I have wanted to use my Z as a cell phone ever since I got it, but I can't see how you can justify doing it at present. The cheapest I have seen a CF GSM card is still well over 100 pounds!!!
It depends where you're shopping, I suppose... I bought mine during a trip to Hong Kong for about 70 pounds. While not cheap (especially when considering the inconvenients of use of such a card when compared to a real phone), it's not as expensive as it once was. I remember seeing the AudioVox RTM8000 in a shop in Hong Kong more than one year ago, it was over 300 pounds at that time...
The cards are much more likely to get broken (I am still not confident with my wifi card). They are difficult to set up and lack support by mobile phone companies. IICR, the 6000 is the only Z that could even possibly be used without a headset, and knowing these things it probably isn't very good. Battery life is another major issue- from what has been said so far I'm guessing that my 5500 probably won't last more than an hour (more like 30 mins), without even making any calls.
Sad but true... At the moment, I think that the Zaurus must remain switched on so that the CF slot is still powered, if you want to be able to receive calls. Maybe we could find a way to, say, switch off the screen and underclock the processor while the Zaurus isn't used so that the power consumption is reduced but the card is still reachable on the network, but even like this, I doubt you'd have a full day with the card simply connected to the network, not even transmitting.
Yeah, prices should come down as more people buy them
I don't really expect the prices to come down, I fear that on the contrary they'll remain quite expensive because most devices will have the GSM/GPRS function built-in (if only for the power issue).
I know that Z support is being worked on, but why not buy (or get given) a real cheap, small, old mobile and use that for voice calls? There is always the connecting the phone to the Z for internet issue (irda? serial? bluetooth?), but still.
At the moment, I have an old phone indeed for my daily phone needs, and the CF card to connect the Z to the net while away from home or a WiFi network. That being said, my CF card's SIM is from another carrier (the same as my wife's phone plan), so it'd be nice to be able to receive phone calls on the Z with that card, even if this means first calling her (from whatever phone) so that she can call back with her unlimited voice plan (evenings & week-ends, but only applies to calls on the same carrier). Basically, the Z wouldn't completely replace my phone, but would act as a second phone with just a minor bulk addition to my usual stuff (I always carry the Z anyway, so it's just a matter of fitting the CF card and a headset in my Zaurus beltcase).
Thinking about it, maintaining line of sight for irda can be rather impractical, likewise a serial cable could get rather annoying
I used both methods for some time in the past, and stopped accessing the net while on the go for that reason. Only with the Treo 600 smartphone did I really make use of my GPRS plan. If you have to juggle with more than one device (even if it's a bulky one with the CF card bulging on the side), IMHO it's a pain and probably not worth it for a regular use. Of course, if you only connect through IR/cable once per week, then it's not a major problem...
maybe bluetooth is the only option for connecting the two devices together. I don't know how much bluetooth phones are these days, but bluetooth CF cards are about 40 pounds. You could also have a bluetooth headset this way.
Bluetooth sure eases the process. Still not perfect (I remember having to switch off Bluetooth on my Ericsson t39m phone when not actually using it, otherwise it would dramatically reduce the battery life of that otherwise great phone), but a big improvement nonetheless. Unfortunately, you still need to carry two devices (even if not in both hands at the same time), and it's hard to find a simple bluetooth phone those days, the carriers want you to purchase their toys with color, hires screen, digicam and polyphonic ringtones... I had to dig a bit to find a second hand t39m (my wife having fetched mine to use with her Sony Clie TH55 via bluetooth - for occasional internet connections ) for my "phone" needs. Add to this the limitations of the current Bluetooth implementation (hard if not impossible to pair a phone with both a headset and a PDA, to be able to initiate a call from the PDA through the phone, and use the headset once the call is established). Not to mention using the headset to listen music on the PDA, for instance (tricky at best, you need some special BT profile, etc.)...
Right now, I don't know if using a BT headset with a GSM/GPRS CF card would be possible (assuming the Zaurus would have either built-in bluetooth capabilities or through, say, a BT SD card), as I fear that the voice signal is only available through the CF card's headset jack. Of course, one could imagine a cable between the CF card's jack and the Zaurus audio input/output jack, and then redirecting the audio stream to the BT interface, but I'm sceptikal at best!
All in all, it's true that at the moment, the Zaurus won't completely replace a mobile phone. But it sure would be great to be able to use it - even occasionally and with all the problems you mention - as a cell phone, hence the need for a good GUI.
One area where a good GUI would come in handy is sending / receiving SMS. It's so much easier to type a message on the Zaurus keyboard than on the phone (even with T9 and such) that I think it would be equally useful as voice functions!
(Note to moderators: sorry if it's long & boring and probably more than a bit off-topic! If you feel it's too much OT, I'll edit my post and cut some of my rant... )
