Where does the S7 work best?
I often use the term ‘grab and go’ and it applies very well to the Viliv S7. The S7 is a device that is so small and light that it can be taken with you even if you don’t think you need to take a laptop or netbook. I often carry my netbook or ultra mobile PC round with me when I think there might be a chance to do some blogging on the go but more often than not, I’ve carried 1.4KG of netbook for nothing. The other side of the coin is that I have my U820 with me and I end up crouched over the screen pecking away at a blog post. The S7 is way better than the U820 in desktop mode and so much lighter to carry than a netbook that it works perfectly as the grab-and-go device.
What about mobile use?
The S7 is slightly too wide to be a ‘thumbing device’ and although it can be used on a sofa or even in bed, there are more comfortable solutions for that scenario. The S7 is primarily a table-top ultra-light, short term productivity device.
Battery life.
I’m not sure quite how Viliv have done this but the average battery life on the S7 far exceeds anything I’ve seen with this weight and screen size. Not only that but it loses very little charge when left on standby and is always less than 5 seconds away from life in that mode. Again, this helps with the grab and go capability as it can be left in standby for a weekend without losing significant amounts of battery life.
Style
Unlike a lot of devices we’ve seen in the ultra mobile PC world, the S7 does it’s job with style and quality. Not only is the build quality great and the plastics good but the design and finish make the device look like a fasion item. Some guys might have a problem with the white finish but you can’t deny that it looks attractive. The S7 fits in very well in coffee-shop scenarios!
Stability
We’ve been using the S7 for a few months and haven’t once seen a crash yet. Again, perfect for doing what you need it to do, when you need it.
Screen usage notes.
I mentioned the convertible touchscreen above so for those of you that haven’t had the pleasure of this flexibility, let me explain a little further.
Firstly, the touchscreen allows finger and stylus interaction. Finger (actually more nail-side) touch can be useful in selecting links, text and starting applications from desktop icons. This clearly comes into it’s own when the device is rotated round like a slate. Imagine flipping the screen into a portrait mode and browsing through websites. The most common interaction is through dragging the page up and down and selecting links and bookmarks. It’s a lazy and comfortable way to consume online content.
Secondly, the stylus can be used for ‘writing.’ I won’t call this a true Windows Tablet PC as there are some parts of a true tablet PC that are missing from this setup (handwriting recognition software, palm resistance) but I will say that it’s very useful for annotations. Using software such as PDFAnnotator you are able to write notes and markings on PDF files for example. It’s fun for kids too!
A note about the mouse pad.
You’ll notice the non-standard positioning of the mouse pad and buttons. The positioning is designed to allow easy mouse access while preserving device size. It does take a little while to get used to and can feel awkward at first but you’ll find a good balance between using the touchscreen and mousepad after a while. If the S7 is used as an occasional PC, you may find that it never becomes natural to use it this way but it’s a trade-off that really does save space.
Click through for full specifications and details on the Viliv S7
A note about the keyboard.
The keyboard is well-spaced, quiet and obviously optimised towards accuracy with relatively long-travel keys and quality mechanics. The top row of numbers are slightly offset to the left which means you will be making the occasional numeric mistake. We found this when using passwords that are normally second-nature. You also need to be aware that this isn’t a full-size keyboard and touch-typing can be difficult. Key spacing is very similar to the early 7 inch and 8.9 inch netbook keyboards. Again, it’s a trade-off made in order to keep the design as small as possible.
Image from Viliv website.
New article: Viliv S7 ‘Micro Laptop’ – Review: Features, Usage, Customers and Round-up. http://bit.ly/62KZTR
RT @chippy: New article: Viliv S7 ‘Micro Laptop’ – Review: Features, Usage, Customers and Round-up. http://bit.ly/62KZTR
RT @chippy: New article: Viliv S7 "Micro Laptop" – Review: Features, Usage, Customers and Round-up. http://bit.ly/62KZTR
Nice summary, although I’d like to see some info on performance and maybe a word or two comparing this device to competitors. I would be particularly interested to know your impressions of the XP or Win7 performance differences between the S7 and the Fujitsu U820, along with usability differences you have encountered (ie, keyboard, screen viewing) since you’ve extensively used both devices.
