860 questions - looking for help

[LeoB]

Just recently my Tungsten T3 decided to do a hard reset (static most likely) and I just have had it.  I\'ve been searching for a new PDA, but was real frustrated with a WinCE device a couple years ago and still see colleagues fighting ActiveSync.  In my search I found out about the 860, and I LOVED my old Sharp 5800.  I am really leaning to order one through Dynamism, but there\'s some real basic questions I have that I just cannot find answers for in any forums.  Also, I know squat about Linux, although I\'d love to if I had time (or was home more than three days between trips) to learn.  I\'m hoping that some folks will take pity and shoot me answer or two.

1.  Is the charger supplied with it 110/240v?

2.  Can you move Word docs, pdf\'s, and jpeg\'s from a laptop onto an SD card, plug the SD card in the 860, and read/use them?  And then vice-versa?  Or do you have to some form of conversion?

3.  Is there any form of note-taking you can do on the screen?  I would like to take handwritten notes in meetings and just read them later.

4.  Is there an on-screen tap keyboard in tablet mode?  How do you enter information except via the keyboard?

5.  Any easy support/software to view PowerPoints?  Can you just copy a PowerPoint to an SD card and then open it on the 860?

6.  Does it have a NIC?  How could I log onto a broadband connection from a hotel?

7.  Does it have a modem for dial-up connections?

From what I read on this site, it reminds me of some of the early Zaurus boards on CompuServe that I really enjoyed using.

Thanks in advance
Leo (from Amman this week)

[bb]

1.  Is the charger supplied with it 110/240v?
2.  Can you move Word docs, pdf\'s, and jpeg\'s from a laptop onto an SD card, plug the SD card in the 860, and read/use them?  And then vice-versa?  Or do you have to some form of conversion?
3.  Is there any form of note-taking you can do on the screen?  I would like to take handwritten notes in meetings and just read them later.
4.  Is there an on-screen tap keyboard in tablet mode?  How do you enter information except via the keyboard?
5.  Any easy support/software to view PowerPoints?  Can you just copy a PowerPoint to an SD card and then open it on the 860?
6.  Does it have a NIC?  How could I log onto a broadband connection from a hotel?
7.  Does it have a modem for dial-up connections?

From what I read on this site, it reminds me of some of the early Zaurus boards on CompuServe that I really enjoyed using.
Thanks in advance
Leo (from Amman this week)

1. The charger supplied when you buy it from European dealers should present no problems voltage-wise no matter where you are situated. In most cases you get plug adapters also
2. No conversion necessary - either way
3. Yes
4. Via handwriting recognition, tapping keyboard or the hardware keyboard
5. No you can´t. You´ll need some other software.
6. No builtin NIC. You´ll have to use either a CF Ethernet card or a CF WiFi card
7. No, but you can get a CF modem card

[LeoB]

Great.  I won\'t be getting it from a European dealer -- I\'ll order it from Dynamism who gets them directly from Japan.  From what I understood, they\'re only available with Japanese Kanji software.  If I could get it in French, I wouldn\'t have to have anything converted.

Thanks for taking the time.  Now I\'m off to find the PowerPoint software.

Leo

[baechti]

I just bought a SL-C860 at dynamism.com and it came with a poweradapter only 100V input. After i blowed up the adapter ( i pluged it in anyway) i cut of the cable and used the 5V powesupply from the mainboard of my PC. It was yust temporary untill i had a new poweradapter. But works well that way!!  :-)

[Anonymous]

Thanks!  That\'s what I was afraid of.  Guess I\'ll order the \"world\" adapter with it.

Cheers,
Leo

[bluedevils]

The supplied adaptor worked for me and didn\'t blow up.  I did loose it and finding a replacement was easy.  It basically has the same requirements as some ipaqs

Doesn\'t the default hancom app work with power point?

The cacko qt rom has support for some european character input and is pretty much an english rom.

[2devnull]

Maybe it blew up in a 220V/240V outlet.

[raybert]

Leo, The hancom app suite that comes with the Z has a presentation app that supports powerpoint files (in addition to a word processor that supports word files and a spreadsheet that supports excel files).  I don\'t know how good the presentation app is; I haven\'t really used it.  You can find out more at hancom\'s web site: <http://en.hancom.com/index.html>

Also, the supplied power adapter works fine for me.  It\'s rated at 100 volts input, but I\'ve no problem with 110 in the USA.  It\'s a standard power adapter with 5V DC ouput; any one should work, in case you ever need a replacement.  The supplied one is also very nice for traveling because it\'s very compact and the prongs fold up into the case.

