MobileRead Forums - View Single Post

nonanon · 01-10-2010, 09:44 PM

I have an A81/W1060. I also have a Sony Reader and an iPod Touch. If you don't mind reading on a backlit LCD screen, the A81 is fine. So is the Touch for that matter, though the screen is obviously much smaller, 3.5" vs 7". eInk has it's proponents and I like the reading experience with eInk but I have no problem with LCD screens and I'd rather carry a multi-use device that can surf the net, display ebooks, movies, play music, allow some note-taking and play games. Overall the Touch does all of this better than the A81 but the screen is much smaller so watching movies and tv episodes and surfing the net is not as pleasant. It's easy to put in any pocket so it's all a trade-off.

Do you want portability? An eInk display? Primarily for surfing, for reading or for multimedia? CES has shown some very interesting new devices but it may be months before some of them hit the market. The Touch is a mature product so it's more stable and feature-rich than the A81 but if the manufacturer continues to update it's firmware the A81 should be much better than it is now in a few updates. They're already talking about the new features in the next hardware version and it sounds like some features won't be available for the current A81, maybe including Android. The maker is Witstech and they're obviously not Apple so you're taking some chance with the A81, if it fails it may be problematic to get it repaired and it may well be abandoned before it's fully up to speed.

The JE100 is primarily a reader and if that's all you want I'd get a dedicated eInk device instead, they're cheaper and battery life is far longer than with an LCD screen.

A final note on the A81. I really like the screen, it's big and colorful with great detail. But if you tilt it even slightly it's too dim to see well. It's too big to fit into most pockets and it's heavier as well. On the plus side it doesn't get nearly as warm as, for instance, the Archos 7. Surfing on the A81 is not that fast and I'm getting impatient for the Android release, but for movies it's great. I also like reading on it but often find myself using the Touch instead since it's so much easier to keep with me.

01-10-2010, 09:44 PM	#4
nonanon Enthusiast Posts: 45 Karma: 21900 Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Utah Device: iPad, Nook Simple Touch	I agree with Katelyn I have an A81/W1060. I also have a Sony Reader and an iPod Touch. If you don't mind reading on a backlit LCD screen, the A81 is fine. So is the Touch for that matter, though the screen is obviously much smaller, 3.5" vs 7". eInk has it's proponents and I like the reading experience with eInk but I have no problem with LCD screens and I'd rather carry a multi-use device that can surf the net, display ebooks, movies, play music, allow some note-taking and play games. Overall the Touch does all of this better than the A81 but the screen is much smaller so watching movies and tv episodes and surfing the net is not as pleasant. It's easy to put in any pocket so it's all a trade-off. Do you want portability? An eInk display? Primarily for surfing, for reading or for multimedia? CES has shown some very interesting new devices but it may be months before some of them hit the market. The Touch is a mature product so it's more stable and feature-rich than the A81 but if the manufacturer continues to update it's firmware the A81 should be much better than it is now in a few updates. They're already talking about the new features in the next hardware version and it sounds like some features won't be available for the current A81, maybe including Android. The maker is Witstech and they're obviously not Apple so you're taking some chance with the A81, if it fails it may be problematic to get it repaired and it may well be abandoned before it's fully up to speed. The JE100 is primarily a reader and if that's all you want I'd get a dedicated eInk device instead, they're cheaper and battery life is far longer than with an LCD screen. A final note on the A81. I really like the screen, it's big and colorful with great detail. But if you tilt it even slightly it's too dim to see well. It's too big to fit into most pockets and it's heavier as well. On the plus side it doesn't get nearly as warm as, for instance, the Archos 7. Surfing on the A81 is not that fast and I'm getting impatient for the Android release, but for movies it's great. I also like reading on it but often find myself using the Touch instead since it's so much easier to keep with me.