My Viliv S5 UMPC finally came in yesterday and I have been tinkering with it ever since.



This thread will be a review of this unit and will be on-going.

After using it in the car this morning so far this is exactly what I have been looking for and it works exactly how I wanted it to.

Overview of this device:

Intel Atom 1.33GHz
Windows XP Home
1gb ram
60gb hd
1024x600 touchscreen
WiFi
BlueTooth
GPS
USB
.9 lbs

For full tech specs on this device see:

http://www.dynamism.com/35/category.shtml#Product=viliv

My first impressions are is that it feels like this product was made just for us. I have EvoScan and EcuFlash loaded up so far. It flashes the car fine. You can do tweaks in EcuFlash if you want but for full power tuning using a larger screen would be better. As a flash device, it just works perfect.

EvoScan is the main reason I bought this product. With its virtual gauges and log to screen capabilities, you can customize a full virtual gauge dashboard and have it logging to screen as you drive. Once you set warnings, you have audio feedback when any parameter of your choice exceeds your setting. Think "danger to manifold" but real and much more effective.



I just have some basic simple virtual gauges up on the screen currently for testing. Eventually I will make the whole screen a "virtual dashboard". Think Nissan GTR.

My main concern was screen readable in sunlight, so far it seems ok and is readable. Today was overcast so I will save judgement until a sunny day arrives.

I drove 40 mins today with it logging to screen in EvoScan and the battery stayed on 100% the whole time.

It runs Itunes perfectly, I haven't messed with it too much but Mp3 playback works without hassle.

GPS I have not tested yet, or bluetooth.

Stay tuned, so far I am loving this little thing.

 

kinda pricey but very neat!

 

I thought so at first too, but if you look at other devices that can flash and log (AccessPort $695 / Evoscan device $399 / DashDaq II $599 ) , and are small and portable, the price isnt bad as it can do much much more, has WiFi, GPS, MP3, larger res screen, more memory and storage, etc and it runs Win XP so you can run any XP app.

 

Sickness!!! Good stuff Bryan!

-Jalal

 

Pretty slick.

 

i like it. Will get one.

 

Now that's nice. I'm still tossing around the idea of a car-PC via a flip-out screen or something in the dash, but the ability to just grab that and go is very attractive.

How are you finding the on-screen keyboard; good enough for quick EcuFlash adjustments, or would you suggest a USB keyboard in the back seat?

Can you power it from the cigarette lighter without a DC converter (or permanently wire something in for it), or does it require AC?

(My wife might actually like that for field photography work, so I might have a hope of justifying something like this. )

 

Gauge pack I'm working on. It's a variant of the default evoscan "GTR" gauges but I have modified them visually to look smoother and work better in this smaller form factor (larger numbers, etc). Work in progress





I'm having a slight issue with gauge lag. It might be a evoscan draw issue (evoscan uses Dundas .NET Gauge) as the draw rate in the actual evoscan log window (where you check off the data items to log) is MUCH quicker.

Looking into it..

 

Looks pretty sweet, I'm just not sure I could justify it over an Eee PC or other netbook. The usability of the GPS is a serious bonus for sure though.

 

There is a Viliv with a larger screen also for $599 here:
http://www.dynamism.com/viliv_x70.shtml

 

Looks like about the same size as a netbook but touchscreen. Pretty cool but for sure not what I was looking for.

 

It's just pre-order now anyways with no ETA listed. Runs on smaller 16GB SSD hard drive and also slower Atom processor at 1.2GHz at this price point. You mainly get a 7in screen in a bulkier device.

 

http://beta.ivancover.com/wiki/index...S_with_antenna

Too bad you have to do that or wait for the new Eee pc t91 for GPS integration. That is one huge advantage of this device (for now, at least).

 

I found Dundas gauge too slow even on a fast dual core laptop to give multiple smooth, fast gauges and realtime graphs, even using their performance line chart etc. Pretty, but slow.

 

Yea, I am starting to realize this as well. Logging to screen only a total of six items (and six gauges) it actually isn't bad but it still isn't instant real-time like I would like.

Fortunately the "other" industry I work in I have many ties to great XML/Flash/etc developers that I have already started talking to.

- Bryan