Zaurus Opinions

[Butta]

I've read the reviews, searched on this site, but I'd like to have the opinions of some more experienced users. I'm contemplating purchasing a zaurus. Does anyone have any opinions. I've looked at the 5500 and 5600 and the newest release. Cost is important. I'm just going to be using it to play around with, program and browse the internet. Thanks for your advice.

[chris_i386]

I bought a Sharp Zaurus 5500 a year ago,
because I thought it was cool to have a mobile device running Linux...
The pros:

Runs Linux (not a real plus because using the command line without a real keybord is not much fun...)
Supports Java (except Swing)
Lots of free programs available on the net


The cons:

Only 2 hours of battery life
Its ugly and huge compared to other handheld computers


It is not very suitable for either programming or surfing the net: Most web pages don't fit on the small screen, so you need to scroll constantly.
If you want to use it for programming keep in mind that coding anything longer than a hello world program whithout a real keyboard is very frustrating... (in my experience)

My advice to you:
If you want to program or surf the net:
use a computer or laptop.
For everything else you're probably better off using a pocket pc or a palm, because they have better PIM (email calendar etc.) applications I have been told.

This is just my opinion, and I haven't used the 5600 yet.