New Guy Help

[JAmerican]

Hey guys, I'm currently a user @ 1src.com and currently use a Sony CLIE UX50. Being that the device is approaching year 3 of its existance and I'm looking for a laptop replacement for college, the only device that meets my needs hardware-wise are the Zauruses. But I don't know if I should switch due to I don't use Linux. I don't know Linux commands and I don't have a Linux PC. I also worry about Wireless due to I want WiFi and BT but built-in. I may just get this instead of a laptop for school.  Then get a mini PC for my dorm room. That way I type up on the Zaurus and sync up to transfer data . What you guys think. Nice combo. Plus its cheaper. I personally have come to hate laptops due to their overpriced, underfeatured nature I can get a GREAT custom-built desktop PC for ~$1000 while I can get an entry level laptop for the same price. Also, if a laptop breaks or drops, you have to send it in to fix it unlike a desktop which you can fix on your own. Lego and others, does the Zaurus feel like the full-fledged laptop? Tell me the applications in which you use to do the following on a SL-C1000...

Videos (Streaming & what filetypes), Music (Streaming & what filetypes), Picture viewing, PIMs, Web Browsing, Documenting/Editing (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF viewing), Wireless/BT/Ethernet Options, Emulation (Games, SNES Emulators), Utilities that make using the Zaurus much more worth while, Overclocking?, Keyboard Backlighting?, AIM?, Gmail?

Before Lego you said video viewing on the Zaurus was not that great. Tell me, why do you say that. Could you record a 30fps playing on your Zaurus and post it at Google Video?

Thanks guys. I may switch to a Zaurus due to the stability and much more usable keyboard. Also, its much cheaper than a laptop.

The more I think about it, the more I want it.

Thanks for your help. Jon_J and Legodude referred me here.

JAmerican

[Jon_J]

Welcome aboard,
I just added a new reply to your post at 1src
I tried to answer your questions in the previous post as fully as I can.
EDIT: copied post from 1src:
-------------------------
I'll tell you what I know.
1. Videos - (Streaming & what filetypes) I don't know about streaming, there is a post about it at OESF. Cacko ROM is your best bet because the kino2 frontend for mplayer plays most video formats. Cacko ROM has an optimized library with a newer kernel, that is supposed to improve movie playback. I haven't encoded any videos yet for 640x480. And your'e best to encode at 640x480, because smaller size videos are said to use extra processing to scale up to 640x480.
2. Music - (Streaming & what filetypes) Again, I don't know about streaming. There is a default music player that plays mp3, wav, (and ogg if you get library).
3. Picture viewing - There are a number of apps for viewing, & editing images. If you want all the image formats, you'll have to get several packages/programs. (most all free of course).
4. PIMs - I don't use them. Default Sharp ROM & Cacko ROM have address, todo, & calendar. Be forewarned though, synching can be difficult, but is possible.
5. Web Browsing - Again, Cacko ROM, I don't know about Sharp ROM. Netfront 3.1 & Opera 7.25
I don't surf on my 'Z', but most seem to prefer Opera. I use Netfront for reading offline saved pages from my desktop box.
pdaXrom includes Firefox, if you decide to use this ROM. pdaXrom is more like a full linux desktop.
6. (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF viewing) - I mentioned what I know above in my last post. (At 1src) I have never used DocsToGo on my Zire 72, so I cannot compare it to Hancom word or sheet.
7. Wireless/BT/Ethernet Options - CF cards, both WIFI & Bluetooth cards. there are numerous cards that work. Make sure to read the forums and find the "Compatable" list before purchasing a CF or BT card.
Ethernet, not sure, but I have read that it's pretty much plug&play with correct card, serial cable, or usb to serial cable.
8. Emulation (Games, SNES Emulators) - there are several of these, and there is a new PSP emulator in the works. I've tried the following. NES, SNES, Turbografx. All seem to work with their own quirks, setup issues. Need to learn keyboard controls, or get a compatable joystick to plugin to USB host.
9. Utilities that make using the Zaurus much more worth while - Many, that's up to you. there are lots of utilities, filemanagers, ect. Cacko ROM comes with a slew of utilities.
10. Overclocking - Again Cacko with newer kernel. battery applet has 3 high and 3 lower overclocking features. I've not used them, but are said to be stable and people seem happy with these settings.
-------------------------------------------
I hope this answers some of your questions,
Jon

