SmartQ7 Review – Initial impressions

Posted by Madu in Devices Sep 28th, 2009 | no responses

So it’s barely 24 hours since I received the SmartQ7. Hope you had a look at the photos I posted earlier. I had sometime to play around with it so I will round up my initial impression briefly.

1) Solid build for $200 device. You are definitely getting worth your money.

2) A tab heavy for prolonged periods of handheld use, but the luxury of a 7″ comes at cost.

3) Ideal as an eReader. Can view in landscape and portaint mode and “fit to width” option will nicely adjust the page to the screen. The application is “Evince”.

4) Ubuntu inside. Meaning you can do customization. You can install many applications the “sudo apt-get install” way. Change the respository file at /etc/apt/sources.list to “deb http://repository.handhelds.org/hasty-armv6el-vfp/ hasty main universe multiverse” and you are good to go.

5) Browser is ‘Midori’, one of the fastest browsers on Linux. Do not expect the same functionality of Firefox. I installed Firefox, but it is a little too big for this to handle.

6) Ideal in-flight companion. You do not have to worry if your next 14-hour flight to Paris will have personal TV’s.

7) Not exactly sure about the battery life, will test it later.

Important to keep in mind: This is a PMP. Need to be patient with it. Don’t double-click. SIngle click launches apps. If you double-click it will open two apps and will take longer. Be patient till it settles down. Clicking/pushing buttons will only make things worse and you will need to reset and reboot.