PreviousThursday 11 March 2004, 2:02 PM
A PDA with power performance and style - but can you handle the Linux flavour?
Comparing the C860 and Sony Clié UX50:
-- The Zaurus is larger, but it's really an average sized PDA, while the UX is amazingly small.
-- The display on the Z is much better in terms of saturation, brightness and resolution (640 x 480 vs. 480 x 320).
-- The keyboard on the Zaurus is better, though the keys on the UX light up which is handy for those who type in dark environments.
-- The Zaurus has a SD and CF Type II expansion slot, while the UX has a Memory Stick slot.
-- The Zaurus operates in both landscape and portrait modes, while the UX operates only in landscape mode.
-- The Zaurus has no built-in wireless networking, while the UX40 has Bluetooth and the UX50 has both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. You'll have to purchase networking cards separately for your Zaurus.
-- The UX models have an integrated VGA digicam, while you must purchase Sharp's CF VGA digicam if you want to take photos.
-- In terms of display, keyboard and computing power the Zaurus wins. However, the selection of Zaurus software is meagre compared to the huge number of Palm applications available.
-- The UX comes with very reliable syncing software that's in English. The SL-C860 comes with Japanese syncing software that displays with a lot of garbage characters when run on English Windows. However, you can download an English version of the syncing software for Windows that works very well.
-- Much of the Zaurus software is free and open source. You can easily get into developing your own apps or porting desktop Linux apps if you're a programmer. It's also a great way to get into Linux if you don't have a desktop or notebook to devote to that project!
-- Palm OS apps require no technical knowledge to install, and most are clearly described on the download site. Some free Zaurus apps require more technical knowledge: you sometimes have to figure out dependencies (which other packages are required for your app to run) and visit the command line to configure them.
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