Bought a SmartQ R7 - very nice!

[cnbiz850]

Bought it for about US$250 in China. I had desperately needed something like that to read some ebooks. Most others are either too expensive or not working well at display pdf's. After reading some good reviews, I decided to get the R7. Even with the expectation from the good reviews, I am still surprised how a good device this is. Nice reading and web-surfing.

Another thing I am very glad is that I finally can buy something coming with Ubuntu. Having used Ubuntu for many years, I finally can pay my support to Ubuntu (rather than MS that I really dislike), though it's very minor, but I hope it is a good start.

[beow]

I would like to buy one also but doesn't have any Chinese connections. Anyone know how to get hold of these devices in Europe?

[cnbiz850]

I would like to buy one also but doesn't have any Chinese connections. Anyone know how to get hold of these devices in Europe?

The company's website (http://en.smartdevices.com.cn/Buy/) has Europe sales info. You can check about that.

[dsant]

I am going to buy one too. Are you still happy after 2 months of use ?
Dsant (France)

[cnbiz850]

I am going to buy one too. Are you still happy after 2 months of use ?
Dsant (France)

Use it nearly everyday for a couple hours, mostly reading pdf books. Opening a book can be a little slow (takes about a couple seconds) - not a big problem, actually turning pages are much more responsive. Only occasionally, certain pages of certain books cause the pdf reader to close unexpectedly (does not happen much as I have been through about 20 or so 200-page books). But way to go around it is to reopen the book and change to a different page using the pen before it fully opens that page (it is very good that a book is opened to the page where it is last left off). Otherwise no complains. Page jumping is very convenient using the pen. Turning between idle and on is very quick and handy. The battery life is good - about 7-8 hours of use or a few days of idle. The device stays cool when in use.

The screen is LCD, not E-Ink (whatever it is called). I thought it might fatigue the eyes pretty quickly due to the shininess, but don't feel much that way after using it.

[clubsoda]

Can you connect to an Ubuntu ARM repository with one of these and start downloading and updating packages?

What happens once the manufacturer firmware upgrades dry up? Can you boot a live CD from the USB port or will someone with a high speed propeller have to crack the plastic open and go looking for a JTAG terminal?


I notice that smartdevices has quite a range of linux tablets [SmartQ5, SmartQ7, V5, V5-II, V7, R7] and the prices are sweet. Just wondering how disposable they will end up being.

[cnbiz850]

I have not tried to do any upgrade or update.

Still use it nearly everyday reading. Initially I felt it stressful to the eyes. Now I found tuning screen brightness helps a lot, and tuning is very convenient and I do it very frequently while reading. Normally I tune it to low levels and never bother to read under sunlight.

[clubsoda]

Thanks for your reply. I saw a Sharp PC-Z1 on special in Akihabara the other day. It comes with Ubuntu 9.04 and there's a tablet version PC-T1 somewhere which is said to run 10.04. Still not sure if these and other ARM devices are effectively locked by way of a handful of unobtainable device drivers, configuration files or some such.

Maybe an AMD fusion tablet is the way to go. :D Anyone?

In theory (http://elinux.org/images/c/c3/UbuntuARM.pdf), ARM repositories shouldn't be far off.

[clubsoda]

Hmmm...
https://edge.launchpad.net/ubuntu/natty/armel?text=kernel-image

[cnbiz850]

A couple of weeks ago, I started to experience a problem where the cursor shakes wildly around on the screen in unknown occasions. When it happens, it doesn't stop easily. Called the service rep, they told me to first update the firmware. I did that easily, but it didn't solve the problem. They told me also try to clean in between the outer case and the screen with a piece of solid paper. I did that and dug out several tiny (maybe half millimetre in size) black rubber balls. And that didn't solve the problem. I sent it back to the company for service. They played with it for some time and also opened the case for further checks, then called me back saying that they found no problem and the thing is quite normal with them. I am confused about what is happening. It is being sent back to me.

In the mean time, I checked on the net. The company no longer produces an Ubuntu device but all Android ones. A similar model with Android now sells for half the price I paid over a year ago.

After researching a bit, I bought this (http://www.onda.cn/Mp3/ProductInfo.aspx?ProductId=164) (sorry no English) of the Onda brand for about $80 to get some sense about the Android devices.