~ray

[zbones]

7. Does it have a modem for dial-up connections?  

Can I also add here, that you can use a bluetooth cf card to connect to a gsm/gprs phone to surf, download emails, connect to office lan etc.

Gprs also seems to work faster than using a standard dialup connection, and you can also take/receive a phone call on the same mobile while using it  

Peter.

[LeoB]

Raybert:

Well, I will frequently be using this outside the U.S. -- so I\'m looking for one that\'s both 110/240v.  I went to the Hancom site but didn\'t notice anything about PowerPoint, so I\'ll try it again.  I\'m not really wanting to create PowerPoints on the 860, just read them.

I\'ll also need to find a CF network card and CF modem soon.

As far as I could tell, there doesn\'t seem to be any aftermarket cases for this, so I guess I\'ll order the Sharp case for it.

Thanks for the responses from everybody.

Leo

[Anonymous]

Peter:

re the CF Modem -- most of the time when I\'ll be using dial-up will be in other countries.  The cost of using my U.S.-based Sony T68 mobile for checking e-mails in the Middle East is prohibitive, especially when I have a local access number in every country (except Iraq, I think).

Thanks,
Leo

[bluedevils]

Hancom Presenter

I went to the Hancom site but didn\'t notice anything about PowerPoint, so I\'ll try it again.

[zbones]

The cost of using my U.S.-based Sony T68 mobile for checking e-mails in the Middle East is prohibitive

Yep I can see that.  It\'s costly enough in the uk with a uk contract and a uk phone.  But it is great to be able to read/respond to emails while on a train.

By the way, although the zaurus can read/write word docs, spreadsheets jpgs etc.  Don\'t expect to be able to do this with big documents.  You can pretty much forget about using it with 100mb + docs/spreadsheets.

Simple stuff works fine though, Spreadsheets work much better if they were written on the Z, then sent to to a PC, not the other way round.

e.g. I have a mileage/petrol/expenses spreadsheet created entirley on the Z.  It was about 4mb.  I loaded it into excel and changed a few things, Saved it out and it had grown to over 30mb!  Not many pda\'s will handle a 30mb spreadsheet, but the zaurus did eventually, after a few mins loading it up.

You can blame Microsoft for this for bloating their software/save files.

OT bit... why are microsoft worried about some of their code appearing on the web?  linux code has always been availible for download, but is infinitely more resistant to being hacked/exploited.  Maybe they are just worried that people will now know how crap their code really is.

Peter

[Anonymous]

PowerPoints.  I\'ve had some luck viewing on the 860 using the ZarusShot software that comes on the CD with the device.  You hook up the Z to the PC\'s USB port.   After installing ZaurusShot you get a printer on your PC called \'zaurus\'.  You open the powerpoint on the PC and print it to the Zaurus.  This will convert the slides to images and download them to the Z and loads them into the ImagePad software where you can view them as a slideshow.  It\'ll lose animations, but I don\'t care about that.   I don\'t know why they don\'t deliver Hancom Presenter with the 860.  Did the software not get converted properly for the 860 or do they think this alternate mode of viewing is better?   There is also the Presentation software on the Z -  I haven\'t figured this out - does it work in conjuction with the Image software to show the high resolution slides on a projector, can you use it to view slide shows too?  I don\'t have the hardware to test the projector, and I am still looking for a translation of the Japanese user manual so I can understand the software.

[raybert]

OT bit... why are microsoft worried about some of their code appearing on the web?  linux code has always been availible for download, but is infinitely more resistant to being hacked/exploited.  Maybe they are just worried that people will now know how crap their code really is.

Yup.  That\'s exactly why.  I work with a dude that used to work at Microsoft (he hates them and couldn\'t wait to get away) and he tells me that their code is awful beyond belief.  I mean, just look at the cause of most of the security holes: buffer overflows!  This is one of the first things you learn to avoid as a programmer and any coder worth his salt has trained him(er)self well to protect against this.  I\'m amazed at how many of these things have been uncovered.  I think it makes a good gauge of what their code looks like.  (i.e. crap)

~ray