Product Features

• Mobile internet Device, micro design perfect for travel
• Ideal for web surfing, email, word processing and spreadsheets
• Built in Wi-Fi technology...be truly mobile
• 5-inch Ultra clear Touch Screen LCD Display
• Easy to use Windows CE Operating system
• 128MB Memory, for fast access to your files
• 2GB SSD (solid state disk) shock proof storage
• Secure digital card reader, expansion up to 32GB additional storage
• USB 2.0 port for Easy ActiveSync to a PC or for use with a USB keyboard
• Touch Screen Pen for easy navigation
• Office pack - Including SpreadCE Spreadsheet, WordPad, Foxit Pro Adobe reader, Skype, Email
• Core Video Player with support for You Tube videos
• Weights just 230g

The Windows CE Ultra-Portable Touch Screen MID (Mobile Internet Device), is a perfectly compact micro netbook. Its 5-inch, crystal clear LCD screen is ideal for surfing the web and working with Office applications on the move, with easy to navigate interface using the included touch pen. Lightweight, functional and delivering fantastic value for money, excellent if you’re on the move or need to save on space. Combining the size and the features with this kind of price and then the value becomes clear. If you travel often and have become tired of lugging around your old laptop, then this is perfect for you. Box Contents 5 inch Touch Screen MID (mobile internet device) AC adaptor / charger USB Sync Cable Instruction Manual PC Sync Software

Technical Specification

Technical Specification:
Operating System:	Windows CE 5.0
Screen:	5-inch Touch Screen TFT
Processor:	Telechip 480Mhz with 480Mhz DSP
Memory:	128MB SDRAM
LCD Screen Size:	5 inch Widescreen
Max Resolution:	480 x 272
Storage:	2GB solid state storage (SD card storage up to 32GB)
Networking:	Built In 802.11b/g Wireless
Mouse control:	Touch Screen via Touch Pen
Keyboard :	Screen Keyboard
Ports:	1 x USB 2.0 host socket, used for WIN CE ActiveSync or as a USB port for keyboards
Card Slots:	SD Card slot for upgrade - up to 32GB extra storage
Audio:	Built in microphone and Speaker, Microphone and headphone jacks
Applications:	Internet Explorer, Spreadsheet, WordPad, Foxit Pro Adobe Reader, E-Mail, Skype, MSN, Media Player, Core Video Player (play online videos and YouTube videos)
Warranty:	1 year warranty
Dimensions:	138(w) x 90(d) x 16(h) mm
Weight:	230g (including battery)

Download Centre - Technical, Firmware and Information

A10JQ Manual.pdf

Customer Reviews on this Product
Wayne (08/02/2010)

Can I just clarify that you certainly can use a USB stick via the cable adapter and plug it into the device and open up Movies, Music and any Documents.

I sat and watched a whole film over 2 hours long and the sound and picture quality was 100% for something this small. The Battery was still strong afterwards as well.

The Device also takes SDHC memory cards as well as standard SD cards and don't worry about buying adapters or new card readers for an SDHC card, simply plug your MID into your PC with the SDHC fitted and drag and drop your files in to it.

The WIFI is a little slow on the move but at home it is quick and has a very good range.

In my opinion, this is not sold at the right price. It should cost more. Its quick, easy to use and filled with more than enough apps to get you going than most MP3 MP4 Movie Player and to be honest some mini notebooks don't have what this has.

If you are in any doubt about getting WIFI, Reading MS Office Docs, Playing Music and Films or using a USB forget it. it can do it all.
Thank you Maplin Job well done with this product. PS 5 Stars.

Philip (02/02/2010)

Good value for money but don't try to push it too far or it's sat-nav type processor won't cope. Stick to browsing 'mobile' versions of websites and it works well. Some points to note:

Wifi range approx 50% of my laptop's.

Power drain from mains measured at only 2 watts! 10 times bettter than my eeePC. Battery life very good.

Power button only works properly when the pretty custom menu is displayed - not from CE desktop.

Tends to forget settings such as cookies and favourites when turned off. Got around this by re-mapping them to 'NAND' memory using registry editor (careful, now!). Well worth doing.

Don't allow CE's task bar to auto-hide. You may never get it back!

Don't buy as MP3 player - software good but sound quality not.

Thanks for help from other reviewers.

