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Review: YOPY 3700

In my last PDA column, I examined the Sharp Zaurus SL-C760 Linux PDA. No look at Linux PDAs, however, could reasonably ignore the YOPY 3700 from G.mate, one of Sharp's main competitors in the Linux PDA market. There aren't too many contenders around right now, so the YOPY is an important addition to this product space.

OS ARM Linux (Linupy), X window System CPU 206 MHz Intel Strong ARM 32-bit RISC Processor Memory 128MB of RAM with 32MB of ROM Display Front light reflective TFT LCD that runs at 240 x 320 resolution (65,536 colors) Card Slots Compact Flash II slot, MMC slot Input QWERTY keyboard; stylus Power 2300mAh Li-ion Polymer Battery External Dimensions 69 × 103 × 24.7mm Weight 200g Audio Speaker/Microphone, Ear Phone Jack (3.5mm; Stereo)

The first thing we noticed about the YOPY was that it's a bit fatter than our iPAQ. It has a flip-top display--which (unfortunately) doesn't swivel around like the Zaurus--and a built-in QWERTY keyboard. The 65,536-color display was good, but not quite as bright as our iPAQ's. We could get by with it, though, if we had to.

The YOPY's keyboard was okay but, frankly, we liked the Zaurus' a lot more. The keys on the YOPY are thinner--our fingers simply fit better on the Zaurus (and our fingers are pretty average-sized). Still, the YOPY's keyboard does make data entry easier. With a little bit of practice, we became fairly comfortable with it. Next time around, we'd like the keys to be a tad larger.

The YOPY is fairly comfortable to hold, though we prefer the slimness of our iPAQ. When we flipped the display up on the YOPY we started having flashbacks to the communicators in the original "Star Trek" TV series. It might be a good idea to lose the flip-top altogether or, if it must stay, have it implemented like the Zaurus.

We'd also like to see a sleeker version of the YOPY. It's just not as comfortable to slip into our pocket as our trusty iPAQ. Thin is in as far as PDAs go and we hope that G.Mate puts the YOPY on a diet in future versions.

The YOPY was fairly speedy. We initially thought it was slow when we clicked to start an application and nothing happened. Then we realized you have to push down harder on the screen than you do with the iPAQ or the Zaurus. Once we realized that, we had to make sure we kept pushing down hard enough to get our apps started.

One truly irritating thing about the YOPY is the unnecessary light on the outside of the display that flashes when you close it. It looks cool at first, but it becomes an annoyance after you've seen it a few times. It's supposed to be a visual cue to the YOPY's standby status and/or alarm setting. Frankly, we don't care. We just want it gone in the next edition--or at least made into a user-configurable option.

The YOPY comes with a wide range of applications, including an MP3 player, voice recorder, Solitaire, Web browser, wallpaper manager, and file manager. Pretty much the usual stuff you get with a PDA.

Unfortunately, there isn't much more software available to install. The YOPY, like all Linux PDAs, lags behind the Palm and Pocket PC platforms when it comes to software (though this may be slowly changing). Bear this in mind if you are in the market for a PDA. Take note of what your software needs are now and what they might be in the future.

HancomMobile Word/Spreadsheet/Presenter are included as the YOPY's office applications. Both were about as useful for us as our iPAQ's version of Microsoft Word, etc. We don't do much on our PDAs with these kinds of applications but it's sure nice to have them if we need them. The HancomMobile applications work well if you need to use MS Word files or a similar program on your YOPY. If you've used the Pocket versions of Microsoft's apps before, you'll have no trouble with their HancomMobile counterparts.

You can do the usual PIM functions on the YOPY: tasks, contact, schedule, memo, etc. If you've ever used other PDAs, the YOPY's PIM functionality will feel relatively familiar. The YOPY 3700 didn't synch with our PC the way our iPAQ does. Instead you use a browser-based interface on your PC. The next version of the YOPY should be able to synch directly with Windows in a more intuitive manner.

Synchronizing with a Linux desktop is also problematic. Right now you cannot synch with your Linux desktop--even though the YOPY is a Linux-based PDA. This really doesn't make any sense and we hope the problem will be rectified. All Linux PDAs should be able to synch with Windows and with Linux desktops.

We were annoyed that it took some effort on our part to play MP3s after we stuck an SD card into the YOPY. We would have preferred that the MP3 player find the files automatically. It's little things like this that provide users with a sense of satisfaction when using a PDA.

The YOPY beat our iPAQ, though, when it came to built-in speakers. The engineering geniuses at HP put the speaker for the iPAQ on the back of the unit. At least the folks at G.Mate had the common sense to put the speaker on the front, making it easier for people to actually hear audio when they don't have headphones on.

We liked using the YOPY and we think it has a bright future. However, if it came down to making a choice between the YOPY, our iPAQ or the Zaurus we reviewed earlier, we'd break it down this way:

iPAQ 2215 Zaurus SL-C760 YOPY 3700

Right now the YOPY is just a bit too "boxy" for our taste. We'd prefer either of the other two to carry around on a daily basis. Still, the YOPY is a solid Linux PDA and we're looking forward to seeing what newer models have to offer.

Product: YOPY 3700 Web site: www.yopy.com Pros: Very stable; provides a good range of basic PDA applications; fairly speedy PDA. Cons: Form factor is a bit chunky; PIM applications could be more refined; can't synch directly with Linux desktops or withWindows. Summary: This is a solid Linux PDA that accomplishes most of what we need a palm device to do. Price: $499.00 Score: