je100 vs a81 vs q7 vs ...

cello · 01-08-2010, 08:33 PM

I asked this question in another section of this forum , but maybe this section is more appropriate.

My first post here, so please be gentle.
After reading many reviews on the devices mentioned in the title, I'm still quite confused about which one to buy . My main requirements are decent browser (ideally w/flash support) and good avi playback . As I'm not very computer savvy , Linux would probably not work for me. I love the looks and the OS (CE)of JE100 , but worried that the video player is lacking in quality.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...ighlight=je100

Is there anything out there that would play videos well AND offer good browsing experience in one unit?
All suggestions are appreciated.
Thank you.

cello · 01-10-2010, 06:20 PM

Anyone at all ?

Katelyn · 01-10-2010, 06:50 PM

Did you read Coldsun's review of the JE-100? From the specifications and the review, I would be hesitant to suggest the JE-100 if you want more than a book reader. You can probably forget much Web browsing - even page turning is fairly slow from what I've read in various reviews.

Maybe you're looking for a MID (Mobile Internet Device). There are many new devices on the horizon and many people asking the same questions you are asking. You might want to read Coldsun's review of WireLession W1060 as an example of something more likely to meet your requirements.

You might want to check out the News and Commentary section of the forums. With CES just ending, there are lots of discussions of new devices, readers, etc. It might give you an idea of what's out there and why yours is such a hard question to answer.

You might also want to check out the following links for more MIDs and UMPCs.
http://www.umpcportal.com/
http://www.pocketables.net/

nonanon · 01-10-2010, 09:44 PM

I have an A81/W1060. I also have a Sony Reader and an iPod Touch. If you don't mind reading on a backlit LCD screen, the A81 is fine. So is the Touch for that matter, though the screen is obviously much smaller, 3.5" vs 7". eInk has it's proponents and I like the reading experience with eInk but I have no problem with LCD screens and I'd rather carry a multi-use device that can surf the net, display ebooks, movies, play music, allow some note-taking and play games. Overall the Touch does all of this better than the A81 but the screen is much smaller so watching movies and tv episodes and surfing the net is not as pleasant. It's easy to put in any pocket so it's all a trade-off.

Do you want portability? An eInk display? Primarily for surfing, for reading or for multimedia? CES has shown some very interesting new devices but it may be months before some of them hit the market. The Touch is a mature product so it's more stable and feature-rich than the A81 but if the manufacturer continues to update it's firmware the A81 should be much better than it is now in a few updates. They're already talking about the new features in the next hardware version and it sounds like some features won't be available for the current A81, maybe including Android. The maker is Witstech and they're obviously not Apple so you're taking some chance with the A81, if it fails it may be problematic to get it repaired and it may well be abandoned before it's fully up to speed.

The JE100 is primarily a reader and if that's all you want I'd get a dedicated eInk device instead, they're cheaper and battery life is far longer than with an LCD screen.

A final note on the A81. I really like the screen, it's big and colorful with great detail. But if you tilt it even slightly it's too dim to see well. It's too big to fit into most pockets and it's heavier as well. On the plus side it doesn't get nearly as warm as, for instance, the Archos 7. Surfing on the A81 is not that fast and I'm getting impatient for the Android release, but for movies it's great. I also like reading on it but often find myself using the Touch instead since it's so much easier to keep with me.

cello · 01-10-2010, 09:55 PM

Thank you both for the replies.
I guess the JE100 is out. It's a shame , as I love its looks. The E ink is a bit of an issue at night, so I'd rather have a backlit display. Truthfully, I wish the Ipod was twice as large, as that would solve all my requirements, but the 3.5 display is just way too small.
The A81 would have been perfect as well ,had it not been for the browser speed.
So my perfect reader would be something with video quality of A81/JE100, the Smartq 7s browser support and the built quality of an Ipod touch/ Sony Ereader.
Wish I could afford all three

dmon65 · 01-11-2010, 01:26 AM

Hiya Cello,

First, I did see your claim of not being too technical, but there are fairly good communities and detailed write-ups on getting WinCE running on a SmartQ 7. Or V7, which has it running already. Just ignore the other OSes and stay with you comfort zone. This would also allow you to install reader software that would allow a wide range of formats.

I own a SmartQ7 and find myself in WinCE more and more often, even though I have run Linux for years! It's not that expensive a device and surfs just fine (no flash support yet), reads multiple book formats including color comics, plays many (not all!) video formats passably and as long as you can get to your email via a web interface you can even keep up to date with your mail.

It is an LCD screen, so it's fairly unusable in direct sunlight though. Do keep that in mind.

