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Everything Else => Sharp Zaurus => Model Specific Forums => Distros, Development, and Model Specific Forums => Archived Forums => 6000 - Tosa => Topic started by: drew2778 on May 04, 2004, 09:34:19 am

Title: Zaurus SL-6000 Monster Review on BargainPDA.com
Post by: drew2778 on May 04, 2004, 09:34:19 am
Ian Giblin has struck again on BargainPDA.com, this time it\'s his longest review ever on a Zaurus device.  This review of the Zaurus SL-6000 is longer that the user guide  

http://www.bargainpda.com/reviews/sharp_za..._sl_6000_1.html (http://www.bargainpda.com/reviews/sharp_zaurus_sl_6000_1.html)
Title: Zaurus SL-6000 Monster Review on BargainPDA.com
Post by: vishnja on May 04, 2004, 11:18:17 am
Great review! Nice pics :-)
Title: Zaurus SL-6000 Monster Review on BargainPDA.com
Post by: DrWowe on May 04, 2004, 12:37:36 pm
What a great quote from p. 6:

\"The Zaurus does an impressive job of feeling like a big computer in a little box.\"

Also, one piece of misinformation:  He claims the expansion sled is no longer available from Amazon, but I just looked and it is.  Search for CE-JC2.
Title: Zaurus SL-6000 Monster Review on BargainPDA.com
Post by: duffman on May 04, 2004, 01:05:09 pm
Yes, very good review, I have to disagree with him on a few points, particularly the stiffness of the keyboard, I like that so those of us with fat thumbs don\'t accidentally press the wrong keys.

And perhaps it\'s because I\'m right-handed but I don\'t find it difficult to get at the stylus with the screen protector on.
Title: Zaurus SL-6000 Monster Review on BargainPDA.com
Post by: GoLinux on May 04, 2004, 01:34:11 pm
WOW!!! This is the mother of all reviews. While some of Ian views may not be shared by everybody, if a technical review Pulitzer Prize existed he should be nominated......

Has any of the lucky owners gotten close to the 11 Hours battery life Ian wrote Sharp indicates on the manual?
Title: Zaurus SL-6000 Monster Review on BargainPDA.com
Post by: SharpEnd on May 04, 2004, 06:12:49 pm
I\'ve saved the review in one pdf file (reading it on the website is a pain, having to click to the next screen); if anyone wants one, contact off list or via PM.
Title: Zaurus SL-6000 Monster Review on BargainPDA.com
Post by: padishah_emperor on May 04, 2004, 06:46:50 pm
One thing I don\'t get is the reviewer mentions the better screen on the 6000, better than the 750?

What is the difference between the C700,750,760,860 and 6000 screens? Apart from the 6000 being rotated 90 degrees? They are all VGA 640x480 (or 480x640) CG Silicon? I thought they all used the same component.

Am I missing something?

Nice review though, good to read.
Title: Zaurus SL-6000 Monster Review on BargainPDA.com
Post by: piggity on May 04, 2004, 07:01:56 pm
The difference is the 6000 screens is transflective and the C\'s are transreflective.  I don\'t know remember the details on the difference, but I have had both the C860 and 6000 and I think the 6000 is better.  You really have to see both to see why.
Title: Zaurus SL-6000 Monster Review on BargainPDA.com
Post by: DrWowe on May 04, 2004, 08:05:57 pm
The 6000 screen is brighter, more vivid, and usable outdoors, even in direct sunlight.  The resolution is equivalent.
Title: Zaurus SL-6000 Monster Review on BargainPDA.com
Post by: Ethereal on May 04, 2004, 08:09:26 pm
Another bit of (funny) misinformation:

Quote
A standard pizza operates at 2.4 GHz, just like your 802.11b wireless network, and will cause interference.
Title: Zaurus SL-6000 Monster Review on BargainPDA.com
Post by: cradlinski on May 04, 2004, 08:50:25 pm
Great review, but I was disturbed by one unfortunate fact: no games!!  Is there a way to transfer the games from a 5600 to a 6000?
Title: Zaurus SL-6000 Monster Review on BargainPDA.com
Post by: DrWowe on May 04, 2004, 08:57:28 pm
I\'m sure the games will copy over no problem.  I might try it later, I could make some notes when I do.
Title: Zaurus SL-6000 Monster Review on BargainPDA.com
Post by: cradlinski on May 04, 2004, 09:00:02 pm
That would be great.  Thanks.
Title: Zaurus SL-6000 Monster Review on BargainPDA.com
Post by: GoLinux on May 04, 2004, 09:28:24 pm
I don\'t mean to pick on Ian, but he got the dimensions all wrong. Cut and paste from the SL-6000 Start-up Guide:

Excluding the display protection cover (excluding protruding parts)
Approx. 79.8 (W) × 158 (D) × 20.4 (H) mm
Approx. 3.2 (W) × 6.2 (D) × 0.8 (H) inches

Including the display protection cover (excluding protruding parts)
Approx. 79.8 (W) × 158 (D) × 23 (H) mm
Approx. 3.2 (W) × 6.2 (D) × 0.9 (H) inches

Maybe he typed that part on the SL-6000 keyboard....
Title: Zaurus SL-6000 Monster Review on BargainPDA.com
Post by: tumnus on May 05, 2004, 03:42:23 am
Quote
The difference is the 6000 screens is transflective and the C\'s are transreflective.  I don\'t know remember the details on the difference, but I have had both the C860 and 6000 and I think the 6000 is better.  You really have to see both to see why.

