The earliest hands on reports for the Digital Everun UMPC (http://www.umpcportal.com/products/product.php?id=110) are showing up, and according to Chippy at umpcportal.com, it makes a great e-book reader (http://www.umpcportal.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=741).

"I downloaded MobiPocket reader just too see if it was any good in portrait mode. It was good! I think this is going to make a very nice e-book reader indeed. The text was legible, even when zoomed out you could easily read the test. With the keyboard you can flick through and the mouse makes it very easy to access the menus too.

I've never been a fan of e-books. Just like I enjoy having a CD case with cover art, I also like to have the paper book rather than a few hundred thousand bits on a disk. This might change my mind though. With the long battery life, light weight, good screen and the (rather large) bonus of having a full PC in your hand, it makes better sense to me than a dedicated device."

UMPCs are going to experience a lot of growth as they get more powerful and less expensive. That will most certainly drive a lot of interest in e-books. Before long, there will be some amazing device choices for e-book fans.

:drool: I want it :drool:

Yummeh! :stunned: :wideeyed: :smart: :wideeyed: :cheesy: :tongue2:

Quanto dinero?

When you look at the harware specs it looks pretty much like a PDA. Now where do you draw a line between a PDA and a UMPC? I thought a UMPC had to have the capacity to run a full size OS such as Windows?

Actually, while it may not seem like it on the surface, this really is quite a bit more powerful than a PDA. You can run full Windows XP, there is 512meg RAM, and this 600Mhz CPU is far far more powerful than a 600Mhz ARM processor that might be in a fast PDA. (The Dell X51V, for example, has an Intel XScaleTM PXA270 running at 624 MHz, but I believe that there's no comparison in terms of real processing power.)

Specificatons for the "6S" version...
CPU type AMD Geode LX900
CPU speed 600 Mhz
OS Windows XP Home
Display Size 4.8" 800 X 480
RAM 512 MB
Flash 6000 MB

And the good news is that they are probably going to jump up in power every year or so as the new mobile CPU lines come out. It's going to be a very exciting time for mobile computing!

When you look at the harware specs it looks pretty much like a PDA. Now where do you draw a line between a PDA and a UMPC? I thought a UMPC had to have the capacity to run a full size OS such as Windows?

Looks interesting. Probably less easy on the eyes then a dedicated reader, but more versatile.
And, very important too me, perhaps one day soon, available in Europe, earlier then all those new models promised and never actually surfacing, which i find quite frustrating, but that's another topic.

I do not see that it is really more powerful than a current PDA. 400 MHz is now standard and i am rather sure that an ARM core is faster than a Geode. For speed Win XP is more in the problem domain than in the solution domain. 512 MB RAM is probably a requirement for Win XP despite being a real problem for the battery.

Man that screen looks tiny! I finally received my OQO, which brings me to my first question about this device... How does it handle heat dispersion? Does it get very hot, or is it noisy? Secondly, how was the battery life? Can you get more than 2.5 hours of active use out of it, without having to turn everything off? Does it have a dedicated keyboard, or did they take the same tact as Samsung and forgo(?) a keyboard for a funky new input method; i.e., onscreen thumboard? Just curious. Thanks!

I doubt that 2.5 hours are possible. Not with blue as background color. Blue heavily degrades contrast because the eye is insensitive to blue. To compensate the user turns up the backlight.

I guess the main difference is that the Geode is x86-compatible. Clock speed is, of course, not a very good comparison by itself as you suggested, but I'm surprised that it may not be faster also.

At any rate, this one is x86 compatible and runs Windows so it fits the UMPC mold. With the way that Mobile devices are so sluggish, one would think that the current ARM processors would have even more trouble with Windows, but I'll defer to the hardware experts on this one.

