Sharp Zaurus SL-5500 PDA

Combining the power of a PC with the fun of multimedia, the Zaurus SL-5500 boasts a powerful Intel StrongARM 206 MHz processor, 64 MB standard memory, an MP3 and MPEG-1 multimedia player, and a voice recorder. It also features a high-resolution color reflective LCD and an integrated keyboard with a sliding cover.

Because of its open-source Linux/Java-based platform (with Qt/Embedded GUI), applications can be easily customized to fit your personal and business needs.

Sharp's built-in QWERTY keyboard design allows easy data input without sacrificing space. In addition to the keyboard, you can use the stylus and touchscreen to navigate through applications with ease.

Incorporating Sharp's leading LCD technology, the Zaurus SL-5500 has a high-definition color reflective TFT screen with over 65,000 colors and a 240 x 320 resolution. You'll get bright, vivid color no matter what the lighting, making it simple to view a movie or pop in a video while on the move.

The two built-in slots for Secure Digital (SD) and CompactFlash (CF) cards provide dual expansion capabilities and simultaneous use of accessories such as optional modems, memory, LAN cards, and digital cameras. The Zaurus SL-5500 is compatible with a number of modem options for maximum flexibility in communication.

The Zaurus SL-5500 comes equipped with an extensive software application package including address book, calendar, calculator, text editor, to-do list, and Word and Excel viewing and editing capabilities. Its PC synchronization program for Microsoft Outlook makes it easy to keep all information up-to-date. The Zaurus also comes complete with a docking station that features an integrated USB cable and AC adapter for easy synchronization and battery recharging.

The Sharp Zaurus SL-5500 comes with an AC power adapter and cord, USB synchronization cradle, stylus, display-protection cover, and rechargeable lithium-ion battery.

What's in the box

• Zaurus SL-5500
• EA-70 AC Adaptor
• Docking Station (USB)
• AC Adapter and Power Cord
• Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery
• Stylus
• Display Protection Cover
• CF Slot Protection Card

The Zaurus's fast CPU, high quality full-color LCD, and excellent headphone sound output makes for an impressive photo viewer, MP3 and MOD music player, and video-clip displayer.

The slide-out keyboard has completely weaned me from using the handwriting system, which is unfortunate, because a lot of work was obviously put into it. Not only does the handwriting system have a help mode where you can practice strokes, but you can actually train it new, or alternate strokes for each character. But when you can type so quickly, why bother writing?

The dual expansion slots are great, allowing me to use an SD card for software installation, and still have my CF slot free for a RAM card full of MP3s or a network adapter.

Honestly, I was impressed by the capabilities of the Java system. In my opinion, Java has always been too slow and cumbersome to use, and the thought of running it on a 206MHz PDA seemed ridiculous. But from what I've seen of Java applications (even games!) running on the Zaurus, I'm beginning to realize there's a lot of potential in Java.

As a desktop Linux user, I'm also tickled to have the power and stability of my favorite OS underneath the hood. For the extremely geeky, you can get Java, C and C++ compilers that run ON the Zaurus!

The "Qtopia" environment and applications are as intuitive as they are nice to look at. The PIM applications have all the functionality I'm used to from my Palm device, and then some.

Until I can afford a wireless modem to stick in one of my Zaurus' two expansion slots, I've been using a Compact Flash ethernet dongle to get online while watching TV.

After using offline browsers on the Palm, I was shocked to find a full-fledge, desktop-quality browser built right into my Zaurus: Opera.

Opera's zoom-out feature can't be lived without. Frustratingly, most websites assume you have a screen capable of at least 800x600. On a small PDA screen, this would mean constantly scrolling left and right as you try to read. Under Opera, you can zoom out to get a better overview of the page, and still be able to read all of the text!

I've only used the Sync software (Qtopiadesktop - I used the Linux version) a few times, since my pattern for PDA usage is to use them as stand-alone devices. It was quite intuitive, though, as it looked and felt just like a larger version of the PIM software built-into the Zaurus.

Finally, while there's obviously very little 3rd party software for the Zaurus so far, since it just came out, there's been what seems to be exponential growth. I've already installed almost 20 new applications, including games, a streaming Internet radio player, and an embedded version of the popular Linux browser, "Konqueror."

Software installation is usually a snap, too. Just as with Palm, all that's usually needed is one file downloaded off a website. Run the graphical installer, wait a few seconds, and the new app. is there, ready to run!

All in all, it's a great system. Powerful and slick hardware, in a beautiful form-factor, running powerful and slick software.


Pocket Laptop!! (SL-5500 users: Download the ROM v3.10 now!)   May 17, 2003
 33 out of 34 found this review helpful

First and foremost, if you are looking for purely Personal Information Management (PIM) functions and not generally inclined towards Linux, then do yourself a favor and buy yourself a Palm Pilot.

The Zaurus is basically a mini Linux workstation with a lot of functionality you would normally find only on a desktop. With the Zaurus, you can:
* Browse the web with a scalable and full featured browser
* Read and edit MS-Office documents (Word, Excel and Powepoint)
* Write and execute scripts and programs (including Java)
* Play music and video
* Control your desktop Windows PC (using VNC software)

It is so powerful that you can actually use it as a Web or file server (using Apache and Samba). I use my Zaurus to administrate my Linux server and Oracle database server when I am away from my desk.

