What Do You Guys Do With A Zaurus?

[teh.sean]

I'm slow. I just found out about these not too long ago. I'm trying to decide between a 3100 or a 3200. I want to try out a few linux flavors (and maybe OpenBSD), use it for offsite monitoring of my home network, and some light emulation.

So I pose the question to you guys, 'What do you do primarily with your Zaurus?'

[matthis]

- Listen to music and watch movies in the train.
- Note appointments/schedule
- Use dictionaries for translation.
- Play gameboy advance games.
- Check e-mail.

(using Sharp rom)

[Capn_Fish]

-Web browsing
-E-Mail
-Programming
-Games
-Wireless sniffing
-OS tinkering

Probably more that I'm forgetting...

PS- The C3100 and the C3200 are the SAME (just the C3200 has 2GB more in the HDD). Get whichever is cheaper

[zogs]

- pentesting
- c programming
- perl programming
- shell script programming
- php+mysql for web server programming
- mass storage
- for watch movie (if I have one)
- for listen music

(now with pdaxrom b3 because is the best)

OpenBSD is very cool (real OS in your zaurus) but very slow when compiling from ports or from source.
For me OpenBSD is the best if :
- have more packages precompiled
- have mass storage function for one hd fat32 formated (like cacko, pdaxrom, angstrom, etc)
and other stuff for using like a pda.

[teh.sean]

OpenBSD is very cool (real OS in your zaurus) but very slow when compiling from ports or from source.
For me OpenBSD is the best if :
- have more packages precompiled
- have mass storage function for one hd fat32 formated (like cacko, pdaxrom, angstrom, etc)
and other stuff for using like a pda.

It sounds like it would almost be a good idea to get a second Zaurus devoted to compiling, sitting around at home doing the dirty work. I mean, I would *HATE* to have to get two of these things. ; )

[apink]

-mobile spreadsheet for use at work.  This is why I bought it.  It saves a lot of time  .
-pim stuff
-learning linux

I am a neophyte in the computer world and really appreciate the support in the forums here.  The Z is a great tool in large part because of the efforts of all of the people who have worked on its development in the community here.

[Jon_J]

I really like the form factor.  I already have a Palm, but purchased 2 Zauri for the reasons below.

1. Learning Linux
It has helped me a lot in learning about how Linux works, although the Sharp/Cacko ROM have an "unusual" file system setup, and pdaxii13 runs entirely in root.

2. Webpage reading
I really like to use it to read webpages that I save for later. I have also found that a lot of document formats, when converted to a webpage with larger bold fonts, are a breeze to read while on the go, on my Z.
I also like to surf the web, although the wifi "b" standard is kinda slow.

3. Games.
I play mostly RPG type games, that don't need the latest 3-D graphics. I find that I enjoy a well thought out storyline better than a game that barely runs because the graphics are too resource hungry.

4. Portable dictionary and wiki - unit converter
These come in very handy while away from my desktop PC.

5. Digital camera companion
The screen is fantastic compared to most camera's built-in viewers. I can save a lot of space on my camera cards by reviewing and deleting unwanted photos.

6. Many more things, too many to mention in this short post.

[adf]

-Web browsing
-E-Mail
-Programming
-Games
-Wireless sniffing
-OS tinkering

Probably more that I'm forgetting...

PS- The C3100 and the C3200 are the SAME (just the C3200 has 2GB more in the HDD). Get whichever is cheaper

I thought the 3100 had an earlier revision of the pxa 270 that was more conducive to overclocking?

[HoloVector]

-Web browsing
-E-Mail
-Programming
-Games
-Wireless sniffing
-OS tinkering

Probably more that I'm forgetting...

PS- The C3100 and the C3200 are the SAME (just the C3200 has 2GB more in the HDD). Get whichever is cheaper

I thought the 3100 had an earlier revision of the pxa 270 that was more conducive to overclocking?

