DataWind Ubisurfer - anyone got personal experience of one.

What are the DataWind Ubisurfer machines like? I couldn't find any reviews on HPCF, but i've read elsewhere that they're very poor at rendering modern websites. This is little odd considering they're equipped with ARM9 cpu.

Anyone out there got a real-world opinion on these devices. Would it be worth putting Linux on it instead?

If they suck bad, I'll wait for the inevitable heavily marked down prices. (always good to wait anyhow)

Edited by technogeist2k9 2010-07-26 10:02 PM

That's why we're still here - many of us waited almost a decade.

There are several different processors in the ARM9 class. Some of them are very good, some suck big time.

Is there a (recent) list/guide of ARM devices that specifies what the exact chip model used, and whether that particular chip is a poor performer?



Edited by technogeist2k9 2010-07-27 1:22 PM

The problem isn't necessarily the chip...it is how the chip is implemented with the other hardware. It is also how well the software is integrated with that hardware. So a list of chips and their devices/specs won't really help you.

The best way is through reviews or word of mouth...

OK. Rich.

Thanks for clearing that up. I thought it might probably be just a question L1/L2 cache size (or bus speed) which CE Geek was referring to.

I know this is an older thread but does anyone have an idea how to hard reset the ubisurfer?

Remove the battery? Actually manual says to hold down power button for 3 seconds, which will turn the device off and then it will reboot.

soft / hard reset should do lol

I did but it still left wifi information

If it is a function of the registry, I previously uploaded a new default registry in the H/PC Updates that you can use to restore your Ubisurfer back to original factory specs...since I was scared that some program I installed might corrupt it.

Since it has non-volitile memory, you may have to manually delete all that stuff you don't want on there...

This is where CERegEditor comes in handy via Activesync connection...by comparing the default registry with your current one...

I see, ok thank you.

thcrw739, are you talking about the 9" model or the 7" one? If it's the 9" one, you can go into Storage Manager in the Control Panel and dismount and then format the NAND storage volume. However, that'll also remove the CDMA driver as well as the SoftMaker Office suite and even the default desktop wallpaper image. I stumbled on that solution over here:

http://www.hpcfactor.com/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=17028&start=61

The good thing is the SM Office 10 that comes with it can be copied off first...the entire folder and saved since it isn't burnt into the ROM chip. Then you can copy it back later...and as an experimentation, I found it ran well on all of my ARM based devices.

Yeah it was the 9 inch model and now it doesn't have anything on it even IE , OOPs

Guess i'll have to read up on how to get it back to normal.

Edited by thcrw739 2014-06-16 2:56 PM