Customer Reviews

Sharp Zaurus SL-6000L Handheld

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

OK, so the screen on this thing is magnificent, absolutely unbelievable. The ability to rotate it to landscape mode really makes web browsing a practical reality for a PDA, and that's a BIG first ! The WIFI card is ridiculously simple to set up and works just peachy. I had mine up and synching with Outlook 2003 15 minutes after the battery was charged. Built-in software is quite good, and very complete. Some of the 3rd party applications I had on my SL-5600 wouldn't run, but the ClearSky program I use to control my telescope ran just fine.

I was initially concerned about the ability to run the DVD movies I had ported to my SL-5600 as they acted extremely "weird", but if you click/hold the Media Player icon and specify to run in magnified mode, they work spectacularly.

But leave it to Sharp, other connections are definitely non-standard. Even the stinking headphone jack is a 2.5mm stereo instead of the 3.5mm jack that every known set of headphones on the planet uses. There are adaptors available (for the Treo which it seems also uses this bizarre choice) but you have to buy them separately. The built-in USB port uses some kind of cable that only exists in the outer reaches of Latvia, so I can't testify as to the value of that port.

On the other hand, it is extremely well made and is far more "rugged" than the earlier SL 5xxx series. It's also a bit LARGER. Unless you're the size of the Incredible Hulk, you're unlikely to have pockets that will accomodate this sucker. The "up" side to this is that it really is a laptop (or at least a sub-notebook) replacement. Superb battery life, excellent recoverability features, geeky enough for the propeller beanie crowd, but absolutely tame for those that just want the ultimate PDA and wouldn't know a ROM from a bowl of cornflakes.

So what the heck, take the plunge and live a little. The screen alone makes this thing worth the price.

I jsut received this yesterday and here's my first impression.

I've been using a Sharp Zaurus since the pre-release 5000D. I've had a 5500 for 3 years and I've loved it. I like having a handheld computer vs. a PDA. I have a Treo 600 so I've gotten very familiar with the Palm OS. Hey, it's ok but it's not Linux. I had a Psion 5mx which I loved and used for years. As for Windows devices, forget it. With all the fun I have had with Microsoft operating systems on my computers over the years, I have no desire to wrestle with a scaled down version of bloat and the Blue Screen of Death.

The 6000L has a gorgeous 480 x 640 display. It is beautiful. The best I've ever seen on a handheld, bar none.

One of the biggest attractions of the 6000L for me is it's ruggedization. I'm hard on things. I drop things a lot and I work in a factory, all hard edges and lots of places to get hurt. I've taken out my 5500 at work and my hands have lost their grip and voila! flying Zaurus. It's survived, but I think I'm better off with something a bit more robust. The 6000L seems sturdier and that is what I need. I will put it to the test.

I took the 128 mb SD card and the 128 mb CF card from my 5500 and put them in the 6000L. I will probably replace the CF card with something larger. I use the CF card strictly for storage and file transfer.

People complain about the PIM functionality of the Zaurus apps. I find them perfectly suited to my needs. The Hancom apps included work extremely well with MS Office apps.

Just one complaint so far, directed at Sharp. Hey, Sharp, are you listening? How about a Linux version of the PC applications? It seems silly to have a Linux handheld and not include Linux apps to sync and transfer files.

My first impression is I love the 6000L. The apps are great, I can use a lot of things from the 5500 on the 6000L. I haven't had a chance to test the wireless yet, but I will soon. I expect it to be solid and reliable. Solid reliability is something I've come to expect from the Zaurus and Linux.

First of all, don't buy this product if you want a "polished" PDA with lots of commercial apps to choose from - stick with a Palm or PocketPC.

With that out of the way, this is by far the best handheld computer I've ever owned. I stress the word "computer" because this can do everything my laptop can do. The big screen is the most gorgeous PDA screen I have ever seen. It's even better than the imported Japanese Zauruses. It has bright vivid colors, the backlight can be used as a flashlight in a dark room, AND it is totally usable outdoors in direct sunlight. Believe me, this a rare combination! The 640x480 screen, switchable "on-the-fly" at the touch of a button between landscape and portrait mode makes it incredible versatile for web surfing and editing documents. The pull-down thumbboard is plenty usable for short writing tasks, if you want to do more you can get an external keyboard that connects via infrared. Built in WiFi, built in USB host, CF and SD slots, the feature list goes on and on.

