Playing with older PDAs
=======================

Last month I was searching for some accessories for your digital camera
(the SONY DSC-W530) and found some other machines instead. I still have
some old  PDA machines  from late  1990s and  early 2000s.  Actually, I
don't remember when  I actually used them  for the last time.  I use my
PSION II (a 1980s device) daily but I don't use newer device.


I usually  have my Nokia  900 available as  a spare phone/camera  but I
only used  it to  made a  few pictures  this year.  The problem  is, of
course, that it  is now too tiny  for my aging eyes (and  I'm unable to
make it work in the modern  HTTPS/SSL world... fo on https:// sites, no
e-mail). 

I have the battery installed in the Nokia 770 (in keeps charge for very
long time) but I only turned it on to check if it's still alive (and to
read a few some text in the FBReader).

I have tried to check my Zauri.  Why? The SHARP Zaurus devices are made
generally for the  Japan market. Even if  they now run the Cacko ROM, I
thing that adding  of Japanese support should be possible.  I have been
struggling with  Japanese now  (I don't  dare to say  that I  have been
learning this language) so having a pocket device with Japanese support
have been sounding like a good idea to me.


Well, the  SL-5500 does  not boot. Maube  I will be  able to  manage to
reflash it  during Christmas. The SL-C700  (a clamshell-shaped machine)
works as usual.  I only have needed  to buy a new battery  (a story for
itself,...)  as the  old ones  were dead.  I bought  that machine  as a
damaged one many years ago (it cannot  produce sound) and it is still a
nice  device for  experimenting. The  problem is  that most  of package
repositories are gone now and I haven't been able to find a working one
so have  no idea  where to  get the Japanese  support packages  for the
Cacko ROM (any tips?).

So, the SL-6000N (at least I think  it's the "N"). It has been a device
bought as  a new  from the  Pulster (a  German PSION/Zaurus/qhateverPDA
seller) and it has the original  OS (just reconfigured for English). At
least Japanese  input works here  (and sometimes it even  recognises my
naive attempts  to write Japanese  characters!) What  I miss here  is a
working Englis-Japanes  (and/or vice versa) dictionary  for the Zaurus.
(any tips?)

The 6000 model is a PDA-style one  with a small keyboard at the bottom.
The keyboard is hidden under a  sliding cover. It's a huge device (even
today!) so the  keyboard is big enough  to be useful (the  550's one is
way too small for me). The problem  is the battery - it integrates rear
cover of the device so... no one makes replacement ones. The only other
issue of  the device is  it's 2.5mm audio jack  (I have an  adapter but
it's impractical as it is connected on the side of the device).

I tried  to find the  working package  repository so I  connected these
machines to the Internet. I already forgot how it was in mid-2000s when
you  connected such  device to  the wred  ethernet od  the WiFi  - just
one-two hours to eat all teh battery... (remember? the Nokia 770 wasn't
much better)  Anyway, they are fine  in suspend (days to  weeks) and in
offline use (4~8 hours, I think).

Then  I have  found the  Agenda  VR3. The  (I think)  first actual  PDA
designed for the Linux OS. A 3.5"  black and white screen, a 66 (or so)
MHz MIPS CPU and  the actual X Window System. It  was very promising in
it's time (early 200s) but it  wasn't too successful. Anyway, it's nice
to have a pocket machine with the ports of the SC (CSpread) speadsheet,
vi  editor, a  (rather  limited) XFig  port and  more.  There are  some
issues,  though. It'  connects via  the serial  port and  the PPP  - it
requires some PPP  server features on the host's side  which IRIX don't
have. It worked  with the Linux at  least. It cannot be  charged by any
sort of adapter (one has to unscrew  the cover and replace it's pair of
AAAs). And all devices I saw already  had some dead colums of pixels on
thei  screen (byt  I saw  only odl  and well-used  devices). So  I ahve
inserted a pair of AAA batteries here and now trying to play with it.


By the  way, the  Palm PDAs  (PAlm III  and upwards),  the Linux-bbased
Zaurus P)DAs a and the VR3 can exchange some data via the infraport. It
was called "beaming" on the Palms  and it works for some specific sorts
of  date  (memo notes,  calendar  evewns,  ToDo  items). One  can  beam
applications between two Palms but I think it does now work for general
files (but the VR3 saves the accepted memos from other devices as plain
text files, for example).

This  dos not  work  to/from  other kind  of  devices  (PSION ones,  HP
palmtops) as they use uncompatible infrared protocols. :-(


Written on the SGI O2.