SmartQ 7 Full Review (Warning - many pictures)

[ColdSun]

Originally Posted by BlackVoid

I wonder how (why) the post on this device took up the entire front page. No other gadget got this kind of space on this site.

It also managed to screw up the front page pretty well, with the oversized pictures.

As for the device: it is not eink, so I could not care less.

You sound a little bitter.

I had no idea my post would go on the front page, but I did warn folks there were many pictures in this thread. My apologies, Nate, if I knew it would end up there, I would have used thumbnails. As for you BlackVoid, thanks for bumping the post.

[kaas]

temper, temper

I think you did a great job, ColdSun! Was there a reason why you did not test the larger mid?

thanks for the work,

kaas

[GuillaumeJay]

Originally Posted by kaas

Shouldn't the larger and higher res screen as well as the larger battery not make it a better reader?

Most of my e-reading is done at night, lying in bed. The A700 is very nice, but i think too large to be comfortable in this situation. Also, I'm nearly never without my e-reader (currently a 3.5" PDA)(Read Everywhere, Read AnyTime !). I'm not even sure the Q7 would be small enough to keep with me, but I'm sure that the A700 would be too big.

I'm wondering how much difference there is between 640*480/3.5", and 800*480/7", in text size. But I don't see how which kind of screenshot I could ask that would show me something relevant.
I'm also a bit worried about PDF readability. ColdSun, were you successfull in reading a pdf full page on screen ?
Did you try to put a external hard disk on it (autopowered ?)

[Benign]

Originally Posted by ColdSun

You sound a little bitter.

I had no idea my post would go on the front page, but I did warn folks there were many pictures in this thread. My apologies, Nate, if I knew it would end up there, I would have used thumbnails. As for you BlackVoid, thanks for bumping the post.

You did a great great job. The pictures are cool too. I believe it is one of the best reviews for Q7 I could find around.
Thanks again
Benign

[ColdSun]

Thanks, Benign.

[dmon65]

Now, I have a question.

Would any of you senior members, or long-time reader owners, think this unit could stand as a person's ONLY reader?

I understand that for some e-ink vs LCD is a major part of the decision for them but I'm not looking for the "holy war" level dismissal of the technology you would not choose. It does make a difference, I understand that. But, if that is the only reason to dismiss this device I'm afraid that will not be a compelling argument.

I do not own a reader yet, and I'm really looking at this as a hold over until something like Pixel Qi or color e-ink is on a Sony device. Your opinions would be greatly appreciated.

[Benign]

Originally Posted by dmon65

Now, I have a question.

Would any of you senior members, or long-time reader owners, think this unit could stand as a person's ONLY reader?

I understand that for some e-ink vs LCD is a major part of the decision for them but I'm not looking for the "holy war" level dismissal of the technology you would not choose. It does make a difference, I understand that. But, if that is the only reason to dismiss this device I'm afraid that will not be a compelling argument.

I do not own a reader yet, and I'm really looking at this as a hold over until something like Pixel Qi or color e-ink is on a Sony device. Your opinions would be greatly appreciated.

I am not a senior member of course, but I like to mention something as a person who his line of job depends on fast reading. I believe e-ink looks very cool, but the problem I have with the technology is the speed. The loading time is what bugs you when you want to search for something. Maybe it's just me but one of the advantages of a e-books is the search option. I know that Kindle and Sony and iRex and all other e-readers have the search option but what's the use if it doesn't appear very fast? For example I may have a patient which has a very rare condition and I have to read more about the disease ASAP (for example while he is in MRI room). As a matter if fact I have to refresh my memory about the diseases plus read about the new management techniques. I love to have a device that does it for me in a way that my eyes don't get tired and meanwhile do the search and refreshing fast but it seems that e-ink devices lack the speed option.
The only thing that stops me from purchasing a Kindle or even an iRex is the speed.
It seems devices like Q7 are faster and they have another very cool option that I really need; fast internet browsing. As you know reading nowadays is not a limited process. I believe one of the purposes of the internet is staying update. Maybe I have a Jan 2009 published e-book but it doesn't mean that there isn't a June 2009 update for a chapter.
I really hope next generation e-ink devices have no speed or internet browsing problems. Surely there are some problems with internet browsing in Q7 too (no adobe flash support for example) but it is glitch not lack of an option.
Thanks
Benign

[sunsetsylvia]

Thank you for that great review.
If I had not gotten a Sony 505 and a netbook during the last 6 month, this might have been something for me.
Maybe next time.

[dadioflex]

Edit.

[gabriel.gdawg]

KAAS:

Thanks for the tip! I like it and just got an e-mail from the retailer: A700 MID is going to be available within the next 1 -2 weeks.


