Messages

31

Nokia Tablet / The Nokia N800

« on: September 24, 2007, 12:52:00 pm »

Having both an n800 and a C-3100 (pdaxii), I find I reach for the nokia for the internet experience and the zaurus for everything else.

My two biggest frustrations on the n800 are (1) lack of built-in keyboard (yes, I have a bluetooth keyboard); and (2) the non-standard (hildon) user interface.

The apps that have been designed for the n800 are pretty cool and innovative, and there is an active developer community -- but it does not seem as easy as a straight compile or access to full debian as in titchy for zaurus. The zaurus has a bigger stable of traditional applications.

The n800 does have a very rich python environment, so many of the new and cool apps are written in that.

The n800 is also a fine media player device, although, subjectively, I find mplayer on the zaurus to be better performing. There are some innovative audio players for the n800, my favorite being a port of exaile for its interface and ogg playing abilities. But I still prefer xmms (not available on the nokia) for many of my purposes.

32

General Discussion / Advice On A New Pda

« on: September 10, 2007, 02:29:42 pm »

I'd like advice RE a PDA to use primarily as an organiser and mp3 player (so must have 3.5mm headphone jack).

Thumboard is a must, I can't abide on-screen character recognition.

[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=167126\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

Based on your requirements, if you consider a Zaurus, I'd say pick up a used C-860, put Cacko on it, and maybe look at the kdepim apps. You can put a big CF card in it with your mp3 files (or ogg if you use something like kino). It will be solid and easy to use.

If you can get by without a built-in thumboard, you could consider a Nokia n800, which would allow you to use a bluetooth keyboard and has built in wifi. Mp3 playback works great. There is a choice among the internal as well as user developed apps. The N800 also hides it linux roots fairly well if you don't want to take advantage of it.

If you don't care about any keyboard there is the ipod touch (I don't think it has bluetooth). You should get the pim and media capabilities you want. Of course you would need to be among the majority who crave all things apple -- which I'm not.

I think the Zaurus 860 with Cacko should make a cheap (used) and dependable platform for pim and mp3. The C-1000 would be more expensive, but is really only useful if you want the full zaurus experience of changing roms and getting your feet wet with linux.

I haven't used a Palm in years so can't comment. A pocketpc would satisfy your needs, but I don't know if they have thumb boards.

hth

33

Zaurus - pdaXrom / Bcwipe ?

« on: August 09, 2007, 10:16:51 am »

I assume you already found a version of bcwipe that works, but to document the answer for others who might search the forums:

The bcwipe in telemetric's collie feed works under pdaXii13 (presumably also beta3):

http://www.tyrannozaurus.com/feed/contribs...e.pdaxrom.feed/

The bcwipe in the cacko feed also works under beta3 (I've used that in the past), you'll just have to move or symlink the binary to something in the path.

Maybe there are other packages floating around?

Cheers!

34

New products and alternatives / New Zaurus Successor?

« on: April 28, 2007, 09:06:32 am »

What am I missing? At the link you provided, which seems to be the company that makes it, it says that it has a 12" non-touch-screen
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My bad .... the Apr 26 pdf news release on the same site has the right 7 in screen.

[a href=\"http://www.dataevolution.com/pdf/PR%20-%20Cathena%20CX%20Final.pdf]http://www.dataevolution.com/pdf/PR%20-%20...0CX%20Final.pdf[/url]

I'll update the original post.

35

New products and alternatives / New Zaurus Successor?

« on: April 28, 2007, 01:20:46 am »

Rather than open a new thread (maybe we need a forum for people's candidates for the z-killer or next best thing), I'll put this here because it is a K-like device: The Data Evolution Corp Cathena. Too big and heavy to be a Z replacement, but pricing doesn't seem to be too bad, swivel screen and claimed to have a touch screen.

