Customer Reviews

Pepper Pad Internet Media Player

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

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.

*** 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

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.

I have read positive feedback on the pad as well as negative and wasn't sure what to expect when my pepper pad arrived in the mail from amazon. When I pulled it out of the box I immediately liked the size and weight of the device. When I turned it on I wasn't quite sure if I understood the simplicity of the operating system, it wasn't until I plugged in my wifi router and started downloading images and text from my favorite websites that I really got it.

I've been using the pepper pad a for few weeks now and I have to say it's pretty sweet. I find myself picking up the pad more often then my sony vaio. My vaio is a great computer but my pepper pad is an even better internet player, rugged and portable, instant power up, wifi ready and touch screen sensitive, are just a few of the things that make this machine an exceptional vehicle to navigate the internet with.

The stylus and touch sensitive screen make browsing websites as easy as tapping and dragging. The lighted querty keypad is a logical design for quick text input. I find the keypad works best with my index fingers pressing the inside letters, my middle fingers pressing the outside letters and my right thumb for hitting the space bar, I`ve gotten pretty efficient using this method while instant messaging.

I transferred a gig of music onto my pad using a digital camera and usb cord as an improvised storage device. I use the mp3 player often, The pad is so portable I am able to hold it like a discman. I'll set the music on shuffle, dim the screen to off and throw the pad in it's little, protective black sleeve with the head phones coming out of the zipped opening. When I'm in my car I can fit the pad between the seats and use the output jack to feed my car stereo input.

I have ran into a few problems with the pad. I understand the pepper pad has a wireless synch operation that allows one to synch music, pics and text from a home pc to a pad but the operation is not intuitive and could use more detailed instruction, maybe a few step by step screen shots in the instruction booklet. My other compliant with the pad is it desperately needs upgrades that would allow avi and quicktime video formats to play off the net. I rarely use the D pad or the scroll wheel, I have found little practical use for them.

For those people waiting for the next generation pepper pad I think they could be missing the whole concept of what the pad has achieved in form and function already. The internet today is very different from the internet of the 90's. You can read entire books, magazines, and newspapers right off the net, email and instant message from anywhere within a wifi hot spot. A device like the pepper pad that is both highly portable in the home and around the neighborhood seems like a necessary evolution of internet computing. I think early adopters to this product will find the pad more convenient and comfortable to use then a desktop or laptop computer and will find themselves connecting with people and information at a more natural pace and setting.

I love my new Pepper Pad! It was worth waiting for, and it is fun to use. It is great to have this little, lightweight but powerful device with me when I need access to the internet and email without the hassle of taking my expensive, heavy, fragile laptop with me. I can't afford to let anything happen to my laptop's data or the laptop itself; Pepper offers me freedom and access! The screen is big, bright and clear enough to read easily.

In fact, I was surprised at how much I enjoy reading the New York Times (and other articles) on my Pepper Pad. It is more convenient than a big print newspaper (not to mention it avoids newspaper clutter - ha, ha) and is much more friendly than on a laptop screen, which seems too busy and not positioned well enough for a long read. The type size on the Pepper Pad is just right for reading, and the crisp, well-lighted screen is great. I use just a gentle touch of the stylus to select an article and my thumbs control either the Navigator buttons or the scroll wheel to scroll down the article as I read.

With my Pepper Pad, I can quickly check my email without fear of viruses; the email will be waiting for me when I'm ready to download it to my "real" computer, but in the meantime I have been able to see it - and answer if need be - right from my Pepper Pad. The mail program works flawlessly, and sending photos is a snap. I like the radio stations and built-in music I've explored and look forward to putting some of my own music on the device.

At first, I thought I'd have trouble learning the thumb-based split keyboard, but it didn't take long to pick up the rhythm of the familiar QWERTY keyboard. Next step is to try the Pepper Pad with a separate flexible USB keyboard. I like the touchscreen and the fact that it is easy to calibrate the stylus-touch precisely. I appreciate the Navigator directional buttons and the scroll wheel; I don't feel at a disadvantage being a lefty.

An email question to Pepper's Tech Support was answered within hours. The initial set-up was almost too easy; I didn't bother to look at the slender manual or the "help" screens built-in to the Pepper Pad. Right out of the box, my Pepper Pad found the local wireless network with no problem. I then tested it with several other wireless systems, including a WEP-protected one that allows only known devices on, using MAC address ID. Fearing that I would have to search long and hard for the Pepper Pad's MAC address, I was pleasantly surprised that it was provided right on the set-up screen. With that entered into the secure network, my Pepper Pad was good to go.

Initial start-up takes over a minute, but once the Pepper Pad starts, it can be put in Sleep mode when not in use, so it is ready to work immediately.

I'm looking forward to continuing upgrades, and longer battery life would be nice. Overall, however, I'm excited about my Pepper Pad and know that it will go with me many times when I don't want or need the hassle of my laptop. The security in protecting my laptop is worth the investment, and the 20 gb hard drive will store plenty of photos and music.

