Pepper Pad Internet Media Player

by Pepper

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 5 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B0009AFX0S
• California residents: Click here for Proposition 65 warning.
• Item model number: PP20624
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #112,418 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 15, 2005

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

From the Manufacturer The new 2.3 lb. Pepper wireless pad from Pepper Computer is the first portable device designed specifically for all the broadband activities consumers want to do most: browse the Web, e-mail and IM with friends, listen to music, watch videos, share photos and create personal journals. Offering a far richer viewing experience than small-screen PDAs or phones and much less maintenance than complex laptops, the Pepper wireless pad is the solution that millions of broadband users really need.

See a detailed diagram of the Pepper Pad's features.

With Wi-Fi networking capabilities, an easy-to-use interface, and an innovative, compact design, Pepper offers hassle-free, wireless, instant-on access to the Internet and is ready to go anytime. With Pepper's built-in digital media libraries it is easy to keep photos, music and videos organized and searchable. Pepper's additional applications make sharing photo albums or scrapbooks simple. The Pepper wireless pad is portable and rugged so you can use it in any room at home or away. Additional unique features include activity-based multi-room TV remote control, automatic save, one-click sync with the Pepper Desktop for PCs, and the integration of most digital media formats. The Pepper software also guards against viruses and spyware, and is upgradeable to meet the demands of emerging technologies such as IPTV and VoIP. Pepper Software—The Pepper wireless pad comes ready to use, right out of the box with Pepper's consumer-focused software. Offering the same great features as the software on the Pepper, the Pepper Desktop software is also available for Windows-based PC users. Both the Pepper wireless pad and the Pepper Desktop PC software include: E-mail, Web Browsing, AOL Instant Messaging, Journal, Internet Radio, Remote Control Music, Photo & Video Libraries (MP3, JPG, PNG, GIF, MPEG-4, AVI) Linux 2.4 (MontaVista CEE 3.1) Java 2, Mozilla with Macromedia Flash Upgradeable via downloadable software updates.

• Surf the Web, shop, do research, save Web clippings & more
• E-mail and IM friends and family
• Download, store and organize music
• Listen to Internet radio
• Edit, store and share photos
• Watch and share videos
• Keep a journal
• Control your TV

Why the Pepper pad?
The Pepper wireless pad is the ideal way to experience everything your broadband connection has to offer. With an innovative design that combines mobility with an optimal viewing experience, the pad offers a host of benefits for consumers:

Your favorite online activities

• Web Browser-Directly access the Web with our Mozilla based browser. Keep and organize your bookmarks and Web page clippings (for offline viewing)
• E-mail-Send and receive e-mail using the virus and spyware resistant Mail application. Mail keeps all your messages until you delete them, remembers every address you have sent mail to, and automatically completes known addresses. Includes POP3, IMAP4 and AOL Inbox support
• A completely integrated AOL Instant Messenger compatible IM client with tabbed session management.
• Music, video and photo libraries-Collect, organize and watch (or listen to) your favorite MP3s, MPEGs and digital photos.
• Remote control-Control your TV and stereo equipment
• Journal-Store your thoughts, plans and ideas. Web clippings and a rich text editor let you format the pages of your journal to make them uniquely yours.
• Internet Radio-Listen to your favorite streaming radio stations.
• Have fun with our entertaining, ad-free games-quick, simple and always a hoot.

Innovative design

• 8.4 inch color display with touch screen, making your online experience more enjoyable
• QWERTY keypad, for fast and easy typing
• Rugged and water-resistant design for those occasional mishaps
• 20-bit stereo CODEC for excellent sound
• SD/MMC card for future expansion

Mobility

• 802.11b Wi-Fi, for instant-on Internet in any room in the house or on the road
• Bluetooth device support, which lets the Pepper pad "talk" to your other high tech products, such as a full-size keyboard and/or mouse
• Only 2.3 lbs, and small enough 12.1" x 6.6" x 0.8" (309x175x20mm) to fit into a briefcase, backpack or purse

Ease of use

• Instant-on capabilities-no more waiting to boot up and the Web is always ready when you are
• Intuitive Pepper software and applications that make sharing and organizing your digital files a snap

Storage and power

• Intel XScale PXA270 (624 Mhz) processor
• 20 GB disk drive-that's hundreds of photos and videos you can store
• Rechargeable lithium battery offering hours of use, plus smart power management

Security

• Mozilla-based browser, making the Pepper pad both virus- and hacker-resistant

Product Description

The Pepper pad is the ideal way to experience everything your broadband connection has to offer. With an innovative design that combines mobility with an optimal viewing experience, the pad offers a host of benefits for your favorite online activities: * Web Browser - Directly access the Web with our Mozilla™ based browser. Keep and organize your bookmarks and Web page clippings (for offline viewing. * E-mail - Send and receive e-mail using the virus and spyware resistant Mail application. Mail keeps all your messages until you delete them, remembers every address you have sent mail to, and automatically completes known addresses. Includes POP3, IMAP4 and AOL® Inbox support. * IM client - A completely integrated AOL® Instant Messenger™ compatible IM client with tabbed session management. * Music, video and photo libraries - Collect, organize and watch (or listen to) your favorite MP3s, MPEGs and digital photos. * Remote control - Control your TV and stereo equipment. * Journal - Store your thoughts, plans and ideas. Web clippings and a rich text editor let you format the pages of your journal to make them uniquely yours. * Internet Radio - Listen to your favorite streaming radio stations. * Games - Improve your hand-eye coordination (oh, who are we kidding? Just have fun) with our entertaining, ad-free games-quick, simple and always a hoot. Customer support available at http://www.pepper.com/support

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars TR65, December 19, 2005

By 

tr65 (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pepper Pad Internet Media Player (Office Product)

I wanted to love my Pepper Pad; but after two weeks of making excuses for its flaws, I returned it.

First the good: The size and weight are terrific. It's comfortable to hold, whether sitting on a sofa or lying in bed. The built in stand is well designed, allowing me to connect the pad to a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse at my desk. The user interface is clever and intuitive. There's no need to refer to the manual to operate most of the applications. The browser is especially good, incorporating Mozilla's tab capabilities without cluttering the screen with too many menus and buttons. The synchronization with a desktop computer is a plus. I downloaded the Pepper Desktop software, surfed to my favorite sites and bookmarked them in the desktop application and then synced the desktop with the Pepper Pad. Transferring photos and music from the desktop to the Pad was also very easy.

Now the bad: Wi-fi performance is marginal. I have a 802.11g Linksys router that establishes excellent or very good connections with my laptop and desktops in all corners of my house. In some of the same locations, I couldn't connect the Pad. Even in spots where the connection with the Pad was strong, the auto-connect feature was flaky. Sometimes the Pad would say it was connected to the router, but then it would disconnect saying it could not get an IP address from the router. This happened even when I was in the same room with the router. To address this issue, I used the wi-fi config on the Pad to assign the Pad a fixed IP address. But every time I turned the pad off and restarted, it would revert to the dynamic IP setting and my fixed address was lost. I contacted customer support about this, was told I would get an email back, but I never heard from them.

The email application is disappointing. You can only have one POP or IMAP account. Many (if not most) people in Pepper's target audience have multiple email accounts -- one for home, another for work. I can't imagine why Pepper released the Pad with such a limited email application.

The screen size is decent, but it's not as sharp as I would have liked.

It's slow. Browser page load times were noticeably longer on the Pad, compared to all of the other computers on my network -- even when running the pad in the same room as the router.

The Pad has lots of little bugs. In the two weeks I had it, the Pad crashed and restarted four or five times for reasons I could not fathom. Twice, after being fully charged, the power meter continued to report that the battery was critically low (I had to reboot the Pad to get the correct power reading). Same with the wi-fi connection. Sometimes when connected, the "not connected" icon appeared. Again, rebooting solved that problem.

I purchased the Pad because I wanted a small, affordable Internet device that I could take from room to room and read in bed. At $850, the Pad seemed pricey to me, but the under-$1,000 Tablet PCs had gotten bad reviews, and the market had few other alternatives. There's been lots of buzz about other devices -- such as the $350 Nokia 770. But none had reached the market. When Pepper began to ship, it was the best option available. But as I struggled with Pepper's flaws, I found myself rationalizing the purchase and making excuses for the machine, rather than relishing it. "I can live with these flaws," I kept telling myself. "Because Pepper is the only game in town." But then I began to search for other options. The Nokia 770 has begun to ship and is getting good reviews. Advueu has improved its $950, 2.5-pound tablet PC. There are other options, and more on the way. Again, if Pepper was half the price, I might have stuck with it. But when it's more than twice as much as Nokia's Internet device and barely less than a Tablet PC that can do 10-times as much, it seems foolish to stick with a machine that I'm barely tolerating. I don't know if the Nokia and Advueu machines are the ones to buy. But I suspect the market will have plenty of options soon. Pepper needs to beef up its offering (and perhaps reduce its price) to compete.