Plus there are tons of applications, utilities, games, etc., that you can download. Zaurus has a very active user community forum (check the links from the Sharp Zaurus official web sites) where you can get a lot of useful tips from.

Having said all that, the PIM functions that came with the Zaurus were pretty poor compared with the Palm Pilot. This lead me to hang on to my Palm Vx for dear life. I even took the drastic step of downloading and installing a Palm Pilot emulator (called QPose) onto my Zaurus. The performance hit on the Zaurus was so bad that I had to delete QPose and instead carry both my Palm Vx and Zaurus with me.

However, now that Sharp has released a new ROM (v3.10, as of May 15, 2003, see below) the PIM functions have vastly improved. So much that I am now inclined to keep my Palm at home and take only the Zaurus along.

Upon getting your Zaurus, do yourself a favor and install the terminal and file manager applications that come in the CD. The terminal application enables you to do a lot of tweaking and is mandatory if you plan to use the Zaurus to its full capabilty. It actually comes with a basic Linux shell environment and comes with such neat utilities as vi editor, ftp and telnet clients, ping, and a large number of Linux/Unix tools.

Another application I found very useful is called "rotation". It enables you to rotate the application screens by 90 degrees, making such things as web browsing, file editing and using the terminal appication a lot more pleasing and functional. You can download the "qpe-rotation" and "qt-embedded-rotation" files (ipks) from the ZaurusSoft website.

Also, an important suggestion to existing SL-5500 users:
Sharp has just released the latest ROM (v3.10, May 15, 2003) which makes the SL-5500 look and behave like the newer SL-5600. I *strongly urge* SL-5500 users with the old ROM (v2.38) to download and install this new ROM. The user interface with the new ROM is a lot cleaner and neater and has more stable applications (including a vastly improved Opera browser and much better PIM applications).


The best unit for the cost   March 4, 2003
 7 out of 8 found this review helpful

If you are looking at the Zaurus SL-5500 or any of the Zaurus SL series, you are either interested in something running Linux or are just fed up with all the other PDAs out there. I was both. What I found here was something that offered me more than I had at first imagined...

The principle of the device is simple: a windows manager (QTopia) that runs on a minimal amount of memory, allows for reasonable expandibility, and is updatable. Rather than just stopping with expandibility, however, Sharp decided to included anything they seemed to think of: flash ROM, an IR port, and one Compact Flash and SD card slot each. The result is an ability to expand the unit in terms of not only memory, but also peripherals through the CF port and even replace the preinstalled ROM with one from the Open Zaurus project.

Whether you choose to use the Open Zaurus (Opie) rom is up to you, of course, but with or without it there is currently a larger population of people writing software that will run on the Zaurus than there is for either Palm or CE devices. Palm's old community of experimental software programmers seem to have shifted back to their C language roots in Linux, meaning that there will be pleanty of new developments for a while to come. The only draw back is that everyone seems to be writing for this unit only, and not making their programs more universal, which will create problems when other devices come out (for example, many programs out now do not run well on the SL-C700, the big brother of the 5500, only available in Japan).

The largest complaint people have, especially if they come from Palm simplicity, is the time it takes for software to load. Depending on how heavily the unit is loaded down, this can become a problem. If things are kept light, or if a swap file is added (a few tools around for doing this automatically), this is not such a big deal. My advice would be to try it out at a local computer store if possible and seeing what you think of it. If you can live with it, or say "What delay?" you have found your PDA.

Handwriting recognition is another thing that sets the Zaurus apart. Sharp has been using handwriting recognition in their units for almost a decade and have it down to an art. A person can enter data just as fast as they can write it, with a high degree of accuracy, and without using a modified alphabet for input or spending ages getting the device to recognize your handwriting quirks.

I am giving this 5 stars right now in the absence of better models, but if the SL-C700 ever finds its way to the US, that will be taking the top.


A great first release   April 3, 2002
 6 out of 7 found this review helpful

I just got my SL5500 today and am pretty impressed. The screen is excellent. Having a built-in keyboard is a godsend for someone like me. As much as I tried, I never mastered Grafitti. The sync program isn't perfect but it does work with outlook. Now I'm just sorting out how to get my dlink wireless card working so I can ssh from my couch. Linux on a handheld is cool.


I love it!   November 10, 2002
 12 out of 13 found this review helpful

This was my first PDA ... but I had been looking hard at the Palm and Handspring PDA's before I got this one. It's really feature rich and I have no problem synching with my laptop and my desktop. I also like the fact that there are two card slots, one compactflash (CF) and one secure digital SD slot. So there's tons of room to store all kinds of stuff. Aside from the calendar, to do list and word/excel spreadsheet uses, I also use my zaurus as an MP3 player.. works great with MP3's running off one of the cards. If you want a great PDA, this is the one to get! .. oh, did I mention the mini keyboard that is only a click away under the navigation buttons???