I’m no expert on e-book reading but I’m a big e-reader. What I mean by that is that I read electronic content all day long but I don’t read many books. I’ve been working my way through the Adventures of Tom Sawyer on the SmartQ7 and have tried to continue on the Archos 5 but I don’t get very far before I’m distracted by an email or twitter notification and then I’m off into one of those enjoyable but never-ending web journeys.

Based on my experience with the Archos 5, its form factor, hours of using Google Reader (Android formatted) and the web browser I’d say that the form factor lends itself perfectly to 1hr reading sessions and that due to the weight (smartphone weight) and screen characteristics (200 ppi and well-aliased fonts and adjustable back-lighting) many people will end up doing more. What effect that has on your eyes is unknown to me but it certainly feels more comfortable than smaller screens I’ve tried.

I can’t really show you the quality of the screen on a video but you might get an idea of how you might use this device to read e-book content in the video I’ve prepared for you below. You’ll see FbreaderJ with a mobipocket-formatted e-book and Aldiko and an epub-formatted book with online download. One thing missing is commercial content. It is possible to convert encrypted and even DRM-protected content but I’d like to be able to link directly into books from commercial stores like Amazon and Mobipocket without all that hassle.

Don’t forget to watch in full-screen and hit the ‘HQ’ button for the higher quality version.

I’ve shown you Social Messaging, HD video playback and now Ebook reading on the Archos 5 IT but there are at least two other usage scenarios that I want to show you. Next week i’ll be highlighting the Web browsing experience and the navigation experience and that will probably round-up the Archos 5 IT coverage for a while.

If you have experience with dedicated e-book readers, let us know how you feel about this LCD reading experience. How would you feel if the Amazon Kindle software was ported to the Archos Tablet?

P.S. Anyone know if there are commercial audiobook apps for Android? An Audible app would be awesome!

More info on the Archos 5 Internet Tablet here.

It looks like Windows 7 and some invisible tabletPC marketing force is spurring people to make web pads left right and center. The Ebook reports that the Lbook T9 will be coming to the market next year for an interesting retail price of $350-$375. If they really can achieve that than we’re in for some interesting times.

• CPU: Intel Atom Z530 1.6G
• RAM: DDR2 2GB
• HDD: 120GB
• Screen: TFT LCD, 8.9″ wide,1024×600
• Wireless: Bluetooth, WiFi, (3G option)
• Expected battery life: 4 hours.
• Weight: 670g
• Expected retail price: $350-375
• Planned date: March 2010

Super slim 12.7mm body under the control of Windows 7. The highlight of the device would be touch-screen technology “multitouch” to enter information. [Via translation]

The specifications look challenging but not impossible. An SSD might be more interesting for performance and ruggedness though.

Thanks Mike.

The Archos 5 Internet Media Tablet is a 4.8” 800×480 tablet device running Android and Archos Media Player software. Prices start at 230 Euro (8GB) but I’ve got the 32GB version here (bought myself) and I’ve had been pounding it hard since I got it last Friday. So far I’m loving its capability and excited by its potential but am frustrated by the amount of crashes and lock-ups I’m experiencing. At this stage I’d advise customers to hold-off on a purchase and take the time to do some more research and to monitor my ongoing experiences with the device before diving in.

Read on for an extended first-impressions post.

Archos 5 gallery.

If you didn’t catch the unboxing video or the live session on Friday [video embedded below], I recommend taking a look because so far the device has been really interesting. One word of warning though, it’s very unstable and buggy right now. I’m experiencing at least one software problem per hour of use. Version 1.022 of the firmware desperately needs an upgrade and I’d go so far as to say, DONT BUY THIS DEVICE YET if you’re thinking of using it for business or if you’re the sort of person that gets frustrated at unfinished products. Archos have clearly skimped on testing. Even as I type this paragraph, a notification has come in but I can’t unlock the device to get to it. I’m going to have to reboot. Not good enough Archos.

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The Q7 may not be a UMPC but there’s a lot to like and a lot to learn from the device.  It highlights the difference between professional and consumer devices very well so in this article I’ve mixed a review of the Q7 with some thoughts about consumer web tablets.

The Smart Devices Q7 has a slow, incomplete web experience, no Flash or AIR, poor video quality, very restrictive ARM11 core, runs a partially re-translated Chinese version of a year-old Ubuntu ARM port, doesn’t have a keyboard, is not good for outdoor use, needs a dongle to get Bluetooth working and has some twitchy touchscreen characteristics. Despite all these scary issues, i’m still using the device many times a day.

Full Q7 specifications available here.

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Ever since we outed the Samsung Q1EX I’ve had trouble positioning it. After an unboxing (see below) a 4-hour live Q&A session (1hr video below) I still cant see why Samsung created the Q1EX. It’s a fine tabletPC  but in the last 3 years they’ve learned a lot about the UMPC market and they know that Tablet PCs can be a hard sell. What made them go back to the no-keyboard form-factor?

From a TabletPC perspective, the Samsung is actually a very good all-rounder. I called it the ‘20% device’ in our live Ustream Q&A because that about sums up the improvements overall. 20% less weight, 20% less cost, 20% more GPU, 20% more battery life, 20% better looking!! All excellent incremental changes for the TabletPC market but there are silly things that appear to have been left out.

A 1.3mp cam on the rear means it’s no good for Skype video and not high enough quality for photography. The stylus slots into the lanyard which means you need to leave the lanyard attached, affecting the smooth looks of the device. The hard drive is neither fast (in comparison with some of the SSD’s we’re seeing now) nor does it have a very high capacity. The touchscreen doesnt run full tabletPC-compatible drivers meaning the input panel doesnt float and you get low sample-rate handwriting recognition. The organiser pack accessory bulks it out to a size that’s than most netbooks and finally, I managed to push the CPU/GPU combination so hard in a Cooliris test that I got the battery life meter down to 1.5hrs! It bounced back up to three when I stopped playing with Cooliris but it shows that the power envelope of the Q1EX is very very wide.

Full specifications and links in the product page.

On the positive side, the push/scroll wheel is the best implementation I’ve seen yet for an on-screen control panel. Changing brightness, volume, rotation is a breeze. The weight is down to one-handed usage levels meaning you can flip this one into portrait ‘reading’ mode. I was seeing over 4hrs battery life in this, no-radio, quiescent state. Also, the touchscreen has some palm rejection capability. For my ‘pinky on the screen’ left-handed writing method, it didn’t work but it’s clearly a lot better than other touchscreens for handwriting. In fact, one-handed portrait mode usage with a stylus is probably the #1 ‘feature’ over other UMPCs.

Considering that this is entering the market at $750, I would expect to see this discounted like many other devices have been over the last two years. In fact, I think this is very likely. It looks to me like this was a project by Samsung to put a new tablet out there for a specific market, a market-research exercise or even an industry request. Resellers have decided to price-up the device (still below all the other Samsung UMPC offerings) in order to get the most out of the early, mostly commercial, buyers but based on the fact that a VIA-based Samsung NC20 can sell for 75% of the price, there must be room for a sub $500 or even sub $400 price point. That would be pretty close to that CrunchPad that Techcrunch are working on.

What do you think? Is there a usage model that jumps out at you or is this simply targeted as a good quality, well-priced, TabletPC? Here’s the unboxing video…

For a more detailed look at the Q1EX, check out the Ustream recording below. (If the video is not showing below, go to the Ustream page. I’ve been seeing some problems with the UStream embedded videos today.)

Thanks to VIA Technologies for sending the Samsung  Q1EX over for a test.