They seem to be claiming 6-7 hrs with the std battery and 11-12hrs with the extended battery...
http://onlyumpc.com/news/raon-digital-everun-deets-spec

They seem to be claiming 6-7 hrs with the std battery and 11-12hrs with the extended battery... The AMD Geode is one of the lowest power x86 cpus, but also one of the slowest (although it does have some hardware support for 2-D graphics). Battery life depends on the capacity of the battery (which has not been released), but Chippy at UMPC Portal reports 4 hrs web browsing on the standard battery and estimates 6 hrs for video playback and 10 hrs for audio only. He is usually conservative when rating battery life.

There is no comparison in software availability between an x86 processor and any non-x86 alternative. Almost every software e-book reader has a Windows XP version for example. All mainstream software packages run under Windows and even the OpenSource candiates often require x86 (FireFox, Thunderbird, OpenOffice). The Pepper Pad 3 has a 500 MHz Geode processor and runs Linux, but it has no trouble running FireFox, Adobe Reader, and OpenOffice (the latter runs better with 512 MB or more of memory). On low performing x86 processors and small screens the trick is to run one application at a time. Multitasking tends to be a strain on memory capacity and cpu power.

Does it have a dedicated keyboard, or did they take the same tact as Samsung and forgo(?) a keyboard for a funky new input method; i.e., onscreen thumboard? There is lots more information available at UMPCportal. Like the latest Samsung, this has a full hardware keypad. In the picture at the top of this post it is at the bottom and not well lit. Unlike the Samsung (and Pepper Pad), the keypad is on the right (bottom) rather than being split across both sides. There are function keys on the left (top), as clearly seen in the picture.

Hi all.

Saw you discussing the Everun so I thought i'd pop in to answer questions if anyone has them.

Battery life is a definite 4 hours. (Batt capacity is, I think, around 26W/hr) and there's an extended battery which will add 3 hours to that. ALTHOUGH, its possible that my demo device is not fully optimised. For example, I can't turn the Wifi off which, if I could, would save another hours battery life. BT is always on too. The SSD version (solid state disk) will also save battery life and make it quicker, a little lighter and more rugged. $700 for the base 6GB ssd version seems like a bargain to me.

The Geode processor is slow, yes, and has no hardware Direct-X support. BUT, its 2D support is quite amazing. It also has the advantage that all graphics support is on the CPU die meaning no extra GPU to take up power. In the applications performance demo video (http://www.umpcportal.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=740) I made, you'll see a fairly acceptable performance from most apps and amazong performance from Divx/Xvid videos Voip is not 100% perfect.

If anyone has questions, either ask here (i'll try and check back as much as I can) or in the UMPCPortal forums where I, obviously, hang out!

This e-reader aspect has got me interested. i might try and use it in ernest to read a book and see how it goes. i tried mobipocket, does anyone else have any suggestions for good software? It annoys me that mobipocket puts a couple of page turn columns onto the screen. They're obviously not needed on this device.

S.

Welcome to MobileRead, Chippy! :hatsoff:

And thank you for the great info! We're always especially glad to have folks show up and give us good information. :grin:

This e-reader aspect has got me interested. i might try and use it in ernest to read a book and see how it goes. i tried mobipocket, does anyone else have any suggestions for good software? It annoys me that mobipocket puts a couple of page turn columns onto the screen. They're obviously not needed on this device. If you have a DRM-free MobiPocket e-book (or practically any DRM-free reflowable e-book) try FBReader (http://www.fbreader.org/). A good source of DRM-free books is Baen free-library, I have used ring-of-fire (http://www.webscription.net/p-352-ring-of-fire.aspx) as a representative example.

I do not see that it is really more powerful than a current PDA. 400 MHz is now standard and i am rather sure that an ARM core is faster than a Geode.

I wouldn't be so sure about that...
Pepperpad fans had similar doubts. Here's an interesting reading:
http://www.pepper.com/forums/showthread.php?t=196

This e-reader aspect has got me interested. i might try and use it in ernest to read a book and see how it goes. i tried mobipocket, does anyone else have any suggestions for good software? It annoys me that mobipocket puts a couple of page turn columns onto the screen. They're obviously not needed on this device.

