Pasen MID5 packs Android, cures insomnia
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted April 6th 2010 11:01AM
posted April 6th 2010 11:01AM
What do we have here? Pasen, a company who's been boring us to death for years with its MP4 players (and at least one full-on KIRF) has finally come out with something we could conceivably see ourselves wanting to own. Crazy, huh? It's called the MID5 and as a device its about as revolutionary and original as its name, featuring a 5-inch (800 x 480) LTPS LCD display, WiFi, HDMI out, and support for 720p H.264 video as well as many of your fave formats (including DivX / XviD, RMVB, and MKV. Additionally, the company is boasting up to 10 hours of music or 4.5 hours of video playback. The OS is, predictably these days, Android. No word on a release date yet but when it is available it should go for around $200.
5inches of resistive or 5inches of capacitive? At this point in the week you know its very important.
@Jeff At that price and the usual case with these Chinese devices it's almost 100% resistive.
I am curious, when it says "Support for AVI MOV DIVX MPEG1 MPEG2 MPEG4 VCD DVD RM RMVB FLV H.264 XVID MKV up to 720p."
What exactly is it using to play this video? (I assume third party) My sprint hero didn't come with a video player. (I can find) Is there a default android video player hidden somewhere?
@One Love I'm curious about why you always insist on replying to the first comment even though your comment is completely unrelated. Looking at your comment history, 11 out of 12 of your 12 most recent comments are unrelated replies to the first comment.
Actually I know why you do it, I'd just like you to stop it. If it's a separate comment, make it a separate comment. You're no more important than anyone else.
@Broderbund I don't know who you are, but I've meet lots of people like you. Did I take your spot?
@One Love I'm not trying to be offensive, just critical. Please stop replying to the first comment when your comment is unrelated. That is all. Have a nice day.
@Broderbund Ok man, I will work on it. :) (but i cant make any promises...I love you too)
Cool, alright, cool cool, alright.
Logo is too large IMO
@werty1432k don't worry too much..that whole image is shopped...and poorly I might add... why can i see both sides of the device when looking at from one side? The image inside is also shopped in, once again poorly, and like how they have to steal the Apple curved reflection surface in why it would never exist and only partially exists on the screen..nice attention to detail...way to rally behind a mockup...
@rhetoricassassin "way to rally behind a mockup" stfu troll.
@werty1432k I don't think he's a troll, I think he's just an idiot.
A troll purposely makes stupid/inflammatory comments to get reactions out of people.
An idiot makes stupid comments because that's what he believes.
@Broderbund :) +1
Dell mini 5 better hurry up. There won't be any reason to get it if things like this keep coming out.
Except for the phone part, but that's not worth $300+ by itself.
Pasen's the Dutch word for Easter... weird.
@Ebichu Yep it is. Ben jij ook nederlands?
@Ebichu Now that's some nice easter tablet you have there!
How exactly does this cure insomnia?
@MoonWalkerCTE By making you commit suicide.
@MoonWalkerCTE
It's so boring it's snoooooresville
or at least that's what I think it is
What is that, Android 1.6?
What I hate the most about Android tablets is how those small companies producing them don't bother to modify the code ONE BIT to optimize the experience. Anyone could assemble good, cheap hardware and release a product. It's the software that matters, and ask the fruit company.
@TareG
looks like 1.6 to me too, which is rather unfortunate.
Looking at their past KIRF effort, why didn't they go for iPasen?
pass..........nothing to see here.
5 inch? stick to the phone.
For $200 I smell a resistive touch. Having used and Archos 5 with Android the resistive screen was one of the worst features. Email was difficult due to many keystrokes not registering. This will not be legit competition for the Mini 5. It may beat the pants off of an Archos unit though.
Why can't Google include native Divx/Xvid support in the Android code? Seems like many companies are already doing that.
@TareG
Great question.