Based on the SSD version, it’s as quick as the X70, which is quick!
The difference is such that W7 should be no problem on it.
On a stock, HDD, U820, Windows 7 is a problem.
Actually the U820 and S7 are very different devices. The U820 is a device small enough for mobile-in-the-hand use. The S7 is a table-top device which is why I didnt call it a UMPC in the review.
With most mobile netbook gone from the market, the Sony P, T91 and S7 are left. The Sk3 has poor battery life so I wouldn’t consider that.
I believe that S10 will make all believe in Viliv.
Corticalsam
chippy: has the S7 in tablet mode the same usability as the X70? I don’t care about GPS. Thanks.
Its a bit heavier and its noticable. The X70 has the on-screen keyboard too so they are slightly different in tablet mode.
The X70 is a better tablet-mode experience.
Good points. I have a S5 and I’d say viliv has produced the best mobile computing experience in my opinion. If S7 had multi-touch screen I would have no excuse to buy one immediately. S5 works extremely well in my home city lives- on bus or subway, it’s light and can be fit in my pocket. S7 would be perfect for traveling as it has a keyboard for convenient email typing, and a tablet for drawing too. I am definitely waiting for viliv to upgrade their products to multi-touch. I’m one of their happy customers.
Chow,
I almost bought an S5 as I find the size perfect however I was wondering if you find a big overlap between your S5 and your Smartphone? (I am assuming you have a full featured smartphone.) What features did you find you needed in the S5 that was not already covered to some extent in your phone? Do you ever miss not having a keyboard of some type with the S5?
I have a RIM Storm and have found it is meeting 70% of all my mobile computing needs. If they ever come out with a full featured browser, the Storm would probably meet 90% of my mobile computing needs. I still want Windows on a 5 inch screen but its advantages must outway the existing advantages of a really good smart phone. Id appreciate your thoughts on how your S5 was worth the purchase price while still carrying a smartphone too?
I can answer the part about the keyboard. The onscreen keyboard is definitely not a perfect substitute for a physical keyboard, because it ends up covering up a large portion of the screen, including the box you may be trying to type in. The keyboard is transparent/translucent, but it can still be hard to read. That also means editing text by pointing, clicking and dragging can mean closing/hiding the keyboard each time. So if you’re looking to do things which require a lot of typing, you should either think of a BT keyboard or something else.
Realty,
I have developed an habit to draw/sketch with the software Illustrator, back then when I bought a tabletPC 6 years ago. I love S5 because it’s light weight and it runs xp so that I can keep using Illustrator(by the way, surprisingly Atom runs Illustrator real fast). This is one of the factor that S5 cannot be replaced by any smartphone including iPhone. Actually those vector drawing programs in iPhone are pretty immature in my opinion, but I have to admit they are quite near what I need. We’ll see. Other than the artist-side of the S5, I like the fact that it’s a full computer. Those 10 to 30% missing features to you is what I think worth to pay some extra money, not to mention the price tag of an Iphone 3Gs is quite expensive too.
As for the keyboard, S5’s onscreen keyboard is good. All onscreen keyboards are for short typing only of course, that’s why I said S7 has the both side of the world, especially when you can bring only one computer for traveling. I once took S5 with me oversea, which was good, I just missed email typing.
So you got it to run specific Windows applications. I have similar needs. May I ask how Illustrator looks and is usable on a 5 inch screen? We know that Windows was never designed to run on such a small screen. I am pretty sure Illustrator was not designed for it either. Any issues with miniture icons, screen scrolling, menu selections? Do you use a finger or stylus?
