So the conclusions thus far:
- good battery life.
well the battery life isn't great but I'm not using zaurus constantly, probably two hours a day without a charger maximum so I can deal with that. If need be I can add a battery pack later but that is an additional cost.
- screen visibility in daylight and night
This seems to be more of a problem. I'd read regarding the sunlight issue, that the Screen Protector for Sharp Zaurus SL-C3200 help reduced this problem.
Any second opinions on this?
It seems to make sense. If it is tinted then I should be able to see the screen in direct light. If things were really bad I could always get a weather writer (
http://www.wetwritesolutions.com/weatherwriter.htm ) and tint the cover so I could get shade from the sun! Or wait and find a shady spot.
- easy to use qwerty keyboard
Yep, the Psion keyboard is great.
Attached is a pic comparing the size of a Psion Series 5 with a Sharp ZQ-2700. The ZQ-2700 has similar dimensions to the Zaurus 3200 (124mm x 87mm x 25mm when main body is closed) but is much thinner.
It's the closest example I have to compare with a Zaurus 3200 so - using these models I compared:
- thumb typing speeds (nearly equal)
- touch typing (psion surpassed sharp)
- typing while standing up and resting the device on the inside of a binder (psion surpassed sharp)
I think however that I could get up to speed with practice. I also expect that the Zaurus 3200 keypad is better than the zQ-2700 so the comparison isn't really fair. The usb idea is good and maybe I could rig up a system to combine the two into mobile unit if necessary, although I'm aware of the potential extra battery drain that might cause. Is that what's called a hardware mod?
- portablity (carried in a case work on the hip)
Zaurus wins purely based on size alone.
- no boot-up time once running
From sleep mode the Zaurus sounds like it's smooth and staable in this regard.
- hardy enough to withstand the dusty conditions of the Australian outdoors.
I don't think any technology really likes the dust or rain, and unless is specifically deigned for this purpose, it's unrealistic to expect it to excel in these conditions. As far as I'm aware there a device that combines the features of the Zaurus with a rugged waterproff-casing and dust-proof-casing.
Regarding the ROM I guess I'll start with the Sharp ROM and the Hancom software, and move from there. Is the procedure of changing ROMs a long process or really simple?
Thanks again for the great advice!
Daryl
