PDA REVIEW

Sharp Zaurus Personal Mobile Tool

RATINGS Quality Geekness

Introduction
Many credit Sharp credit Sharp with creating the PDA. The company made handheld electronic organizers before Apple even made the Newton.

The Zaurus was one organizer from that line that stood out a bit. It had a clam-shell design and included a keyboard and proprietary operating system. This latest offering from the Zaurus line is a far cry from the old. This is a 65,000 color, 320x340 resolution, 32 bit 206 MHz Intel StrongARM processor-equipped pocket computer with an embedded Linux operating system, 16 MB ROM, 64 MB RAM (Note: I used the developer unit to write this review, which has only 32 MB of RAM; I have the latest ROM update available to the developers, 1.14) and slots for CompactFlash and Secure Digital/MultiMedia Cards. And the best part is--the Zaurus has a built-in keyboard!

What's in the Box?

The Zaurus comes with a USB docking cradle, one A/C adapter, one rechargeable battery, one stylus, one flip-up screen cover, a manual, and an installation CD. The installation CD includes the Qtopia Desktop (synchronization software similar to Palm's Palm Desktop), and IntelliSync for synchronizing with other PIM apps, like Microsoft Outlook.

The Out-of-Box Experience
Well, I was handed a Zaurus fully-charged and ready to go at the press conference at which they were announced in San Jose, California. The first thing I did was open the terminal application to tinker around with Linux. The app allows adjustment of font size, gives the ability to scroll through the history of commands you have typed, will show you a list of all possible app names, and will let you execute apps right from the command line. I was impressed.

The next thing I had to try was surfing the Internet. Luckily there was an 802.11b network in the conference room and I had a D-Link CF WiFi card. Even luckier--the Zaurus had drivers for the card already installed! I popped the card in and was surfing in no time. I was blown away. I'll get to it later, but Opera Browser on the Zaurus is the pinnacle of PDA Web surfing. I played around with the PIM apps and the Java apps. I played a game of Asteroids. I was impressed by the quality screen on the Zaurus. I was impressed by the size, comparing it immediately to my iPAQ. I loved the keyboard.

Field Testing
I carried the Zaurus around for about 6 months before writing this review. I did not use it as my primary PDA (who has a primary PDA? Shouldn't you only have one PDA?). I simply wasn't motivated to do so. I had a Pocket PC and everything was working smoothly--I didn't want to mess things up. Also, I primarily use a Macintosh for my PIM apps, and the Zaurus can't sync with Macs yet--although Sharp did say at the press conference that OS X synchronization was on the road map. For the last two weeks before writing this review, though, I did use the Zaurus as my primary PDA.

The interesting thing is that I did carry my Zaurus with me, even though I was not always using it. I found myself showing it off to fellow Geeks. They were interested in seeing a Linux handheld; they were interested in seeing a handheld with an integrated keyboard. I found myself wanting to tinker with it to learn Linux. Most of all, I found myself wanting to surf the Internet with it at times when I normally would have used my Pocket PC.

Here's what I found, split into categories.

Hardware
The size of the Zaurus is very nice. It's a little longer than an iPAQ, but about as thick as a naked iPAQ (no sleeve). That's impressive, considering there's a keyboard in there. At the time that I first received the Zaurus the CF and SD slots integrated into this form factor were equally impressive, but the Toshiba e310 Pocket PC and the Audiovox Maestro Pocket PC has lessened that feeling. The screen is a bit smaller than the iPAQ's, too.

The look of the handheld is very industrial, even more so than the iPAQ. It looks more like a tool, especially since it is called a "Personal Mobile Tool." The metallic finish is painted onto what I believe to be black plastic, though, so we'll see how nice she looks in a year or two. The buttons have their icons stenciled on, rather than carved or done in relief as on other handhelds. If that paint rubs off I can only hope I remember what each button does.

The type II CF slot is uncovered, but the Zaurus does come with an insert to fill the slot when not in use. The stencil is horrid. It is a little more than half as long as the Zaurus, about 4 inches. It is very light and is made of black plastic. The sync port does have a retractable cover, and there is a nifty flip-up screen cover for the Zaurus. One initially thinks a more transparent screen cover would have been nice, allowing protected, one-handed usage; as soon as a few scratches accumulate on the screen, though, you are happy to have the frosted look.