121 of 147 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars So close, so very close, but still short of the perfect pad., June 28, 2005

By 

Christopher Wanko "-C" (Nutley, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pepper Pad Internet Media Player (Office Product)

*** EDIT: I do not own this device. I previewed it during a road show in NYC. ***

I have wanted a device like the Pepper Pad since... forever. I want to be able to sit on the couch while my Wife watches HGTV and "gets her design on". We'll talk during commercials, and when "Design at Nine" comes back on, I can go back to browsing the web, remotely controlling my servers in the basement, and listening to music.

The Pepper Pad is so close to this ideal that the interface limitations make me crazy. Sure, it has a 20Gb hard drive, so you're already way past the Palm LifeDrive in capacity. It has WiFi and Bluetooth, so you've run past iPods and Archos PMPs already (although Archos does sell a device that will eventually compete with this, the PMA 400). It has USB and an SD/MMC slot, stereo speakers, and it runs Linux. Really, this thing kills on paper, until you read the fine print.

The fine print kills the deal. USB is 1.1, not 2.0, so those file transfers of MP3 and VOBs will crawl if you plan on loading this up. WiFi is 802.11b, not 11a or 11g, so you'll be capped at 11 Mbps on a very good day. And there's no PCMCIA slot, so forget about adding a card to push you to higher speeds (or another HDD, etc).

Now, if the fine print doesn't sour you, you'll be really happy with the size and weight. It's almost instant-on (what's a few seconds between friends?), and the screen is big enough to browse most websites without panning; it's light enough to use on the couch without straining yourself, and the thumb-based split keyboard isn't very hard to master. If it bugs you enough, the digitizer in the screen allows you to use the stylus for handwritten entry and mousing actions. The D-pad is a nod to future game development, and the scroll wheel helps you forget your mouse a little easier.

I can't stress this enough: if it had USB 2.0 and WiFi 802.11g OR a PCMCIA slot, I'd have kept my pre-order. Pre-release versions impressed the heck out of me, and the fact that it runs Linux means it'll be hacked eight ways to Sunday, in a good way. Still, connectivity is a BIG deal for me and ultimately a dealbreaker.

This is just about the ideal pad for home or PMP use, but the corners cut to make a price point will winnow out many early adopters. If there's ever a Pepper Pad 3 that addresses my concerns, I'll order it tomorrow.

Fred

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Product (Pepper Pad) From Someone Who Has One!, September 7, 2005

By 

David Solomont (Boston, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pepper Pad Internet Media Player (Office Product)

I've got to start by telling you I love my Pepper Pad! This is the same feeling I had when I first turned on my apple II (serial number 358), albeit with a casette recorder for 'mass storage'; my apple Macintosh with its limited expandability or was it none; my original McIntosh audio system back in 1977; and of course its only rival is my wife's (and kids') apple iPods.

Finally, I have a 'Blackberry' for home/leisure use. I'm not really a techie, so USB 1, 2 or 3, or the lack thereof, doesn't phase me. What's really amazing, for those of us who have spent weeks trying to get an off the shelf major brand notebook on the WiFi network, is that I turned on the Pepper Pad, it automatically connected to my wireless network with no calls to customer servie or obscure wiring diagrams to follow. Of course, there is Pepper Desktop, a free companion software program for my desktop computer running Windows something or another, that enabled me to 'synch' close to a gigabyte of photos and music that I have on a 'bunch' of computers scattered around my home, office and kids dorm room and apartments, transferring them automatically to the Pepper Pad.

This is obviously a product with substantial thought behind it. The "GET UPDATES" button, which has worked quickly and flawlessly, lets me know that I'll get all the USBs I ever need and then some.

I can bore you with further details about the perfect screen size etc... A way to peruse photos that looks and feels like my old fashion photo album in terms of size, weight and comfort passing it around the family room, of course while listening to dad's ecclectic mix of music (Jerry Jeff Walker).

This is truly the dream machine or "Pad" for the best broadband access experience. Whether it's Google, Yahoo!, Amazon, or simply using the Pad to control my Sony HD satellite box and TV controller, I can finally relax with my home internet appliance, rather than staying up all night to clean off the viruses, spyware and/or downloading Microsoft Windows updates!

Of course, if COMCAST gets the message, maybe I'll finally upgrade to digital cable just to get 'on demand' movies, music or simply trailers, ordered or even viewed on my Pepper Pad when the kids, my wife and I hit the beach. (I may be the only person I know spending under $10 per month for cable TV!) Maybe I forgot to mention that the Pepper Pad is ruggedized. I guess I can't drop it in the ocean, as I did my Verizon Samsung phone (which no longer works quite right). But, a bit of sand and salty air hasn't held back Pepper Pad. (This isn't on the manufacturer's recommend list of suggested uses.) I finally have a portable broadband media player, all-in-one!

Happy in Boston, looking forward to taking my Pepper Pad to Fenway for the World Series 2005.