Technically yes but, realistically it doesn't matter all that much since you can still stably get up to 624MHz out of the processor in a 3200 just like a 3100.  The key is only boost the processor frequency and not the rest of the frequencies.  That means that a 3100 will be a hair faster since it can take 624/312/156MHz just like my 1000 but, you will probably get an annoying backlight flicker that will drive you batty (just like my 1000 gets).

Here's what my Zs are used for:

C1000 (Cacko 1.23)

-ScummVM (gotta have my Adventure Collection with me at all times)  
-Calendar Reminders (not so much since I got an iPod Touch)
-tkcMahJongg and Shanghai
-MP3s (not so much since I got an iPod Touch)
-TextMaker
-tkcPanels (got it for my son but these jigsaws can be addicting)    
-Qtopia Interface Hacking (for my son's C860)
-Light Web Browsing

C3200 (pdaXii13 5.4.9 Akita upgraded to Alice Full)

-Learning Linux
-Testing and customizing Window Managers (Working with e17 and iceWM mainly)
-ScummVM (TyScummVM version.  The best version for playing the Broken Sword versions with full cutscenes!)  
-Heavier Web Browsing (not so much since I got an iPod Touch)

Lately, I have been using the C1000 more than the C3200 because the work I doing on my son's C860 (which is also running Cacko 1.23) to customize it for a 6 year olds use.  It been challenging since he can't fully read yet....

[speculatrix]

web browsing, wifi sniffing, serial console for managing cisco network kit, ssh terminal using openvpn client *, rss reader, media player (mp3, movies, internet radio streams), vnc or rdesktop client to control media player, VOIP phone (saves me money on international calls when I'm in USA calling UK).

basically, anything you can do on a micro laptop. so long as you're willing to invest a bit of time especialy when it comes to transcoding videos if that's your thing.

* when I am on call it's nice to not have to break out the laptop, I have an audiobox GPRS card giving me mobile data, but I can also use a bluetooth card to talk to a 3G mobile phone too; not tried employer's huawei e172 usb modem with the zaurus yet as I think I need a powered hub.

[teh.sean]

Wow, a lot of stuff I did not know was possible. I bought a 3100, just waiting for it to come in. *twiddles thumbs* Guess I`ll have a replacement for my Libretto 70 now! What software package is good for internet radio? There are a few ogg streams I listen to (if you like bleeps and bloops check out kohina.org). Would it be like xmms?

[jh]

Wow, a lot of stuff I did not know was possible. I bought a 3100, just waiting for it to come in. *twiddles thumbs* Guess I`ll have a replacement for my Libretto 70 now! What software package is good for internet radio? There are a few ogg streams I listen to (if you like bleeps and bloops check out kohina.org). Would it be like xmms?

That may depend on the image you choose for your 3100... I'm running pdaXii13 on my C1000 and honestly, the best setup I have found so far for listening to music (mp3's and streaming in my case) is Rox configured to play mp3 files via mplayer.

Quasar is a close 2nd, but I don't think it does streaming.  I've tried xmms but (to me) it seems to be a bit too much for my Z.

jason

[speculatrix]

Wow, a lot of stuff I did not know was possible. I bought a 3100, just waiting for it to come in. *twiddles thumbs* Guess I`ll have a replacement for my Libretto 70 now! What software package is good for internet radio? There are a few ogg streams I listen to (if you like bleeps and bloops check out kohina.org). Would it be like xmms?

there's a shoutcast client that runs on cacko/sharp.

I found that Kino, the media player for cacko, didn't like some streaming media URLs, but you can play directly with mplayer, and I hacked up a command line app to play an m3u and pls file instead.

not sure if Quasar media player will do streaming media?

on angstrom or debian, there's lots of choice, like xmms.

[eviLjazz]

I'll see what I can do to improve streaming support in the next major version of Quasar.

[teh.sean]

So is it easier to thumb type or use a usb portable keyboard with these things? What are you guys using for text input?