Sharp Zaurus SL-6000L Handheld

The SL-6000L is the best handheld of all the units I have owned including a Zaurus 5500. The built in wireless syncs with every hotspot I've tried and the Spread sheet, Word processor and Presentations works with all the MS Windows files natively without converting back and forth.

The one thing that was missing from the previous version was the Jeode Java which I had to download and install so I could run Formulae 1 from Poliplus software [...]. I can also recomend the Mona and Lisa programs which makes it the perfect calculator replacement for college engineering clases.

Since it Holds both CF and SD memory cards at the same time, I have lots of extra space for MP3's and now I use it like an Ipod as well. If Sharp did a better job of marketing this, it would be a best seller.

I jsut received this yesterday and here's my first impression.

I've been using a Sharp Zaurus since the pre-release 5000D. I've had a 5500 for 3 years and I've loved it. I like having a handheld computer vs. a PDA. I have a Treo 600 so I've gotten very familiar with the Palm OS. Hey, it's ok but it's not Linux. I had a Psion 5mx which I loved and used for years. As for Windows devices, forget it. With all the fun I have had with Microsoft operating systems on my computers over the years, I have no desire to wrestle with a scaled down version of bloat and the Blue Screen of Death.

The 6000L has a gorgeous 480 x 640 display. It is beautiful. The best I've ever seen on a handheld, bar none.

One of the biggest attractions of the 6000L for me is it's ruggedization. I'm hard on things. I drop things a lot and I work in a factory, all hard edges and lots of places to get hurt. I've taken out my 5500 at work and my hands have lost their grip and voila! flying Zaurus. It's survived, but I think I'm better off with something a bit more robust. The 6000L seems sturdier and that is what I need. I will put it to the test.

I took the 128 mb SD card and the 128 mb CF card from my 5500 and put them in the 6000L. I will probably replace the CF card with something larger. I use the CF card strictly for storage and file transfer.

People complain about the PIM functionality of the Zaurus apps. I find them perfectly suited to my needs. The Hancom apps included work extremely well with MS Office apps.

Just one complaint so far, directed at Sharp. Hey, Sharp, are you listening? How about a Linux version of the PC applications? It seems silly to have a Linux handheld and not include Linux apps to sync and transfer files.

My first impression is I love the 6000L. The apps are great, I can use a lot of things from the 5500 on the 6000L. I haven't had a chance to test the wireless yet, but I will soon. I expect it to be solid and reliable. Solid reliability is something I've come to expect from the Zaurus and Linux.

I'm writing this on my new Zaurus. Firstly to the reviewer who complained about the handwriting recognition, it's the best I've seen. You can train every letter to the way you write. The other side to this pda is that, if you need software that doesn't come with this pda, you better be willing to tinker with downloaded packages.

What can I cay that has not already been said? The 6000L does everything you could ever assk of a notebook, much less a PDA. It has USB host capability, meaning it can control OTHER USB devices...like USB JUMP drives, USB hard drives, etc, etc.

And that is just ONE of the expansion slots, in addition, it's got it's crade connector, SD card slot and CF card slot. More expansion than you will ever need. And you don't even need to waste slot using WIFI, becuase it is BUILT-IN...with other PDA's and NOTEBOOKs, you would have acard sticking out of the unit blicking obnoxiously, telling the world you are accessing the internet (or work's VPN)...this is much subtler, there is very little that lets anyon know you are really not making a grocery list, but rather surfing the web or emailing a friend.

The only significantly negative review I have seen here at Amazon is from someone who never actually bought one...If you think it costs alot for approx seven big ones, then you have obviously NOT tried this out. People seem to think smaller means it should be cheaper, but when you pack as much punch into a PDA as a notebook has and shrink it to this size, it SHOULD cost a premium.

Sure, there are a few minor quibbles with this unit as with ALL PDA's and notebooks, but when you compare this unit to it's closest competitor...the specs will blow you away on this unit.


This baby is worth every penny and then some. I won't go into all it's features as that has been covered previously in detail, but I will say that even all those feature merely scratch the surface of what is available (or will be available) to do on this fantastic handheld.

This item is amazing. It has all the features a PDA, with LINUX power under the hood. There are so many great linux applications that can be used with this it is hard to know where to start.

It also plays MP3 files and MPEG movies (that's right, MOVIES) and to top it all off it's got built-in WIFI...not only WIFI but a full-functional web browser and email client. The web browser is amazing as it can view any web page, not just those written for PDA screens, this unit with it's hi-res 480x640 screen resizes webapages to fit on the whole screen and still be readable !

If you need more room, press a button and it switches to landscape mode !

It integrates your contacts as your email address book and plays tons of games.

If your a techie, this unit will connect into LINUX systems and has a fully functional shell to allow you to log into other linux machines and servers....even through a VPN.

To call this a PDA is really like calling a full blown LINUX laptop (that just happens to have organizer software on it) a PDA. This is much more of a notebook replacement that fits in your pocket. With built-in WIFI, and SD card AND Compact Flash slots, you can utilize this with any digital camera to view, edit and store your images.

Truely an amazing buy at less than seven hundred dollars.

Nothing, and I mean nothing, can compare to the features, applications and expandablility of this little amazing device.