The 16:9 wide screen of S5 is good for small screen space management. The ‘extra’ screen estate can be put drawing tools while the rest can be the drawing stage. I use ClickNType to create 8 customized buttons for Illustrator’s short-cut commend including zoom, pen and moving tools, which are quite handy to be used with my left thumb(the buttons placed on the left screen ‘extra’ estate). The rest of the screen I have 2.5 x 3 for the drawing stage, not bad at all. I use a stylus, though a finger can do. It just works fine, as good as a real paper notebook to me.
The Illustrator 100% works on my S5. I love it.
Chippy,
Can you compare the S7 to the Sony P and the Fujitsu U820? I think all are aimed at the same customer base and would enjoy your observations comparing usability.
U820 is a UMPC where Sony P and S7 are table-top device IMO.
See comment above too.
I can understand thinking the Sony P without a tablet layout screen option does not compete with the U820 but I find it interesting that you do not think the S7 is a UMPC like the U820?
From database
U810 6.7 x 6 x 1.3 25 oz 52.26 total case volume
S7 8.3 x 4.6 x 1 29.3 oz 38.18 total case volume
Both have flipable screens. Is it because it is easier to thumb the U820 or the extra 4.3 oz weight that makes it a desktop machine in your opinion?
one important negative for me is its girlish white case. Am I the only one who have this concern? In that case perhaps I should correct myself.
A very good device in general — and I am going to buy it if UMID M2 is not coming out by this Xmas.
exactly the way i feel.
i wont buy it unless it comes in a black case.
any info on GPS version?
I have the S7 after the X70 until 2 month. I love it, best battery live, very fast for an atom device. The 3G is very usable. Before I have a Sony Vaio P for 4 weeks, very good quality and best keyboard. The keyboard is the only thing I think they can better.
I’m having a hard time deciding between the S7, X70 and the T91-MT. I’ll be using the device mainly to read and sometimes annotate Pdf’s. The X70 seems good but I’m concerned about the reports of it overheating. The S7 doesn’t seem to have this problem, but if I’m getting a mini-notebook, why not get one with a bigger screen and is not much heavier (and isn’t white)? I’d appreciate it if X70 and S7 users can share their experiences of Pdf reading on their devices and overheating issues.
just want to let you german or european guys know: cartft.com is selling the s5 and s7 premium for 649 and 739 euro.
sorry, its the x70ex not the s7.
hi chippy!
thx – could you please tell us sth. concerning the seemingly astonishing hibernating features of this device via winxp…
seemingly this device has a very quick bios-post…
interessting would be how long it takes:
– hibernate with an opened website
– wakeup
– 3G connection
– refresh website…
tia!
One major point is the screen resolution
and there the U820 is the only one offering decent specs.
U820 resolution is 1280*800 where all the others are only able to reach 1024*600.
hey, i have two quick question:
do you get a free leather case if you buy s7 from “dynamism”?
is it possible to extend the memory (RAM) of this device?
thankx guys!!!
Can anyone confirm whether the non-3G s7 has a space for a card to be slotted in without soldering a connector on the mobo? I already have a pci-e hsdpa card and don’t want to fork out extra cash if it’s not necessary. Dynamism don’t seem to know.
Also, can anyone report on the typing experience compared to the Everun Note?
Chippy, any idea how long the S7 battery will last with most peripheral devices off (screen, etc …) but still a few processes running (like 3G, db, webserver) ??
(just to get an idea if this device would be good in an “always on scenario” : http://carrypad.com/2010/02/22/airlife-100-thoughts-6-days-online-battery-and-pricing/ )
Pierre,
I bought a S7 after having a S5(I keep them both), so I can tell you how I use my S7 and get average 7 hrs a day.
I usually set the screen light slightly below the middle, which is quite ok for indoor usage, and I turn on wifi for online and bluetooth for a mouse all the time. I have xampp installed and run appache and mysql by default. And I run AVG at the background. I do a lot of typing and drawing and even animation. On some heavy workload days a full battery can run at least for 6 hrs, while most of the time around 7.
hope that helps.
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