Cheers

Originally Posted by kaas

Hmm,
while looking at the manufacturer, I discovered the following device:

http://www.eletroworld.cn/nb/A700.htm

Features

*

Processor: MIPS 500 MHz 32bit CPU
*

Screen size: 8.9-inch TFT, True Color, 1024 X600 pixels
*

Memory: 128MB DDR2 RAM
*

Storage: 2GB NAND Flash Memory
*

Operating System: Linux
*

Language: Chinese/English/German/French/Portuguese
*

Memory card slot supporting up to 32GB SD memory cards (support SDHC)
*

Wireless: supports WiFi 802.11b/g
*

Media Support: MPEG1/2/4,H.263,H.264,WMV9,RMVB
*

Audio: Build in Speaker & Microphone
*

Interface: 2×USB, 1×Mic-in, 1×Headphone-out, 1×Build in SD Card Reader
*

Weight: 720g
*

Color: Black
*

Battery: 5500mAH Lithium batteries
*

AC Power: 100~240V 5V
*

Warranty: One year




Shouldn't the larger and higher res screen as well as the larger battery not make it a better reader?

cheers,

kaas

[phenomshel]

ColdSun, thank you so much for your in depth reviews. From doing some internet research and talking to Nate about it, IF I get one of these, this is looking like the one. I do have a couple of questions, though, if you don't mind? How was the ordering process? Did you order from Electroworld, or the US distributor, and what were the shipping costs like? Never mind, I found your answer in the other thread for that previous question.
Is there any word yet on the availability of Win CE for this, and if so, how much it would cost to get it on the device? (I'm assuming it would have to be downloadable, but I know nothing about Windows mobile builds - I went looking for downloadable Win CE and all I found was the SDK - please excuse my ignorance here).
PDF readability is a concern for me also. Could you please tell me in more detail what you ran into as limitations on PDF's in portrait mode? I don't read comics, but I have a ton of crochet patterns, cookbooks, etc. in PDF format that it would be nice to be able to read (in portrait mode) on this.

Thanks for any and all answers , and thanks again for a stunning review.

[ColdSun]

Phenomshel,

My pleasure. As far as my ordering process, I purchased my device through Eletroworld like many folks here have. I asked if they had any in stock and if they accepted paypal first. They responded about 10 minutes after I sent my email and gave me a quote of $233 shipped through EMS to Arizona in the US. Shipping and the paypal charge took the price from $189 to $233 for me. It took about 10 business days to arrive.

On the topic of WinCE all I've heard is that it is coming soon and Eletroworld sent me a link to this page which gives information about it. They haven't released a price for it yet, but SmartDevices did say that if you purchase the device before June 20th, the OS would be provided for free. Those who purchase it after would have to pay for it. I wouldn't take that as fact, but it is posted on the actual SmartDevices page here.

Regarding PDFs, I think there is room for improvement on the device, but it depends on what you are doing. I was able to rotate the Ancestor book you see in my screenshots to be portrait, but the text was rather small to see. It could be that particular PDF book though. It really depends what you will use it for, but I found reading PDF books (so far) to be best in landscape mode and to just scroll down the page as you read it from page to page. It also has a "play" feature that scrolls the PDF automatically, it zooms in and out, and more. While I think this device is perfect for viewing comics, maps, images, and ebooks in landscape mode, I still need to do a little more testing on documents in portrait mode. My guess is that it will render your cookbooks quite nicely for you in portrait. Your patterns, well it depends on how small the writing is. Comic book writing is pretty small and it comes out perfectly on the device. If you want to test something, just send me a page from one of your PDFs and I'll take a screenshot for you.

Regards,
Cold

[phenomshel]

Thank you for your answers! That O/S for free would be a powerful temptation to order one now, instead of waiting.

I have found that reading PDF's in landscape format on my EZ reader is a pain in the neck, which is why I'm a little leery of it on the Smart Q7 - although they do look nice from your screenshots.
The big attraction of Win CE for me is that it would support .lit (MSReader) and Mobipocket reader. I "unlock" the books I buy anyway, so I can archive them and read them on multiple devices, but that functionality would be WAY cool.

What kind of speed are you seeing with reading? Is there lag with page turning or anything?

Thanks for all your help!

[ColdSun]

For reading books I see virtually no delay at all, nothing like my Sony PRS-505 had when turning pages. Reading on this device using FBReader is a great experience. Considering I've used Microsoft Reader and Mobipocket on similar ARM-based devices that were quite a bit slower, both of them should work as good as FBReader as far as turning pages goes. I was suprised how much faster a book loads into FBReader on this device compared to my Nokia N770. Also, when the comics fully load into the Comix application, turning pages on those is pretty instant as well.

[phenomshel]

Ok, I definitely want one of these! Now all that remains is to talk my husband into it!