Marshall's Photos and Comments
Zaurus ZR-3000 and ZR-5000 Series

Since Sharp discontinued the excellent OZ-770 Wizard Organizer,
I have been examining and comparing other PDAs. The Zaurus line
by Sharp stretches back to 1995, and reaches the future with the new
Linux based Zaurus models. The ZR-5700 has 1mb of memory,
and the ZR-5800 has 2mb of memory, so I wondered how they compared
to the OZ-730 or OZ-770.

Here is a Zaurus ZR-3500x that I found on EBay for about $20.
It came with pc sync software, "Zmail" software, cables, manuals and
advertising literature the Rupp Company, maker of RuppLynx sync software.

Here's a larger picture from the box.

Here is a picture comparing the Wizard OZ-770 keyboard with the
keyboard of the Zaurus 3500x.

This photo shows the OZ-770 screen below the screen of the ZR-3500x.

Even though the ZR-3500x had less memory than the 5800 (1 vs 2mb),
the 3500 was considered "better" because it had a built-in 14,400 modem.
It is also slightly smaller and lighter than the 5700/5800 models.
The 3500x weighs 12 ounces, and is just a tiny bit bigger than the OZ-770
in each dimension. Here is a size comparison picture:

The model numbers may be confusing, since the ZR-3500x was actually
developed AFTER the 5700/5800 models. The 5700 and 5800 are indentical
except for two things. 1) The 5800 has a backlight. 2) The 5800 has 2mb
of memory (double the 5700). Here is a large photo of the Zaurus ZR-5800.

A drawback to using a Zaurus in the present (2004) is outdated
synchronization capabilities. MS Outlook has become the leading PIM,
and most desireable PC sync for PDA's, but the Zaurus software does
not synch with Outlook. It is possible to do by purchasing RuppLinx 6.1.
It would also be necessary to run a pre-1997 edition of MS Office on your
computer to take advantage of data exchange back and forth between your PC
and your Zaurus. I was able to do it with an old copy of Word from Office 95.

For comparison's sake, here are four Sharp PDAs which are now out
of production. The Zaurus models and the Mobilon may be easily purchased
on EBay for $50 or less. The Wizard OZ-770 is now selling in the $150 to $200 range.

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