Jon

[JAmerican]

Welcome aboard,
I just added a new reply to your post at 1src
I tried to answer your questions in the previous post as fully as I can.
EDIT: copied post from 1src:
-------------------------
I'll tell you what I know.
1. Videos - (Streaming & what filetypes) I don't know about streaming, there is a post about it at OESF. Cacko ROM is your best bet because the kino2 frontend for mplayer plays most video formats. Cacko ROM has an optimized library with a newer kernel, that is supposed to improve movie playback. I haven't encoded any videos yet for 640x480. And your'e best to encode at 640x480, because smaller size videos are said to use extra processing to scale up to 640x480.
2. Music - (Streaming & what filetypes) Again, I don't know about streaming. There is a default music player that plays mp3, wav, (and ogg if you get library).
3. Picture viewing - There are a number of apps for viewing, & editing images. If you want all the image formats, you'll have to get several packages/programs. (most all free of course).
4. PIMs - I don't use them. Default Sharp ROM & Cacko ROM have address, todo, & calendar. Be forewarned though, synching can be difficult, but is possible.
5. Web Browsing - Again, Cacko ROM, I don't know about Sharp ROM. Netfront 3.1 & Opera 7.25
I don't surf on my 'Z', but most seem to prefer Opera. I use Netfront for reading offline saved pages from my desktop box.
pdaXrom includes Firefox, if you decide to use this ROM. pdaXrom is more like a full linux desktop.
6. (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF viewing) - I mentioned what I know above in my last post. (At 1src) I have never used DocsToGo on my Zire 72, so I cannot compare it to Hancom word or sheet.
7. Wireless/BT/Ethernet Options - CF cards, both WIFI & Bluetooth cards. there are numerous cards that work. Make sure to read the forums and find the "Compatable" list before purchasing a CF or BT card.
Ethernet, not sure, but I have read that it's pretty much plug&play with correct card, serial cable, or usb to serial cable.
8. Emulation (Games, SNES Emulators) - there are several of these, and there is a new PSP emulator in the works. I've tried the following. NES, SNES, Turbografx. All seem to work with their own quirks, setup issues. Need to learn keyboard controls, or get a compatable joystick to plugin to USB host.
9. Utilities that make using the Zaurus much more worth while - Many, that's up to you. there are lots of utilities, filemanagers, ect. Cacko ROM comes with a slew of utilities.
10. Overclocking - Again Cacko with newer kernel. battery applet has 3 high and 3 lower overclocking features. I've not used them, but are said to be stable and people seem happy with these settings.
-------------------------------------------
I hope this answers some of your questions,
Jon

Jon
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Thanks  and Thanks for your reply. I'm going to try and get a SL-C1000. I can't believe how long it took me to realize that the successor to my UX would be a Zaurus.

[bluedevils]

Cheap laptops go for as low as $600 which is comparable to a 3100.  Would that still allow you to get that mini pc?

You will get more functionality out of the laptop and higher resolution.  The laptop however will probably have less battery life and alot less portability.

The zaurus is a capable machine (much more than the clie), but it still is limited.  Being linux will also limit you as well.  Linux will not be %100 compatible with windows.  If you want the Z for jotting notes, organizing your time and light office duties, then it is a better machine.  For anything more, the laptop will provide more functionality with less hassles in a classroom or lecture hall.

[adf]

and I should mention rom options:
I don't really know how OPenZaurus is doing, took a quick look at gpe on my 6000 (oz3.5.3) It is quite nice and has media software.

Pdsaxrom plays videos ok, can use the mplayer from the cacko feed, if you like, and can use pymp as a front end.
Audio is up to date with xmms and beep
Office software is better in X (on the Z) than in qt.
in pdaxrom you have the very nice word processor Abiword, and the gnumeric spreadsheet. open office runs as well using meanie's cramfs image
for web browsing there is Firefox, dillo, minimo and links. a bbetter selection of browsers than exist for qt desktops-- though I like netfront and opera firefox is considerably more powerful.


I'm not saying "use this rom and not that one," but it migyt be good to know more about your options before buying.

if you plan to use the device to write papers in a coffee shop, you can, but you might be happier with a small laptop.  if it is to be a pocket media device, you might be happpier with an archos or a video ipod. if it is just a pocket web browser, the nokia 770 is better priced.

