Zaurus on Internet
==================
I still have the SHARP Zaurus SL-C3200. A cute tiny clamshell PDA -
actually a tiny Linux laptop. I have got it when it was already
obsolete and used it little. It's the most expensive model with the
biggest RAM (128 MB, I think), the bigges storage space (the 6GB HDD)
and - of course - the biggest power consumption.
It runs the "Cacko ROM" which is a Linux with the QTOPIA-based
environment (so an old QT stuff). Runs well and it's reasonably fast.
The swap space on the HDD can be configured and used. On the cost of
battery life, of course.
The GUI is thus not X11-based and the terminal emulator (with
reasonable font size) is of non-standard size. And the CPU is an old
ARM (from times when the ARM was not very common). That made porting of
software a bit problematic. Thus some things exes, some not. For
example, I never managed to get the GNU Octave to run here. And I have
never found (nor sucessuffly compiled) the Lynx WWW browser.
On Saturday I decided to undust the device and try how (if) it can
connect to the Interned today. I do have an CF-sized Ethernet adapter
which is supported on the Cacko so I inserted it, connected the cable
and... got connected!
The software is the main problem. I can use the old Links here. And
there are the NetFront and the Opera. It seems no one of the supports
gopher protocol and the http-only WWW pages are rare these days (Logout
has one [1] but it is Czech Language only). So the Gopher is what I
need. Fortunately the Floodgap [2] (the Cameron Kaiser's site) has the
gopher proxy and it work well on the old NetFront.
So... the Zaurus can connect to The internet (easily) and can access
anything available on the Gopher.
Now the problem: the battery life. Batteries used in early 2000s
devices weren't nor the biggest nor the greatest. Some hours of battery
life were posssible and the machines were often able to survive weeks
in suspend. Now with the old battery I can get 2 hours of surfing at
max. That's might be OK as my Nokia 770 (marketed once as the "Interned
tabled") was able to stay charged for months in off mode (a some form
of deep sleep as alarms worked in this mode), a week in suspend, up to
6 hours in offline use and up to 2 hours on the WiFi (there was no
ethernet option). So up to 2 hour of web browsing, too.
Of course, if you have a wired ethernet you probably have a power
outlet, too. So the battery is not so big issue in this type of use.
But I hope that after a few ful cycles the battery will became more
cooperative...
References:
[1]
http://tecxhnomorous.eu
[2]
http://floodgap.com
