Review on Sharp SL 5500 Zaurus PDA by Aaron Lewis

First of all, if you're just looking for PIM (Personal Information Management) features and aren't inclined towards Linux in general, then do it yourself. Do yourself a favor and buy a Palm Pilot. Zaurus is basically a mini Linux workstation with many features you would normally only find on a desktop. With Zaurus you can: * surf the Internet with a scalable and full-featured browser * read and edit MS Office documents (Word, Excel and Powepoint) * write and run scripts and programs (including Java) * play music and videos * manage Your Windows desktop PC (using VNC software). It's so powerful that you can use it as a web server or file server (with Apache and Samba). I use my Zaurus to administrate my Linux server and Oracle database server when I'm away from my desk. In addition, you can download many applications, utilities, games, etc. Zaurus has a very active user community forum (check the links on the official Sharp Zaurus websites) where you can get a lot of useful tips. Palm Pilot. I had to hold onto my Palm Vx with all my might. I even took the plunge by downloading a Palm Pilot emulator (called QPose) and installing it on my Zaurus. The Zaurus performance drop was so bad that I had to uninstall QPose and take both Palm Vx and Zaurus with me instead. see below) The PIM functions have been greatly improved. So now I tend to keep my Palm at home and only take the Zaurus with me. Once you have your Zaurus, do yourself a favor and install the terminal and file manager applications included on the CD. The Terminal application allows for many customizations and is a must if you want to use Zaurus to its full potential. It actually comes with a simple Linux shell and nifty utilities like the vi editor, FTP and telnet clients, ping, and many Linux/Unix tools. Another application that I found very useful is called "Rotation". You can rotate app screens 90 degrees, making things like web browsing, editing files and using the Terminal app become much more enjoyable and functional. You can download " I *strongly recommend SL-5500 users with an old ROM (v2.38) to download and install this new ROM. The user interface is much cleaner and tidier with the new ROM, and apps are more stable ( including a much improved Opera browser and much better PIM apps). I *strongly recommend SL-5500 users with an old ROM (v2.38) to download and install this new ROM. The user interface is a lot with the new ROM cleaner and tidier, and apps are more stable (including a much improved Opera browser and much better PIM apps). and apps are more stable (including a much improved Opera browser and much better PIM apps). I *strongly recommend SL-5500 users with an old ROM (v2.38) to download and install this new ROM. The UI is much cleaner and tidier with the new ROM, and apps are more stable (including a much improved Opera browser and much better PIM apps). and apps are more stable (including a much improved Opera browser and much better PIM apps). I *strongly recommend SL-5500 users with an old ROM (v2.38) to download and install this new ROM. The UI is much cleaner and tidier with the new ROM, and apps are more stable (including a much improved Opera browser and much better PIM apps). I *strongly recommend SL-5500 users with an old ROM (v2.38) to download and install this new ROM. The UI is much cleaner and tidier with the new ROM, and apps are more stable (including a much improved Opera browser and much better PIM apps). and apps are more stable (including a much improved Opera browser and much better PIM apps). I *strongly recommend SL-5500 users with an old ROM (v2.38) to download and install this new ROM. The UI is much cleaner and tidier with the new ROM, and apps are more stable (including a much improved Opera browser and much better PIM apps). I *strongly recommend SL-5500 users with an old ROM (v2.38) to download and install this new ROM. The UI is much cleaner and tidier with the new ROM, and apps are more stable (including a much improved Opera browser and much better PIM apps). and apps are more stable (including a much improved Opera browser and much better PIM apps). I *strongly recommend SL-5500 users with an old ROM (v2.38) to download and install this new ROM. The UI is much cleaner and tidier with the new ROM, and apps are more stable (including a much improved Opera browser and much better PIM apps). The UI is much cleaner and tidier with the new ROM, and apps are more stable (including a much improved Opera browser and much better PIM apps). and apps are more stable (including a much improved Opera browser and much better PIM apps). I *strongly recommend SL-5500 users with an old ROM (v2.38) to download and install this new ROM. The UI is much cleaner and tidier with the new ROM, and apps are more stable (including a much improved Opera browser and much better PIM apps). The UI is much cleaner and tidier with the new ROM, and apps are more stable (including a much improved Opera browser and much better PIM apps). and apps are more stable (including a much improved Opera browser and much better PIM apps). I *strongly recommend SL-5500 users with an old ROM (v2.38) to download and install this new ROM. The UI is much cleaner and tidier with the new ROM, and apps are more stable (including a much improved Opera browser and much better PIM apps). and apps are more stable (including a much improved Opera browser and much better PIM apps). I *strongly recommend SL-5500 users with an old ROM (v2.38) to download and install this new ROM. The UI is much cleaner and tidier with the new ROM, and apps are more stable (including a much improved Opera browser and much better PIM apps). and apps are more stable (including a much improved Opera browser and much better PIM apps). I *strongly recommend SL-5500 users with an old ROM (v2.38) to download and install this new ROM. The UI is much cleaner and tidier with the new ROM, and apps are more stable (including a much improved Opera browser and much better PIM apps).