Again, thanks to everyone that joined in with the Viliv N5 [information] Live Open Review session tonight. Through pure perseverance I got my N5 from Fedex at the Cologne airport today [Note: Don't try and pick something up from there unless you have two hours, passport, vehicle registraion docs and want all the posessions in your car to be scanned!] and we did a good 2.5hrs of testing with hundreds of visitors via the live session over Ustream. It was a live unboxing for me so my first impressions will come later this week but in the meantime, here are the live recordings we produced.
Update: All videos now available on YouTube.
Part 1 – Unboxing Overview. (12 mins)
Part 2 – JKK Overview, Video performance, Q&A (30 Mins)
Part 3 – Further testing and Q&A including summary. (43 Mins)
June 28th, 2010 at 10:38 pm
New article: Viliv N5 Open Review Videos http://bit.ly/bUIJld
June 28th, 2010 at 10:40 pm
Viliv N5 Open Review Videos: We did a good 2.5hrs of testing on the Viliv N5 with hundreds of visitors via the liv… http://bit.ly/bUdGUm
June 28th, 2010 at 11:01 pm
RT @umpcportal: Viliv N5 Open Review Videos http://bit.ly/bUIJld < Thanks to 680+ people that joined.
June 29th, 2010 at 1:18 am
RT @umpcportal: New article: Viliv N5 Open Review Videos http://bit.ly/bUIJld
June 29th, 2010 at 4:18 am
Here is umid z530 1.6 + 1gb ram
http://www.11st.co.kr/product/SellerProductDetail.tmall?method=getSellerProductDetail&prdNo=77577159
takethree Reply:
June 29th, 2010 at 6:39 am
Do you know if the umid z530 1.6 + 1gb ram is available with English OS and English keyboard. I have a 512MB RAM Umid BZ and the ram is really a limiting factor. Would kill for a 1Gb RAM and faster CPU.
Chippy Reply:
June 29th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
Thanks for that info jackynews.
June 29th, 2010 at 6:57 am
On my S5, with the latest GMA 500 drivers and Flash 10.1, I can’t run full 1080p, or even 720p properly either. The hardware is same on the S5, so I doubt the playback is improved.
June 29th, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Why cant I watch the videos (they show as a blank square) if I have the latest adobe flash and firefox version?
Chippy Reply:
July 5th, 2010 at 9:55 pm
sometimes UStream is just a very poor streaming service. I’ve added YouTube versions now. Check out the link in the post.
June 29th, 2010 at 4:43 pm
Did you restart your device after installation of flash 10.1? GPU acceleration do not work until you restart it…
June 29th, 2010 at 5:26 pm
You guys on UMPCPortal actually know what a review is. Excellent work!
Bill Reply:
July 2nd, 2010 at 5:42 pm
I agree. After reading the other review on the other site, I didn’t know anything more about the device. It was more of an image gallery.
Chippy’s and JKK’s reviews always have more information especially on the technical level. They actually understand what’s going on inside the machine.
I’m grateful for these reviews. It allows me to make a more informed purchase on mobile devices.
June 29th, 2010 at 8:35 pm
Viliv N5 Open Review Videos http://bit.ly/bVfNvO
June 29th, 2010 at 10:10 pm
I agree Chippy and JKK are the best at talking about tablets and UMPC devices.
Chippy Reply:
July 1st, 2010 at 11:47 am
@alslayer, @bxsteez Thanks for the feedback. It keeps up going!
June 29th, 2010 at 10:43 pm
Just wondering, like chippy’s report on the x70′s unsupported cell phone voice call…does the N5 also “share” this feature?
Chippy Reply:
July 1st, 2010 at 11:48 am
Yup. Demonstrated in one of the videos (3rd one I think)
June 30th, 2010 at 4:47 am
Does anybody know or the N5 works on Win XP if I would choose to install this?