S.

My favourite is uBook (http://www.gowerpoint.com). It supports Mobipocket as well as all the usual "open" stuff - text, RTF, HTML, etc.

Thanks for the clarification. While I did see the keys in the photo, I didn't see a dedicated hardware keyboard; hence the question. FYI the Samsung isn't really a hardware keyboard since it's a software overlay on the touch-screen, that would make it a software keyboard.

I almost picked up one of the Q1's recently, but lost it when the bidding went way over retail (I guess that's why eBay is so profitable when people don't research their product before buying it). I also almost got scammed by another, but caught it just after I sent the cash; fortunately I know how the eBay/PayPal system works, so it was a fairly easy process to get my money back.

FYI the Samsung isn't really a hardware keyboard since it's a software overlay on the touch-screen, that would make it a software keyboard. The original Q1 had a software keyboard, but the new Q1 Ultra has a hardware keypad.

It annoys me that mobipocket puts a couple of page turn columns onto the screen. They're obviously not needed on this device. I finally found the menu to turn these off. In the standard view, left click on the square "screen" icon, between the A icon and the search, and unselect show next/previous arrows. I have no idea why this is the only place to get at the option, but at least it exists. I generally use FBReader which allows very fine control over how the text is displayed and which keys can be used for navigation, but MobiPocket Reader is certainly "good enough". Adobe Digital Editions is a new entry, and it seems less customizable but is also interesting because of its potential portability (being Flash based) to any UMPC-like device.

DE is Flash based? It is like almost all ebook readers a browser, that is a program rendering HTML.

From the DE FAQ: Digital Editions is a specific RIA built on the current version of the Adobe Engagement Platform, including Adobe Flash® Player 9 and Flex™ 2 software. "RIA" is Rich Internet Application. In addition to XHTML, it also displays PDF - in fact currently most DE compatible e-books are probably PDFs. Note that Acrobat Reader 8 "no longer directly supports the Adobe Content Server (ACS) eBook digital rights management (DRM) solution". In other words, if you want to read an Adobe e-book, you must use DE.

I prefer UMPCs without a hardware keyboard. IMO its better to add a BT or USB keyboard. You can pick one with the action and size you desire, and it's easy to replace. Besides a keyboardless device can smaller in theory.

I finally found the menu to turn these off. In the standard view, left click on the square "screen" icon, between the A icon and the search, and unselect show next/previous arrows.

Thanks!

Regarding umpcs without keyboards' theres one called Uren that could be good for eboks. Details here
http://www.umpcportal.com/products/product.php?id=41

Regards.
Steve

All mainstream software packages run under Windows and even the OpenSource candiates often require x86 (FireFox, Thunderbird, OpenOffice).

Um, actually all of these OpenSource programs run on a multitude of platforms, including ARM (the ARM version of OpenOffice is only available from Debian though).


Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert Marquard View Post
I do not see that it is really more powerful than a current PDA. 400 MHz is now standard and i am rather sure that an ARM core is faster than a Geode.
I wouldn't be so sure about that...

Pepperpad fans had similar doubts. Here's an interesting reading:
http://www.pepper.com/forums/showthread.php?t=196

As the link you posted rightly points out, the main reason for ARM processors being slow is that they have no floating point unit and a small cache, and generally no graphics acceleration. But ARM processors are very varied, and comparing a device like the XScale PXA270 to something like the OMAP ARM processors from Texas Instruments (e.g. OMAP 3430 http://focus.ti.com/general/docs/wtbu/wtbuproductcontent.tsp?templateId=6123&navigationId=12643&contentId=14649&DCMP=WTBU&HQS=Other+OT+omap3430) that have built in 2D/3D accelerators, the latest (and much much faster) ARM core and more built in peripherals than you can shake a very big sick at (built in USB 2 host, every type of video out, every kind of memory interface you can imagine...) is really pointless.

