The new Zaurus SL-C3000 from Sharp is a linux-based PDA incorporating an Intel XScale PXA270 CPU at 416 MHz. It has a 640 by 480 pixel screen and is physically quite similar to the previous Zaurus clamshell models, the main difference being that it has a 4 GB hard drive built in. Read the review here.
You can also run OpenBSD on these:
http://www.openbsd.org/zaurus.html
http://www.undeadly.org/cgi?action=article&sid=20050112172618
(well, support is in the works, so it’s nowhere near done yet, but it’s coming…)
Interesting,saw on the website obsd has ported both airsnort and kismet ๐
with wireless card that is never touched. Thought I needed a pda, but a laptop was what I needed.
What I’d like to see is something like Poket Word… where you can mix text and graphics on the same app. Pehaps a Pocket OpenOffice ๐
There is something in http://www.softmaker.de/tmq_en.htm, but it is not free
Hancom Word en Sheet are included in the original Sharp rom just as Opera.
The reason why Sharp won’t sell these in the US is because they don’t sell, that is a give me. But the problem is that they cost to much. A linux-based PDA costs more the a Palm or a pocket PC; I thought that linux was supposed to bring the cost of computing down, not make it go up.
~Alan
Alan: I believe the cost is higher because of Sharp only. Linux itself is cheaper, obviously.
I own a C860 myself and I absolutely love it. I do prefer Linux, so that was the main reason for getting it. But it is a powerful little PDA. The new Cacko 1.22 ROM is incredible. The biggest fault is that you cannot play video at full resolution. 320×240 is about the best you can do. But, if I want to watch a video, I’ll generally just bring the laptop. The PDA is nice because I bring it everywhere, since it’s so lite.
I got the C860 right before the C3000 came out, but I only paid $570 shipped. I have little interest in the C3000 since Cacko doesn’t support it (yet). But even if it did, I’m going to wait for the next model to come out before upgrading. Hopefully that is a year or two off.