I'd switch to android in a heartbeat if I could just drag and drop my .avi files.
zuneHD may be the way to go for me
@TareG
Because this player does decoding on the hardware level, not software.
@max1001
What about the LG LU2300? It comes with Divx/Xvid support natively, on what seems to be the same spec sheet of the Nexus One.
It seems as if all the Android handsets that have come out thus far, regardless of screen size, observe the 4 X 4 layout on each screen (starting to look silly with large spaces on screens like the Droid).
The image above clearly doesn't do that anymore (thankfully). So I'm wondering why the widget has to spread across the entire row (easily 7 - 8 icons across in landscape, 4 - 5 in portrait). Let's make widgets like that sizeable, shall we?
@whySoSerious
I'm betting there's no Market access (without a hack) so space for widgets and such won't be a big deal. This runs the same version of Android as the Archos units and they require a hack for the market.
Do Androids have softwares that are optimized for the larger screen? Since most of the apps are made for the phone, does Android upscale it like what iPad does with small resolution iPhone apps (i.e. doubling the pixel)?
Did I see a Remote on the spec list? I think I did.
@ mrjaggs
Maybe things will work out in reverse: the MID5 better retail shortly because Dell's Mini5/Slate will blow devices like this out of the water. But true the MID5 will likely be cheaper (but it lacks a camera).
Wow. There really will be a flood of these types of devices. As of now, it seems there's another new product announced every day. There's only so much time in a 24 hour day. Can there be such a thing as too much competition? Could the flood of alternatives and options inhibit a clear market leader and thus hinder consumer adoption in the near term?
@rdrunner There will be/already is a clear market leader in terms of specs & mindshare if not actually being the best product.
you know I am tired of seeing all these android tablets but no release date. I dont know how longer I cna wait before I see my self having a Ipad. I am trying to hold off but dont even know how long I have to hold off haha
I'm still not impressed, mostly because these things keep coming out using a processor branded as "Rockchip" for which I can find no documentation whatsoever.
Is it ARM? Is it MIPS? What are the specifications? Is their bootloader open or closed?
@microlith
Rockchip uses ARM architecture.
what's the difference between this, a large screen (>4") mobile phone, and iPad and similar devices? Besides the obvious OS that is...
@darkmax
It doesn't have any phone bits inside so you save cash monies.
Looks an awful lot like the HOTT MD500 (plus shares a Rockchip CPU, battery life, screen size and ports). The HOTT also is about $100 cheaper. Possible that it's the same OEM.
http://besttabletreview.com/video-hott-md500-android-tablet-mid/
Matroska in Android? I need to see that, even CoreCodec is having troubles implementing it.
But does it play 720P x.264?
The HOTT MD500, Ramos W7 and I presume this too are all the same device, they are just re-brands. Running a Rockchip RK2808 cpu and support for 720p video. It should support X.264 but not at very high data rates.
Videos...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa2xhoXeXDs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IiEyzjaJj4
I love this trend of tablets..personally I'm not carrying anything that doesn't fit in a pant or jacket pocket.. at first I was skeptical about the usability and niche these devices would be filling..after several months of use of a similar form MID the only thing I'm missing is 3g connectivity...hopefully dell isn't the only company venturing into completely connected devices this size..I find browsing and email a lot easier than that of a 3" screen..and multimeda...haaands down
Pasen is still boring us to death...
I believe that there're so many crappy Chinese MP4/tablet devices on the market right that every earthling could have one or two.
Why not make at least ONE GOOD tablet instead??? No room for quality perhaps?
This is a rebranded Ramos W7.
Ramos is the actual manufacturer and developer of the device. However there is no indication that the device is actually being mass manufactured yet. There have been a few devices floating around, but not in mass quantities.
Release date for the device should be either May or June. The device entered beta about last month and released more information at hiapk.
I wish there was a 7" version for $250 or an 8" for $300...
@geolemon
The HOTT MD700 is 7", for under $150. It's running windows CE, they say they will put Android on it soon.