recommendations for a linux compatible PDA

[pythonscript]

What's your recommendation for a fully Linux-compatible PDA? I'm looking for one that lets me work on Office 2007/openOffice documents, spreadsheets, presentations, etc, as well as has wi-fi, good support for expansion cards (or high internal memory) as well as various multimedia formats. I don't care if it's windows mobile or something else, but I'd like to have a full featured imap client on it and be able to work well with linux when syncing files, documents, etc. Thanks!

EDIT: It doesn't have to be a smartphone, either. Having phone/text/camera capabilities is extremely secondary to what I mentioned above. Thanks!

[ve4cib]

Have you looked at the Nokia n800 and n810? They're part PDA, part Internet Tablet, and part multimedia player. They run Maemo (which is based on Debian), so they're guaranteed to be Linux-compatible. Might offer the kinds of features you're looking for.

The n900 is the successor to the n810 and is also a phone. From what I recall it's due out in October or November this year.

[pythonscript]

That sounds promising. Is there a pretty good selection of apps for it? I mainly use ubuntu/arch linux, so this seems like it would work, and it would have windows compatibility too, right? Working on documents on the road is big for me, and I can't find anything on the Nokia as far as what document formats it supports; it's all web/media stuff, which is fantastic for me, but I'd especially care for the work environment tools as well. Thanks!

EDIT: I keep forgetting these things too! The n900 is a touch screen, but the n810 isn't, right?

[ve4cib]

The n800, n810, and n900 are all touch-screen. The n800 however does not have a slide-out tactile keyboard; it's on-screen only.

As for software, because Maemo is Debian-based, and it's running on an ARM processor you should be able to install applications off of the Debian repositories. At least I would imagine you could. As far as I know Maemo also has its own repositories with a pretty decent selection of software.

For office/work-specific software I'm afraid your guess is as good as mine. A quick google hunt for "maemo office suite" came up with this:

http://maemo.org/downloads/OS2008/office-business/

Looks like there are a few apps there that might fit your needs. Gnumeric is on there (for spreadsheets -- not sure how compatible it is with MS Office, but it should play nicely with OpenOffice), the usual battery of calendar and e-mail apps, and another google hunt revealed that you can also get Abiword running on it (a possible replacement for MS word -- again, I don't know about compatibility).

Another option for the work/office stuff would be to use GoogleDocs and Google Gears to edit MS Office documents in the browser. You'd need to google to see if this is actually possible, but it's an idea if Gnumeric and Abiword won't cut it.

I've never used any of the devices in question (though I am eagerly awaiting the release of the n900 so I'll finally have an excuse to own a cell phone again -- I haven't had one in years). All of my information about them is based on reviews, google-hunting, and discussions with people who have used them.

[pythonscript]

These nokias are sounding better and better. Do you think once the 900 comes out, they'll still sell models without phone capabilities? I already have a phone, and don't really want to switch my carrier, so I'm wondering if I could just get the other features without the hassle of the phone stuff. Thanks!

[cstross]

What's your recommendation for a fully Linux-compatible PDA? I'm looking for one that lets me work on Office 2007/openOffice documents, spreadsheets, presentations, etc, as well as has wi-fi, good support for expansion cards (or high internal memory) as well as various multimedia formats. I don't care if it's windows mobile or something else, but I'd like to have a full featured imap client on it and be able to work well with linux when syncing files, documents, etc. Thanks!

EDIT: It doesn't have to be a smartphone, either. Having phone/text/camera capabilities is extremely secondary to what I mentioned above. Thanks!

Your best bet is probably a grey-market import of a Sharp PC-Z1 Netwalker: Conics.net import them and you can find them here (http://conics.net/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=570).

It's a 400-gram (14 ounce) ARM-based PDA running Ubuntu 9.04. micro-SDHC expansion, 512Mb RAM, 4GB flash storage, USB + WiFi (no bluetooth), battery life of 12 hours (probably 6-8 in actual use).

It doesn't get much more compatible than that!

[ve4cib]

The older models (specifically the n810) might still be available for a little while (until stock runs out). I believe the n800 has been discontinued, though it's still available off Amazon. The same will probably be true of the n810.

[pythonscript]

Thanks for all the information! My phone is actually close to dying, so I might see about replacing both my phone and my PDA with something with both functionalities, and the Nokias seem like a great pick. Thanks!