As I have both devices now (and finally both in working order -- the Pad had a flakey WiFi module that required contact spray to fix it, so bye-bye to the warranty), it might not be a bad idea to give my impressions of these machines in real life (read that as "couch potato life"; I have no real life). I'm not going to do a feature-by-feature comparison, partly because I'd get most of those features wrong, but mainly because it sux.

So, the Pepper Pad first. As a couch surfer, I find it better than the N800: It's got a bigger screen (but with the same resolution), it's generally faster (because of the X86-compatible CPU) and it's bigger (so less easy to lose in the back of the couch). The Pad has both a D-pad that's way better than the N800's and a groovy scroll wheel, both helping immensely with the surfing thing.

The Pad's connectivity options are superior to the N800's: It has WiFi, (limited) Bluetooth, multiple infrared protocols and full USB host capabilities (one full and one mini slot). It even has drivers for USB ethernet devices. Sadly, and here the Nokia wins, there's no memory card slot.

The Pepper also has a built-in thumb board. Unfortunately, I don't like those things, virtual or real, but with the Pad I have no choice but to use it: there's no (as in: zilch, nada, zero) handwriting recognition built in. This kinda blows on two fronts: The Pad's user interface leans heavily on the use of the stylus (many things can only be done via the touch screen), so I'm forced to thumb-hunt type and to keep the stylus in my hand. Bummer.

This big no-no is partly compensated by A Very Good Thing <TM>: The Pad's video playing capabilities. In short: It's bloomingly good. Unlike the Nokias, the Pad has been optimized for video playback and consequently will play just about anything I throw at it (it even has a video-out cable, yay!). With that 20 GB hard disk (incidentally, so silent you'd be mistaken to think the Pad runs on silicon storage), there's room for a lot of videos; I can cram in over 20 standard Divx movies.

... Which brings me to the single worst thing of the Pad: Battery life. It has none. Turn it on with a fully charged battery and in only slightly over 2 hours, it dies. That's sad and that's the main reason why I'm still watching videos on my N800, in crappy resolution and with occasional chops.

A few other things are wrong with the Pepper Pad: You can't run videos straight from a USB stick, they need to be copied over first; the Pad is finnicky about USB sticks, it completely barfed on my 4GB DaneElec; the Pepper Desktop (a Java program that is now Pepper's sole "raison d'être") is pretty at first, but becomes a hindrance after two days of use; resume from standby is far from instantaneous (8 to 10 seconds! what is that thing doing?), which is the main reason why I haven't even considered using the infrared remote emulation program; and Pepper is about to die.

So, the N800 then. Basically, it's better than the Pepper Pad because it fits in my pocket and it runs at least three times longer on its battery. It's also much much better for reading e-books (although a version of FBreader exists for the Pad, reading on it is weird and clumsy).

The N800 is pocketable. I now fully understand why that is such a plus. Nice as the Pad may be, I will almost certainly never pull it out at a MacDonalds to check my email, or steal a few pages of Terry Pratchett in the checkout line at the supermarket. It's even less convenient to watch videos in bed (you can't use the Pad comfortably lying on your side, dammit!).

And, like the bunny, the Nokia just keeps going. The videos may be of inferior resolution, they may stutter occasionally, but you can keep watching them without thinking of the AC cord all the time.

The WiFi reception on the N800 is also better than on the Pad, but not -- and contrary to popular folklore -- fantastically better. I'd guess and say I can get about five more meters out of the N800.

I'm not going to consider the browser here, because the firmware upgrade to ITOS2008 will probably render everything I write about Opera obsolete, and the Pepper's Firefox is -- although more standard than Opera -- not the full version anyway: no extensions (but flash works).

I'm also not mentioning PIMs and office suites, because neither has them installed. Pepper's advantage of being able to install "standard" X86 Linux packages is offset by the crippling Pepper Desktop that won't allow the user to add icons and the ancient Fedora Core 4 based Linux that will pull the user into dependency hell.

What I do consider important, is this: The Nokia Internet Tablet community is about a thousand times more active than the Pepper Pad's, so while the Pad might be more standard Linux-ish underneath, I believe the Nokias will go further, because more people believe in them (and grumble about them!).

So that's it: A comparative review from this grumpy old fart. I like the Pepper Pad 3 more on my couch and the Nokia N800 everywhere else, including in my bed. Also, the Pad looks much more stylish on my coffee table (I got the white version; it's scrumpcious!).

But Nokia has more people...

Thanks for the review / first look, Karel.

