There’s a certain charm to running a full-blown operating system on one’s PDA, like running Linux on the Sharp Zaurus. The charm has its costs, though: full-blown operating systems eat batteries like they’re going out of style. Thus my Zaurus (or “Z”) has been an interesting toy but one not as useful as it could be because it must never stray too far from a battery charger.
This week I found the missing piece to making my Z useful: a combination USB Hotsync/Charge cable. This $6 cable allows me to sync my Z to my laptop when I’m on the road and to charge it without having to drag along the docking station and transformer. All I do it plug the cable into my laptop and it charges via the USB voltage. One cable does it all!