Should I Get A Zaurus?

[mclar22]

Hi

I'm a college student at Louisiana state university, and I've been in school almost an entire year without getting a computer. I've always planned on eventually getting a laptop, but I've had a hard time finding exactly what I want. I want an Ultra-ultraportable laptop and I think I may have found this in the Zaurus. I'll be going to japan this summer and I've begun to seriously consider picking up a Zaurus while I'm there. I want a device that will allow me to check my email, listen to internet radio (BBC), and surf the internet. Will I be able to do this on a Zaurus? I don't care if it's super fast, but I also don't want it to be as slow as the nokia 770 that I got a chance to try at compusa. So how is it's browsing speed? I'm not a big computer person, and I have no idea how to program. Will I have a hard time using a Zaurus? I have looked over the steps needed to convert it to english and it really doesn't look very difficult. Where should I get my Zaurus in Tokyo and will the power adapter work in the US? Please tell me anything else I need to know about buying a Zaurus in Tokyo. One last thing, does the Zaurus ever run warm or let off any strange odors? I hate laptops that run warm.

Thanks,

Matthew

[speculatrix]

yes, you can stream internet radio, listen to mp3s on flash memory cards, surf the net at reasonable speed, use a SIP VOIP phone (but not skype), etc.

you can use bluetooth networking, wifi (802.11b only, with WPA if needed), use a GPRS data card, dialup over bluetooth via 3G or GPRS phone

you can run a web server, compile C/C++, write in java or perl or python or shell scripts

it's largely limitless what you can do, it's really down to the effort you're willing to put in and what will run in the memory space and a VGA screen!

[icruise]

This may not be a very popular response around here, but if you don't already have computer I wouldn't really recommend trying to use the Zaurus as your "laptop." It can certainly take the place of a laptop in many situations, but I personally would never consider choosing the Zaurus instead of an actual computer, especially for someone in school. Plus, you don't sound like you're the most technically minded person in the world (forgive me if I'm wrong), and the Zaurus does require a bit more tweaking than many other PDAs or computers.

You should also consider the fact that you will need to get, at the very minimum, a Wi-Fi card and a memory card of some kind for backups. This can bring the price of the Zaurus well into the range of a low end laptop (if not an ultra portable).

[mclar22]

I'm interested in the Zaurus because I have a feeling that if I get a full fledged laptop I'll find myself spending more time playing games than doing homework. The Zaurus is apealing because it's small, relatively inexpensive, and I don't have to worry about playing games on it. The university I attend has a great number of public computers that I can use if I need to- I just see the Zaurus as a way to get the internet into my room- and therefore reduce the ammount of time I have to spend on public computers.

[rrnwexec]

I'm interested in the Zaurus because I have a feeling that if I get a full fledged laptop I'll find myself spending more time playing games than doing homework. The Zaurus is apealing because it's small, relatively inexpensive, and I don't have to worry about playing games on it. The university I attend has a great number of public computers that I can use if I need to- I just see the Zaurus as a way to get the internet into my room- and therefore reduce the ammount of time I have to spend on public computers.
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=122736\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

It sounds like a big factor in your decision is size. What's the absolute largest size that you can tolerate? If you are willing to go as large as a sub-notebook, then that will open up other options. One of which is getting old(er) equipment from eBay, and then loading a snappy version of Linux on it. I'm doing something similar... I have the Zaurus for when I am truly mobile (walking, waiting for buses etc), and a sub-notebook for when I am more stationary (e.g. cafes, library, room). If you are primarily going to use the machine in your room, with only occasional true mobility, then a sub-notebook may be a better choice.

Cheers,
Randall.

[Cresho]

I'm interested in the Zaurus because I have a feeling that if I get a full fledged laptop I'll find myself spending more time playing games than doing homework. The Zaurus is apealing because it's small, relatively inexpensive, and I don't have to worry about playing games on it. The university I attend has a great number of public computers that I can use if I need to- I just see the Zaurus as a way to get the internet into my room- and therefore reduce the ammount of time I have to spend on public computers.
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=122736\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

wrong...you have tons of games and turbografx, snes nes emulator.

[PaulBx1]

I'd say it depends on what you want to get done with it. It is fussy to set up, X applications are ridiculously slow, and you'd better have good eyes to read the websites you surf to (or put up with magnifying and scrolling). On the other hand, it is something you can have no matter where you go, no small thing.

The 100v adapter works in the US, although a few people might dispute that. But it appears to be settled. The English conversion I don't know about, mine was already done. It does not run warm that I can tell, and (without the hard drive or keeping the internet connection going, so I hear), the battery lasts very long.