The Z won't be as good at any of the things specialized devices do as the specialized devices. And it isn't as good at being a laptop as a laptop.  It will, however, do the "jack of all trades master of none" thing very well (welll it might be a master warwalker)..  If this sounds like what you want, buy one.

[JAmerican]

and I should mention rom options:
I don't really know how OPenZaurus is doing, took a quick look at gpe on my 6000 (oz3.5.3) It is quite nice and has media software.

Pdsaxrom plays videos ok, can use the mplayer from the cacko feed, if you like, and can use pymp as a front end.
Audio is up to date with xmms and beep
Office software is better in X (on the Z) than in qt.
in pdaxrom you have the very nice word processor Abiword, and the gnumeric spreadsheet. open office runs as well using meanie's cramfs image
for web browsing there is Firefox, dillo, minimo and links. a bbetter selection of browsers than exist for qt desktops-- though I like netfront and opera firefox is considerably more powerful.


I'm not saying "use this rom and not that one," but it migyt be good to know more about your options before buying.

if you plan to use the device to write papers in a coffee shop, you can, but you might be happier with a small laptop.  if it is to be a pocket media device, you might be happpier with an archos or a video ipod. if it is just a pocket web browser, the nokia 770 is better priced.

The Z won't be as good at any of the things specialized devices do as the specialized devices. And it isn't as good at being a laptop as a laptop.  It will, however, do the "jack of all trades master of none" thing very well (welll it might be a master warwalker)..  If this sounds like what you want, buy one.
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Thanks for the information. I notice you guys refer to ROMs a lot and I understand (thanks to Lego) that these devices can be reflashed. Why can't you just install apps from other ROMs. Why must you reflash? Also, I'm a person that doesn't like a device specialized for one purpose but a device that does everything in a small package but yet is usable. Like the Handcom Work and Sheet applications look just like the WinCE versions as well as the MS Office 2000 version with the icons and such. My CLIE did not have that. I also hate laptops due to their bulkyness and overpriced, underfeatured nature. If I get a $600 laptop, I doubt that I would like it very much. Compared to a $300~$400 C1000 which I can attach a USB keyboard to and type up papers. The 3.7" screen is just amazing. I write papers on my UX's tiny screen so the screen should be enough. Also, I will be bringing my PC to school so I can sync up my Linux. I don't sync daily so if there is syncing issues, I couldn't care less. I synced probably like 20 times the most with my CLIE and I had my UX for 2 years. I do data-transfers via memory stick or BT. The Zauruses ability to take in memory via USB host is amazing or add devices is amazing. The 416MHz processor is also amazing. The screen is amazing.

BTW, does the Handcom soft have ABC Spell check? I also don't have a lot of money and feel that the PDA/PC combination is way cheaper than a new laptop. For then I end up with two PCs instead of one. Which I would really dislike. I'm a person that can't stand to have like 50 PDAs around due to it devalues the current PDA I own. If I had 50 PDAs that were old or not-functioning, thats different. But to have a Zaurus, CLIE, PPC, Laptop, Desktop etc. It would be too much for me. I currently have a UX and that only.  I have UX parts but they are not functioning.

Anyway, thanks for your interest and concern.

Also, is there any way to decrease lag on the Z? My UX's rotation and app load times are much faster (less than 1 second). Any specific rom thats the fastest?

JAmerican

[xotica]

Hi JAmerican,

I am also a past ux50 user who switched to the zaurus without any knowledge of linux.  The two devices are certainly different beasts!  It took me a while to learn the ropes but in the end I think it was worth it.  (Still miss the camera and wifi though.)

Anywho, as for the lag, the zaurus is significantly slower at loading apps and switching processes than the clie.  You will get used to this eventually.  If you want to make applications boot up quicker hold down the icon of the app and click the fast load.  For the hand com spell check I am not sure if there is any.  With the zaurus you can run full desktop word processors that definately have spell check however.  

The best places for information are meanies site and this forum.

Lastly, some things that I would probably look in to are: cacko rom, tetsus kernel upgrade, opera net browser, meanies cram packages, mplayer, and ka/pi pim just to name a few.  Also if you want to use your zaurus for music, the rh2 remote is a must!

aight lates,

Allen

[JAmerican]

Hi JAmerican,

I am also a past ux50 user who switched to the zaurus without any knowledge of linux.  The two devices are certainly different beasts!  It took me a while to learn the ropes but in the end I think it was worth it.  (Still miss the camera and wifi though.)