Phil

Mike (30/01/2010)

Yes, its me: Mike from the MaplinMid forum. This is a great device. - I had a creative Zen Vision:M that I used to watch DIVX TV Shows on, but the tiny screen gave me a headache after long periods of time. The MID is an ideal replacement for it, with is much bigger screen :) - I prop it up out of harms way and watch my TV Shows whilst in the bath without squinting at the screen. (Using Coreplayer of course)

As for MIOPocket, it runs flawlessly, as does TOM TOM 6 and basic GPS capability using a cheap bluetooth dongle from T*sco. Not bad as a cheap satnav now! ;)

Overall, this is an excellent device and well worth the money.

With new firmware this would be an even better device than it already is, and seems to be growing as a hardware/software hackers play thing.

9/10 for Functionality 7/10 for Battery life (A longer lasting battery would be nice) 9/10 for Design, size and weight 1/10 for not being able to officially install other apps

Overall: 8/10 - outstanding for the current price.

edward (20/01/2010)

Having now tried 4 of these i can say this . firstly there are two versions of firmware around. 1 will give poor wifi but good screen resolution, the other gives poor resolution but great wifi ! as yet there isnt a fix for this and i confirmed my findings in my local maplins store. Apart from this it would be a great product as previously mentioned you can use external pen drive to transfer files (good for viewing slide shows etc)

Connor (19/01/2010)

Excellent value.

For anyone worrying about Apps - MioPocket installs and brings with it almost every app you could want (including MobiPocket Reader which automatically switches itself to portrait reading).

Mike at the Maplin MID forum got it working and I just wrote up what he did with an extra explanation for thickies like myself :)

Post is here: [url]http://maplinmid.hyperboards.com/index.php?action=view_topic&topic_id=25[/url]

I don't know if EVERY app in MioPocket suite works yet (there are a LOT of them) but it gives a nice Windows 7 style GUI to the device.

If any of you have problems getting it working, come to the Maplin MID forum I linked above and everyone will do their best to help you (You can post as a guest if you hate doing the registration that much) :D

Cheap and it is WELL worth it.

Hugh (18/01/2010)

Just received one of these mobile internet devices, and then bought another one for my wife.

Fast connection to internet.

I was able to connect a card reader to the USB port, giving you the option of copying from the built-in SD card socket to another. Only tried it with an SD card in the card reader, but I'm fairly certain other cards would work.

You can also plug a mouse into the USB connector, although I've not figured out how to display the mouse pointer on the screen. Maybe somebody knows how to do this.

It's great having an internal SD socket. Give lots of flexibility. The internet favourites do appear to be lost when you cycle the power, but there may be some settings that can be changed there. I've just ordered up a folding keyboard for use with it. I've also seen PDA stands for under £10 which may be useful. I also found out that case A39JF fits it perfectly.

chris (18/01/2010)

I have to say that this is the worst buy in a long time! the wifi connection is very poor and you have to be right at the side of your box, without internet its petty useless, winCE does not run properly on it, loads of features are not supported, it almost seems like winCE was thrown on there as a op sys but the device in not capable of running winCE features. IMHO save your money, I wish i had :(

Mark (11/01/2010)

just bought this product tonight. WOW, turned it on out of the box and connected to the internet within 2 minutes. connection speed seems good, cant reaklly test it out at the mo cos the battery needs to be charged properly but am well pleased.

The screen is great, have copied a bit of video to it and the quality of the display is amazing, like watching a dvd in terms of clarity, excel and word work perfectly, need to use the stylus for the keyboard but what do you expect for a 5" screen that shows so much.

All in all i am loving it, have already recommended it to a friend, cant wait to get in to work to show it off!

Hugh (08/01/2010)

I have just ordered one of these.

I already have an IPAQ pocket PC with a lot less memory, and have no trouble displaying the mobile versions of the BBC, Facebook, or any other web pages.

Considering that I paid around £400 for the IPAQ a few years ago, this new MID with more memory, built-in WIFI, and larger screen is fantastic value.

It will be interesting to see how many more undocumented capabilities I can get out of it.

Carl (04/01/2010)

I could not get the WiFi to work unless I'm was really close the modem router. I have changed the unit and the second one and performs exactly the same. I have given up and I'm going to buy something else

Ian (02/01/2010)

A surprisingly good little machine for the money, its far from perfect but put a little work into it and you will be amazed what you can actually do with it.

