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Pepper Pad 3 Handheld Web Computer (Black)
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Average customer review:
Product Description
Meet the Pepper Pad 3, Web player Introducing the newest member of the Pepper Web player family. The sleek new Pepper Pad 3 includes all the award-winning features of the original Pepper Pad plus three times faster Web browsing, enhanced video performance, faster Wi-Fi and USB connectivity, longer battery life and a built-in video camera. All this in a smaller, less expensive design that makes it even easier to carry and use, at home or on the go. Right out of the box consumers can instantly, easily and wirelessly access the Internet and their home network to enjoy the richness of the Web and personal communications including e-mail and IM. Because the Pepper Pad has both built-in Wi-Fi and a disk, consumers can stream and download their favorite music, videos and photos and take them around the house or wherever they travel. The Pepper Pad 3 offers a far richer viewing experience than small-screen PDAs or mobile phones and much less maintenance than a complex laptop. The infrared and UPnP capabilities allow consumers to easily control and access any number of PCs, TVs, set-top boxes, CD players, and other A/V devices. At 2 lbs. and less than 0.9" thick, the rugged and splash-resistant, handheld Pepper Pad is perfect for the family room couch, kitchen counter, bedside table, coffee shop or just about anywhere.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #66189 in Consumer Electronics
- Color: Black
- Brand: Pepper
- Model: HPAB20256
- Released on: 2006-09-30
- Dimensions: 5.90" h x .90" w x 11.40" l, 4.65 pounds
- CPU: AMD Sempron 500 MHz
- Memory: 256MB DRAM
- Hard Disk: 20GB
- Processors: 1
- Display size: 7
Features
- Surf, shop, do research, plan a vacation, check the weather and more
- Seven inch color display with touch screen for beautiful photos, videos and Web pages
- Bluetooth 2.0 device support for use with a full-size keyboard and/or mouse
- 20 GB disk drive, that's hundreds of photos and videos you can store
- Rechargeable lithium batteries plus smart power management
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Product Description
Amazon.com Product Description The sleek Pepper Pad 3 includes all the award-winning features of the original Pepper Pad plus three times faster Web browsing, enhanced video performance, faster Wi-Fi and USB connectivity, longer battery life and a built-in video camera. All this in a smaller, less expensive design that makes it even easier to carry and use, at home or on the go.
 The Pepper Pad 3 boasts an easy-to-use Linux-based operating system that makes browsing the Internet and other tasks simple. View larger (white version shown). |
 The device contains a wide range of applications for entertainment and communication. See all applications. |
 The QWERTY keyboard and scroll wheel make navigation and text entry a breeze. The screen can also be controlled via an included stylus. View larger (white version shown). |
Right out of the box you can instantly, easily, and wirelessly access the Internet and your home network to enjoy the richness of the Web and personal communications including e-mail and IM. Because the Pepper Pad has both built-in Wi-Fi and a hard drive, you can stream and download your favorite music, videos and photos and take them around the house or wherever you travel. The Pepper Pad 3 offers a far richer viewing experience than small-screen PDAs or mobile phones and much less maintenance than a complex laptop.
When it comes to deciding what to do when you've got a Pepper Pad 3 in your hands, the options are just about limitless. With the integrated Web browser you can surf, shop, do research, plan a vacation, check the weather, check TV listings, and more. Or download, store, organize, and play your digital music library on the device's stereo speakers, or just tune into internet radio. While you're doing that, feel free to edit, store, and share photos, or watch and share videos. And of course, you can email and IM to stay in touch. IM is further enhanced by the integrated VGA video camera, which is great for video chats.
The Pepper Pad 3 sports a 7-inch color display with touch screen for beautiful photos, videos and Web pages. A stylus is included, so you can control the Pepper Pad 3 with ease. The full QWERTY keypad, which is arrayed on either side of the device, enables fast and easy typing. You can also use the integrated direction pad and scroll wheel to navigate Web pages and other applications. The outer casing features a rugged and splash-resistant design for those occasional mishaps, while a 20 GB hard drive inside is big enough to store hundreds of photos and videos. Lastly, rechargeable lithium batteries and smart power management technologies give you long battery life, while the embedded AMD LX800 processor and optimized Linux-based operating system offer zippy performance.
Another great feature of the Pepper Pad 3 is its instant-on capability. It's always ready to go--no more booting up whenever you sit down to use it. Connectivity is a breeze, too. The device supports 802.11b/g Wi-Fi for instant-on Internet access and it supports the WEP and WPA wireless security protocols. And speaking of security, the Pepper Pad 3 is designed to be virus and spyware resistant. Plus, Bluetooth 2.0 device support means you can use it with a full-size keyboard and/or mouse. USB 2.0 connectivity makes it a snap to connect the Pepper Pad 3 to your PC for data transfer, while infrared capabilities let you easily control and access any number of TVs, set-top boxes, CD players, and other A/V devices. The Pepper Pad 3 also comes with some other great connectivity options, including a headphone jack, component video out, and a microphone-in port.
What's in the Box
Pepper Pad 3, neoprene sleeve, getting started manual, and AC power adapter.
Customer Reviews
Awesome streaming device
Pros far outweight the cons.