I bought my pad 1 month ago. I thought before I got it that a laptop and a treo phone were all I would ever need. But then after owning the pad I am ready to chuck the treo for a small phone and my laptop well its too big for real portablitly around the house and town. Plus my laptop is way too fragile...cant tell you how many times I have hit a door with its. Once needed a new screen! The Pad has done way more for me then I ever expected it to and I would highly reccomend it to anyone looking for an all in one device that can change the way they comute and work. Currently I have got music on my pad and videos....that was a no brainer and works as one would expect. What it also does is allow me to control all my remote control devices around my house. Its simple setup allows me to have full tv control in my my three rooms that have entertainment systems in it. Not only does it control the devices, but I swear its respose time just flipping channels on cable is faster than the actual cable remote. I also used to use a logitech remote that I thought was the best ever until I realized my pads potential at this. One Large touchscreen gives me access to every button I need on one screen. I even got it to control my lighting in the house (I have infrared activated lighting by lighttroller in most rooms). Plus my logitech did not allow me to surf the web while controling my tv and checking email and more.

The beuaty of the pad is that while doing the above mentioned, I can still of course check email and browse the web from anywhere. Not only that I have a pool and though it is too cold right now the pad is splash proof and a perfect tool for surfing next to water. I have tested this theory while my wife gives baths to my young infant son (better know as splash boy while bathing!). Also being a fervent hater of internet explorer I was excited to see that the pad utilizes the far superior firefox browser for surfing and with its large screen it is a REAL surfing experience unlike a treo (dont know why they even sell that thing with a web browser...they should call it a web let down).

The pad has some other features...my wife (sadly) likes to read ebooks....only sad cause she does it with MY pad :) The pad also allows me to write and store text files for use with microsft word later. Something I need to do for work. The keyboard on either side is very easy to get used to...it only took a day before I was typing as fast as I do with a regular keyboard (plus I hear you can buy a keyboard for it if you need one). The internet radio feature also works great...especially since the built in speakers actually sound better than the ones on my laptop and certainly my treo. Pepper also sends the device with some wonderful preset choices so you dont need to configure it to do this...it does it right outta the box.

Another feature that is great for me cause I work out of my home a lot is that I need to constantly be checking IM and email in order to stay intouch with the office and clients. The pad is by my side when in bed, I take it in the bathroom (yes yes I do)....and can even use it while I "pretend" to work and am at my neighbors house. The pad has a great chatting tool that is compatible with my aim account and allows me to instantly know when someone is contacting me...people actually think I have no life and am always by my computer...but the pad has only made it appear that way....and why not....isnt that what working from home is REALLY about?

The pads batteries last me all day and I love the fact that there is no boot up time. The pad turns on instantly like the treo...and unlike any laptop. My only complaint about the pad is how do I stop my wife from borrowing it? hah. Guess it might be time for a second Pad! oh well no device is perfect :)

Bottom line, try the pad and you wont be sorry. I am a computer guy and love it, but I also see it being great for someone who just needs simple computing capabilites and does not want to be burdened by virus/spyware prone pc's or complex setups. The pad was so simple a manual is toatlly not needed. Once you recieve it, it asks a few questions and off you go. It reads my cameras sd cards and hooks to my pc for syncing with my necessary stuff when I need to. Its the ultimate toy..now all I need is a new cell phone and I am set.

One other thing that I like....when I do travel with the pad....people stare...people ask...what is that? then I repeat what I just said above. Its cool factor is also a 10!

I love my Pad. I don't understand why some are comparing this device to a laptop/desktop. Its like comparing a treo or blackberry to a pepper pad. My pepper allows me to easily sit outside/inside and do the things I need to do when NOT at my desktop. Its attractive, small, very portable and it works. The pad fills in a space that laptops and smartphones can't....more power than a PDA but bigger, less power than a Laptop/desktop but smaller. Oh and I also got my pad wet once...only to learn at that point that it is actually splash proof...phew. Try that with your dell :)

I ordered one for my brother as a graduation gift and I was hoping he loves it despite some criticism from other reviewers. But I told my self if he does not like it he can send it back to Amazon (This is why I love Amazon; you can return electronics without a restocking fees since it is a gift).

Anyways my brother told me today that it is the best gadget he has ever seen, the screen is so crisp and the unit is so light and best of all you can use it while lying in bed or even when killing some time in the rest room :) I am so happy that it was up to his expectation so I told my wife I want one for Xmass.

Make sure when you buy one you order a wireless router because the only way to connect to the internet is thru a wireless connection. I recommend Linksys WTR54GS Wireless G Travel Router with Speedbooster. Although it says it is only a G class router but my brother told me that when he hooked it up it was B class savvy too (The Pepper is B class) and best of all you this router is so small you can take it anywhere with you like a hotel room.

I know I was not technical in my review, but then you can get the technical details from the description or other reviewers. I just felt to drop some lines on the functionality so far from my brother experience and if something comes up I will keep updating this review.

I bought the Pepper Pad hoping to get out of Windows, into Linux and onto the internet. I could turn on my DVD player remotely, but internet connection kept getting dropped at home and at a cyber cafe. Sent it to Pepper; they supposedly fixed the wi-fi card and upgraded the firmware. The condition seemed worse when they sent it back to me. I called tech support and they never got back to me. I sent it back for a refund and now own a Axim X51v which can pick up a signal 200' away from router.

I own a Pepper Pad and question some of the people who rate it with 5 stars - especially those who post the exact same comment on multiple websites that review this device. Makes me wonder if they have a vested interest in the product.