Forget the 6000 for ruggedness

[locutus]

It seems the SL-5600 is pretty darn rugged also.  Yesterday, I was on top of our patio cover working and had been using my SL-5600 for it\'s battery life and spreadsheet. I would just leave it on all the time while I was working( for quick reference ) and had it in my shirt pocket. Well, I bent down to pick up some rope and out pops the 5600. It bounced off one of the wooden slats and the clear cover came flying off. Then, the 5600 slid through a couple slats and headed for the concrete floor over 9 feet below.  I didn\'t see any pieces come off so I was thinking that just maybe, I\'d need a new glass/digitizer. When I checked it out, NOTHING WAS BROKEN.

All of the impact was taken by the upper left corner of the front bezel.  I don\'t want to try this again but what a rush. I wonder if there are any \"tested\" drop specs for the 5600?

[Anonymous]

This board is monitored by the Sharp Support Personel. Your warranty in now invalidated  

Zuber

[zenyatta]

A good reminder for each of us how precious the little thing is (as if anyone needs reminding...)

z.

[mussi]

The 5xxx series are definitely more stable than a HP iPaq my boss owned. Dropped it, boom.

He returned to his old trusty PalmIIIc. Still works...

And no, I haven\'t dropped my Z yet. I baby my machine, except for a scratch or two on the back side.

[locutus]

I would say that up until recently, the Zaurus has been on par with my Palm IIIx with regards to ruggedness. Both have handled many 2\'-3\' drops to all kinds of floors but the Zaurus now has it over the Palm. That was a HUGE fall to concrete! Maybe it was just lucky that it hit on the corner but it was the corner opposite the battery after all. Most of the mass of the Z was furthest away from the impact where it could do the most harm. But it couldn\'t.  Sharp sure knows how to build them.

[nilch]

Sharp\'s engineering and design team are really the best of the lot. The rest of the team behind the Zaurus (particularly Marketing) just are way behind.

One after another, the engineering /design team has come out with wonders - the in-built thumboard onthe 5xxx series, the clamshell C7xxx series, the riggedised 6000\'s,  the inclusion of USB host, support for both CF and SD (very few PDA\'s have both), not to mention the VGA screen on the new Zaurii - all have been outstanding. Its a pity that Sharp marketing couldnt sell on these merits.

[offroadgeek]

I have to say that the toughest handheld I have ever owned was the palm VII... I bought the thing years ago from best buy, and I opted to get the 3 year warranty.  Best damn thing I ever did... after I got my first 5500, I realized that I didn\'t want my palm VII anymore and the warranty was still good, so I decided to break it and return it to best buy.  I threw that damn palm to the ground several times, still didn\'t break.   I disassembled it and poured water on the circuit board, put it back together, and it still worked!  I ended up having to step on the damn thing to break the screen and digitizer.  I then took it back to best buy, explained that I didn\'t know how the unit broke and they gave me full retail ($450) for an exchange!  I couldn\'t believe it!  I ended up picking up another 5500 (that\'s when best buy carried it) and ebaying it to pay for Z accessories.

gotta love those best buy warranties!

[ScottYelich]

I\'m not having much luck with gadgets in my old age.
I\'ve managed to destroy a blueberry (black berry phone, the ones that are blue).
I cracked the screen of my blackberry before that, but that\'s just too easy --
not that I was *trying* ...

Scott
ps: I\'ve dropped my Z a few times, but I\'ve been very lucky so far.
pps: I have been eyeing the 6000 just for that ruggedness.