Nanovision Mimo UM-710 hands-on and impressions
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted Dec 20th 2008 6:24PM
posted Dec 20th 2008 6:24PM
[Special thanks to The Gadgeteers for the display]
When we got the monitor out of the box (complete with the cheery words "Good Friend!" printed on its inner flap), the first thing we noticed was the monitor's plastic housing. Not that we were surprised, but this isn't a particularly robust piece of hardware. The monitor stand, however, has some heft to it -- although the monitor itself probably won't survive a fall off a high ledge, as long as it's screwed to its base and placed on a steady surface it's unlikely that anything beyond a direct hit is going to send it crashing to the floor.
As for the display itself, the picture was bright and crisp. When viewing an image with a black border, we did see quite a bit of light leaking out of the edges of the screen, but this wasn't at all noticeable with items that took up the whole 800 x 480 display. We did basically everything one can do with a computer monitor -- used it for a dedicated IM display as we went about the important business of blogging, used it as a digital picture frame for a couple hours, watched Serpico on it, even took Ableton Live and Propellerheads' Reason for a drive, utilizing the extra desktop (you can never have too much desktop) so we wouldn't have to keep toggling through the various open windows. The UM-710 was more than capable than fulfilling all of our needs.
We know what you're asking: "Why do I need a 7-inch monitor?" Well, a lot of you probably don't. And for a lot of you, it would be nice, but not worth shelling out $129.99. But for people who work with a number of apps on a daily basis and find desktop space to be at a premium -- especially those of us for whom two monitors is still not enough -- this guy is definitely worth a second look.
Did I spot Ableton Live in the Dock? *thumbs up*
I like it but I could just as easily get a 22 inch flat panel for the same price of 200 bucks. But the cool factor on the mimo is higher :-)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009145
or if you really need that 2ms response time:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009998
Nope - it's Propellerhead Reason.
Yes, Ableton, right next to Reason.
Did anyone read the article? "...even took Ableton Live and Propellerheads' Reason for a drive"
Hrm... Did you use it as a monitor while you listed to the Clash?
Its an interesting idea. If I had an extra 200 I might consider it
The macbook looks washed out compared to it
Yea it does, could it be the angle though?
It's the angle. I have that Macbook and everyone says the image looks washed out when they are looking at the notebook from an angle. It really isn't a problem for me though...
They work with Mac OS X. Did they require drivers, or just plug and play? How come none of those USB to DVI things work with OS X?
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815118301
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812225007
Found my answer here http://www.displaylink.com/mac_downloads.html. So now I can connect my MBP to more displays.
there promotional video just says its for XP or Vista
I agree. This thing would be nice but not for $129. It would be awesome for me, being a huge nerd, to take it with me to the library and used it for articles so that I always have what I'm writing about at hand. How portable is this thing? Anyone know the weight?
What The Hell are you talking about? It's a monitor, not a PMP.
What? I can't throw it in a backpack and go work somewhere? I just wanted to know if this thing is meant to sit on your desk as a compliment to a second monitor or if you can take it with you. Where did you see me call it a PMP?
i could easily get a nice 19" widescreen for under $200 on newegg
Does it hook up with usb?
For me, requiring USB is a negative...
because i mean, every monitor and computer has VGA, right?
Well, they all have DVI with many of them shipping with a VGA adapter, save for the new apple products since they don't want to pay the licensing fee when you get down to it.
Of course but what you are paying for here is portability & convenience instead of size. Think of how handy this could be for a technician or network manager.
What is the deal with everyone complaining about, I can get a 22" monitor for the same price. The purpose of this monitor is not to use it as a primary or secondary monitor, but rather as as third monitor for dedicated monitoring of IM / stock / status / video / etc. For those of us that already use 2 monitors for work, having a third one just to monitor IM and such..
♫ iEye Don't like this...! ♫
♫shut up ♫
Aye Aye lackie
Hmmm this would be nice to use with a costume linux ibx juke box i am working on
i was considering just making it web access to connect to from my laptop
but it would be cool to small form with just a remote and touch screen to replace my stereo and use to store all my music on
yeah ill have snag one of these
...a mic for...?
if you dont have a mic built into your computer, or if said mic is broken
same thing as the webcam
There's nothing better than a webcam and a mic for!
@He Said: Whoooooosh....
Well, basically, for picking up sound.
So is it a touch screen or not? How does it interact with osx's "spaces"?
there is a touchscreen model, but it wasnt the one they had
And hopefully it could have a second space on it, but it most likely cant
Why was this post low ranked??
The Gadgeteers site is the only place where you can buy the thing...
I guess he offended by wishing happy holidays
/sarcasm
As evidenced by the pic with Reason. This would be perfect for opening my plug in's in Logic Pro. Having a small dedicated window for this would be the bee knee's.
But.. the price......... Yikes. Not really justifiable.