My biased two cents!

cello · 01-11-2010, 09:09 AM

Hi Dmon65.

How long have you had the Smartq for? Any reliability issues so far ?
You mentioned no flash support, but shouldn't WinCE handle it by default?
Have you had a chance to compare the screen quality with other devices (Archos, A81and so on) ?

nonanon · 01-29-2010, 12:48 AM

Well, now that the iPad has been announced you can get a much bigger iPod Touch if you want, though it's not too handy to carry with you. The A81 resembles the Touch a lot but it's thicker, heavier and has a shorter battery life. With the latest firmware the browsing seems fine and it boots up much faster. The touchscreen seems more responsive, too so I don't need the stylus most of the time unless I'm writing.

As you probably know it plays a lot of video formats including RMVB, flash, nearly any AVI I've thrown at it, MP4 and so on. The screen is a treat other than the fact you have to hold it just right or the image gets too dark, something I'm sure the iPad won't suffer from. If the iPad was 5" I'd get one and maybe even at 7", but 9" is just too bulky. Maybe the Archos 7 MID will be worth looking at and I'm sure prices on all the competitor products will drop once Apple starts shipping the iPad.

Still no further word on Android and I'm losing hope that they'll do it, they may just add it for the next generation of the hardware. If so I won't be buying from Witstech again. Android isn't a cure-all but it would certainly make the A81 more useful.

cello · 02-05-2010, 11:13 PM

Hi , Nonanon

Thanks for the reply. Could you tell me a little more about your experience w/A81 ? For instance, does it now have the English interface, how does the new firmware improve browsing, can you install Opera or Google Chrome on the device, does the Win CE come with a license or do you have to buy one ? Also, how good are the auto rotation and flash support ?
Thank you for your responses .
Cello.

hoosdathu · 02-19-2010, 02:47 AM

my smartq7's totally crap for video playing with the given ubuntu OS

even using coreplayer in winCE, only certain videos playable.
rmvb n flv files totally can't play in coreplayer.

01-08-2010, 08:33 PM	#1
cello Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: none	je100 vs a81 vs q7 vs ... I asked this question in another section of this forum , but maybe this section is more appropriate. My first post here, so please be gentle. After reading many reviews on the devices mentioned in the title, I'm still quite confused about which one to buy . My main requirements are decent browser (ideally w/flash support) and good avi playback . As I'm not very computer savvy , Linux would probably not work for me. I love the looks and the OS (CE)of JE100 , but worried that the video player is lacking in quality. https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...ighlight=je100 Is there anything out there that would play videos well AND offer good browsing experience in one unit? All suggestions are appreciated. Thank you.

01-10-2010, 09:44 PM	#4
nonanon Enthusiast Posts: 45 Karma: 21900 Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Utah Device: iPad, Nook Simple Touch	I agree with Katelyn I have an A81/W1060. I also have a Sony Reader and an iPod Touch. If you don't mind reading on a backlit LCD screen, the A81 is fine. So is the Touch for that matter, though the screen is obviously much smaller, 3.5" vs 7". eInk has it's proponents and I like the reading experience with eInk but I have no problem with LCD screens and I'd rather carry a multi-use device that can surf the net, display ebooks, movies, play music, allow some note-taking and play games. Overall the Touch does all of this better than the A81 but the screen is much smaller so watching movies and tv episodes and surfing the net is not as pleasant. It's easy to put in any pocket so it's all a trade-off. Do you want portability? An eInk display? Primarily for surfing, for reading or for multimedia? CES has shown some very interesting new devices but it may be months before some of them hit the market. The Touch is a mature product so it's more stable and feature-rich than the A81 but if the manufacturer continues to update it's firmware the A81 should be much better than it is now in a few updates. They're already talking about the new features in the next hardware version and it sounds like some features won't be available for the current A81, maybe including Android. The maker is Witstech and they're obviously not Apple so you're taking some chance with the A81, if it fails it may be problematic to get it repaired and it may well be abandoned before it's fully up to speed. The JE100 is primarily a reader and if that's all you want I'd get a dedicated eInk device instead, they're cheaper and battery life is far longer than with an LCD screen. A final note on the A81. I really like the screen, it's big and colorful with great detail. But if you tilt it even slightly it's too dim to see well. It's too big to fit into most pockets and it's heavier as well. On the plus side it doesn't get nearly as warm as, for instance, the Archos 7. Surfing on the A81 is not that fast and I'm getting impatient for the Android release, but for movies it's great. I also like reading on it but often find myself using the Touch instead since it's so much easier to keep with me.