The card slot and IrDA locations are sufficient, as are the hardware buttons. There are buttons for Calendar, Address Book, Home (doubles as backlight on/off), Menu, E-mail, Cancel (doubles as power), an 8-way directional pad and enter button, and an OK button. There are also two LEDs, one battery indicator, and one e-mail notification light. Sharp plans to release always-on wireless hardware and software that would make a Zaurus function the way a BlackBerry does now, at which point the E-mail notification light is more appropriate. The headphone jack (yes, it is blocked by many CF cards) is wired so that headphones and microphone-equipped headsets both work. The device has only a piezo speaker, though, so "real" sound cannot be heard without headphones. Also, there is no integrated microphone. The integrated speaker is not fantastic for notifications--it's a little shrill and annoying, and it's not really loud enough.

Another good idea was the replaceable battery. Even lithium-ion batteries get old, and they lose their ability to hold a charge eventually. It's also very nice to be able to carry a spare battery. The battery life on the standard battery that comes with the Zaurus is not great, though; I'd say it lasts about two or three hours under normal usage. The software warning that your battery is going to die soon comes at the 50% mark, when your battery is half dead. That's too early ... it's annoying. It also dramatizes the effects of WiFi cards, insisting immediately after one is installed that the battery is nearly dead and critical information is about to be lost.

The keyboard is what really set the Zaurus apart at its release. At that time the only other real keyboards you could get for PDAs were the Stowaway line. Those are nice, but not quite as portable as a thumb-board solution. I was just hearing the word "thumb-board" for the first time when I was introduced to the Zaurus. Since then Handspring has incorporated a similar keyboard into its Treo line, and HP has released a sleeve that adds the same functionality to the Jornada. I don't mean to imply that Zaurus started the trend, as that's very difficult to determine for sure, but it's possible.

Overall the size, weight, and proportions of the Zaurus make it easily pocketable, and the thoughtful, integrated screen cover means you don't even need a case.

Input
The Zaurus is not short on input options. The keyboard is small, but usable. I find that I can type somewhat quickly, but errors are frequent. The keys are laid out in QWERTY fashion, and include a space bar, Enter key, Shift key, Backspace key, and Tab key. The punctuation keys have been moved to the bottom row, and numeric and symbol keys are accessible using "Function + key" keystrokes. The buttons are responsive, and give a click sound that eventually your mind will recognize as a successful keystroke sound. I wouldn't want to type a detailed report on this keyboard, but an e-mail, short note, appointment description, contact info, and small database are very doable.

The software solutions are plentiful as well. There's handwriting recognition software with more fine-tuning options than I have ever seen before. You can record real-time the way in which you write each letter, number, command (enter, tab, etc.), and even special characters. Once you spend the initial time you should find the recognizer working spectacularly. The default set that comes with the Zaurus was a decent match, but frustrated me on certain letters. Once I replaced those letters with my own style of writing I never had trouble again.

There's an on-screen keyboard, familiar to any Pocket PC user. There's also an interesting solution called the Pickboard. Letters of the alphabet are laid out on the screen in groups of three. You tap the group that includes the letter you want and the computer assembles a list of words it guesses you are typing. For instance, if you're typing the word "Geek" you get a list of short words like "go, ha, he, hi, if, in, is" and more once you have hit the group containing the "G." When you hit the first "E" your word list gets shorter and includes words like "gel, gem, get, hem, hen, her, hew" and others. The second "E" yields, "heed, heel, idea, idem, Hedda, geese, hedge" and more. Lamentably, hitting the "K" brings up a very short list that does not include the word "geek." You can add words, though, and "geek" is now one of the first suggestions in the sequence. Many mobile phone users who use SMS services have been bored for a few sentences now, since this concept has existed on phones like the Nokia 8290 for some time. And finally, there is a UNICODE entry system that I understand is most useful for developers.

I hardly use the software solutions because the keyboard is all the input I need. Going back to my Maestro is hard after a good e-mail session on my Zaurus.

Operating System
Here's where things get hard for a reviewer. Linux OS on this handheld is a curse and a blessing. Having the ability to go to a terminal when you simply can't find a way to get something done through the GUI on your handheld is amazingly satisfying ... but finding good software for the Zaurus is a nightmare.

I miss DOS; I really do. I am old enough that I can say there was a time when I was holding out against Windows, thinking it was a "flash-in-the-pan," a clown-suit that people would soon enough learn to do without. I have grown to appreciate good GUI, and at the same time have grown to abhor the absence of an alternative (side note: I have found the best solution to be Mac OS X, which provides one of the best GUIs of all time and a terminal to its BSD core). Linux offers this matchup, and that benefit on a handheld is refreshing. Handhelds are still a relatively young field, and it's not uncommon for the OS to leave out something you desperately need. Sometimes it's not obvious how to move or delete a file, or uninstall a driver. Advanced Linux users will never have that trouble with a Zaurus, for they can operate the handheld entirely in text-mode if they like. At bootup you can enter a key sequence that bypasses the startup of the GUI, leaving you with very little overhead, a Linux kernel, and an able portable computer. There have been several people who even use the Zaurus as a Web server or file server.

