UX50 vs Sharp Zaurus SL-C3200 help

[waiyaki]

Hello,

After getting back to a Palm device I really liked the UX50. Design and the familiar interface still kept me hooked. But the poor battery life, low speed in the processor, slow and low resolution Remote Desktop features and also limited networking ( due to battery and etc ) moved me to looking into the Zaurus.

From the Japan site, I see that the Zaurus can be fitted with HSDPA via a compactflash card and uses Linux, which is an operating system that I usually run on my servers. Batteries are swappable as well and they come with 6GB storage, plus I can always plug in a large SD or CF card for extra storage.

Anyone got a comparison, know of reviews comparing these 2 units or have used both before and could give me some help in seeing which I should get ( or continuing using? )

If the Zaurus don't fit into what I want, I would just continue use the UX50 and purchase a replace battery and the EB40.

Thanks.

[antoinepierre]

First, look at the third part softs available for a Zaurus.

[intellidryad]

I feel that the Qtopia shell of the Zaurus is clunky. It lags and isn't as intuitive as Palm OS. However, if you are very familiar with Linux and know how the install another shell, then the Zaurus is the best choice for you, as in that case, it's more a tiny Linux PC then a PDA.

By the way, Netfront for Zaurus is the best browser I've seen on a handheld. Makes Netfront for Clie looks like crap, and makes Safari for iPhone less amazing. And support for most CF I/O cards (WIFI, and all sorts of internet interfaces) is a big plus over Clies.

[waiyaki]

Thanks for the feedback. I am quite familiar with Linux and should be able to flash the ROM to run maybe OpenZaurus or maybe Debian. Doesn't seem to have a redhat port for it though.

What I like after reading reviews is the swappable high capacity battery on the Zaurus and capability to use larger HDDs. ( and of course I like clamshells :p )

[golalmo]

though the zaurus seems like nice device, the lake of any builtin wireless capabilities turned me off.

[waiyaki]

Yeah thats one of the features that is still slowing my decision to buy it. I can of course get a CF WLAN, CF LAN and also maybe a CF 3G data card... but that makes it a real pain as there are so many devices to carry around... not to mention the extra CF storage :p

But after some time and using the Clie ( bought it 2nd hand a month ago ) I can conclude I need a PDA and it needs to run some computing stuff. Like Remote Desktop, word processing, SSH, TelNet, Web browsing, email and etc

I basically can't stand the amount of memory the Clie has and the stickout from a memory stick... when doing RD its a little flacky... battery life is a killer... need a higher resolution screen...

But by far, the UX50 and UX40 are has the best design at least in my views. I love the PalmOS and the Clies have packed my favourite OS with the necessary style.

I am still lost and counting my options...