Pepper Pad 3 Linux Web Computer
The Pepper Pad 3 is an Internet touchscreen tablet with Bluetooth, WiFi, USB, full QWERTY keyboard, scroll wheel, mouse and runs on the Linux OS. It weighs about 2 lbs and is less than 0.9†inch thick with a 7.0†800×480 WVGA TFT LCD. It sports an AMD Geode processor, a 20 GB disk drive, and two rechargeable lithium batteries offering hours of use, plus smart power management. With the Pepper Pad’s infrared and UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) capabilities, consumers can wirelessly control their PC, TV, stereo and set-top boxes, with support for hundreds of existing and future A/V devices. More specs. Pricing will be around $700. Also, CrunchGear has grabbed a Pepper Pad 3 and will be revealing more details about their experience with the device later this week.
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the browser on the 770 really gains from the touchscreen so entering long urls is much easier. and the battery life is far better.
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September 27th, 2006 at 8:43 am
I don’t know. Sure, it’s nifty, and I like gadget porn as much as the next tech-dork, but honestly it seems to me to be a REALLY big Crackberry, just without the handy form factor. Or the ability to make/recieve phone calls. I suppose the I’d have to actually have one to really make a judgement, but I look at it and think “Aw, look, they updated the Audrey!”
September 27th, 2006 at 8:46 am
Tom Green smashed his Pepper Pad because it was crap. Everyone hacks into the pepper pad.
September 27th, 2006 at 9:00 am
it only has 802.11b. no g love from the pepper pad. smaller form factor and g wireless would make this the $DIETY of the internet tablets. till then, i am holding my breath for the next gen nokia 770.
September 27th, 2006 at 10:16 am
Umm… Isn’t this spec similar but lower in a lot of ways than the www.laptop.org One Laptop Per Child box, build on the same processor architecture?
-Jeff
September 27th, 2006 at 11:17 am
This is a terrible device, eclipsed by the high end handhelds, and with a horrible form factor. If I want something this big, why wouldn’t I get a notebook?
September 27th, 2006 at 12:00 pm
Thumbboards are great when you want to type and MOVE at the same time. The only thing I liked about my Palm Tungsen C was it’s thumbboard.
very handy all right
>You can STILL plug a full USB Keyboard and mouse into the PP3 if you want to sit down and surf like a normal laptop. Or you can even whip out your favorite Bloetooth 2.0 compatible keyboard.
>Can a Nokia770 do that?
there are people who have added usb keyboards. it requires a bit of hardware know how as you you need to supply the keyboard with power as the 770 won’t supply it.
i’m getting a bluetooth keyboard for my 770 in a few days. no mouse but the touch screen is excellent. it’ll also work with my phone as well.
>It runs a real upgradable Fedora Core 4 Linux 2.6 Kernal. That means the PP3 will be devoloped for long after Nokia has forgetent hey ever made a 770.
as long as one 770 is around somebody will develop for it. that is the beauty of linux. it may be a smaller development pool but look at the sharp zaurus. all but killed off and people still develop for it. even if nokia were to pull the whole project the standard battery and chargers would still be available.
>The AMD Geode is 500Mhz and x86 compatble Vs the Nokia 770’s very weak, incompatible 220Mhz ARM processor.
very true. however the 770 has an insane battery life. palm also do this. they run a processor at a slower speed to eek out the battery. me i prefer battery life every time.
>The PP3 will run just about any Linux app that there are RPM’s for,
again true but the 770 runs everything that i want it to. it has drawn in a skilled pool of developers who release their software.
>while the Nokia is not really Linux at all, and needs cutom ARM software, and I doubt Nokia has opened it up to the programming community as much as Pepper has/will.
arm architecture is well catered for as most portable pda type devices use some variant. nokia have paid the developer behind the window manager and he sings their praises in the interviews that i have read.
>PP3 has 256MB ROM Vs Nokia’s128MB Flash, and 256MB RAM, Vs Nokia’s 64MB.
my psion organiser had 8 mb back in the day. i used to have 10 apps open at once. it is how the ram is used rather than how much there is. you paid more than twice the price of a 770 for a pp3. you got what you paid for.
>Nokia’s RS-MMC is costly and maxes out at measly 1GB I think.
2gb actually. still a little low. mind you i can bluetooth from the 770 filemanager to my nokia n70 phone in my pocket and viola double that!
>The PP3 has a real 1.8″ hard drivejust like the ones used in iPods. So it is theoretically upgradable to whatever drive get’s mad in that form factor. 120GB are definatly on the way.
if the device has wifi why not just link to a local storage system and use that. i do. but yeah i may actually look to see if i can get a usb hard disk up and going on the 770. some people have connected an ipod to the 770 to act as storage.
>Want to run Windows? VMWare runs on the PP3. Try that with your Nokia.
why would i sully such a beautiful little device with ms bloatware? i can vnc to a local system running windows if i need it. i wouldn’t.
>Basically, the PP3 is a real laptop disguised as a PSP. The Nokia is a “Me too” PSP wanna be.
the pp3 is nice and i did consider buying one but found the price a little high. the 770 has nothing to do with the psp. for a start i prefer the games on the 770
the browser on the 770 really gains from the touchscreen so entering long urls is much easier. and the battery life is far better.
these are different linux devices and as such are aiming at different markets. i hope the pp3 does well as it’s a very interesting experiment in creating a new form for mobile computing. the 770 is for me a nice comfy way to improve my nokia n70 phone and replace my laptop.
September 27th, 2006 at 3:12 pm
[…] CrunchGear has released a video of their Pepper Pad 3 demo. Very cool, check it out: […]
September 28th, 2006 at 2:00 pm
[…] This is quite cool and joins the “When I win the lottery” section (I think I might actually make that a category). The Pepper Pad 3 is a small touchscreen tablet PC with WiFi, Bluetooth, a scroller, thumbkeys, speakers and just about everything that you might need from such a small unit. And it runs Linux so will be easily customisable if you feel like making it do your own thing. More pictures here. […]
September 28th, 2006 at 8:11 pm
First a correction: the PepperPad 3 has 802.11g as you can see here: http://www.pepper.com/products/pepper_pad3_spec.html
Anyone who is comparing this device to a PDA or smartphone is seriously missing the point. Sure, you probably don’t want to lug this thing around everywhere like you would your mobile phone. But you also wouldn’t want to surf the Internet or write emails for an hour on your BlackBerry. This device is intended for use in the home–next to your TV chair so you can remote-control all your home media equipment with it, or on your bedstand, coffee table, or kitchen counter so you can surf the web or check email while you’re relaxing or going about other stuff.
I do think you can compare it to the Nokia 770, but the nice thing about the PepperPad is it’s got a lot more horsepower and memory, a larger screen, a full-fledged desktop browser, and an integrated keyboard so you don’t have to fidget with a stylus to do simple stuff like enter a URL or type some notes.
I’m looking forward to getting my hands on one of these. I know the earlier models were panned by some reviewers but it sounds like Pepper may have really addressed the problems and come up with a low-cost UMPC that’s fun to use around the house. I’m not that into home media systems, but it seems like it would make a very comfortable eBook reading/blogging/browsing machine. It also seems like it would be a *lot* more comfortable to use on a plane than a laptop, which would be a big benefit for me.
October 2nd, 2006 at 10:39 pm