Linux makes the Zaurus a flexible, powerful handheld that is extremely developer friendly. The press conference was populated by two kinds of people, with some overlap. There were reporters, and there were developers. The developers were very excited. Sharp went a long way to put together this project, and the team that brought you the OS didn't stop there. There are tons of tools for the developer, including some powerful, unheard of multiplatform solutions from Trolltech.

When it comes to serving as a mission critical PIM-vehicle, though, the Zaurus is lackluster. The interface is laid out nicely, and is aesthetically appealing (it looks a bit like the new "Magpie" Symbian OS). There are nice, big, colorful buttons for each app, an there are 5 tabs at the top representing Applications, Games, Jeode (the Java run-time app for the Zaurus), Settings, and Documents.

The Applications tab gives you access to the Address Book, Calculator, Calendar, City Time, Clock, E-Mail, File Manager, Image Viewer, Media Player, Opera Browser, Terminal, Text Editor, and Todo List apps, along with a Help button and a System Info button.

The Zaurus comes with Asteroids, Go (like Othello), Mindbreaker, Mine Hunt, Patience (Solitaire), Snake, and Word Game (Scrabble). The games are all quite good, and cover the spectrum from arcade to card game to brain-teaser.

The Jeode runtime is powerful, as demonstrated by the two sample apps that come with the Zaurus. They take a while to load, but once they do they present an impressive multimedia app. The apps themselves are extremely small.

The Settings tab houses everything you need to adjust the backlight, application key assignments, security, network setup, Internet access setup, and others. Of note here is the packaging system used. Linux users are familiar with the issue of software installation in the Linux world--it is not as exact a science as it is in the Windows/Mac world yet because each Linux distro can be different, and each user is at liberty to configure the entire OS as he or she likes. It is difficult to create useful, universal software installers. Red Hat has come along way with its RPM (Red Hat Package Manager) solution, and the Zaurus has something very similar. It works well, and ensures that everyday people with little to no Linux experience will be able to add apps to their Zaurus.

The Documents tab is "smart;" displaying text documents, Word documents, images, music files, and the like whether they are located in RAM, ROM, or on CF or SD cards. The File Manager would have been nicer if it assigned some folders to some common uses and called it home, an approach to simplify the UNIX file system for Linux newbies. This is the approach Mac OS X took, and it makes it a lot easier for the user to find files.

OS: PIM Apps
The PIM applications are a bit disappointing. The Calendar app is decent, but reminders with the weak piezo speaker are a let down. The Contacts list looks more like a spreadsheet when you scroll through your list, but it includes categories and the ability to sort by company. The categories will sync with your Microsoft Outlook categories if the names match perfectly. The E-mail app is surprisingly good, easily better than Pocket Outlook for the Pocket PC. There is no support for subfolders or categories, though. The Text Editor is decent, but the Hancom Office Suite that comes with the commercial Zaurus is better. I have only sampled the Hancom Suite, as Sharp is still working out a deal with Hancom to supply owners of the developer model with that software. Once that comes I will review it separately. Sharp would do well to rename Text Editor as Notes, giving a more "basic user" feel and simultaneously indicating to the "basic user" what purpose the app serves. The Todo List is simple, but sufficient.

Synchronization is awkward. Currently (and this may be the final form), IntelliSync and Qtopia Desktop cannot coexist. Therefore, you either use Qtopia or you use a PIM like Outlook. The synchronization process with IntelliSync gives you strange messages on both the desktop and the handheld that at the same time notify you that synchronization is in process and scare the dickens out of you because they look like error messages. The handheld is unusable during sync. With IntelliSync, the Calendar, Address Book, and Todo List sync nicely with Outlook, and there is a File Transfer option to move files to and from your desktop.

I was able to get my contact information into the Zaurus without too much trouble, opting to use IntelliSync and grabbing my info from Microsoft Outlook. I also tried beaming a few contacts from the Zaurus to a Pocket PC and back. For the most part it worked both ways, but you had to do it one at a time. You were allowed to do more, but it would goof up. The software is set up to use a fixed IP address for your Zaurus--that could present a problem in some networks, but I have not yet heard of any trouble.

I don't think the drivers are as good as they could be. My computer still occasionally does not recognize my Zaurus upon docking, and attempts to install it as a new device. The Zaurus must be placed in the dock turned on as well, unlike Palms and Pocket PCs.

