The Pepper Pad, a Linux-based webpad and remote control, is too limited in functionality and costs too much, says Walter Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal. Before panning the Pepper Pad, however, Mossberg pans the concept of webpads in general, making his review a little suspect.

The Pepper Pad began life in January, 2004, as a reference design targeting Internet service providers. The current Pepper Pad 2 design is available to consumers direct through Amazon, priced at $800. It has a 20GB hard drive, WiFi and Bluetooth networking, and an irda interface enabling it to serve as a remote control for any and every gadget in the home.

The Pepper Pad is about a foot wide, and about 6 inches high
(Click image to enlarge)

Mossberg criticizes the Pepper Pad for costing too much and doing too little, and for being more difficult to use than advertised, thanks to applications with rough edges. However, before turning his attention to the Pad, Mossman first makes it pretty clear that he sees no real need for webpads in general. Webpads were conceived during a time when personal computers were too complex and unstable, he says, problems that were solved by operating system products currently available from Microsoft and Apple. Ahem.

Read the full review for more of Mossberg's impressions of the Pepper Pad:

Info appliance has nice touches, but it's costly

Read our complete device profile for more details about the device and its embedded Linux software, and photos:

Device profile: Pepper Pad 2 wireless webpad

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