Pepper Pad: Who Needs a Laptop?

The next big thing, or so computer manufacturers would like you to think, are Ultra-Mobile PCs, or UMPCs. Kind of a mix between a laptop and a PDA, UMPCs are small enough to hold like a book but too big to stick in your pocket. One of the newest UMPCs hitting the market is the Pepper Pad.

Featuring a full QWERTY keyboard split on either side of the screen for thumb typing, the Pepper Pad connects to the Internet via WiFi to let you surf and use email without having to open up your laptop. Rather than some iteration of Windows Mobile, it runs a proprietary version of Linux and you can use a stylus on the touchscreen in place of the mouse you’re used to using. It can do most things a regular computer can do, including downloading music to its 20GB hard drive, watching online videos, and connecting to a digital camera to share your photos. It’s sure to be a bit of an adjustment for those of us used to using a traditional computer, but for people who just need something to surf the web, check email, and check out multimedia online it could be a great alternative to expensive laptops.

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