OESF Portables Forum
General Forums => General Discussion => Topic started by: Anonymous on January 06, 2004, 11:35:43 am
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I\'ve had a palm for ~6 months and now rely on it but the lack of flexability, real onboard programing tools, and net conectivity are driving me up a wall. I am saveing my money in order to get a zaurus 5500 and I was wondering if ther is anything I really need to know about switching. Specificly what is the real life battery life or any other major considerations that i should know about. (ive been using linux exclusively for 2 years barring gaming on my dual boot desktop(win 2k deb testing with 2.6.0 with the -mm patch) so im not worried about the linux part more it still working well as a pda)
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oh and some other questions any recomendations for 802.11b cards ? eth cards?
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Battery life is a bit subjective depending on use patterns etc but from what I have read (not got the 5500 model myself use the C750/C860)
A Palm user would find it quite short. If you can, you might want to go for the bigger battery 5600 model. Particularly if you are looking for WiFi.
Also, standard pim sync. software is for sync. with windows not linux.
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On the 5500 you are looking at about 2 hours with wifi, and the screen not on it\'s brightest settings.
If you turn the screen off completely with an additional (but free) app then you can play mp3\'s for about 8 hours.
With the screen on full, and wifi, you are looking at about 1 hour.
That\'s one reason why I got a 760 (better battery)
The zaurus however, is not a pda! It is a pocket linux box, and a very capable one too. This power comes at the expense of battery life.
If you just want to keep appointments and phone numbers, then it\'s not for you. If you want a portable machine on which you can write and compile c++ programs, run apache webserver (with php!) play fullscreen movies (the whole movie, not just clips) or even run a mysql database. Then it\'s one of only a handfull of devices capable of doing this in a device so small.
There is even a full debian install for the zaurus.
http://pocketworkstation.org/index.html (http://pocketworkstation.org/index.html)
but the 240x320 display limits this a little. (another reason to go for a c7x0 device, 640x480 display).
Some of these things are hard (for a novice) to get working, you do have to hack a little to reap the rewards. If you are familiar with linux, then this won\'t be a problem, and will enhance your skills and knowledge along the way.
Of course, this forum is here to help you, if you require it.
Welcome to the Zaurus club.
Peter.
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does any one sell a sleve cradle handspring board type thing with a bigger battery as your right 1 hour is short for a former palm user :cry:
or better yet any one know the type of conector and voltage of there ac input as hacking up a extended battery with some AAA recharge ables shouldnt be too hard 8) and would cost about 10 -20 dolars
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The zaurus uses 5.0v to charge.
I have made a 4xaa charger at a cost of £1.20 not including batteries(use nimh@ 1.2v not alkaline @1.5v) also I
have made a usb charger (usb is 5.0v) and converted a 5v cellphone car charger by replacing the plug.
Always check the polaritry if doing this.
search this forum and http:www.zaurus.comdev\" (http://http:www.zaurus.comdev)
search for battery and/or extender.
Peter.
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i don\'t know the size but radio shack sells the adaptaplugs you want the small yellow barrel tip(or just take your z to match it up) buy a 4 cell battery holder solder the wires to the adaptaplug and you\'re in business. With rechargeables you will have a voltage of 4.8 wich may be slightly too low to charge with (the z takes 5v) i use alkaline which adds up to 6v and that seems to work fine
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I would rather use 4.8v (which seems to work fine) than 6v.
Based on the principle of \"too liitle voltage, Z no charge,too much Z go bang!
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thanks to all
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found 1.4 ah size a batteries for 69 cents with 12 of them thats like 4.2 ah or about 4 days (figuring normal pda useage (or 12-14hours with wifi /slightly dim screen)
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as a past palm freak i can attest to the change as being positive. I migrated from a TRGpro which was a palm IIIx clone with CF. I opted to use intellisync rather than qtopia desktop, the intellisync imported all my info from palm desktop without too many inconsistencies. as for battery life i use an external battery pack to recharge when the z gets low. but it also spends its fair time on a charger(something my palm couldn\'t do, which is why i appreciated its battery life)and if there is a palm app you cant live without or can\'t port there is an emulator (which is how many recent palm roms worked with the older hardware)
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i don\'t know the size but radio shack sells the adaptaplugs you want the small yellow barrel tip
B Type (Model: 273-1705)
http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?cata...5Fid=273%2D1705 (http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F009%5F001%5F001%5F003&product%5Fid=273%2D1705)
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I would like to add that as for battery life, I have the display backlight on my 5500 set at 2 (where 5 is max) and it\'s completely sufficient at all times. There is no need to have the display on full brightness imho. Also, holding the Menu button turns the backlight on/off so once you train yourself you can spend a lot of time without the backlight in the right environments.
Disclaimer: I don\'t remember whether these features are available with the standard ROM (I use OpenZaurus).
z.