Raon Digital Everun UMPC is a great e-book reader

Bob Russell · 07-02-2007, 05:37 PM

The earliest hands on reports for the Digital Everun UMPC are showing up, and according to Chippy at umpcportal.com, it makes a great e-book reader.

"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.

Nate the great · 07-02-2007, 06:55 PM

I want it

orcinus · 07-02-2007, 09:55 PM

Yummeh!

Quanto dinero?

yvanleterrible · 07-02-2007, 10:11 PM

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?

Bob Russell · 07-02-2007, 10:37 PM

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!

Quote:

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

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?

dura · 07-03-2007, 04:23 AM

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.

Robert Marquard · 07-03-2007, 05:12 AM

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.

Azayzel · 07-03-2007, 06:18 AM

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!

Robert Marquard · 07-03-2007, 06:24 AM

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.

Bob Russell · 07-03-2007, 06:44 AM

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.

Bob Russell · 07-03-2007, 06:50 AM

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

wallcraft · 07-03-2007, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Russell

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.

wallcraft · 07-03-2007, 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azayzel

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.

Chippy · 07-03-2007, 12:19 PM

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 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.

NatCh · 07-03-2007, 01:55 PM

Welcome to MobileRead, Chippy!

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

07-02-2007, 05:37 PM	#1
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	Raon Digital Everun UMPC is a great e-book reader The earliest hands on reports for the Digital Everun UMPC are showing up, and according to Chippy at umpcportal.com, it makes a great e-book reader. "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.

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07-02-2007, 06:55 PM	#2
Nate the great Sir Penguin of Edinburgh Posts: 12,375 Karma: 23555235 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: DC Metro area Device: Shake a stick plus 1	I want it

07-02-2007, 09:55 PM	#3
orcinus Gadgeteer Posts: 222 Karma: 540 Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Croatia Device: iRex iLiad, Sony PRS-500, Nokia 770, BB 7200, Samsung i600, iPhone	Yummeh! Quanto dinero?

07-02-2007, 10:11 PM	#4
yvanleterrible Reborn Paper User Posts: 8,616 Karma: 15446734 Join Date: May 2006 Location: Que Nada Device: iPhone8, iPad Air	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?

07-03-2007, 04:23 AM	#6
dura Groupie Posts: 174 Karma: 1062434 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Netherlands Device: Kobo H2O (2th edition), Kindle PW11	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.

07-03-2007, 05:12 AM	#7
Robert Marquard Delphi-Guy Posts: 285 Karma: 1151 Join Date: May 2006 Location: Berlin, Germany Device: iLiad, Palm T3	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.

07-03-2007, 06:18 AM	#8
Azayzel Cache Ninja! Posts: 643 Karma: 1002300 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Tokyo, Japan Device: PRS-500, HTC Shift, iPod Touch, iPaq 4150, TC1100, Panasonic WordsGear	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!

07-03-2007, 06:24 AM	#9
Robert Marquard Delphi-Guy Posts: 285 Karma: 1151 Join Date: May 2006 Location: Berlin, Germany Device: iLiad, Palm T3	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.

07-03-2007, 06:44 AM	#10
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	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.

07-03-2007, 06:50 AM	#11
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	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

07-03-2007, 12:19 PM	#14
Chippy Enthusiast Posts: 27 Karma: 77 Join Date: Jul 2007 Device: Various UMPCs	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 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.

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07-03-2007, 01:55 PM	#15
NatCh Gizmologist Posts: 11,615 Karma: 929550 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Republic of Texas Embassy at Jackson, TN Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3	Welcome to MobileRead, Chippy! And thank you for the great info! We're always especially glad to have folks show up and give us good information.