Anywho, as for the lag, the zaurus is significantly slower at loading apps and switching processes than the clie.  You will get used to this eventually.  If you want to make applications boot up quicker hold down the icon of the app and click the fast load.  For the hand com spell check I am not sure if there is any.  With the zaurus you can run full desktop word processors that definately have spell check however. 

The best places for information are meanies site and this forum.

Lastly, some things that I would probably look in to are: cacko rom, tetsus kernel upgrade, opera net browser, meanies cram packages, mplayer, and ka/pi pim just to name a few.  Also if you want to use your zaurus for music, the rh2 remote is a must!

aight lates,

Allen
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Thanks for your response. I didn't know you could actually install desktop apps on your PDA. That's amazing. I also learned that you can add DVD players to your PDA as well.

I wrote this article. Check it out and tell me what you think. Its from a Palm OS/CLIE user perspective.

[a href=\"http://www.jamerican.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=57]http://www.jamerican.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=57[/url]

JAmerican

[adf]

Read your article.  I agree, but then I already have a Z.


Stuff you didn't mention (That I noticed anyway)  
you can compile on a Z
The z can do some very cool network stuff (being linux and alll)
The Z is a great device to learmn more about linux (though the whole "learn" concept can   scare people and might be best left unmentioned)  

[JAmerican]

Read your article.  I agree, but then I already have a Z.


Stuff you didn't mention (That I noticed anyway) 
you can compile on a Z
The z can do some very cool network stuff (being linux and alll)
The Z is a great device to learmn more about linux (though the whole "learn" concept can   scare people and might be best left unmentioned) 
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The whole learning curve is something I really want to venture into because I want to become a computer programmer and knowing something about background processes and other stuff through Linux can help me tremendously (I would think). I also knew about compiling but forgot about it when I wrote the article.

Do you think that it is a viable laptop replacement. I heard that you can't view native PowerPoints. Is this true?? I know that Picsel can but the soft for that is expensive. Any alternatives? What about the SDIO being in the SL-CXXXX models but need drivers? Also, how dangerous is it to mess with your ROM on this thing? It looks like a natural thing when I read you guys posts. Thanks

JAmerican

[cmonex]

just my humble (but long) opinion..

JAmerican:

looks like you'd be happy with the zaurus if you need the ux50's functionality and no more, but in a small package. if you don't mind a little bigger pda, you can check out hpc's (handheld pc, windows ce) too.
but if you need this size, then the zaurus is the only worthwhile successor to your ux50! (or maybe the htc universal? wow that one isn't cheap. runs WM5 - not too good)
you certainly should try cacko first, and if you really want to mess with stuff and have PC software, and don't mind it being slower, get pdaxrom.
but cacko for me (another linux & zaurus newbie) is good enough. i got basically everything to work i really do need. (the x/qt still needs the keyboard remap but that will be sorted out too.)
i was hesitating if i should use pdaxrom, but now i no longer want to (but still want to try it out!  and will once, later)
so, what i use my zaurus for is quite similar to your needs, though i need a little less. (in your listing order) pic viewing, pim, browsing, office (hmm havent looked into powerpoint yet though - not sure if you can view them natively. would be important for me too), network (wlan, bt, lan), and some utilities... cacko already has a lot of them by default.. other than that i use irc / IM too.. ebooks (even prc works!).
i don't need the multimedia and games, so no experience on that..
all in all it is the size / style of the zaurus that should make you buy (or not buy) one  the software isn't worse than with other pda's etc.!

now trying to answer some of your more basic questions (i've had the zaurus for a couple of weeks only)

fastest ROM is cacko (others are slower or not well supported). it is easy to reflash, it is no big deal really. just like a win reinstall lol. but much faster. by default you can't install apps for cacko from pdaxrom, the gui is different or whatever. but you can "emulate" x (pdaxrom uses it, so it is a little like emulating pdaxrom) by using x/qt. you can then run abiword, firefox, xchat, xpdf, openoffice, anything. but it will be slower especially the startup. i think abiword & xchat are usable, xpdf was too slow for me but i found a better version of qpdf2 which is as good as xpdf! didn't try firefox (i'm not patient enough)...
as for the learning curve, it's there if you've never used the console before.  otherwise cacko is very easy. lol about learning linux.. well it is good for that too b/c you're forced to learn... hehe. i wanted to learn linux earlier on a PC but never got around to it (also got to hate console trying to get a cf card recognized in a card reader under knoppix).