The Mimo looks better than the MacBook display...
you need to stop
Where can i get one and for how much (the touchscreen one)
You can get em over at http://www.thegadgeteers.com/, and the top model touch screen is $199.
Personally, I have been looking at these. Looks like a really great idea for a touch screen dock or something. But I don't think I could justify a $200 7" touch screen monitor, when one can get decent 22" for around that.
on your previous comment, just wanna point out if you use Dual Display mode, you can have space #2 on the 2nd display
i think it is funny that your commenting name combines the EOS 5D Mark II and Apple, even though the RAW files the Mark II uses didnt work with Macs for a while...
Does anyone (Jeremy?) know if the touchscreen on the 740 model is OSX compatible? I'm guessing the mic and speakers are, and the webcam can be "coaxed" but I wonder about the touchscreen...
Yes, it is compatible with OS X. Right now we are paying extra to make it compatible so we may have to charge extra for OS X users in the future.
Email us: dropbox@thegadgeteers.com
Okay, I've been really liking these things since I first saw them...
Now, WHERE DO I GET ONE?!?!?!
(And GOD I hope I can get it to work in Linux...)
Heh... heh... oops.
Because you seemed like a self-admiring spammer heh.
Happy new year to you too though, and thanks for clarifying the post.
I ordered the 740 last month, I am really looking forward to it. Just hope I get it by Christmas! Will be used on my MBP so I can let you know if there are any problems
You really find that funny...?
Hmmm...This thing could be awesome for using effects in Ableton controlled through X/Y parameters...A bit like a non-multitouch, smaller JazzMutant Lemur...
Seriously, don't low rank these people. I ordered the UM-740, and they've been nothing but pleasant to me. When expected shipping date changed, they sent a fine email to everyone to let us know. When I had a question about the device, I got a quick and courteous answer. They're a very human company, and I hope they get some more cool shit soon, because it's been a pretty great experience with this company so far. It's a breath of fresh air to talk to a real person quickly when you have a question.
got my 710 yesterday, but could not really hook it up to my mbp due to the lack of a driver.
found the displaylink driver, but it`s not really supporting the 710.
how did you guys manage to run this thing on a macbook?
Waiting for mine to be delivered. Thanks gadgeteers for importing this!
No worries about the negatives! Its the only way for bullied nerds to retaliate..cyberbullying XD
Check out the Samsung solution to the same problem ( I can't be the only one who is always 'herding' his toolbars out the way):
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/12/08/review_monitor_samsung_syncmaster_2263dx/
The last page of the review mentions the second monitor will soon be available by it self. Note also the elegant means of supporting 2nd monitor from the main unit, above or to the side.
A clever soul in their comments section notes thast it would be easy to attach any small display to a main monitor by having a bracket pass through the VESA mounts.
Price doesn't justify it yet for me, though it would be lovely! In the mean time, can someone remind me what the [something]-[Tab] command is in Photoshop that hides all your toolbars? Cheers!
can someone here speak and read korean?
i cant find the right stuff on the mimo website, i`ve been reading os x there a few times...but i can`t read the rest :-)
www.mimo.bz
besides the problem with the driver, at the moment it is only recognized at 1280X1024 and gives a pretty crappy image, i think this is the perfect little companion for my mbp.
shure, you could buy a bigger screen for the money, but i was really looking for something small and without the cable and power trouble.
just enough to get eye-tv off the main screen, or aim.
and only one little extra cable, no crawling underneath the table to find a plug, no "mini" display port to dvi adaptors lying around on the desk etc..
if i can get it to run 800x480 it will never leave my desk again!
besides the problem with the driver, at the moment it is only recognized at 1280X1024 and gives a pretty crappy image, i think this is the perfect little companion for my mbp.
shure, you could buy a bigger screen for the money, but i was really looking for something small and without the cable and power trouble.
just enough to get eye-tv off the main screen, or aim.
and only one little extra cable, no crawling underneath the table to find a plug, no "mini" display port to dvi adaptors lying around on the desk etc..
if i can get it to run 800x480 it will never leave my desk again!
It would be soooo awesome if you could test out my www.mojocafe.net project
on the Nanovision!!!!
Just imagine how it would look like to have that big fullscreen widgets right next
to your "ordinary" monitor / display.
Please please pleas test it out and tell me how it looks like.
Thanks in advance and big hugs for 4th advent.
I've been trying to find one in Seoul at retail stores and shops around YongSan. No luck! I'm thinking about just order one from Korean auction site. With dollar to won exchange rate, 710 is like $80. :)
For those with free monitor ports, which two is generally the limit, then this may not be the best option. For those of us with two monitors and looking for a way to display some information without tieing up our already crowded workspace, this seems like a great idea. I like the touch version myself. I am thinking of all the ways I could put some form of touch control for macros on it. In any case, I would definately be interested in them. Like getting a monitor and USB display interface all in one unit. Seems like a pretty good value to me.
