Which ROM and storage?

[Ling]

I have ordered an 860 and some accessories from K. I ordered a wireless nic and modem. I selected those based on success stories here. My questions have to do with ROMs and storage. My questions are:

1) Which ROM is right for me. I am looking at pdaXrom and Qtopia. I have some experience with *nix. I have my laptop running MEPIS pretty successfully, but I would term myself an advanced novice. I opted for the 860 because I intend to become more knowledgeable about Linux, so I am willing to do some work in order to learn something. However, I have to be able to connect to my home network via wireless and to the Internet via pppd. So it has to work and it can\'t require a lot of *nix experience and programming ability. The more it can be like my MEPIS system, the better.

2) I want to purchase my storage now, so that I am ready to go when my 860 arrives. I am planning for CF/microdrive based on cost. I want to be able to take MPEG4 video on the road with me to want (hopefully more than one show/movie) and some music (192kb ogg) so I want something large and am looking at a 4GB microdrive. However, for daily use, I won\'t be carry video so I won\'t want that much space and won\'t want the drain on my batteries and might like the better performance that I would get with a 45X CF. However, when I look at the cost of that setup, I wonder if I am wasting my $$.

I would appreciate some feedback from those of you who have been there and done that. If I have to, will try out both ROMs, but I think that those of you who have used both can probably save me the trouble. This is a great, active group. Thanks in advance.

[Ling]

OK, I have posted two questions and neither got a response. If my question is answered somewhere, please point me to it. I have done quite a lot of searching and have read ALL of the posts concerning the 860 and many other general information posts and have not really found an answer. Maybe I need to check out one of the other boards. I am sure that there are many people who have tried both ROMs and have an opinion. I am also sure that there are some folks who think they have the right combination of storage. Maybe I need to come up with a catchier nick. Come on.

[Mickeyl]

Stay with the original SharpROM and wait until OZ 3.6.0 is ready. That way you will both have X _and_ Qt/Embedded. Better yet, help us to achive that goal ;-)

[Anonymous]

Stay with the original SharpROM and wait until OZ 3.6.0 is ready. That way you will both have X _and_ Qt/Embedded. Better yet, help us to achive that goal ;-)

It\"s quite  exciting!  
Would you like to tell us when will it be released?

[Mickeyl]

No idea. Depends on someone taking the wheel and trying to get a release out of the door (by fixing bugs, not by delegating work to others :-) - still waiting for that Mr.Someone)

[Ling]

Stay with the original SharpROM and wait until OZ 3.6.0 is ready. That way you will both have X _and_ Qt/Embedded. Better yet, help us to achive that goal ;-)

IANAP, but I would pitch in if there is something useful I can contribute. As with Linux in general, it seems that everyone would benefit if several of the different ROM teams could come together. Let me know if there is something I can do.

[ThC]

Ling,
For your storage need, you should try to get a muvo² 4Gb for the cheapest microdrive (if you\'re still able to find the old _not hardlinked MD_ version in your country) ... Else I found 512Mb to be enough space for everyday usage (if you don\'t need to take all your movies in your pocket) ... IMHO the better solution may be a 512Mb SD card to keep CF empty for wifi/bluetooth or whatever and a MD for playing movies during long trips ...

[Ling]

Stay with the original SharpROM and wait until OZ 3.6.0 is ready. That way you will both have X _and_ Qt/Embedded. Better yet, help us to achive that goal ;-)

Are you saying that I should stay away from 3.3.6-pre1? Also, what can a non-programmer do to support OZ development?

[Mickeyl]

Yes, because 3.3.6-pre1 is unmaintained and supported.

You can maintain packages, improve packaging, test, document, etc. Lots of tasks which don\'t need programmer skills.

[dh]

When I got my 860 I flashed it with the Cacko ROM and it has been working very well for me. I can connect to my home network (still have a couple of things to resolve) and the Internet with my WiFi card.

I must confess that OZ is a bit of a mystery to me. I can see where PdaX ROM fits into the scheme of things but I\'m not sure about OZ at all. (I\'m sure Mickey could explain things though). I would be interested in trying it at some point, but I don\'t want to lose the ability to run my key apps like KO/Pi, StageOne, Textmaker etc.

Certainly Opie looks to be an improvment on Qtopia and I\'d rather go with Open Source given the choice. I just need to find out more.

Regarding storage, I have a 512MB SD card that has all my apps and documents and a 1GB CF card filled with books and music. I\'ll get a large CF when I see a good deal.

[yodabob]

I stayed with the Sharp ROM on my 860 and purchased TKCVIdeo to watch movies.  I have a d-link network card, aircable bluetooth, a 256mb and 512mb sd cards and a bunch of different microdrives that are loaded with either movies or audiobooks, MP3\'s, etc.  I\'ve never had any trouble connecting to anything.  I read about all the hackin\' around that goes on out here and scratch my head cuz I\'ve never had to do any of it.  One very minor thing with the aircable bluetooth, but just a couple minutes with VI and that was easy.