[ale] Sharp Zaurus SL-5500

[John Wells]

Grant Robertson said:
> I know there are a few Zaurus users on the list. I'm thinking about
> buying one, and I'm wondering what the concensus is on its usability.

I had one for about a year before selling it.  Also developed a few apps
for it, so...here goes:

> Specificly...
>
> Is anyone using the Zaurus with a CF WiFi card?

Yes...I did.  I used the Linksys version, I believe it was a WCF11 or
something like that.

> How is basic web browsing?

Not bad for the screen size.  Was able to read Slashdot effectively...

> How is integration with outlook?

Not sure...didn't try.  I'd be willing to bet not very good, since it's
largely OSS.

> How is battery life? (with or without the Wifi card, and an SD card
> installed?)

Not that great.  Seems I could get about 2-3 hours without Wifi, much less
with.  However, it's been awhile, so that could be a pessimistic estimate.
 But screen backlight and wifi card really soak up the battery.

> How hackable is it? (geek quotient)

VERY

It was a very fun thing to play with for awhile, but ultimately I ran out
of uses for it (last thing I used it before selling was for moveable wifi
internet radio in my house).

HTH,
John