First of all I'll cover the bad bits:
1, the custom GUI that starts by default is horrible, but can be disabled by renaming \systemz7901_AP\MAININFO.exe to MAININFO2.exe, this makes the device start up in the standard WinCE 5 GUI which is far more useful.
2, the headphone socket is partly blocked if you have a pair of headphones with a wide plastic base on the standard jack, but a short extension lead fixes that.
3, Every time you boot the device the desktop and main system folders return to defaults, this won't affect your own files so long as you keep them in \NAND or \Storage Card.
4, The default Flash player's GUI is in Chinese, but a few moments with google can fix that.
5, the stylus on my one is very tightly fitted to its storage slot and takes quite a bit of effort to extract.
6, the WiFi range is a little shorter than I'd like.

Now I'll cover the good bits:
1, Video Playback is crisp and can cope perfectly well with 624*352 (Standard TV resolution) and 700MB+ files so its an ideal portable video player.
2, The inbuilt speaker is surprisingly good, works best when the device is proped up of course.
3, Whilst it is suggested that this can't run standard WinCE software, it can and indeed my one currently has a couple of basic art programs, a basic IRC client, a decent picture viewer, a few basic games, a DOS emulator so I can play a few DOS games on the go (Though that is still far too buggy for most people) and has a few basic apps to improve the device such as a notification area volume control and battery monitor, a task manager and a program to rotate the screen that allows the device to be used like a palmtop.
4, the on screen keyboard actually works rather well and the ability to use a USB keyboard makes the possibility of typing out long documents practical.
5, It feels solidly built and the plastic has a pleasant texture.
6, Once in range of a Wifi access point it works rather well, internet explorer may be an awful browser but Firefox portable should be coming out eventually and that will have a WinCE 5 port.

All in all its an impressive little machine for the money, particularly when an equivalent PDA model costs £200+. Its probably more of a hobbyist or tinkerer than an average user, but I suspect most of us on here fit into one of those two groups.

Stuart (28/12/2009)

Well worth the price.

Preloaded software very useful and if you add up the price of the software it is more than the device itself. If you do want to add your own software you can add some although the choice is limited due to processor compatibility.

TouchScreen is clear and responsive. Software launcher makes it easy to find what you are looking for. Wireless was easy to set up although the range isn't as good as my laptop. It will half the battery life so you will get about 2 hours as long as the screen brightness isn't full.

Internet browser provides full access to the internet. Anything up to Flash 6 is supported meaning if you want YouTube videos you need a different browser or use the supplied application.

Speaker quality is surprisingly good offering the perfect balance of bass and tone to the sound. It is also loud enough to hear even if there is some background noise.

A mini USB port is included to sync with desktop PCs. An adaptor is supplied to allow you to plug in USB devices such as keyboards. A SD card reader will allow large storage cards to expand the memory. The stylus is hidden in the back of the MID and extends.

gerard (27/12/2009)

Its good fun and cheap at this price.The main problem is that you cant add sofware to it.The bundled software is very old.Old version of msn messenger old browser and cant update these. It does make a good mp4 player and I use it a lot for showing movies taken with my camera.If you want to do this try the free version of prism video converter. I have seen these for sale at over £200 elsewhere so at the current price it is a bargain.

But be warned that although it is great fun it is not a notebook replacement.

Chris (26/12/2009)

poor for browsing large paged web sites - say Facebook - no sideways movement slider appears on the Internet Explorer so you cannot get to the login box on the right hand side of the page.
Wifi requires that you go into the network settings every time you switch it on before it will realise that you might want to connect to the network that you already configured. Only then does it decide to try to connect (and fail half the time) to your router. Doesn't pick up UPNP devices or anything else for that matter so you cannot even browse to your music collection stored on another device to play it that way. Literally could not see any other device on our network (of which there are many, the aforementioned wifi devices plus the Windows Homeserver we have and our popcorn hour which runs a music sharing service) by name or IP or browse to SMB shares via the inbuilt windows explorer or media player software.
Only positive thing I can say about it is the device is very "pocketable" a nice size and quite light (without feeling like it will fall to bits)

Stuart (26/12/2009)

I bought this gadget just before Xmas when on sale, and have to say that on the whole I am very pleased with it, (although I had to return the first one due to an out-of-box WiFi fault, and the documentation is very poor).

As long as you don't expect anything fancy by way of the user interface and web browsing (no Java or Flash), and are aware of the many limitations of Windows CE 5.0, it nonetheless represents remarkable value for money.

It has two multimedia players which complement each other to a degree and between them let you view or listen to most popular video and audio formats, excluding DRM. CorePlayer is the most versatile of the two, but cannot play mpeg2 for some reason. However mpeg2 IS supported by the other inbuilt and un-named media player.

