This is a series of posts from someone I know that I thought would be quite interesting to people on this board. It's been brought up before a few times, but I thought I'd post this just in case people hadn't seen it:
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I spent today playing with one of these:
http://myzaurus.com/index.asp





It has the following:

CPU StrongARM(1) SA-1110, 206MHz1

Platform Linux2 based embedded OS (Embedix3) QT Palmtop Environment, Personal Java4

Display Reflective TFT LCD with Front Light (touch sensitive panel supported), 3.5" with 240x320 pixel, 65,536 colors

Memory 64MB SDRAM 16MB FLASH ROM

Input Device Touch Panel, QWERTY keyboard with a slide cover

Card Slot 1 compact Flash Card5 slot, 1 SD card slot (no copyright protection feature)


Man, was it slick, I have PDA envy. We were running an email cient on it over an 802.11b WLAN. The WLAN access point was connected to a laptop running RedHat, which also had a middleware application to convert the UDP packets to SLIP for trnasmission over a Motorola Astro RF radio. On the other side of the RF network was a WAN connection to the customers network, eventually to their corporate email server 3 states away.

I was walking around the site sending and recieving emails on this thing, all over wireless and RF networks and IT RUNS LINUX!!!!!

I want one. Anybody want to buy my Handspring Visor Platinum?

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http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?description=58-104-001

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Ah, just as I'd hoped. The Z has all the sam eopen development support that the desktop Linux world has. So far, I've found freeware versions of everything from an X10 controller (home X10 devices), gameboy emulators, gobs of apps and games (even Quake), a VPN client, you bane it. Seems like it's an easy port from Linux to Qtopia (the dekstop environment the Z uses).
Double your pleasure, the Z also run Java apps. Damn, I could fill the memory on this thing up in about 1 hour just downloading apps.

Hey, even IBM microdrives work in the CF slot. Also, you can use both CF ans the Smartmedia slot at the same time.

I see a digicam solution in the making here. Imagine. Instead of buying a big SM card for the Fuji camera, use the included 16mb card, buy a 340MB microdrive, then use the Zuarus to transfer the images from the SM to the microdrive.

OHHH, look. An instant messenger client! tkcjabber talks with ICQ, aol, msn and yahoo AT THE SAME TIME!!!!

sHEIT, i JUST READ THAT SOMEGUY INSTALLED THE FULL BLOWN VERSION OF mYsql ON HIS z!!! Damn. Also available are ports for Apache webserver and it comes with Opera browser.

Some guy ported the Lame mp3 encoder to the Z. That means if you have a mp3 player that uses CF or SM cards, you can get wavs off a network cdrom server, encode them, then pop straight into your mp3 play. of course, this thing plays mp3z also.

My new PC may have to wait. I'm tempted to order one right now.