gdgt

Depends on speed, support for firefox updates, build quality. I have been searching for the perfect, no-compromises instant-on solution for internet browsing. Chrome OS might end up being the answer...but this is very intriguing as well.
My quest will conclude when I can fire up Hulu in 5 seconds flat and watch without any jittering frames, in a flash window, just like I would in my computer's browser. This appears to be able to do that.

Sure, I'd also like it to fold up and fit in my pocket but there's no indication that this thing will do any of those things you're looking for. My MacBook Air is pretty much instant on (granted it costs more but does a lot more than a CrunchPad). Just hard for me to see how this sells. It's ultimate tweener device searching for a problem that it seems few folks have. Especially at a $300 price point.

Are you kidding? $300 is an amazing price for a device like this. It's basically a netbook with capacitive touch and no keyboard. Considering that current netbooks are already low-margin and sell for $300 - $400, it's commendable that they managed to add a touchscreen to it and still keep it at that price. However in terms of usability you'll have to decided whether a touchscreen is a good tradeoff for a keyboard.

I think the devil is in the details. As we don't really know much about precisely what it can and can't do yet, we're still waiting to see if we'd pay $300 for it.

If it can handle web browsing, IM and IRC and has a halfway decent battery life I think I for one would buy one in a heartbeat.

I know my wife would be wanting to borrow it for sales shopping from the comfort of the lounge/bed without having to bother with a bulkier laptop.

I could see myself using one of these for sure. After using my EEE 901 and Dell mini 9 I can easily say that having to use an on screen keyboard on this device would be about as productive as the keyboards on either of the netbooks. If it can play hulu and other flash based jitter free thats already a big upgrade on your standard netbook. The question is it going to be able to do that.

If this thing can get decent battery life (4+ hours) and can play media off usb devices or some sort of removable memory I would take on every trip I go on.

I use my Ipod touch to read the news everyday. I don't use it for media (except on trips) at all. Basically it is my mini web browser. I would love to have a pad for late night blog reading, stat tracking while I watch the game or recipes while I cook. My Ipod Touch is just too small.

I would buy two @ $300 so I don't have to share with my wife who really wants one as well.

What I am expecting:

- Launches directly into browser.
- Able to save to flash drive.
- Keyboard connectivity (bluetooth or otherwise).
- Flash, adobe reader, all the neccesary basics to cruise the web and read various documents.
- Minimum 6 hour battery but the longer the better.

I understand why people who already have an iPhone wouldn't bother, but it's 100% win for me. I don't have an iPhone (AT&T sucks) and I don't really want an iPod touch (sound quality is poor for the price). This thing has a larger screen than those, so web browsing (particularly web video) could be a much more pleasant experience. If they can make the thing boot up quickly (as in a couple of seconds, tops), it looks good to me.

Not sure if this is ideal for web browsing - but as an ebook reader it has real potential - could be the answer for PDF ebooks if the screen is readable.

I would buy it because its something that my net book has. A bigger screen. You can read the paper. And a great price point compare to the kinda. I waiting did wait till Apple fix most of the problems with the IPhone like having no 3g. Thats why i bought the Iphone 3g. Like I'm waiting till Kindle gets a color screen or the price drops. I just hoping to have the crunch pad in my hands by the end of the year. Mike are you listening.

I saw a video of this thing running and it didn't look like as smooth like the iPod touch/iPhone. It seemed a little slow and jittery when scrolling though pages. It was a prototype build; hopefully the new product will be refined.

The problem I have with it (and most MIDs) is that you'd have to carry it around in its own bag that's similar in size to a laptop bag, and at that point I'd just as soon carry a laptop. I'm definitely not going to carry both.

this is a want, not a need. that being said, if it comes in at a good price point, it may well become a need. a need that i want.

Seems to me that this is more of a niche market device - for people who already are pretty wired in, and have cash to blow. Can't see too many people making this even a secondary smart device (over, say, a computer, then their phone, then this thing). I do a lot of couch surfing on my iPhone, especially when I'm waiting to load into a game of Halo or something like that. But I don't see having this thing separate from my phone, for more money then I've already paid.

Also, the prospect that I break a gigantic, thin, touchscreen within eight hours of purchase is terrifying

Yes, but if you could run Windows 7 on it? Think about the possibilities.....It could just beat Apple to the 'big iPhone' market.

Arrington's persona, alone, will keep a bunch of these from selling, IMHO.

I can not wait to buy one. Unless Apple comes out with something better I can definitely see one of these on the couch with me while I watch TV so I can brows web sites and such.

