3Com Audrey Web Appliance – Customer Reviews

For some unknown reason, 3COM discontinued this web appliance only 5 months after it was released... so forget about getting support from 3COM... they no longer support this device and have even pulled support information from their website. The good news is that there is an entire on-line community devoted to customizing, tweaking and personalizing this web appliance.

I originally got this for my mother as an easy intro to the Internet. There is a wireless keyboard which works well, but it's a bit too small for adult human hands to type quickly with accuracy.

The stylus (when not in use) sticks in the top of the Audrey like a single antenna and it blinks green when a new e-mail has arrived.

You can surf the web and even view Flash movies as long as they are reverse complaint to 3.0 Flash viewers. To protect itself from malicious programs, the Audrey does not read Java, but it will read JavaScript.The underlying OS (operating system) is QNX which is like a mini flavor if Unix. Because it isn't some proprietary OS just for this one appliance, there are many support forums for QNX which allow you to further update this appliance.

My less than perfect rating comes from the fact that Audrey prefers to be on a LAN connection, whether it's DSL, Cable Modem or a company LAN... as long as the connection is on at all times. If you disconnect from your ISP and turn Audrey off, she'll turn herself back on in an hour or so (whenever she feels like waking up) and start calling your ISP.

There have been a number of times I've been talking to my mother on the phone when Audrey suddenly decided to wake up and send modem screeches on the phone while we were talking.

I currently have the Audrey in my home as I try to customize it by hacking into the shell and keep Audrey from behaving this way.In order to customize Audrey, you need to have a router (like the Linksys 4 port available here on Amazon.com) so you can spoof an IP address to make Audrey think she's connecting to 3COM when in fact she's connecting to another address to update her OS so that the shell can be accessed.

Without the hacking, Audrey can still serve as a great appliance. The touch screen isn't really meant for human fingers, but the stylus with it's soft rubber tip. You can connect to most "normal" ISPs with the exception of AOL, which uses a proprietary browser and can't be loaded into the Audrey. Currently, my Audrey is connected through Earthlink. If you're already a wiz at the Internet, this appliance will probably drive you nuts, but if you have a parent or another friend who is totally clueless and scared of computers, this is a fantastic intro to e-mail and the web.

The Audrey boasts 2 speakers and a microphone built-in as well as a note pad and calendar.

For the money, this is a very sophisticated device... and the fact that you can synch up your palm pilot to it is remarkable.

The Audrey has an internal modem and has a jack for your phone line as well as for an Ethernet connection and a single USB port so you can connect a printer.

The Audrey is light weight and takes up a very small footprint on a desk.

1/20/2002 12:00 AM | Rating:

I bought the Audrey in December 2000 as a Xmas gift for my wife. The unit really looks stunning, the technical info is promising and the concept sure has a future. Unfortunately 3Com customer support wasn't ready for the product, it sure looked like answers on technical questions came from a random answer generator, definitely the 3Com support people had no clue what the technology was all about. Eventually I got the product running myself and I have to say an absolute slick product. Unfortunately the channel select still doesn't work. And now I found out that 3COM decided to discontinue the product?? One wonders how much business thought went into the launch of the product. At least it must be a relief for the 3Com support guys. I suggest 3Com hands the unpolished Audrey jewel over to the Palm Inc, they've proved to be very succesful with new generation inventions.

4/20/2001 12:00 AM | Rating:

The Ergo Audrey has a lot of potential,unfortunately, Palm decided to discontinue the entire Ergo line.So this is your chance to get one now before they're all gone!I bought one last night and I got online this morning (delays caused by my ISP) and the Audrey is great!It looks cute and is very easy to use.Don't count on a lot of tech support though because this is the last of Audrey.

4/15/2001 12:00 AM | Rating: