard.
why do i think so? ive tried pocketpc's... their pocketword too.. and it was horrrrrible. hpc pocketword knows more in terms of compatibility and features too. if you want textmaker, you can get that on the zaurus too..
and the PIE is just stupid on the ppc... netfront / opera is available for the zaurus too and is faster there than on the ppc. so... forget it and, don't forget, cacko is quite userfriendly.

OK, maybe the jasjar wouldn't be such a bad idea! the pocketword is supposed to be a little better on it... jjaff, check that out

as for pdaxrom i'm still wondering i got everything setup with my cacko rom... just today... so my opinion has changed about switching to pdaxrom!! but i'll try pdaxrom to see what it is like

Edited by cmonex 2006-03-11 10:54 PM