Thanks,
Chippy Reply:
July 1st, 2010 at 11:49 am
It should be fine. Drivers for all the core components are available although i’m not sure about the Viliv control software that is the only way you can enable the 3G modem.
anon Reply:
July 2nd, 2010 at 1:46 am
If the 3G modem behaves normally, it should be usable directly with Huawei Mobile Partner – and after configuring it, through the normal dial-up connections panel of Windows if you don’t need the SIM query enabled or don’t need to track statistics. That’s how I use an EM770 (not the W model) in my Eee at least.
sadata Reply:
July 22nd, 2010 at 8:15 pm
I’m sure XP would run, but some of the hardware like the multi-touch touchscreen by AD Semiconductor only appears to be supported by Windows 7.
June 30th, 2010 at 5:41 am
Eh? I used to have the Viliv x70 and it could make perfect voice calls.
June 30th, 2010 at 8:43 am
Could you check how much space is available in the C: drive? I heard that the 32GB SSD is partitioned with an OEM partition of 7.32GB and the remaining 21.66GB is partitioned for C: the drive. Please confirm.
Chippy Reply:
July 1st, 2010 at 11:50 am
Yup. In the videos we talk about this. Only about 12GB available for the user due to recovery partition. Windows 7 is a fat bit of s/w!
June 30th, 2010 at 9:07 am
It is super looking device. I so much want to see Viliv doing either a pocket size convertible or specially my personal favorite slider form keeping the size same as this one. Although with slider they will not have much option for such a good keyboard as this one but a slider form will give us a good use of touchscreen, hence good “lazy” surfing and good book reading, and when in need just slide out the keyboard and get the job done, the right way.
June 30th, 2010 at 3:20 pm
I’m looking to use this device 100% outdoors while on the move. I’d like to know how it compares against the UMID BZ as far as:
1) keyboard thumb typing
2) Screen outdoors visibility
3) Battery life
I look forward some comparison. Thanks!
Chippy Reply:
July 1st, 2010 at 11:53 am
My personal thoughts right now.
1) UMID better because of shorter-travel keys and smaller width.
2) UMID BZ better
3) Not fully tested yet.
Remember that the BZ has only 512MB and an SSD that sometimes can’t keep up.
The new UMID with 1GB might be an option I’m trying to get information or review model but it might take some time.
If you aren’t worried about looks, don’t need 3G and only want to run one or two apps, UMID BZ might be better.
Steve
sadata Reply:
July 22nd, 2010 at 8:19 pm
Haven’t used a BZ, but I do have the N5. Thumb typing is possible but not optimal (unless you have really long fingers). For average size hands, your thumbs will meet comfortably in the middle, but are not long enough to cross-over without contorting or twisting your hands. So as long as you can thumb-type without trying to reach keys on the opposite side (which is usually required to gain any sort of speed), it’s not going to be a great experience.
June 30th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
Can we downgrade to XP on the Viliv N5? I don’t see the point of Windows 7 on these super mobile devices…
June 30th, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Chippy, could you try booting from an Ubuntu (Netbook Edition) USB sometime and see what happens?
Chippy Reply:
July 1st, 2010 at 11:54 am
I see 95% chance of failure there. Poulsbo/GMA500 remains largely unsupported.
Draggor Reply:
July 1st, 2010 at 11:26 pm
Drivers for linux are linked in the first post of this thread:
http://forum.pocketables.net/showthread.php?t=3264
chippy Reply:
July 2nd, 2010 at 11:13 am
There are some Ubuntu patches around, yes.
sadata Reply:
July 22nd, 2010 at 8:21 pm
I’ve got Ubuntu 10.04 running on it quite nicely. I’ve installed the latest Pouslbo/GMA500 drivers from here: http://code.google.com/p/gma500/wiki/PPARepository. Most video plays okay, but forget HD until these drivers improve.
July 1st, 2010 at 12:07 am
Can we downgrade to XP on the Viliv N5, I looked on the viliv website and there were no xp drivers, just windows 7 drivers, Doues anyone know where are the windows xp drivers?
July 1st, 2010 at 2:45 am
What move was being tested in the 2nd video? DO want.
Chippy Reply:
July 1st, 2010 at 11:55 am
Move? As in Moonwalk or The Twist?
Or Movie? Check it out for a number of video tests.
Jesse Reply:
July 1st, 2010 at 10:16 pm
I did mean movie, I’m sorry about that. Should have proofread before I hit submit.