The screen is bright and clear, although not particularly high resolution, but is fine and completely comfortable for viewing videos. I have downloaded many videos from the BBC iPlayer on my PC (make sure you download in Apple iPhone format, which is DRM-free and non-time-limited!!)and transferred them over with no problems at all.

Also, despite the small screen, it can be used as a surprisingly comfortable ebook reader using the inbuilt PDF viewer, provided you are careful in your choice of viewing material. (Avoid excessive line widths etc) There are many undocumented features with this viewer, some of which I am still finding out about, which can overcome the small-screen limitations in a reasonably ergonomic manner.

File transfer using WiFi is not supported ... you must use the supplied mini-DIN USB cable to connect to your PC. However you CAN download files from the internet and save them locally. I don't know at the moment if a Windows CE FTP program is available for WiFi file transfer or if it could be be made to work on this device.

I was pleasantly surprised by the touch screen .. it is perfectly possible to use it without a stylus, even for typing on the on-screen keyboard ... but set the soft keyboard options to large keys. In use it is light and responsive enough, although the sensitivity does drop slightly towards the screen edges. It also supports using gestures for Space,Backspace, Shift and Enter.

As stated previously, do not expect a multimedia internet experience. But if all you want to do is read the news or Google for some info, its fine, as long as you have access to a network. One irritating bug is that any Web bookmarks you add to the Favorites folder while surfing are lost when you power down. To get round this you need to create a backup folder in NAND memory, dump to it before switching off, and then reload at switch on ... VERY inconvenient, and UNFORGIVEABLE in something called a Mobile Internet Device!

In summary, if you are looking for a reasonably priced but unpolished portable Music / Video player with a decent 5" touch screen, inbuilt ebook reader, basic Web Browsing and email facilities, expandable to 32GB you can hardly go wrong with this gadget. At the current sale price, in my opinion, it represents an unbeatable bargain!.

I have created a new forum for owners of this device. You may wish to view and hopefully contribute to it:-

http://maplinmid.hyperboards.com/index.php

Peter (05/12/2009)

This is a bargain. The manufacturers built in programs are nothing special, neither is the Win CE operating system.

BUT, Coreplayer is included, supposedly only for YouTube streaming. But, once you open Coreplayer, click on the little symbol on the top left of the screen and the menu bar appears. From here you can open and play virtually ANY media file on the device. AVI, DIVX, XVID, MOV, AAC, yes, almost anything! It's easy to put a shortcut to Coreplayer on the desktop too. Just use Win CE file explorer, make sure the option to make all files and folders visible is checked, then you can magically see everything on the device and create shortcuts etc.

Coreplayer, which normally costs a WM PPC/phone user £20, is included free here, and makes this a killer media player tablet! You can buy a 32GB SD card for storage. You can also read USB data sticks too, another feature not mentioned!

Other pluses:

Easy to charge, through dedicated socket or USB.
Nice, clear, bright screen (although low resolution)
3.5mm headphone socket - sounds good.
Built in speaker is OK, better than most similar devices.


Minuses:

Internet experience with built in Internet Explorer is limited, and it chokes on large pages like the BBC.
No flash support (except for Coreplayer on YouTube).
No chance to instal other WinCE apps - the ARM processor seems a bit non standard.
No chance to make major changes, as I can't (yet) get a third party registry editor to install :-(
Wi-Fi a little weak, and drains battery (as usual).

Hope this has helped intending purchasers. Go for it whilst on sale. With Coreplayer installed free, you can't go wrong.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q- can you put a usb stick into it - jack

Answer- The USB on the unit is only for "Easy ActiveSync to a PC or for use with a USB keyboard" I am afraid

Q- Will it play songs stored on SD card ? - Colin Schofield

Answer- Yes the product does support that.

Q- Is the screen bright enough to be used outdoors? - R Corbin

Answer- Yes the product does support that.

Q- can it be fitted to a car - julian

Answer- No sorry this product does not support that.

Q- Is this wi-fi compatible with WPA? Screen shots in manual show only WPE. Thanks - graham

Answer- Yes the product does support that.

Q- how long is the battery life? - PW

Answer- This is 2 - 3 hours.

Q- Would it be possible to install a linux operating system via a USB flash drive? - Dave

Answer- No sorry this product does not support that.

Q- Can skype be loaded on to it and is it windows mobile. - Peter

Answer- The unit has skype built in and has Windows CE 5.0.

Q- Hello, can I send web pages to a printer from this device? - Rad

Answer- No sorry this product does not support that.

Q- Can this device be upgraded to Windows CE 6.0 - Harry Petters

Answer- No sorry this product does not support that.

 

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