adf,

ok pdaxrom sounds nice with your description.. my only problem is the bloatedness. for example, word processing.. 90% of the time i need only hancom word  it's faster than those bloated packages... then what about a spreadsheet...
but i do have x/qt on my zaurus. just to have abiword (and maybe xchat, lol). same as on my HPC with textmaker. it is so much better to know i can open everything!
so that shows the usefulness of x / pdaxrom
but, i totally disagree about the browsers. i want a faster browsing experience than firefox... (it's slow even on my PC!) and NF and opera are amazingly fast hehe.
i dunno why the nokia 770 would be better at web browsing though. it has opera 8. honestly, if it had IE 6.0 then i'd believe it's better. (did you try a 770? if you did then sorry if i'm wrong!  )

xotica, sure the zaurus is slower with loading apps and switching between them than the palm. it does proper multitasking! unlike the palm... ok still doesnt explain all the lag, windows CE is multitasking too and it's faster. (hey nothing bad, 2 secs is OK. and this linux is stable really)

[JAmerican]

just my humble (but long) opinion..

JAmerican:

looks like you'd be happy with the zaurus if you need the ux50's functionality and no more, but in a small package. if you don't mind a little bigger pda, you can check out hpc's (handheld pc, windows ce) too.
but if you need this size, then the zaurus is the only worthwhile successor to your ux50! (or maybe the htc universal? wow that one isn't cheap. runs WM5 - not too good)
you certainly should try cacko first, and if you really want to mess with stuff and have PC software, and don't mind it being slower, get pdaxrom.
but cacko for me (another linux & zaurus newbie) is good enough. i got basically everything to work i really do need. (the x/qt still needs the keyboard remap but that will be sorted out too.)
i was hesitating if i should use pdaxrom, but now i no longer want to (but still want to try it out!  and will once, later)
so, what i use my zaurus for is quite similar to your needs, though i need a little less. (in your listing order) pic viewing, pim, browsing, office (hmm havent looked into powerpoint yet though - not sure if you can view them natively. would be important for me too), network (wlan, bt, lan), and some utilities... cacko already has a lot of them by default.. other than that i use irc / IM too.. ebooks (even prc works!).
i don't need the multimedia and games, so no experience on that..
all in all it is the size / style of the zaurus that should make you buy (or not buy) one  the software isn't worse than with other pda's etc.!

now trying to answer some of your more basic questions (i've had the zaurus for a couple of weeks only)

fastest ROM is cacko (others are slower or not well supported). it is easy to reflash, it is no big deal really. just like a win reinstall lol. but much faster. by default you can't install apps for cacko from pdaxrom, the gui is different or whatever. but you can "emulate" x (pdaxrom uses it, so it is a little like emulating pdaxrom) by using x/qt. you can then run abiword, firefox, xchat, xpdf, openoffice, anything. but it will be slower especially the startup. i think abiword & xchat are usable, xpdf was too slow for me but i found a better version of qpdf2 which is as good as xpdf! didn't try firefox (i'm not patient enough)...
as for the learning curve, it's there if you've never used the console before.  otherwise cacko is very easy. lol about learning linux.. well it is good for that too b/c you're forced to learn... hehe. i wanted to learn linux earlier on a PC but never got around to it (also got to hate console trying to get a cf card recognized in a card reader under knoppix).


adf,

ok pdaxrom sounds nice with your description.. my only problem is the bloatedness. for example, word processing.. 90% of the time i need only hancom word  it's faster than those bloated packages... then what about a spreadsheet...
but i do have x/qt on my zaurus. just to have abiword (and maybe xchat, lol). same as on my HPC with textmaker. it is so much better to know i can open everything!
so that shows the usefulness of x / pdaxrom
but, i totally disagree about the browsers. i want a faster browsing experience than firefox... (it's slow even on my PC!) and NF and opera are amazingly fast hehe.
i dunno why the nokia 770 would be better at web browsing though. it has opera 8. honestly, if it had IE 6.0 then i'd believe it's better. (did you try a 770? if you did then sorry if i'm wrong!  )

xotica, sure the zaurus is slower with loading apps and switching between them than the palm. it does proper multitasking! unlike the palm... ok still doesnt explain all the lag, windows CE is multitasking too and it's faster. (hey nothing bad, 2 secs is OK. and this linux is stable really)
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Wow, thanks for the long post . Helped me out a lot. I still have to find out if there is anyway to get a PPT to open natively on the Zaurus. Thanks for commenting on the browsers. I've used Netfront on my CLIE and liked it very much.