Actually the Cxxx Zaurii are transmissive, while the 6000 is translfective.

Transmissive is where the LCD screen is backlit, meaning it can get washed out in direct sunlight like a CRT monitor, but is very very bright indoors.

The SL5x00 Zaurii are reflective which means the LCD screen is frontlit, so it is still viewable in direct sunlight, but isn\'t as bright indoors or in the dark as the Cxxx Zaruii.

Transflective is a bit of both so you get the best of both worlds - bright screen indoors and still very clear in direct sunlight.
Title: Zaurus SL-6000 Monster Review on BargainPDA.com
Post by: duffman on May 05, 2004, 04:44:22 pm
By the way, just saw on this linked on Slashdot, lots of luck gettin the review to load while the story\'s still on the Slashdot main page
Title: Zaurus SL-6000 Monster Review on BargainPDA.com
Post by: DrWowe on May 05, 2004, 10:34:24 pm
Quote
I\'m sure the games will copy over no problem.  I might try it later, I could make some notes when I do.


And I did...

It\'s easy, you just copy all the application files over.

from /usr/QtPalmtop.rom/bin, copy:
go mindbreaker minesweep patience qasteroids snake wordgame

from /usr/QtPalmtop.rom/help, copy all of the above, with an .html extension

from /usr/QtPalmtop.rom/pics, copy everything in the snake/ directory, and recursively copy everything in the qasteroids/ directory.  (there are a bunch of subdirectories, get them all)

from /home/QtPalmtop/apps/Games, copy everything.

When you install the files onto the 6000, put them in same place as you copied them from, except replace /usr/QtPalmtop.rom with /home/QtPalmtop.

Then restart the Zaurus and all the icons should appear.

That\'s it, they all seem to work.

Someone should package all this up into an .ipk for convenience.
Title: Zaurus SL-6000 Monster Review on BargainPDA.com
Post by: Ian on May 05, 2004, 11:45:43 pm
Quote
I don\'t mean to pick on Ian, but he got the dimensions all wrong. Cut and paste from the SL-6000 Start-up Guide:

Excluding the display protection cover (excluding protruding parts)
Approx. 79.8 (W) × 158 (D) × 20.4 (H) mm
Approx. 3.2 (W) × 6.2 (D) × 0.8 (H) inches

Including the display protection cover (excluding protruding parts)
Approx. 79.8 (W) × 158 (D) × 23 (H) mm
Approx. 3.2 (W) × 6.2 (D) × 0.9 (H) inches

Maybe he typed that part on the SL-6000 keyboard....


Ack! You\'re right - what happened was I actually had three manuals open next to me and I think I copied the numbers from the wrong one; probably the C860 (duh... should have noticed everything except the numbers were in JAPANESE!).

But there\'s always something which slips through my fingers...  :oops: but I can probably fix it before the review comes back from the dead (or whereever it went after it got slashdotted - hopefully not the Write Only Memory).

Don\'t worry about picking on me, I appreciate the feedback, er up to a point       --- Ian
Title: Zaurus SL-6000 Monster Review on BargainPDA.com
Post by: offroadgeek on May 06, 2004, 02:26:52 am
by the way - google cache has the first page of the review, then the links at the bottom to continue to the next page works fine... apparently the bargainpda people only hid the first page

http://216.239.53.104/search?q=cache:n9nNX...&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 (http://216.239.53.104/search?q=cache:n9nNXPTyNWgJ:www.bargainpda.com/reviews/sharp_zaurus_sl_6000_1.html+&hl=en&ie=UTF-8)
Title: Zaurus SL-6000 Monster Review on BargainPDA.com
Post by: SharpEnd on May 06, 2004, 09:58:19 am
Quote
By the way, just saw on this linked on Slashdot, lots of luck gettin the review to load while the story\'s still on the Slashdot main page


Ha!  I archived it as a pdf the day before the Slashdot link.....much easier to read!
Title: Zaurus SL-6000 Monster Review on BargainPDA.com
Post by: nilch on May 06, 2004, 10:18:30 am
wow, the BargainPDA review was so in demand and had been posted on Slashdot too, not the site is totally slashdotted - cant seem to get access to it.