I saw a reply of yours today somewhere here, where you mentioned the pepperpad as a xmas order. I had never heard of the thing, so I had a brief look at the specs & images and it seemed pretty interesting, though maybe a bit pricey.

One of the things that always comes to my mind is that with miniaturization (and it doesn't matter whether it's Apple, Nokia, ...) certain things don't fit into the machine. Like the little scroll wheel. I think that'd be pretty handy on the IT. Or the miniSD slot ... or two of them. Even though the two devices don't directly compare since one fits in your pocket and the other one doesn't, it seems pepper made good use of the space.

I have an addiction: I must have portable computers. Right now -- and this is a sign of how sad I am -- I'm seriously contemplating selling one of my kidneys (your really only need the one, right?) because of Frethop's Netbooks for sale.

I need help.

Or more money.

I prefer more money...

The pepper pad was already in trouble, now with the cheaper Asus Eee, it seems not to really have a niche where it can compete well.

RE: NetBook.

I've seen those devices in the past. I have no idea if they can run anything recent in terms of apps that are compatible with what we all use the IT Nxxx for. Would be nice from a nostalgic & historic point. I have an original iMac G3 sitting here

I actually got my Pad at a price cheaper than the 4GB Eee. From eBay, obviously, but it's a new Pad.

You're right about the competing part. Still, as a couch device, I'd wager the Pad is much more user-friendly. If you've ever tried to use a (sub)notebook while lying in the sofa, you'd know what I'm talking about.

The bottom line for me: Once the smart people have figured out how to replace "Fedora Core 4 + Pepper Desktop" by a real Linux distribution (I'm thinking DSL+Icewm, or even E), the Pad can still have a long and happy life.

What surprizes me, is the apparent absence of Hanbit in the Pepper Pad hacking scene. Hanbit is after all the manufacturer of the Pad (Pepper only licenses the dreaded Pepper Desktop software) and the general consensus of the community is that a Pad with a "normal" Linux on it would sell much better than the current version. So, unless Hanbit has agreed to a truly insane licensing agreement with Pepper, it would be in their best interest to at least help the community in de-Peppering the Pad.

Couple of corrections...

You can indeed access files directly from a USB drive, just not within Pepper Keeper. Mplayer exists and can play files fine outside of Pepper Keeper.

Also, there is a full version of Firefix 1.5.0.9 that handles plugins fine. I' ve got Adblock plus, Forecastfox, Google Gears, Google Bar lite all running within it. Again, this is outside of Pepper Keeper. Look in /opt/pepper/jrex_gre/ for the firefox binary.

To get around the limitations of Pepper Keeper (many, in my opinion), you can apply a one-line hack in /etc/init.d/X to enable Icewm.

Customizing Icewm - once enabled, on the other hand, is less than intuitive. But once you learn what to do, you can build your own menus and install pretty much any x86 compat app. I've installed OO.o, Thunderbird, Sunbird, Skype, The Gimp, as well as a couple of apps running under Wine on it.

Having said that, I tend to now use my N800 when I'm out and about, since I can easily carry it. When traveling and need full laptop functionality, the Pepper Pad fits the bill. All I ever really wanted was a 2 pound solution to a portable office. So it's 2 pounds and... what does the N800 weigh again? Still much lighter than lugging a laptop around.

R.
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They're Psions. Once you've used one of those, the matter of compatibility becomes somewhat moot, as Psions tend to be more user friendly than God.

The Netbook is just plain yummy. There.

Thanks for the addenda (I knew all about those of course ). I tried to compare the devices at a "virgin" level.

I maintain that the biggest flaw of the Pepper is its (absense of) battery life. And, sadly, the Pepper uses a 12 volts charger, which means that my large external battery (16 or 19 volts, as The Maker intended) won't work without high-level tinkering and soldering.

Sidenote: I find it particularly funny[*] that you write to "Look in /opt/pepper/jrex_gre/" and forget to mention that the Pad comes without any file manager. At all.

____[*] That's "funny" as in: "Really really sad that someone at Pepper thought this was a good idea".

You're right about the battery life compared to the N800. Although I tend to get around a half hour more than what you've been getting. It's comparable to other UMPCs unfortunately (which is what I would consider a Pad to be).

I tend to work a lot in an xterm, so the lack of a file manager didn't occur to me :-). You can install Nautilus easy enough though. And I guess that brings me to the point I was trying to make. For as old as Fedora Core 4 is, it's still a 2.6.x kernel base, and you have the full FC4 distro at your disposal to install pretty much whatever you need.

R.
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