Thanks for straighting out which ROM is the fastest and letting me know that ROM switching was like reinstalling Win. That's comforting to know. . I'm currently thinking about the SL-C1000, SL-C3100 and SL-C3200. I want to get one of the HDD ones due to Wireless in the CF slot and 1GB limit on SD.

I've never tried a Nokia or any PDAs other than the Treo 90, Sidekick and UX respectively. I've always been about upgrading my PDA to the next best thing. May in the Palm area kept trying to convince me that the non-keyboard PDAs offered by Palm were great and I just could not come to accept them so I want to jump out. I've used Knoppix before but never did any real Konsole-type stuff with it.

It will be some time before I actually get mine due to its going to be my graduation gift. So I have to wait 3 months to get it (just like when I was waiting for my parents to purchase my UX). Its going to be painful but I hope I get it sooner than later. I'll try to convince them.

BTW, is there any way to connect a Zaurus to a PC as a mass storage drive without installing drivers on Windows 2000 or XP machines? Mac OSX?

JAmerican

[Meanie]

Well, let me set a few things straight. Cacko/Sharp ROM is not faster than pdaXrom. Some of the apps load faster due to them being already opened and just sitting in the background. pdaXrom is actually faster and has real multitasking capabilities and the window switching using virtual windows as well as app switching is much faster.

Afaik, there is no native ppt viewer on the Zaurus except for openoffice which is very slow to load, you would need to convert your presos to pdf or slideshows.

NetFront does an great job on Cacko/Sharp and its pretty fast and renders pretty well. Firefox is a bit slower to load on the Z but is more powerful and works just like on the PC. You could always use Dillo as your browser in pdaXrom which is really fast, even faster than NetFront, but it doesn't render everypage correctly but then there is  FireFox or Minimo aka mini mozilla.  And Internet Exploder is a piece of crap. It may be a little faster to load but it also gets you infected with virii much faster too. Spamware and trojans love IE cause its so easy to load malware onto your machine using it.

The Zaurus is detected as a Mass Storage device and does not need drivers on XP, older Windows version may require drivers. The USB drivers people talk about is to enable the advanced USB networking between the PC and the Zaurus to allow a  TCP/IP bridge between the two.

As for chosing the correct ROM/distro for you, you really need to try them yourself to make up your mind. It really depends on what features you like. Each distro has their own strengths and weaknesses. The Sharp/Cacko ROM behaves much more like a PDA with lightweight apps and good if you just need to use one app at a time. Switching between apps is possible but a bit clumsy if you are used to multitasking, ie with multiple desktops, virtual windows, cascading and stacking up your apps, etc.. pdaXrom can do that for you. pdaXrom makes many of the desktop linux applications available for you to use. the keyboard handling of both distros are quite powerful but not well documented. once you figure them out, you can do almost everything with the keyboard  without requiring the stylus, but of course the stylus is also a great tool.

Furthermore, if you want to learn programming on the Zaurus, the onboard gcc compiler on pdaXrom is newer and better than the one available for Cacko/Sharp. pdaXrom also comes with Python. Perl is available on both distros as well. There is also a port of Java available which is way faster on pdaXrom if you want to run the full java, otherwise, Sharp/Cacko have a shrunk down version for mobile devices so you can run stuff that runs on mobiles too.

[JAmerican]

Well, let me set a few things straight. Cacko/Sharp ROM is not faster than pdaXrom. Some of the apps load faster due to them being already opened and just sitting in the background. pdaXrom is actually faster and has real multitasking capabilities and the window switching using virtual windows as well as app switching is much faster.

Afaik, there is no native ppt viewer on the Zaurus except for openoffice which is very slow to load, you would need to convert your presos to pdf or slideshows.