The biggest downside is that Sharp has essentially decided to stop supporting the consumer market in the US. So there aren't a lot of official resources. Fortunately, there are websites like www.zaurususergroup.com that fill in the gap. Over there you'll find an active community that can help you get the most out of your Zaurus. Since most of the basic software is open source (Linux, Qtopia, etc) it's easy to customize and develop for, and compatible with many other Linux applications. You can even install X-windows.

Bottom line, if you want the most powerful handheld device ever made, and you aren't afraid of rolling up your sleeves and figuring a few things out for yourself, this device will do more than you can imagine was possible from a PDA.

I'm writing this on my new Zaurus. Firstly to the reviewer who complained about the handwriting recognition, it's the best I've seen. You can train every letter to the way you write. The other side to this pda is that, if you need software that doesn't come with this pda, you better be willing to tinker with downloaded packages.

the new SL-6000L is worth upgrading just for the screen quality.
the rotate, zoom in and zoom out options really compliment the use of the opera browser.
i had no problem connecting to my 802.11b network at home or
work.
i was somewhat dismayed to have to use an 2.5 mm audio adapter for headphones, but then i plugged in with a standard cellphone mic and earpiece and used z-meeting to call gnomemeeting at home.
one word of advice, don't install the old fnbc server ipk. after rebooting from the command line, the screen became unresponsive (touch functionality lost) and i had to flash back to factory settings. there is a new vnc server ipk for the 6000l and that seems to work ok.
using any of the "old" apps sometimes flips you back into a screen reminiscent of the old sl-5500 and the rotate feature button won't work.

to sum it up... amazing !!! it is just like a powerful laptop,
voip phone, movie playing, mp3 rocking, corporate machine turned personal digital butler.

This machine is really quite nice. However, it was not quite what I wanted and I sent it back and bought an inexpensive laptop instead.

Pros
====

WiFi - 802.11b. Easy to set up and configure.

GREAT screen. Really. Except actually maybe TOO fine resolution for the physical size! Text and images are *small* on this thing although everything is legible and images look great!

Linux OS. Really really really linux. I was able to, for example, mount NFS shares off of my server and play MP3s that were stored on the server as if they were local files. Not for the Linux neophyte, to be sure. But you really don't need to know anything about Linux to use this thing -- its just that you *can* use the Linux-y stuff if you want to.

Cons
====
Comfort. Although the screen is great and the Opera browser is very nice and the screen rotates to portrait mode, I never was able to get very comfortable holding and navigating pages. My hands would cramp, it's awkward to use the pull-out thumb board in portrait mode, you are constantly having to tap the screen with the stylus to browse links, etc. It was basically uncomfortable, ergonomically-speaking, to use.

Slow "Wake Up". Using a Palm m500 for the last three years, I expect my addressbook to be on and instantly usable when I press the addressbook button. But this mini-micro-laptop-wannabe took a couple of seconds -- literally, two or three seconds -- to "wake up" before I could, say search for an entry. That became quite annoying after a while. You have to understand that the Palm Pilot series is designed as an *extension* of the desktop -- the SL6000 is more like a desktop *replacement* (practically). But it does not work well for me as merely a PDA.

Poor support. Almost zero "official" information on Sharp's website(s). All information stops at the SL5600. This became *extremely* frustrating!

Not fully compatible with SL5xxx series software. The older software works, mostly, but sometimes doesn't work quite right. There doesn't appear to be much new software written for the SL6000. Not too many titles that will take advantage of that huge screen, for example.

Strange UI design weirdnesses. I can't fully explain, or give details (mostly because I don't remember specifics and I don't have the thing anymore), but there were some basic user interface things that weren't "polished" or fully realized. Small details that Palm OS has worked out MUCH better.

Will not sync natively (or in an officially supported manner) with my Linux desktop. Looked to be too much trouble to (A) set up syncing and (B) migrate over my Palm databases (addresses, calendar, etc.)

Palm PIM apps are difficult to migrate to the Z.

