[Techtalk] Hardware recommendations - mp3 and pda

[Gretchen]

> After putting it off for way too long, I'm getting ready to buy a new
> PDA and possibly a MP3 player.  I've been browsing the internet,
> particularly www.linuxdevices.com, but that's not really the angle I'm
> looking for.  I'm not so concerned that the PDA run on Linux, which
> seems to be linuxdevices.com's focus, but more with the ease of synching
> w/ Evolution.  Has anyone had any particularly good experiences with any
> certain model of PDA and synching w/ Evolution?  What about mp3 players
> - any joy with a particular type and linux?


Yea! A chance to talk about my Zaurus.  I'm sure you've read about the
Zaurus on linuxdevices it's a wonderful piece of hardware.  First of all,
the Zaurus 5500 is running fairly cheap now, about $200USD.  You will want
a network card so add the price of that on top of it.  Although I'm first
a fan of the Zaurus because it runs linux, it's just that you can do so
many cool things with it.  You can ssh into it.  You can run apache on it.
 The pim apps are useful.  You can play nethack on it.  My personal
recommendation is to use the OpenZaurus ROM which runs Opie.  It's really
easy to download and flash and OpenZaurus is completely open source unlike
the default Sharp ROM.

As for syncing to Evolution check out http://multisync.sourceforge.net/ 
Although I haven't used multisync personally the webpage seems to have
good documentation.  I currently use kitchensync which I compiled and it
works great.  Syncing over a network is easiest as then you don't have to
install drivers for the Zaurus on your linux box.  If you want to sync
over usb it's more of a headache.

I also use my Zaurus as a music player (I use ogg instead of mp3)  With a
fairly large CF or SD card you can carry around hours of music.  There
have been some complaints of battery life on the 5500 so if that's an
issue you may want to look elsewhere.

If you have extra change there is a Zaurus C860 that Sharp only sells in
Japan, but some companies will import it to the US and sell it to you but
it runs about $750USD.  It's the PDA that I'm saving up for so I had to
mention it.

For more information check out
http://www.zaurususergroup.com
http://www.openzaurus.net

Good luck with whatever you decide on.
Gretchen