Quote:
Originally Posted by marcins
I thought the Iliad was the most mature device on the market. All the reviews I've read are nearly enthusiastic. Gee... Are you sure it's a crap? So what about the second device - DR1000S? Is it also a junk (in your opinion of course)?
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From what I've heard, the iLiad isn't crap... it's just slightly older tech, and not being improved. It's got some flaws, like all cutting-edge technology--and those flaws aren't going to be fixed, ever. If it's not perfect for your needs, it's not going to be more useful in the future.
For any business use of an ebook reader, research the problems
first. The parts that are good--hundreds of books at your fingertips, X many file formats, wifi/touchscreen/storage card/whatever--aren't going away, and will only get better.
Find out if the device you're considering has problems that make it not work for you; if it doesn't, then look at its benefits. Don't be blinded by the advantages and then realize that it [doesn't annotate/can't zoom/has screen glare/won't read the format you most need/crashes on startup half the time/is prone to shattering the screen if it's bumped/whatever].
IMHO, none of the current e-ink readers are good for technical or business purposes. They're designed for reading novels, and they support that brilliantly; everything else is kludgey. They're fragile. Documentation is minimal (worse for some than others) and customer's ability to find the full range of features (and glitches) is limited.
Nothing in the e-ink market has great PDF support, and whether any of them have "good" PDF support depends on your standards. For business purposes, none of the e-ink readers can remotely compete with a netbook. The advantages of the e-ink reader are (1) insane battery life and (2) easy-on-the-eyes screen. You lose a lot of functionality for those two advantages.
For just reading, it's worth it. For anything else... the tech isn't there yet. Half a dozen companies are scrabbling to figure out what the "anything else" should be, and in the next few years, we'll probably see a handful of new devices with interesting new features. In the meantime--research carefully, and start by looking at the problems, not the advantages, of each device.
And ask questions. Ask if a particular problem is still annoying when users have some practice with the device. Some are; some aren't. Some things, you get used to; some are still annoying a year later.