===

Well, there you have it. I bought the thing for its Linux OS, WiFi, and huge PDA screen. I returned it because it is not really a laptop replacement, or a PDA replacement, but falls somewhere in between. I doubt I would have been happy with a Pocket PC product for many of the same reasons that I returned the Zaurus, although that is speculation. (The issue there is moot as I will *never* buy a pocket PC or anything else that requires MS Windows in any form)

I think I would have been happier with the Palm Tungsten C (which has WiFi) or Tungsten E, or the Sony Clie UX50 or Sony PEG-TJ37, if I was looking for a new PDA. However, it turns out I was looking for a laptop, so a laptop (and WiFi PCMCIA card) is what I got.

I'm writing this from my new Zaurus SL6000l, yay!

Haven't gotten a really good chance to get it working with my other stuff yet. I was immediately disappointed to find that qtmail won't do imaps or smtp over ssl; our mail server won't accept clear-text passwords over the net (does anyone anymore?). Seems like a big shortsight for a business-class PDA.

Support files are sure tough to find on the Sharp site, still looking for kernel sources so I can compile up a FreeS/WAN kernel module.

I'm really looking forward to trying out one of the VOIP clients with it; the speaker and mic on the back are clearly positioned with using it as a phone in mind.

Yes! The screen does rock, I can't believe how tiny but fine it is. I'm going to be permanently cross-eyed in no time from working from 6" away!

Soon I'll be looking into trying OpenZaurus, it's clear that's the way to go.

I originally ordered mine from here; on the catalog page it said 'ships in 2-3 days.' After purchasing it, though, the wait got longer and longer; when it went to almost two weeks, I began to get angry, so canceled and ordered from PC Connection instead. Two days later it was in my hands!

The Zaurus series is super awesome. With it's new portrait view I was able to terminal server, using rdesktop a free alternate to Win ConnectZ, in to my Windows 2000 server at a resolution of 640 x 480. Compaired to older modles and other manafactured products where you get stuck scrolling around to use terminal server or have to adjust the screen resolution to match the PDA. One of the single grestest things about the Zaurus is that it is Linux based and has a comunity of people writing software for it. If you can't find what you want at the Zaurus web page, myzaurus.com, there is a tremendous resource for applications at http://www.killefiz.de/zaurus. I recently found a port of Gaim, an AOL Instant Messanging program, that works with the Zaurus there.

I do want to warn the potential buyer to read the warrenty carefuly to make sure the Zaurus doesn't fall outside of your expectations. I recently found out what the phrase "...with .01% or fewer pixels failing to light or remain lit at all times." means to me.

Even with my runin with Sharp's technical support and warranty policy my Zaurus is a wonderful machine.

This item is amazing. It has all the features a PDA, with LINUX power under the hood. There are so many great linux applications that can be used with this it is hard to know where to start.

It also plays MP3 files and MPEG movies (that's right, MOVIES) and to top it all off it's got built-in WIFI...not only WIFI but a full-functional web browser and email client. The web browser is amazing as it can view any web page, not just those written for PDA screens, this unit with it's hi-res 480x640 screen resizes webapages to fit on the whole screen and still be readable !

If you need more room, press a button and it switches to landscape mode !

It integrates your contacts as your email address book and plays tons of games.

If your a techie, this unit will connect into LINUX systems and has a fully functional shell to allow you to log into other linux machines and servers....even through a VPN.

To call this a PDA is really like calling a full blown LINUX laptop (that just happens to have organizer software on it) a PDA. This is much more of a notebook replacement that fits in your pocket. With built-in WIFI, and SD card AND Compact Flash slots, you can utilize this with any digital camera to view, edit and store your images.

Truely an amazing buy at less than seven hundred dollars.

Nothing, and I mean nothing, can compare to the features, applications and expandablility of this little amazing device.

The SL-6000L is the best handheld of all the units I have owned including a Zaurus 5500. The built in wireless syncs with every hotspot I've tried and the Spread sheet, Word processor and Presentations works with all the MS Windows files natively without converting back and forth.

The one thing that was missing from the previous version was the Jeode Java which I had to download and install so I could run Formulae 1 from Poliplus software [...]. I can also recomend the Mona and Lisa programs which makes it the perfect calculator replacement for college engineering clases.

Since it Holds both CF and SD memory cards at the same time, I have lots of extra space for MP3's and now I use it like an Ipod as well. If Sharp did a better job of marketing this, it would be a best seller.