OS: Internet Browsing
This is my favorite activity with my Zaurus--the Opera Browser is breathtaking. First of all, it's the fastest browser I have ever used on a handheld. Second, it offers things that finally make handheld surfing worthwhile. There is a button that looks like a magnifying glass--tap it and you get a choice of 5 sizes. At the smallest size you can see a whole page as it would appear on your desktop; too small to read in most cases, but useful. At the largest size you can read the smallest of text on any website, and see high-detail close-ups of any picture. The three levels between those provide comfortable compromises that make for great browsing on the small screen. There is a bookmark list, and there are options to disable or enable cookies, SSL v2, SSL v3, TLS 1.0, and whether or not you want security warnings. Having a keyboard just makes it that much better, since typing in Web addresses can be challenging with handwriting recognition software. There is a backslash on the keyboard, in case you were wondering.

OS: Media Play
The media player that comes with the Zaurus is pathetic. It plays MPEG movies and music (no Ogg Vorbis, at least not without the solution from the Kompany), but there aren't enough controls, it's a strange monolithic design that is not consistent with the rest of the apps, and it's just plain goofy. The image viewer is equally quirky, being unable to view JPGs from my digital camera. Sharp reps say the files are too large to be opened by a handheld, but I can view them on any Pocket PC I have ever tried. The Zaurus has the same hardware specs, so I don't understand what the problem could be other than poor software.

OS: General Feel
The general feel of the Zaurus is somewhat similar to the general feel of Linux: quirky; not-yet-ready-for-prime-time as a general use OS; difficult; feature-poor. All in all, though, this is not your typical Linux. Sharp even mentioned at the press conference that Linux was an afterthought from its developers' perspective. The company wanted a capable handheld, and went with Linux as the OS. Sharp doesn't want this to be a "Linux PDA," but simply a "PDA." More accurately, I suppose, they want it to be a "PMT," a "Personal Mobile Tool."

The first release of the OS had more references to Linux. The boot screen featured Tux front and center, and the Tux app (simply presents a draggable image of Tux) could be found in the Games tab. Now the boot screen displays "SHARP," and Tux has disappeared from the Games tab. At one point there was no Terminal app in the ROM image--it had to be installed separately from a CD-ROM. Sharp developers have since changed their minds, realizing, I bet, that their best shot at selling these is to woo developers. Tux remained in small form in the icon for Image Viewer the whole time, though.

The Linux handheld has something that others don't, though: amazing stability. I have to soft reset my Pocket PC weekly because something locks up. I have only locked up the Zaurus one way: trying to view pictures from my digital camera in the Image Viewer.

One thing I have purposely overlooked is software availability. Perhaps that is an error on my part, but I think time will tell. Linux apps port easily to this handheld, most of the work going into revisiting the UI to optimize for small-screen usage. There is some great software out there, and there are tons of unincorporated Linux developers writing freeware to do things that would never see commercial development. That's the benefit of Linux, and I say let's wait until Zaureses have been out on the market 6 months and see how many apps are available.

One of the other drawbacks to Linux solutions is support. Often the company that produces the amazing software you swear by is a guy working out of his house. Sometimes he doesn't speak the same language you do--I mean this figuratively as well as literally. Even some of the copy from Sharp's developer site for the Zaurus is obviously written by someone for whom English is a second language. You're going to be on your own occasionally.

In conclusion, the feel of the OS is reassuring and intimidating at the same time. I hate when people try to sound intelligent by contradicting themselves, but I know no better way to communicate this feeling. The Linux OS is sturdy and dependable, but mysterious and foreign for the new user.

UPDATE: After using the Zaurus for a solid two weeks I am having a hard time going back to my Maestro! The screen on the Zaurus is sorely missed, and I can't function without the thumb-board anymore! Browsing with Pocket Internet Explorer is a chore now, too. I may just end up using the Zaurus as my primary PDA--I wish they would hurry up with Mac synch'ing!

Ratings Defense
For Quality I give Sharp's Zaurus Personal Mobile Tool 3.5 Geekheads. I give full marks for the excellence of the Opera Browser, the inclusion of the keyboard, and the fact that every Zaurus comes standard with Asteroids; but I take away one full Geekhead for the PIM applications not being as feature-rich as they should be. This is a PDA--that is top priority. And I take away another half Geekhead for the hardware's slightly cheap feel.

For Geekness I see no reason not to give the Zaurus the full 5 Geekheads. This is a Linux PDA. You are carrying 206 MHz worth of hacking power in your pocket. Teamed with WiFi or a Socket mobile phone CF adapter this is a sweet little wireless browser/server. Add to that the fact that Japanese Zaurus handhelds already have add-ons that include digital cameras, portable stereos, and TiVo-like A/V equipment that lets you take catered TV content with you on your Zaurus, and the Zaurus may turn out the be the coolest handheld there ever was.

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