[geeks] PDA recommendations

[geeks at sunhelp.org]

Keith Campbell wrote:

> A lot of you use various PDA's.
> 
> Which ones make good serial consoles in a pinch?


I'm extraordinarily happy with my Agenda. I realize I'm not in the
majority with that a`opinion, though. Apparently, former users of othe
PDAs are somewhat dissatisfied with the performance of the VR3 as
compared with newer palms and especially Ipaqs and stuff. 

The Agenda VR3 uses an NEC4181 MIPS chip and runs linux. All the
software is open source, and is growing steadily. You just have to
remember that it's the functional equivalent of a 486/100 or so. That
means closing progs when you're not using them, unlike a Palm where you
leave everything open all the time, but the single-taskedness means only
one thing happens. I think that's the essential reason Palm users find
it disappointing.

As for serial consoles in a pinch, the Agenda rocks. Microcom (a smaller
minicom) is a snap, and the quicksync cable that comes with it is
pre-nulled. No adapters needed. 


> Which ones can be secured?  (I think someone here mentioned that the
> Palm can't be.)

The VR3 can be secured by a number of methods, and if you're not happy
with them, you can write your own as easilly as you would for any other
*nix box.

All-in-all, I'm quite happy with mine.

http://www.agendacomputing.com
http://www.supermegamulti.com/agenda


---sambo