Linux based PDAs

[Mateo]

what are the best linux based PDAs? a google search mostly gets results from 2003 or 2004.

[ssam]

nokia n800

[ComplexNumber]

nokia n800
its not a phone, and neither is its predecessor - the 770. they are both internet tablets.

whilst on the subject of linux devices, intel have recently announced their plan to have gnome based pocket PC. originally, they wanted to use vista, but "microsoft has so far been unable to produce a device that performs well in the mobile space". more about that here:
http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS8166710404.html


motorola has many linux smartphones. in fact, approximately 92% of all its smartphones sold are linux based.
we have to make the distinction between PDA and smartphone. the smartphone market is a rapidly increasing market, whereas the PDA is dying very quickly in favour of smartphones. linux has an approximate 19% marketshare of the smartphone market, but is much less common on PDAs.

[Mateo]

i'm asking about PDAs, not smart phones. I don't really care if the OS is based on linux so much as it "acts" like linux. I also want something with a lot of processing power, not like palm which has terrible screen resolution and pedestrian applications.

[ComplexNumber]

i'm asking about PDAs, not smart phones. I don't really care if the OS is based on linux so much as it "acts" like linux. I also want something with a lot of processing power, not like palm which has terrible screen resolution and pedestrian applications.
some of palm's future smarphones/PDA's(its not clear at this stage which they will be, or maybe both) will be linux based. they are hoping to move as far away as windows based devices(eg Treos) as possible, especially as there are rumours of a takeover bid by manufacturers that are not windows/microsoft friendly (eg moto and nokia). the windows based treos are said to be quite unreliable and unstable, and sources inside Palm say that this is part of the reason for moving more towards linux instead. windows mobile was only ever a stop-gap solution for Palm, and never a long term one. there was the linux-based ALP and garnet platform, but i think they've fallen by the wayside now.
windows mobile has lots of shortcomings - it requires far too much processing power(note: this will help to drain the battery much faster than it should), it is not known for being reliable, the OS is not capable of displaying more than 65k colours even when the display itself can, and it is still tied to using bitmapped graphics(this can make the icons and graphics look quite pixelated) rather than SVGs.

this link may be of some use to you:
http://www.linuxdevices.com/articles/AT8728350077.html

[Mateo]

maybe, but most of those are very old products. I'd like something powerful enough to run abiword (or a lighter equivalent - the functionality is more important to me). something that can run financial applications. and, as I said before, can easily sync with ubuntu, meaning a sync application exists and will sync everything. basically a pocket computer, but i don't want it to be a phone also because i'd rather not have to charge my phone daily.

i don't want a palm though because i have one now and it's applications are 95% commercial, and even those have pedestrian capabilities. i'm not asking for the moon but i'd like to be able to open word documents, spreadsheets, hopefully even powerpoint presentations, and financial programs.

[Mateo]

looking at the Zaurus right now and it looks like it might be what i want. i'll have to see more though.

[fuscia]

http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS8166710404.html

that thing's almost as big as a newton.

[ComplexNumber]

as i mentioned before, intel will soon be releasing a pocket PC that runs linux which has a gnome-based interface. there is also the 770 and the n800.

[mcstayinskool]

The linux-based PepperPad3 is also worth a look.
http://pepperpad.com