Anyways, I did not mean the video that did not work, but the first working video. It looked like a really neat movie trailer to me, but I’m not really sure what it was.
chippy Reply:
July 2nd, 2010 at 11:08 am
With th kids playging football? It was a German film. Die Wilde Kerle. Actually great films.
July 1st, 2010 at 3:04 am
The S5 with this kind of mouse used on the N5 would be an improvement, by the way.
Viliv should also finally give their devices a better battery meter that can report the remaining TIME! That and getting a Mini Displayport or HDMI out for digital video out would be the only things on my wish list for the N5. Oh, and all the extra battery mass you can bear adding to it.
Chippy Reply:
July 1st, 2010 at 11:56 am
Agree. In fact the S5 would become far more interesting to me if it had optical mouse pointer. Viliv shold think about S5 refresh in 2011 using OakTrail, slightly smaller battery and the optical mouse.
Lucien Reply:
July 1st, 2010 at 9:03 pm
On the other hand I love the joystick on the S5 for gaming (I also have autohotkey script to map to 8 directional cursor). Perhaps they could do both.
July 1st, 2010 at 12:40 pm
The N5 is a very good device, but needs some tweaking and optimization to run at its full potential. Win 7 can be stripped down and some enhancements turned off, along with removing the OEM partition (after backup) to give a full sized 32 SSD on the OS. I have so many things on my mind but still waiting to get my hands on the device. Too bad the newer UMID SE comes without 3G and in white; a black version would sell more outside the Asian market.
anon Reply:
July 1st, 2010 at 2:22 pm
Oh shoot, 3G is the most important feature in these devices for me. Other than that the UMIDs only lack a GPS which would be very nice to have.
The N5 is nearly as good as it can possibly get, but with any more features such as video out it probably gets so expensive so fast…
July 1st, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Hi,
Does the N5 have built in video-out ?
If so, what kind and what else do I need to buy to use it ?
The review leaves the N5 video out uncertain: there is no evidence of video-out port, and no video cables are included in the package.
The N5 tech-spec at dynamism.com shows only internal display.
Jenn@pocketables.net did update her review with a possible “multi I/O port for external video ouput”, but it seem blocked.
So, anybody knows for certain if the N5 has video out, and if so – how to use it ?
Thanks
anon Reply:
July 1st, 2010 at 2:16 pm
The N5 manual you can download refers to multi I/O port with support for optional USB link transfer cable, D-SUB (VGA) adapter and composite/s-video/component/audio out adapter, all with a note “Professional only”. What this points to is a later high-end model with a functioning port and the adapter cables. So, no out-of-the-box video out possible before that.
Jox Reply:
July 1st, 2010 at 2:47 pm
That is a shame.
Such a good device missing such a basic functionality..
I will have to wait for the pro version.
Thanks anon.
scoobie Reply:
July 3rd, 2010 at 3:01 am
Same here, I won’t touch it without video out. Even the OQO 02 had that years ago
July 1st, 2010 at 6:39 pm
SO no one know anything about the xp drivers?
July 1st, 2010 at 11:35 pm
In terms of speed, battery life & storage the N5 & S5 appear to b2 the same
July 2nd, 2010 at 10:41 pm
Seems nice. I’d get one if it had the following specs:
2.0 GHz Atom CPU
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
802.11n
64 GB SSD
1 GB RAM
GOBI WWAN module
HDMI Out
No Touchscreen
No GPS
No Webcam
Plus the other stuff the current models already have.
That’s what I’m looking for. I hope others would want that too so Viliv would be more inclined to release it. Of course if they wait too long like with the current models, it would be too late again since much better hardware would be out then. I guess it’s hard enough to put in over 2 year old hardware in this form factor.
amukhtar Reply:
July 2nd, 2010 at 10:49 pm
Well if that is your wish-list consider this;
http://www.dynamism.com/notebooks/fujitsu_u_g90.shtml
Jack Reply:
July 3rd, 2010 at 12:59 am
That’s nice but I want something the size of the N5. The N5 would be the largest size I’m willing to carry around. Thanks though.
August 26th, 2010 at 9:16 am
Thanks for the fantastic reviews guys, in video 2 I noticed that you made a phone call from the N5 device. Was that through the mobile phone network or Voip?