OMG! Engadget! Is that Azureus down there?! Bad Engadget!
Engadget. Is. Not. A. Person.
Awesome photography, Engadget. Such elegant composition, such a good sense for light and shadow... too bad there's not a SINGLE photo showing off the product in all its glossy ugliness since apparently you are chronically short of not only proper workspace illumination but also of a flashlight. Try using a real camera next time instead of your phone. This late entry gets my vote for "most worthless gallery in a product review" in 08.
I would love to get one of the touchscreen models to use as a secondary display to my 42" plasma that i use on my HTPC. I could use it to control windows media center without having to turn on the plasma or the projector just to listen to music.
This would be amazing for a dedicated IM screen.
it scares me that people IM so much they need a dedicated monitor for it. GET OUTSIDE AND TALK.
Just got mine set up and so far so good on a WinXP Pro system as the 3rd monitor.
Only thing I have seen a problem with so far is the Sling player. Each time I try to run the Sling player with video enabled, there are problems which require shutting down the player with the task manager. Windows Media Player works well...
Right now, I have it sitting on a web page where I have some web app statuses running and it's nice to see that stuff out there without having to flip to it.
Why this instead of a 3rd 21" monitor? Well... the video card has no more free connections, my desk has no more room, and I was intrigued by the concept of a dedicated monitor, versus alt-tabbing.
It'd be nice if it could sense the rotated position, but the system tray app they provide works well.
Clearly folks are getting this to function with OSX. So far, however, I'm not one of them. Anyone wanna dish with their secrets?
Streaming from sling.com doesn't work, but Netflix streaming works great (finally found a use for F11 in IE). I have a movie running in the Mimo, while everything else is running well on the other 2 screens. In fullscreen detects Mimo screen size just fine. Hulu works great too, but the full screen isn't detected correctly.
I was wondering how the video would stream, but no issues there.
Just got this for Xmas -- note that the drivers are NOT 64-bit compatible. This was not mentioned in any of the reviews.
I bought the 710 as a means of keeping up a Skype or Twitter session away from the rest of my desktop. It actually does help in that regard. You know exactly where to look and nothing gets lost. For me for this one application it was worth it.
That said mine was defective and fried almost instantly. Seriously, the screen got hot enough near to where the USB comes in that it was near combustion. Sh*t happens so I would give it one more chance. Bear in mind this hogs two USB ports since one is for power.
I've actually been looking for something like this. I used to have two LCD monitors on my desk, which was absolutely wonderful for programming (with the Java API open on one screen and the programming on the other screen), but I hated having two monitors take up space on my desk. A small secondary monitor like this would be great for having the API open, and when I don't need it I could just turn it off and it wouldn't be in the way. :D
I just got this from Korea. I got it to work on Windows Vista and XP with DisplayLink driver, but I can't get it to work on my OS X 10.5.5 (MacBook). How did you get to work on OS X? Are you running on desktop or laptop?
Same problem here. I just got my 730 and it doesn't work on my Mac Pro with the DisplayLink 1.1 drivers. I thought that maybe the driver does not yet support it but I found the excact product and vendor id in the supported devices plist of the driver. So, it should work somehow. If anyone got it to work please tell us :)
I got one of these a few days ago. Love it! works fantastic in Vista but havent been able to extend the desktop in windows 7. It will mirror the desktop and nothing happens when I click the extend option. Whilst its a beta OS, Has anyone found a way around the mirroring issue in W7?
pick me!?
Would be very nice
Perfect for my wife who just loves to do research.
me, mine, mine????
count me in!
Entering the contest for a chance to win this okay looking monitor. How to fix the economy, start buying things people, stop saving your money for a rainy day. It's already raining outside.
a fully compac desktop would fit it so nice.
What an awesome idea! I would love to have one of these!!! Pretty Please :)
Woot!
This looks like it could be really handy with work, too bad I never win nothin'
I really want this for once.... Was considering buying the 740 at one point......
I want it...
thumbs up man
Just for those who want to know my experience with customer service @ The Gadgeteers.
I purchased the UM-740 a week ago, totally overlooking the late ship date on it since it's on backorder. I e-mailed them this morning asking to change the order to the UM-710 to get it sooner and within minutes, Jeremy S. e-mailed me back and took care of the situation, even had it shipped out the same day for delivery tomorrow (Saturday) in the quickest reaction time of any retailer I dealt with.
Hats off to you Jeremy!
As a designer, I could really do with one of these to dock all of my Photoshop palettes and styles. It's a good idea. Problem is, does anyone know where I can get one in the UK?
i received mine a week or so back, i use it mostly for skype chats. i'm from the UK and i got mine from http://www.carcomputer.co.uk/
my biggest gripe is that there are no touchscreen mac os x drivers that can be installed right out of the box, but it works fine on my Windows computer
well I've been thinking of getting one of these for some time now but my question is, can you do anything more then look at pictures and cgat with friends?