What I'm saying is that geode vs XScale is not the same as Geode vs ARM or x86 vs ARM. I guarantee you that there are (or will be very soon - cant actually say I've done performance tests) ARM processors that out perform the Geode, require less external components, provide more functionality and are cheaper and less battery hungry.

To me it seems that the main argument for Geodes is that you can run windows, albeit very slowly. But Ive never wanted to do that anyway!

Not wanting to flame anyone here, I'm just quite opinionated about this topic!

Not wanting to flame anyone here, I'm just quite opinionated about this topic!Thanks for the great input. Not taken as a flame at all, and I personally enjoy getting this kind of information, because it seems rather hard for me to read from technical sources as the context is never clear to me.

You don't even have to choose just one cpu type any more. The HTC Shift (http://www.umpcportal.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=815), has both an Intel x86 processor running Vista and a Qualcomm processor running Windows Mobile. The latter being much less power hungry. I'm not sure which mode I would use for e-book reading (assuming I would shell out $1,500 for one), since the WM screen is 640x480, vs Vista's 800x480. Probably the longer battery life would win out.

I have purchased 3 handheld devices to use as ebook readers: The Nokia 770, ebookwise 1150, and the Cowon A2 PMP. Much to my dismay, I am unable to download any of the Adobe pdf or Mobipocket ebooks from my local library on to any of them. Library ebooks are encrypted which does not prevent me from reading them on my WinXP PC or my Mac, but I can’t take them out of the office. Does anyone have any suggestions (other than to just give it up)? Is there a handheld device that will work with encrypted Adobe PDF or Mobipocket ebooks? Or, is there a software program which will make them readable on a handheld?

Any UMPC that is running Windows (XP or Tablet) or Vista should be able to display Adobe or MobiPocket e-books (using the standard "desktop" version of Adobe's and MobiPocket's software). This includes the Everun. There may be issues of readability and perhaps getting menus to work on the small screen, but the basic software will run. MobiPocket Reader software is available for many PDA's and cell phones too, but not for most Linux-based devices such as the Nokia 770.

I switched to the Everun for ebook reading (among other things), and it is one of the best handhelds that I have had for this.

I have been reading (exclusively) ebooks on PDA's for the last 6-7 years (Palm V->Casio EM500->Toshiba e510->Palm T/C->Sony TG50->Verizon 5600->Everun).

I used mobipocket reader on the PalmOS, WM/PPC, and XP handhelds, and had no problems reading any mobpocket encrypted books on any of them.

The big selling point for the everun was the 6/12 hour battery life. A "pocket computer" with only a 1.5-2 hour battery (Sony UMPC) or 2.5 hr battery (HTC Shift) is insane... if you have to carry a transformer with you every where you go, it is not very mobile. I get 5.5 hours usually out of my battery. The geode processor is a great choice; it is plenty powerful to run XP with any reasonable application (this is not a desktop, after all), and gives great battery life. I have no problems with web browsing (as long as I don't open more then 3 tabs or so), Office 2007, etc. It will even do a reasonable job of running Unreal Tournament.

It is funny to me that people argue about the low power processor; it is an advantage in this application, and the handheld runs applications 10x faster then any PDA that I have had (anybody who thinks that a PDA with an ARM processor running WM is going to be snappier then a geode running XP is sadly mistaken).

I really couldn't resist this. (http://www.carrypad.com/journal/2007/11/kindle-what-new.html)
Kindle looks like bad value no?

http://www.carrypad.com/journal/2007/11/kindle-what-new.html

Steve

What a great photo. Thanks for the chuckle. Before I ordered my Cybook, I was seriously considering the Everun. Especially after watching the Hugo Ortega reviews of it at Gottabemobile.com. But, after years of reading almost exclusively on my PocketPC, my eyes are shot. I decided to go for an E ink device. When I replace the PocketPC, it looks like a nice alternative. Good to know it performs so well. Maybe if I tell my husband that the Cybook was for my birthday...