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01-10-2010, 06:20 PM	#2
cello Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: none	Anyone at all ?

01-10-2010, 06:50 PM	#3
Katelyn Addict Posts: 225 Karma: 342 Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Indiana Device: Pocketbook 360, Iphone 3g, Sony 505, REB1200, GEB1150	Did you read Coldsun's review of the JE-100? From the specifications and the review, I would be hesitant to suggest the JE-100 if you want more than a book reader. You can probably forget much Web browsing - even page turning is fairly slow from what I've read in various reviews. Maybe you're looking for a MID (Mobile Internet Device). There are many new devices on the horizon and many people asking the same questions you are asking. You might want to read Coldsun's review of WireLession W1060 as an example of something more likely to meet your requirements. You might want to check out the News and Commentary section of the forums. With CES just ending, there are lots of discussions of new devices, readers, etc. It might give you an idea of what's out there and why yours is such a hard question to answer. You might also want to check out the following links for more MIDs and UMPCs. http://www.umpcportal.com/ http://www.pocketables.net/

01-10-2010, 09:55 PM	#5
cello Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: none	Thank you both for the replies. I guess the JE100 is out. It's a shame , as I love its looks. The E ink is a bit of an issue at night, so I'd rather have a backlit display. Truthfully, I wish the Ipod was twice as large, as that would solve all my requirements, but the 3.5 display is just way too small. The A81 would have been perfect as well ,had it not been for the browser speed. So my perfect reader would be something with video quality of A81/JE100, the Smartq 7s browser support and the built quality of an Ipod touch/ Sony Ereader. Wish I could afford all three

01-11-2010, 01:26 AM	#6
dmon65 Connoisseur Posts: 73 Karma: 562 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Outer suburbs of St Louis Device: SmartQ7, a 1st gen Nook and a Kobo Glo and Aura H2O	Hiya Cello, First, I did see your claim of not being too technical, but there are fairly good communities and detailed write-ups on getting WinCE running on a SmartQ 7. Or V7, which has it running already. Just ignore the other OSes and stay with you comfort zone. This would also allow you to install reader software that would allow a wide range of formats. I own a SmartQ7 and find myself in WinCE more and more often, even though I have run Linux for years! It's not that expensive a device and surfs just fine (no flash support yet), reads multiple book formats including color comics, plays many (not all!) video formats passably and as long as you can get to your email via a web interface you can even keep up to date with your mail. It is an LCD screen, so it's fairly unusable in direct sunlight though. Do keep that in mind. My biased two cents!

01-11-2010, 09:09 AM	#7
cello Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: none	Hi Dmon65. How long have you had the Smartq for? Any reliability issues so far ? You mentioned no flash support, but shouldn't WinCE handle it by default? Have you had a chance to compare the screen quality with other devices (Archos, A81and so on) ?

01-29-2010, 12:48 AM	#8
nonanon Enthusiast Posts: 45 Karma: 21900 Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Utah Device: iPad, Nook Simple Touch	Well, now that the iPad has been announced you can get a much bigger iPod Touch if you want, though it's not too handy to carry with you. The A81 resembles the Touch a lot but it's thicker, heavier and has a shorter battery life. With the latest firmware the browsing seems fine and it boots up much faster. The touchscreen seems more responsive, too so I don't need the stylus most of the time unless I'm writing. As you probably know it plays a lot of video formats including RMVB, flash, nearly any AVI I've thrown at it, MP4 and so on. The screen is a treat other than the fact you have to hold it just right or the image gets too dark, something I'm sure the iPad won't suffer from. If the iPad was 5" I'd get one and maybe even at 7", but 9" is just too bulky. Maybe the Archos 7 MID will be worth looking at and I'm sure prices on all the competitor products will drop once Apple starts shipping the iPad. Still no further word on Android and I'm losing hope that they'll do it, they may just add it for the next generation of the hardware. If so I won't be buying from Witstech again. Android isn't a cure-all but it would certainly make the A81 more useful.

02-05-2010, 11:13 PM	#9
cello Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: none	Hi , Nonanon Thanks for the reply. Could you tell me a little more about your experience w/A81 ? For instance, does it now have the English interface, how does the new firmware improve browsing, can you install Opera or Google Chrome on the device, does the Win CE come with a license or do you have to buy one ? Also, how good are the auto rotation and flash support ? Thank you for your responses . Cello.

02-19-2010, 02:47 AM	#10
hoosdathu Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: none	my smartq7's totally crap for video playing with the given ubuntu OS even using coreplayer in winCE, only certain videos playable. rmvb n flv files totally can't play in coreplayer.

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