Edit: I originally linked to the wrong product page, here is the right one for Cathena CX -- thanks b_lizzard, from later post:

http://www.dataevolution.com/cathena_cx_info.htm

Edit: Apr 26 pdf news release: http://www.dataevolution.com/pdf/PR%20-%20...0CX%20Final.pdf

The spec's from LinuxDevices.com:

Key features and specifications of the Cathena CX, according to the company, include:

    * Processor -- AMD Geode LX800, clocked at 500MHz
    * Memory -- 512MB SDRAM, expandable to 1GB
    * Storage -- built-in 40, 80, or 100GB hard drive
    * Display:
          o 7-inch TFT WVGA (800 x 480) LCD
    * User input devices:
          o Passive matrix touch-screen
          o Built-in touch pad
          o QWERTY keyboard
          o 5-way directional joystick
    * Wireless:
          o Integrated 802.11b/g WiFi
          o Bluetooth 2.0+ with EDR
    * Audio:
          o Built in stereo speakers
          o Audio in/out jacks
          o Volume control
    * Other input/output ports:
          o Ethernet
          o 2 x USB 2.0
          o VGA video out (max. 1600x1200)
    * Memory card reader (SD/MMC/MS/CF)
    * Power -- Li-Ion battery, approx. 5 hours operation
    * Size -- 8.6 x 6.4 x 1 inches (218 x 163 x 25.4mm)
    * Weight -- 2.2 lbs (990g)

Availability

The Cathena CX is currently available with a choice of Windows XP (Home or Pro) or Windows XP Embedded, and is priced from $799 (depending on options).

36

Nokia Tablet / Thinking Of Getting An N800

« on: March 21, 2007, 11:55:29 am »

speculatrix said:

The odd thing is that I have used Palms for years (currently T3) without a keyboard: tho' I have a folding keyboard, I gave it to my wife as I am quite happy with the graffiti1 (downgraded from g2) input system - there again, I've never used command-line type apps on the Palm, nor word processing.

Way back when I had a palm, graffiti worked just fine. And when I had an original iPaq pocketpc, calligrapher from phatware was awesome -- but I haven't found any handwriting recognition on a Linux handheld to get excited about.

The Nokia N800 also has a thumb typing mode where the keyboard takes up almost the whole screen -- it works a bit faster than the regular soft keyboard and pecking with the stylus.

If your wife likes reading books, the N800 is awesome in that respect with FBReader. My wife, for example, finds the Nokia to be better for reading books than the Zaurus (I guess too many buttons on the zaurus).

37

Nokia Tablet / Thinking Of Getting An N800

« on: March 21, 2007, 12:24:28 am »

Here are a few ramblings ...

I have a Nokia N800 and a 3100 (pdaxii3). My conclusion so far is that they are *different.* The Nokia has a better internet experience and the built-in wifi and bluetooth is quite handy. A bluetooth keyboard is also a perfect match. There are also some interesting applications such as maemo-mapper and a vehicle diagnostic program.

However, the Z is so far much more versatile -- consider the near daily compiling of new apps for pdaXrom by the community.

Nokia's hildon framework to me is a bit like qtopia (I know they aren't technologically similar) -- applications have to be customized for each and aren't typically a straight compile -- which is why there is not yet a plethora of apps for the nokia n800.

And while my bluetooth keyboard is great to type on, I need to bring and set up a second device (the keyboard) to do any reasonable typing. You still can't beat having the Z's keyboard. Having extra keys on the Z also comes in handy for the little things like increasing the screen brightness when the sun is blinding and you can't see the screen.

However, the nokia's screen is bigger and 800x480 which is nice.

For media playing, I actually prefer the Zaurus. I haven't had great success with mplayer on the nokia yet. For the internal media player on the nokia, you have to re-encode the videos or for my xvid encoded 320x480 videos, find a FourCC code changer so that the nokia thinks they are divx files. Mplayer on the zaurus is also better on advancing through the movie using the keyboard.

I also prefer xmms for my music too over the nokia's media player.

I am convinced now that you can really get on with just SD cards of which the nokia takes two. There is a kernel update to allow the use of SDHC cards on the N800 which  means that 8GB cards are usable.

The nokia's built in low quality camera and FM radio are gimmicks to me.

Overall, I enjoy the Nokia, but it isn't a Zaurus replacement for me -- this is unfortunate, because I thought of selling my Z and all its paraphernalia. The nokia has a different set of virtues (primarily focused around an always connected device). For me, my use cases tend to favor the Zaurus.