I mean I really want the newspaper from minority report but this will do for now.

seems unlikely. my guess is all the VCs and CEOs in the valley, then a slight trickle elsewhere, then... ?

I don't really understand the point of this device. As much I like the idea, I can't imagine paying $300 for a tablet that can't even play movies. I don't need a separate device to go on the internet, my laptop does that just fine.
I'm waiting to see what Apple comes out with.

The function of a device like this is too limited for me personally. Between my macbook and my iPod Touch which i use all the time for browsing and RSS a device like this has no place. The problem for a device like this likes in its ability to scale for me. What if i wanted to view photos on it from a flash drive or SD card, what if i want to use the screen to play movies when i am sitting in a plane or car. And what if i want to take it along with me on a holiday and use to reply to a mail or chat with a friend? How would a device like that scale to meet these needs. To me it being able to browse from the sofa or bed sounds cool, but when i look deeper it at and what else i might want to do with it i feel that it falls short very badly especially give that it costs 300$, for a little more than that i could get a netbook with a 10-11.6 inch screen that in the future could hopefully dual boot chrome OS and Ubuntu at the same time and for those quick browsing sessions i could just use Chrome and for others use Ubuntu. Also most netbooks these days come with 4-5 hours real world battery life, and with them in standby or hibernate the instant on would work till i get Chrome OS on it.
So i would not say that there is no market for a device for it, but i would have to say that it would be relatively niche for the time being atleast till we can do everything from the web.

I'm confused about how everyone is so excited about the $300 price. That doesn't seem like much to me.

I've spent more on single function mp3 players, home theater multi-function remotes, ipod docs, PDA's, headphones, shoes, jackets, and sunglasses.

If it is a good home internet browsing device (not an e-mail device, mp3 player, or full on workstation, just a browser) with a great form factor and near instant on functionality I wouldn't blink at paying $300 for it. I suspect there are lots of people in my income bracket who would do the same.

This thread is about "is there a market for it" and I don't see a $300 price point being a stumbling block for it. Sure, lots of people on this thread couldn't afford it, or would choose to not buy it based on their budgetary priorities, but lot's of us couldn't afford plenty of other items out there that have strong markets.

For example, %74 percent of all bikes sold in the USA cost $80's on average. This would lead many to believe there isn't a market for more expensive bikes. However this %74 percent only represents %35 of the dollars spent on bikes. %50 of the dollars sold on bikes to go bikes that cost $500 or more. So while the vast majority of bikes sold in the USA are cheap junk bikes there is still a strong and profitable market for bikes that cost five times (or more) than %74 of the bikes sold. At boutique bike manufacturers the sales of custom $3,000+ bikes have been going strong right through the recession.

A product doesn't necessarily have to sell over a million units to turn a profit. If manufacturing, distribution, and marketing costs are kept to a reasonable level in proportion to the sale price a much smaller number of units needs to be sold to turn a profit. This concept (and it's success) is why countries like Japan, Korea, and Germany have many more gadgets than the US does - because they are able to manufacture and sell a small number of units yet still turn a profit.

In my mind the bigger question is whether the same market that would buy this crunchpad will instead hold off and spend perhaps three times as much on the rumored Apple tablet, which looks to be attempting to achieve more with a similar form factor. This is a question that I've personally been mulling over for myself.

If this thing is really good at browsing the web it will sell at $299. If it doesn't provide a top notch browsing experience or comes in at a $399 price then I think it will fail.

I would say YES.

I think the thing to keep in mind is that most of the complaints that people have are with the SOFTWARE.

So on launch, there is no support for videos, music etc, but do you guys seriously think it will stay that way? I don't think it will take long for people to hack this thing, maybe put boxee on it, other OS's, etc. Give it some time, and someone will find a way to put OS X on this thing, then it'll be the Jesus Apple Tablet everyone has been wanting, except for $300.

I think it's important to look at what else is out in this price range (assuming you will be using it for browsing/email). You've got the iPod Touch for $229. The crunchpad's screen is almost 4 times as big.

Then you have the Kindle at $299. The screen is twice as big on the crunchpad, and while not being e-ink, is more flexible for browsing/ and can still use e-books

I think $300 is too much for an impulse buy or a "I might be able to use that" purchase. I paid around $400 for my iPod and Xbox 360, but I use those all the time and they are super solid pieces of equipment. They also do way more than this thing as it is currently advertised. One of these things will have to change for me to purchase it.....