NetFront does an great job on Cacko/Sharp and its pretty fast and renders pretty well. Firefox is a bit slower to load on the Z but is more powerful and works just like on the PC. You could always use Dillo as your browser in pdaXrom which is really fast, even faster than NetFront, but it doesn't render everypage correctly but then there is  FireFox or Minimo aka mini mozilla.  And Internet Exploder is a piece of crap. It may be a little faster to load but it also gets you infected with virii much faster too. Spamware and trojans love IE cause its so easy to load malware onto your machine using it.

The Zaurus is detected as a Mass Storage device and does not need drivers on XP, older Windows version may require drivers. The USB drivers people talk about is to enable the advanced USB networking between the PC and the Zaurus to allow a  TCP/IP bridge between the two.

As for chosing the correct ROM/distro for you, you really need to try them yourself to make up your mind. It really depends on what features you like. Each distro has their own strengths and weaknesses. The Sharp/Cacko ROM behaves much more like a PDA with lightweight apps and good if you just need to use one app at a time. Switching between apps is possible but a bit clumsy if you are used to multitasking, ie with multiple desktops, virtual windows, cascading and stacking up your apps, etc.. pdaXrom can do that for you. pdaXrom makes many of the desktop linux applications available for you to use. the keyboard handling of both distros are quite powerful but not well documented. once you figure them out, you can do almost everything with the keyboard  without requiring the stylus, but of course the stylus is also a great tool.

Furthermore, if you want to learn programming on the Zaurus, the onboard gcc compiler on pdaXrom is newer and better than the one available for Cacko/Sharp. pdaXrom also comes with Python. Perl is available on both distros as well. There is also a port of Java available which is way faster on pdaXrom if you want to run the full java, otherwise, Sharp/Cacko have a shrunk down version for mobile devices so you can run stuff that runs on mobiles too.
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Thanks Meanie. I've seen your site and its one of the reasons I considered the Zaurus. I've very much like to use the pdaXrom as well as Cacko to see the differences. I had Picsel viewer on my UX and that is what I used to to view Powerpoints. I noticed its available for Zaurus as well but really expensive. Does Picsel offer PPT suppot like it did on my UX? I also program a little in Java and mostly in VB.net. I noticed a .net framework ported to the Z on a software index for the Zaurus. But its for C#, has anyone tried it. I believe its called Mono. I don't know C# and was wondering if there were any other languages like legendary VB or VB.net that I could program for Linux?

I'm lso queryinng between getting the no HDD SL-C1000 or SL-C3100  or SL-C3200. Do you think I'd be taking a risk by jumping to the new SL-C3200?

JAmerican

[Meanie]

I don't have Picsel browser due to the fact that it is tied to a specific SD card which sux because that would mean I need to switch SD cards all the time since mine is more or less attached to the Z permanently. I believe it may support ppt but you probably want to check with someone who has it. I do run out of space all the time, so I suggest you get the one Zaurus with as much space as you can get, ie the newest Z with 6GB HDD since you intend to use it as a laptop replacement, and well, nowadays, laptops have about a hundred gig HDD so the more the better.
One thing to note is that you probably will not be able to do your college programming assignments on the Z. Programming courses usually tend to require a specific version of an IDE/compiler to work with their supplied samples. The version that the Zaurus has is most likely to be different so you definately need a PC as well. You will need to do most of your assignments on the PC, but be able to take notes and have your schedules/timetables on the Z and even record the lectures with your Z if you get a mic and of course have space for the recording. I wouldn't bet the Mono version available for the Z would be a bit dated and not be compatable with the latest and greatest. VB is traditionally a windows only language and no matter what MS is trying to tell you, you will eventually need to learn c sharp one way or the other in order to do dot net programming. even though vb dot net will allow you to retain the vb syntax, the programming paradigm and object constructs you would need to learn and use will be based on c sharp anyway and you will be using using c sharp libraries as well for most functions. The beauty of the dot net framework however is that it allows you to virtually use c sharp without knowing c and continue to use the language syntax of your preferred language with which you are already familiar with and gives you that fuzzy feeling that you are merely learning extra features to the language you are already familar with instead of learning a new language that just looks very similar to the one you already knew. Anyway, you will be better off to stick with a windows desktop for the  dot net framework of things, support for it on linux known as mono is not as comprehensive and very experimental, so don't expect too much from the Zaurus version since it will be even more limited. You will notice that a lot of people with linux program in either c, php, perl and python. linux supports these languages pretty well and those programs also port much easier to other platforms as well.