38

Nokia Tablet / Thinking Of Getting An N800

« on: March 14, 2007, 06:43:48 pm »

I don't think there is a real word processor yet for the N800. Abiword was working on the N770, but from what I've read it may not work yet for the N800.

Gnumeric however seems to work fine.

As far as international keyboards, I assume you mean for using a bluetooth keyboard. I don't see an international english option (e.g., with dead keys).  But there are a bunch of international keyboard layouts. Maybe xev and xmodmap would work?

39

Zaurus - pdaXrom / Pdaxii13 Usage

« on: February 15, 2007, 01:29:18 pm »

I think I backed into a 3100 Akita Full. First I followed the 5.2 Alice full instructions by danboid
https://www.oesf.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=22711

Then I decided to reflash with the 3100 Akita Sally image to try to get a more responsive setup. The installer found everything that was already on the microdrive and linked appropriately. On the plus side reboots no longer take 10 min.

-mars

40

Software / Leo: Outliner (running On Cacko Rom?)

« on: January 04, 2007, 11:27:07 pm »

Leo requires python and tkinter as its gui so it won't run natively under Cacko. It needs to run in X.

I seem to remember getting Leo running once in pdaXrom so you could try meanie's pdaxqt under Cacko with python and tkinter as the starting points.

A version of Treeline (python and qt) runs under Cacko -- you'll need to search the forums for the ipk.

41

Zaurus - pdaXrom / Wiki Software

« on: December 07, 2006, 06:04:47 pm »

VoiDeR on Jun 17 2006, 03:02 AM

I have moin installed but i keep getting a config error about the data_dir missing or incorrect permissions.

While this thread is old, I thought I'd add some comments for those who might consider moinmoin and pdaXrom.

First of all, you should know that moinmoin (I use moinmoin desktop) complains if it is run as root. If it is run as root, which is the pdaXrom way, moinmoin expects to run as www-data, therefore you will need to do a useradd for www-data.

Having added the new user, you will next run into permission problems. In my case I needed to change the permissions of the files where moinmoin desktop resided so that moinmoin, running as www-data could access them. This worked great for linux formatted filesystems (e.g., ext2), but didn't work on my vfat usb-stick where I wanted moinmoin to reside.

The only thing I could figure out for my vfat usb-stick was to modify /etc/fstab for /dev/sda1 and add the options uid=500,gid=500 (or whatever your www-data ends up as). Root seems to still be able to access the usb stick fine and moinmoin desktop now seems happy because it owns the directories.

Not being a linux guru, there must be a more eloquent way, but at least it works for me now.

Cheers!
mars

42

Zaurus - pdaXrom / Useful Applications

« on: November 22, 2006, 06:28:34 pm »

Here are a few I use:

* Word Processor: editor + restructured text + docutils + python
* Wiki: moinmoin desktop
* Simple Website Generator: files in restructed text + rest2web

* Editors: vi, leafpad, nedit (tabbed documents)
* Ebooks: FBReader
* Financial: Grisbi
* Simple Flat File DB: Portabase (originally from Sharp ROMs - still very useful)

43

New products and alternatives / New Zaurus Successor?

« on: November 15, 2006, 04:02:47 pm »

. . . needs to offer something more such as a bigger screen, better software compatibility (i.e. x86 based), huge hard drive, etc.

How about a pepperpad then? USB 2.0, 20 GB drive, X86 compatible (geode processor with Fedora Core 4), wifi, bluetooth, 7in 800x480 screen, USD700 on amazon, and *not* pocketable.

44

New products and alternatives / New Zaurus Successor?

« on: November 14, 2006, 06:56:08 pm »

I believe a Nokia 770 tablet with a BT keyboard would meet your requirements quite well, for less than half your upper limit, with the screen resolution of the Kohjinsha and the form factor of a Z.

You know what, based on kopsis' requirements, fpp seems to be right! Dang, I may have to go dust off my770 and take another look.

45

Zaurus - pdaXrom / Pdaxrom.org -- Is Login Now Required?

« on: November 13, 2006, 11:59:28 am »

When going to the pdaxrom.org site, I am now greeted with the following:

Access denied
You are not authorized to access this page.

Is login now required or is something else up?

Edit: Seems to work now.