Device is pitched as "a/v streaming tablet" for kitchen, bedroom, living room, etc. It MORE than delivers on this promise. Email and some bluetooth support is currently lacking (only wireless mouse/keybd currently supported) but this will be fixed soon.
Skype is coming in next few months. Big win there.
Hardware feature:
1. 2-way infrared learning remote.
It's now my primary remote control. Layout are fairly editable but not where it s/be...this is easily fixable though. Unlike what other reviews stated...it is easy to incorporate support for new devices...you can download remote control config files from lirc.org.
2. Backlit keypad
Nice for being in bed at night.
3. d-pad and thumbwheel
Absolutely best way to scroll/page thru sites.
4. 2xUSB, 1xNTSC A/V out
An MMC/SD would be nice...but expandability is there already.
5. 20GB HD and 256MB RAM
As an engr geek...I would like to see more...but for a/v streaming and other tasks this is totally adequate.
6. i386 compatible
This means you can just download RedHat FC4 i386 binaries and they just work. They may not integrate with desktop perfectly...but works great nonetheless.
Software features:
1. Streams darn near EVERY video/audio format. Only esoteric realplayer sites don't work...yet. Everything else (Sirius Satellite, Shoutcast) work flawlessly.
2. Built-in email sucks...but I easily downloaded Thunderbird and it is now where I want it to be.
3. Desktop (tabbed folder) paradigm needs some development...but it is fine for intended tasks (streaming a/v).
4. Support for Java 1.5!! This only means something to geeks and those wanting to stream from sites which have applets (Sirius Satellite). As a java developer...this is just too cool. First time J2SE is on pda form factor.
This is an awesome device that I've been using daily since purchase. I have since CANCELLED my several newspaper subscriptions as I now read/stream from pad....this saves me just under $1K yearly for subscriptions.
The device is so versatile and perfectly sized...you will soon want to take it in car with you and mount it on dash with bluetooth gps, etc. With enhanced bt support coming...you'll soon be doing just that!
Love the Pepperpad 3!
I had been looking for the past year for *exactly* this set of features in a handheld computer, but always came up short. This marvelous little powerhouse has everything. Wifi g, bluetooth 2.0, very usable thumb QWERTY keyboard, 20gig HD...and all this in a terrific form factor. Nice size, feels great in the hand, it's only two lbs. And it is affordable, no less.
There are several apps I would like to see (sketch/digital ink...pleasePLEASE, Office-type suite, VOIP, etc.), but I am guessing these will be developed before long.
Biggest surprise was how much I enjoy the pre-installed ebook reader. I downloaded Bob Woodward's new book, which worked like a charm, and have been enjoying reading it at home and, propped on its stand, in coffee shops all over Manhattan. Btw, expect to be interrupted when you do as it is quite the head turner. Almost as good as walking your dog for meeting new people here in NYC.
No surprise was how much I enjoy playing with it on the couch, in bed, sitting on the terrace, etc. It is so much nicer than even my three pound, 8 x 11" Tablet PC. Two lbs is soooo much nicer than three. And the scroll wheel is fabulous, too. And, oh, I almost forgot, the remote controller is excellent. You can set up any combination of video and audio equipment (TV, dvd players, Tivo) in about two minutes and, snap, it just works. And with no lag at all. Touch the pen to the screen and your Tivo chirps back instantly.
FYI, I met several of the top people from the Company at the recent Digital Life Conference. Wonderful folks who seem to love what they do. And they were *more* than helpful. Jon M must have spent close to an hour talking with my boyfriend and me. All in all, great effort, guys!
I am not surprised at all that it is backordered.
Pepper Pad a Useful AV remote
I've had my pepper pad a little over a month now. Some of the other reviewers I read had issues with the software being unstable. I have not had any of those problems. I've downloaded 2 software updates so far and they have worked perfectly. The unit's wireless Ethernet connects without a hitch both at home and at my work's wireless routers. It took about 10 minutes to have the unit learn my 15 year old televisions remote.
Pepper pads pluses:
1. Nice usable screen for web surfing.
2. Good software applications for watching Utube, listening to internet radio, operating several IR remotes, reading e-books and surfing the Web.
3. Well designed unit which will sit nicely on your lap or coffee table. It's easy to hold. The unit feels solid.
4. The split illuminated keyboard is much more useful than using an on screen keyboard. I have plugged in a USB key board and it worked perfectly.
5. Comes out of sleep mode pretty fast. I have crashed it a couple of times but it has always recovered "gracefully" meaning that I did not have to re-boot the unit several times.
Minuses:
1. While the HAT switch and scroller work fine, they feel cheap.
2. Battery will last about 2 hours of continuous use. It should be replaceable.
3. The pepper applications that come with the unit have very small icons. The stylus is a little awkward to use. If they could make the icons a little bigger you could just use your fingers.
4. In the TV guide application, I have to tap the "down arrow" several times to get the unit to load the next page.
5. The games that come with the unit are pretty lame.
If you're looking for a simple to use web pad that can operate your AV gear and allow you to surf the web from your couch the pepper pad's a great product. It does require some fiddling around with to work for you, but it's not complicated. I think the pepper applications are pretty stable overall, but they could use some more "usability" in the design of the on-screen controls. If Pepper can make a decent video conferencing application, that would be useful.