Seems like the MANY screenshots is what drew the crowd to the review more than anything else.
Great review too.
Title: Zaurus SL-6000 Monster Review on BargainPDA.com
Post by: Ian on May 06, 2004, 10:22:02 am
As far as I can tell the review is completely back up, although they are still linking the images rather than putting them all in-line the way I originally wrote it.  :roll:

Thanks for the comments and feedback.  - Ian.
Title: Zaurus SL-6000 Monster Review on BargainPDA.com
Post by: SharpEnd on May 06, 2004, 10:33:11 am
Great job with the review, Ian!!
Title: Zaurus SL-6000 Monster Review on BargainPDA.com
Post by: GoLinux on May 06, 2004, 02:43:46 pm
Ian,

I\'m glad I could help in fixing an oversight. Your review is so thorough I\'m sure we can forgive you almost anything....

I guess the many comments from people saying the SL-6000 is huge got me obsessed with the size... I know the dimension by heart and I noticed immediately the mistake.

I don\'t have yet a 6000, but as a owner of a Psion 5mx I don\'t mind carrying around a \"huge\" palmtop if it does what I need it to do. And the SL-6000 is smaller and lighter than the 5mx anyway.

Keep up the good work, your review alone will probably do more than Sharp \"antimarketing\"....... (you know, like in \"matter\" and \"antimatter\")
Title: Zaurus SL-6000 Monster Review on BargainPDA.com
Post by: DrWowe on May 06, 2004, 04:30:33 pm
GoLinux:  \"Huge\" is a relative term.  It\'s true that it\'s slightly larger than any other PocketPC, Palm, or Zaurus device I\'ve owned.  However, it\'s considerably smaller and lighter than the non-PocketPC Windows CE machines, and more functional and useful too.  I think the SL6000 is the first device I\'ve found that can replace my venerable Intermec 6651 HPC for most of the things I used it for.  Given the power and functionality, I don\'t begrudge the extra fraction of an inch in length.  It still fits in my pocket.  
Title: Zaurus SL-6000 Monster Review on BargainPDA.com
Post by: Codefire on May 12, 2004, 01:27:14 pm
Did anyone see the review in ummm... nuts, I forgot. In one of the linux mags they had a two page article on the Z. Funny thing was it didn\'t mention much about the unit but spoke at length about how lame Sharp\'s support of it is and how that that angered many potential buyers/developers.
Title: Zaurus SL-6000 Monster Review on BargainPDA.com
Post by: DrWowe on May 12, 2004, 01:44:40 pm
Quote
how lame Sharp\'s support of it is and how that that angered many potential buyers/developers.


True, and true, but some of us get over it because it\'s still the best darn handheld on the market.  Anyway, the subject has been beaten to death already, so let\'s not resurrect the poor horse.
Title: Zaurus SL-6000 Monster Review on BargainPDA.com
Post by: cvmiller on May 12, 2004, 04:44:25 pm
Quote
Then restart the Zaurus and all the icons should appear.


Hey this is Linux, you should never have to restart (unless you are doing kernel work). You just need Qtopia to reread the GUI info.

I noticed in the SL-6000 that Sharp removed the restart Qtopia option for just this purpose. However I was able to find a cool little app which does the same thing:
http://zaurus.xavierxeon.de/main/c750/rest...ter_1.0_arm.ipk (http://zaurus.xavierxeon.de/main/c750/restarter_1.0_arm.ipk)

Have fun!

Craig...
Title: Zaurus SL-6000 Monster Review on BargainPDA.com
Post by: DrWowe on May 12, 2004, 05:01:48 pm
If you use the applet on the icons page to install software, the icons appear immediately.  There must be some magic mechanism it uses.  I would like to know what it is.  I also have a \"Restart Qtopia\" icon in my Q menu, but my version just runs a shell script that calls \"killall qpe\".
Title: Zaurus SL-6000 Monster Review on BargainPDA.com
Post by: tumnus on May 13, 2004, 03:31:58 am
Quote
If you use the applet on the icons page to install software, the icons appear immediately.  There must be some magic mechanism it uses.  I would like to know what it is.  I also have a \"Restart Qtopia\" icon in my Q menu, but my version just runs a shell script that calls \"killall qpe\".


From the command line:

qcop QPE/System \'linkChanged(QString)\'     # (Updates tab page icons)
qcop QPE/TaskBar \'updateMenu()\'            # (Updates the Q menu)
qcop QPE/TaskBar \'reloadInputMethods()\'   # (Reloads all the input methods)
qcop QPE/TaskBar \'reloadApplets()\'        # (Reloads all the taskbar applets)

Capitalisation of these commands is important.
Title: Zaurus SL-6000 Monster Review on BargainPDA.com
Post by: Ethereal on May 13, 2004, 05:49:39 pm
Quote
qcop QPE/System \'linkChanged(QString)\'     # (Updates tab page icons)
qcop QPE/TaskBar \'updateMenu()\'            # (Updates the Q menu)
qcop QPE/TaskBar \'reloadInputMethods()\'   # (Reloads all the input methods)
qcop QPE/TaskBar \'reloadApplets()\'        # (Reloads all the taskbar applets)


tumnus,

Where does one come by such inside knowledge of the \"qcop\" command?