Right now mine is sitting on the shelf, because I grew frustrated with trying to get it to do what I want it to (run a spreadsheet). But I'll probably take a crack at it again in a while. Bottom line, if you have to depend on it for time-critical work, don't. The investment of time to get it set up is substantial, unless perhaps you are a true linux guru.

[brashley46]

I'd have to agree with the majority of replies thus far ... the Z, even the latest models, is not really a replacement for a PC, whether desktop or laptop. It is a useful adjunct, lots more useful than a conventional PDA. The keyboard, the memory, the choices of operating systems, are all plusses; it can be a little awkward to use in some settings, however, especially with a CF wifi card sticking out the right side of the keyboard!
 
Its surfing speed depends on the speed of the connection. 802.11b connectivity is up to 11 Mbps, as fast as any normal Ethernet connection. The clamshell Zs all have ~400 MHz processors, faster than my old Dell desktop.

[freizugheit]

Zaurus cannot replace your laptop.   Using it as PDA is too costly.  You might want to think of using it as your reference machine, whereby you can store your html docs and personal data on the move.  

Of course, MP3 player is one of the most important feature you need in Zauraus.  Unlike iPod, you can swap your CF or SD with MP3 songs at ease.  You also can view mpeg coded movies in high capacity CF drive.

We might want to consider to partitoin  the discontinued Apple G4 Powerbook (12" LCD) into two drive, one is running Mac OS X and the other Linux.  This might address your interest in Linux and make full use of Mac OS X for your study. To me, this way is the best cost effective for student.

Ideally, I hope that Apple will introduce smaller LCD MacBook in due course.  With that, one can have 3 OSes, namely Mac OS X, Linux and Windows,  installled.  By then, you should limitless application for such a machine.

[iamasmith]

..... listen to internet radio (BBC)....
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=122718\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

If you are talking about radio.bbc.co.uk then you may want to note that the streams offered by the BBC are Real Player format and unless you can work out how to download them and play them using mplayer or transcode them in some way this isn't going to be a simple task.

-Andy

[icruise]

Of course, MP3 player is one of the most important feature you need in Zauraus.  Unlike iPod, you can swap your CF or SD with MP3 songs at ease.  You also can view mpeg coded movies in high capacity CF drive.

I don't mean to derail the discussion, but this is a pretty bizarre criticism of the iPod. I think most people would consider having all of your music in one place (on a 30-60GB hard disk) to be much more convenient than using CF or SD cards (and ultimately more cost effective as well, if you buy a lot of memory cards).

[iamasmith]

Of course, MP3 player is one of the most important feature you need in Zauraus.  Unlike iPod, you can swap your CF or SD with MP3 songs at ease.  You also can view mpeg coded movies in high capacity CF drive.

I don't mean to derail the discussion, but this is a pretty bizarre criticism of the iPod. I think most people would consider having all of your music in one place (on a 30-60GB hard disk) to be much more convenient than using CF or SD cards (and ultimately more cost effective as well, if you buy a lot of memory cards).
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=122783\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

Yes and the video quality is actually pretty good off the new 5G iPods... I just bought one and love it

-Andy

[bam]

[span style=\'font-size:30pt;line-height:100%\']YES![/span]

any other questions answered free of charge. Best thing is you have this AWESOME community here!

[speculatrix]

I'd say it depends on what you want to get done with it. It is fussy to set up.... Bottom line, if you have to depend on it for time-critical work, don't. The investment of time to get it set up is substantial, unless perhaps you are a true linux guru.
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=122760\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

hmm. maybe I'm a guru  

hmm. yes, actually, I've also spent a LOT of time experimenting with my Z - perhaps a third of the time setting things up and trying them out, a third using it, and maybe a third (if that) actually writing software for/on it. however, being a sysadmin/programmer/netadmin I consider a lot of that as an investment in my personal development.

[zeigerpuppy]

I use my Zaurus 3100 for daily organisation, reference and typing documents.  It is far more usable than any other PDA and I think it makes a good replacement for a laptop.

It is not blindingly fast, but I think it is better than a laptop for 2 reasons:
- size... try putting a laptop in your pocket!
- battery life - I get two days of use of a charge

I use a 3g phone and a bluetooth card to access the web and even in Australia, I can get about 35kB/sec.  I also have a wifi card for home.
There are some things that are just unique about the zaurus, the keyboard is very usable and you can run just about any program if you tweak a little.  For instance, I run an html indexing program called htdig and the apache web server so that I can search my local html files.

A bit of linux knowledge is a plus, but with such a great community and prepared installations/roms it's not too hard to get going with it.
Also, it integrates well with your desktop OS and the web browsing is quite usable, especially with custom designed browsers like opera.